New Computer required... PC or iMac ???

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Hi All,
Need some advice please...

The time has come for me to accept that my old PC is simply too old to be a worthwhile PC and everything is way too slow.

Photoshop crawls along, as for manipulating images its a case of click the button and put the kettle on!

I have always been a PC man and know the OS's backwards (with the exception of Windows 7). The obvious choice is for me to get another PC.

However, is there any merit in looking at an iMac? I was in Dick Smith earlier today looking for something else and a 27" iMac caught my eye - Lots of processing power, 4Gb memory and a 1TB HD along with a very nice monitor, for approx $2000. They look excellent too!!

I did have a thoguht about memory though - 4Gb for a PC is barely enough now adays and I would get 8Gb in a PC. Is a Mac as memory hungery or more efficient (like Linux?).

A quick scout around on the web suggests that I can get Office, Photoshop, & Acrobat all relitevely easily and that would cover 99% of my apps.

So, software shouldnt be a problem, but what about the OS and driver support? I currently have a SCSI scanner which I know would not connect up. Other than that I have a networked external HD, and a networked HP Laserjet printer, I assume standard IP networking will connect to both those?

Question. Is it easy within the Mac OS to move files from NTFS / FAT32 PC based partitions over to Mac and back again? And can a PC access any files sat on an iMac?

Software:
Canon Camera - Cant remember for sure, but I assume that the Canon CDs supplied with the camera (350D and 5D MkII) are PC only??? Are all the Canon apps & drivers available for Mac OS?

Land Rover - Rave & Microcat. Assume these will need to remain on a PC platform? This isnt a major issue because my tablet PC that acompanies me on trips runs Vista.


Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jon

[vnx205]

It is quite possible that you will need a $2000 to do the things you need to do.

However, because I have often seen people using a sledge hammer to crack a nut and I have seen people using Photoshop to do things that could be done with a more basic program, have you considered that it is not your PC that is the problem, but your program?

A lot of people never use the more powerful features of Photoshop and could do what they do with a much simpler, free program maybe even running under Linux.

As I said, maybe you do need Photoshop. Some people do. On the other hand a lot more, like me, manage with a 10 year old PC running Ubuntu and a variety of free software.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Thanks vnx. All very valid comments and thoughts.

I used Ubuntu on one of my older machines for about a year, a while back to try to put off needing an upgrade. As much as i tried to stay away from the pc I often found myself reverting back to the PC for things like photoshop, illustrator and office.

I never really got to grips with the free imaging / photo programs and found that openoffice just wasnt compatible enough with microsoft office (i do a lot of collaborative work with MS office documents and need the latest compatability just not found with openoffice).

Must admit, I dont need to use illustrator anymore as my work requirements have changed a little and I believe Apple's Aperture 3 will do 99% of the photo manipulation stuff required for photos (??).

J

[Chucaro]

For Photoshop the Apple monitor is a dream and the 27"is fantastic and excellent for calibration.
If you have PSCS5 then an Intel based PC with 4 gb ram and Win 7 will be super!
I use PSCS3 in an Intel based PC with 4Gb of ram and Win XP and it is more than enough for my 250mb files.
IMO for PS it is more important a good monitor than a poweful computer.

[clubagreenie]

If you get a new intel based mac then you can run windows as well for the stuff you can't do on mac but you will find after six months you don't bother because you've found mac based alternatives that do just as well. As for hardware, all your networking is as you said IP based so just run static IP's assigned through your router (purely for simplicity in remembering numbers) and it'll all go well. Cameras will just work, usually no software required, just plug in and recognized. Memory is find, the OS isn't that hungry. Rave works (well mine does). Send me a copy of microcat and I'll let you know.

I have three macs (one of the 1st imac lappys, a powerpc based imac and a intel based), two windows lappys, a windows media box, networked HDD, three xboxes as media centres plus the PVR's hooked into the network and The only machines that have issues in seeing stuff is the win devices. the macs just work. It's just a slightly different way of dong things, usually easier.

[vnx205]

Linux, Open Office and open source software (like so many things) are constantly evolving. If it is a while since you used them, it might be worth seeing what they offer now.

After all, as I'm sure you know, you can download something like Ubuntu and run it from CD without installing it, to see if your hardware works and whether the software that is available is suitable.

[Captain_Rightfoot]

It is quite possible that you will need a $2000 to do the things you need to do.


Huh?????

I can't see 2k there. The only way is if you bought photo shop... that is very pricey but I see there are several options. Many of them free or cheap.

All the rest of it should be cheap. You can buy office home for $209... What else would you need? At a stretch you could get parallels ($50) (virtual machine) and install windows on it and then you could run your old software.

The PC people will beat themselves into a flap but I only know of one person who has actually bought a mac and been unhappy with it (put your hand up Drivesafe!).

Everyone else raves about them. They have the solidity and security of UNIX wrapped with probably the best GUI out there provided by the US stock exchanges no2 company by capitalisation. :)

[vnx205]

Huh?????

I can't see 2k there.


It wasn't me who found a $2000 computer in a shop. :wasntme:

It was Jon. :)

[Captain_Rightfoot]

It wasn't me who found a $2000 computer in a shop. :wasntme:

It was Jon. :)

Sorry I thought you meant 2k worth of software :)

The 2k computer is worth every cent IMHO as I sit in front of my 27" I7 imac ;)

[alittlebitconcerned]

Can't recommend Macs more highly. Since changing sides I've had no issues, no crashes, no bugs etc.

[Ranga]

The PC people will beat themselves into a flap but I only know of one person who has actually bought a mac and been unhappy with it (put your hand up Drivesafe!).

Make that 2 - but then again, you don't know me :)

They have some great attributes, but some shockers also.

But let's not debate that here ;)

I reckon you should get an Apple PC or Windows PC :twisted:

[HangOver]

check out the Dell Studio range of PC's we just bought a i5 version at work as a one-off its fantastic.

if your funds stretch to an i7 even better but this dell studio is really quick

[simonmelb]

Hi All,

Question. Is it easy within the Mac OS to move files from NTFS / FAT32 PC based partitions over to Mac and back again? And can a PC access any files sat on an iMac?

Software:
Canon Camera - Cant remember for sure, but I assume that the Canon CDs supplied with the camera (350D and 5D MkII) are PC only??? Are all the Canon apps & drivers available for Mac OS?

Land Rover - Rave & Microcat. Assume these will need to remain on a PC platform? This isnt a major issue because my tablet PC that acompanies me on trips runs Vista.


Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jon

Hi Jon,

Like some others here, we have a mixed Mac, Linux and Windows household, but biased towards Macs.

If I was on a very tight budget I would go generic hardware and Linux/Open source as it's very good now.

But if you want a machine that just works, and keeps working then the iMac's are great. Ours is a dual core white iMac and we run Aperture for photo management and an old version of MS Office for my sons school, work.

I have set up a FreeBSD home server on an old P4 running the ZFS file system with a big RAIDZpool to store all our files. Moving and managing files around the home network is much easier using a Mac than Windows - including reading and writing to Windows based partitions.

Once you set up the Mac (and it's easy) you'll find you spend less time on managing the computer and more time working. Software updates are much faster on a Mac too.

When you buy it, have a play with Aperture to manage and manipulate your photos (its brilliant) and think about extending the warrantee from 1 to 3 Yrs. It's not too pricey for desktop Macs (more for laptops). Oh and make sure you use the Mac Time Machine feature for backups.

Have fun !

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Thanks guys, sounds like 99% of people love the mac's and it would appear that 99% of all my apps are available for Mac and those that arent will either run under windows emulation or from XP running off a dedicated XP partition. Ive more or less made my mind up that the iMac is the way forward for me...

But its still going to be a leap of faith as I dont want to buy a Mac to end up running XP/Windows 7 all the time!

This maybe silly question of the day but here goes:
Working on the basis that Windows will run on the iMac, will Snow Leopard run on a PC?? I have a spare HD that I can remove the current partition and would maybe like to play with the OS before spending $$$ on the proper hardware.

Jon

[Tombie]

Thanks guys, sounds like 99% of people love the mac's and it would appear that 99% of all my apps are available for Mac and those that arent will either run under windows emulation or from XP running off a dedicated XP partition. Ive more or less made my mind up that the iMac is the way forward for me...

But its still going to be a leap of faith as I dont want to buy a Mac to end up running XP/Windows 7 all the time!

This maybe silly question of the day but here goes:
Working on the basis that Windows will run on the iMac, will Snow Leopard run on a PC?? I have a spare HD that I can remove the current partition and would maybe like to play with the OS before spending $$$ on the proper hardware.

Jon

Jon

You'll love OS X and be more than happy..
I've converted my Father, My mate & his wife (they both went to Macs.. 1 x 21.7" and 1x 27") and it took them less than 4 days to learn how do things the OS X way...
Now they're doing things that are complex on a PC in seconds on the Mac.

I run a MacBook Pro and have Linux, Win XP, Win 7 all running in Parallels so I can mess around... All run no problems...

You wont regret your purchase.

[keith73]

I bought my first imac four years ago and still use it,and since then i had no viruses no spyware no reboots it just hasnt had any problems and its just as quick when it was new.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Thanks Toombie,
Do you run Rovacom / Faultmate under emulation on the Mac or off a dedicted "PC"?

Any thoughts on being able to run the latyest Mac OS on an intel PC?

Jon

[Tombie]

Thanks Toombie,
Do you run Rovacom / Faultmate under emulation on the Mac or off a dedicted "PC"?

Any thoughts on being able to run the latyest Mac OS on an intel PC?

Jon

Yes I run my diagnostic systems in parallels with no issues what so ever.

OS X on an intel PC is hit and miss as Apple spec their internal components and program to suit.
It has been done, but isn't worth the hassle of trying to make it work IMO.

The beauty of OS X is that by keeping tabs on the hardware they can guarantee comparability and stability. Something xyz abc manufacturers can not as most PCs are mix and match.

[Ferret]

will Snow Leopard run on a PC?? I have a spare HD that I can remove the current partition and would maybe like to play with the OS before spending $$$ on the proper hardware.

Jon

With some effort on your part and dependent on your hardware yes, Snow Leopard will run on a PC (but not necessarily your PC). However, this is a violation of Apples licence conditions.

Look around for hackintosh/ (http://www.hackintosh.com/) and similar for further information.

[clubagreenie]

Look for OSX86 project for OSX that will run on intel PC and lists of hardware that will work.

[incisor]

you can do all sorts of things on pc's

i prefer vmware on osx these days, better memory and device management.. used to use parallels but it fell too far behind imho

and use vmware on my pc as well these days, which is what osx is running in...

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Can I just say here that the first week after I got my mac I was like "what have I done?". However I didn't really know anyone with one which didn't help. Anyway, within a short time I was like WOW how good is this. Now, I think they are the only choice where people evaluate objectively. I've converted all my family and friends, and all are stoked. Just do it. :)

Also, I have "converted" a number of fellow IT workers (UNIX/Oracle) and they are all now hooked too. Macs are expensive to buy, but cheap to run.

[HangOver]

just for the other side of the coin I think Windows7 is the best thing Microsoft have done so far, get 64bit version, throw in as much ram as you want, it flys.
Excellent driver support and even the auto driver download works. I would say try both. Aero interface IMO is so-so but the rest is great and you can turn Aero off. It's taken me probably 2-3 months, not to get used to it or how to use it, coming from XP it was easy enough, but its taken a while to appreciate what a leap it is and how much better than XP or anything else it is. Including that disaster Vista.

Been running W7 for about 6 months at work and I test all kinds of junk on my PC and it's been flawless. Even had it runnin gon one of those net books with an Atom processor and 2GB of ram, pretty good !

[Mick-Kelly]

Essentially what i love about my macs are that everything just works, first time every time with no drams no additional software or plugins required. No messing around with source code it just does what it is supposed to do seamlessly and intuitively.

[grumpa]

I was a PC user for about 10 years then got into Macs. I use lots of graphics, do website design and heaps of digital photography. The 27inch iMac is GREAT! It does all I need and more. I chose not to use Windows on the Mac so had to buy Mac based programs. It has been worth it for me. Go for the Mac!

[discomuzz]

I made 'the jump' after a life of PCs.

Bought my son a new iMac 27 and inherited his iMac 20 as a replacement for my aged PC.

Amazing 'feel' with Mac stuff and, when integrated with my iPhone 3G S, the package is awesome. Love it!

Mac code is so tight you don't usually need mobs and mobs of DRAM to get things done.

By way of comparison, I remember the saying "Windows 95 = Mac 87" at the time of Win95's release.

Never fully understood it until I had a Mac.

Now, I can't understand why Bill Gates, Nokia, Etc. are still in business.