PC vs Consoles
- Thread starter Death_Emperor_X
- Start date
Slayer_X64
Siegfried SA Moderator
bah there's nothing wrong with macs! they're awesome for both programming and digital media development. they are essentially the only user friendly system out there that actually still has the ability to PROMOTE to you to gradually learn how to use a computer if you desire too.Oh, we're doing pictures? Sweet.
plus macs are pretty powerful and well made machines - naturally because of this you can do quite a bit of gaming on them.
plus they are the only computers that you can install OSX, Windows AND Linux onto all on the same system, which expands your possibilities indefinitely.
certainly they are overpriced - there is no playing that down, but they are all made with cnc milled aluminium casing, which makes then extremely durable. not to mention because OSX is developed for a very specific set of hardware, you wont find a system more stable out there.
besides, for starters, an i5 mac mini essentially gives you the full capabilities of a decently powerful desktop computer in an incredibly small and portable package, and only for $599 CDN. plus since apple is very supportive of the education market, you can get up to $200 off any product just by being a university student. so its really just awesome.
plus you cant beat a mac laptop - 13" macbook air with 12 HOURS of battery life, and components strong enough to run skyrim on high with mods - thats nothing to shrug at for a laptop which is so small, and ISNT EVEN INTENDED to be a main desktop machine anyways. but hell, with capabilities like that, its more than capable of meeting 99% of consumer needs; albiet for $1000. but hey, you get what you pay for. a mac isnt just some trivial computer that you buy and then replace two years later - these things are designed to last you like 5 years, so the price tag warrants the amount of use you'll get out of it.
mind you im a linux guy myself - i like non-proprietary software. but you just simply cant deny that mac makes good quality computers - the days when they were the inferior hardware competitor have long since passed.
actually i think instead of posting in this thread, we should just have a casual computer talk thread. this way instead of people all getting at eachothers throats all the time, we could actually engage in a productive and enjoyable conversation.
there is nothing that says we have to be enemies just because we dont have the same game consoles - its a trivial thing. i say we just get together and talk about technology for the fun of it, and see what we can teach eachother ^_^
who knows, we might even make friends with eachother =D wouldnt that be something?
Just remember this: opinions are like assholes; everybody has one ;)
Norik
[14] Master
This is my main gripe with them. They're not bad computers, but for the price you could get something much better that actually works with the vast majority of software out there. Plus, and this is coming from experience, the air flow is terrible (and cooling in general).
I like this idea.
Slayer_X64
Siegfried SA Moderator
i dunno about that - macs work with a fair amount of proprietary software as it is, and for everything else, there is either wine, or free linux packages that mac OSX users can compile from source. that covers at least 80% of all required software(probably over 100% for everyday users), not to mention that apple also makes a fair deal of their own proprietary software, and alot of that software is very good quality. plus dont forget that you CAN always install windows onto a mac machine if you absolutely must - infact apple even provides you the software to do so. you could also install linux on a mac, or freeBSD on a mac, if you really wanted to.
also a good amount of games are now windows/mac compatible as well, so its not like mac is a slouch in that department either.
as for the ventilation i cant speak for the imac or mac pro because ive never used one for an extended period of time, but mac mini's, macbook pro's, and mac book airs all have sufficient enough ventilation to run reasonably cool even under stress(such as gaming) and by reasonably cool i mean warm, yes, but not hot to the point where it burns you, or damages your hardware - and with the new haswell architecture in their processors, they run even cooler than they did before. they may not have the cooling of a gaming rig, but then again, a gaming rig is just that - and i bet if you stuck your hands inside your gaming rig while it was running under stress and started touching the parts, yea they would feel warm anyways; its just less noticeable with all that airflow going through. normal computers tend to run a little hotter by nature since they have less fans and vents, and a mac compared to those normal computers runs pretty cool.
as for the price thing - i will say this: you can get the same level of hardware power for $100-200 bucks less, that is certainly true. but you wont get near the same build quality as you would with a mac. they cost extra partly because a) they are a closed system with a proprietary OS installed which you cant legally install on any other machine, and b) they are built to last a VERY long time.
and of course if you always wanted a mac, but hated the price, well again, a mac mini only costs $599 and its a pretty amazing machine in its own right - basically a portable, mid-high power desktop machine that you can take ANYWHERE. and they're perfect for servers when they finally become obsolete.
macs are an extremely effective work computer, a decent enough gaming computer for gaming(they are infact very powerful - their laptops are comparable to fully fledged desktops when in turbo mode), and they are one hell of a learning tool for how to use a computer. the only thing i would say that holds people back, is their inexperience with OSX, which the same could be said for Windows if someone had no experience in using that.
and again, dont forget that you can always put windows on your mac, or linux if you prefer. but unless you're doing either super hardcore gaming(even then OSX might suffice), or you own something very specific that wont work in wine or a virtual machine, or you're doing cross platform software development for all 3 operating systems, i wouldnt bother dual/triple booting as OSX will suit all your needs perfectly.