Apple or pc ?

[britinozz]

Im sure this has been covered but im very clueless about Apple pc so i cant compare but what would you go for with a spending value of $1500.
Apple or all in one desktop(HUB) or get one made up also what monitor ?
mmm any help on this would be good.

[Fez]

Hi Britinoz

I think my avatar says it all. Once a loyal PC user I am now well and truly converted to Apple. I'm sitting here using my Apple laptop with a large screen PC sitting behind it (turned off). My next desktop will be the all in one iMac, you will manage one for 1500 plus some software to go with it.

[nightbringer]

Apple always dangles that temptation to upgrade though. I guess it depends on what you want out of a PC, I've got both a Macbook Air and a PC. I'm used to both, though admittedly favour my Windows rig more because it's a lot more powerful and has more storage space, whereas my Air is used whenever I need a computer and I'm out and about.

[Fez]

True ~ There are pros and cons with both. I guess it's what you need that matters. I suggest that anyone that may be considering this question speak to users of both and (if you can) have a play with the Apple to gauge what best suits your needs.

[Bennymiata]

If value for money is important, then get a PC.
If performance per dollar is important, get a PC.

If wanting to join the religious zelots, get a Mac.

Personally, I'm not for all in one computers, because if something like the DVD burner dies, or something else is giving you trouble, they are hard and expensive to repair - regardless if they are a Mac or PC.
Getting seperate bits is always better as you can upgrade it bit by bit, rather than throwing the whole thing out and starting again.

At work here, we have both PC's and Mac's on the same network, and they work well together, but we only have Macs because of our graphics people, and regardless of how often you show them that a PC at less than 2/3rds the price outperforms a Mac in ANYTHING we can throw at them, they still will only work on a Mac.
Macs are like a religion - it doesn't matter if t makes sense or not, you either love or hate Macs.

Having said that, I do own a Macbook Pro (as we got a very special deal on them for work), but it only ever runs Windows.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[I @ M]

My uneducated, ill informed and purely from a photographic perspective is to build your own ( or get someone competent to do it for you ) windoze based machine and buy one good quality monitor for the images that you are editing to appear on and one cheapish monitor for your tool palettes etc to reside on and put the savings towards another lens. :D

If you want a machine to do lots more than just edit photos and are into playing games etc then ignore my opinion and let the holden v ford nikon v canon mac v pc hordes guide you.

[ameerat42]

So far all I can say is "Yes."
There's not much to go on except preferences, so "Yes" applies to both.
Um-m-m!

[jev]

If you aren't used to the MAC user interface and it's quirks, make sure you try it before you buy a MAC. I've got an iMAC but the bloody thing is driving me mad. Yes, it's fast. Yes, it runs smoothly (most of the time). Yes, it looks great. But until this day I can't get used to it's quirky "file commander" or whatever the bloody thing is named - I often open a terminal and type the UNIX commands because that's faster than fiddling around in the GUI. And that's just one part of it...

So, give it a try before you decide.

[neil70]

once you go mac, you never go back:)

i have an imac and a macbook pro and a heap of other apple products floating around. The pc stuff just sits and gathers dust

[mechawombat]

Had a macbook and went back to PC

I built a VERY POWERFUL Win7 PC for less then $1500.
1TB HDD
BD/DVD burner
i7 CPU
6G RAM
1G 6870HD ATI GPU
Xonar DX2 Sound card
32" HD monitor and a 20"monitor running dual screens (makes using PS easier)

I only have to upgrade the RAM (18G) at this stage of its life
it is already 18months old and still very quick

But I like Win7 I think it is the best OS M$ have ever produced.

I have a i5 Laptop with Win7 as well as a iPad so I have still some Apple love

[98kellrs]

For me the best quality of a Mac is that they simply don't slow down. With a PC it starts real fast and then slowly gets buggier and buggier with more and more viruses until 18 months down the line it starts crashing and takes 20 minutes to open IE. My Macbook is now 3 years old and still starts as fast as ever and the best thing is...3 years and not a single virus...try finding a Windows laptop that can claim that! :)

You do have to beware of Apple bringing out new versions to tempt you with, but so long as you ignore them you're fine.

[ApolloLXII]

My Macbook is now 3 years old and still starts as fast as ever and the best thing is...3 years and not a single virus...try finding a Windows laptop that can claim that!

My partner has a Windows lappy that's about 3 years old and it still starts as fast as it did when she bought it brand new (and no viruses either). As with anything to do with brands, there will always be "disciples" who think their brand is the best which is something you should try to steer clear of. The choice of PC or Mac boils down to what you want out of it. Most comps in the world are PC (and work really well with anti-virus software and the use of any other kind of web browser than the virus magnet that is IE!) but you need to weigh up the advantages/disadvantages of either in regard to what you want to use it for. As far as photography goes, I'd go for a PC any day but the choice is, ultimately, up to you. Ask people that you know who use either type and see what they have to say before you decide.

[mechawombat]

If you have a PC that slows down it is not just because of a Virus

Like anything you need to maintain it to keep it at peak performance.

my PC has a regular Tune up with a weekly defrag, deletion of Cache, purged of obsolete files, registry cleanup Etc Etc
I would do the same on my Mac
never had an issue
But the slowest thing in your computer(mac or PC) is the HDD

move to a SSD and EVERYTHING FLIES!!! plus no need to defrag anymore

[Roo]

Mac is better for doing graphics and the like, most companies that use photoshop will have Mac's. If your not mainstreaming in that then use a PC.

On a side not, I just scored an iPhone4 the other day from work (personally I would have settled on a HTC) but I had to download iTunes to get the phone up and running. What I find funny is how bitter Apple people slag PC because of Microsoft how they force there products on you.............HELLO pot meet kettle. There both just as bad as each other.

[Calxoddity]

Gee, ask a religious question, why don't you?? ;)

The best way to get and answer is to use them - get some uncluelessness by playing with them in the shops. Do stuff on them that you normally do. That will give you a better answer than any opinion from some anon pundit on teh interwebz (me included...).

For the record, I migrated from home-built screamers to 24" iMac 3 years ago. It's faster than the day it first turned on, and nothing has needed to be added or repaired in that time. I devoted some brain cells to learning how to speak and drive Mac, whilst at work I speak and drive PC. So far my head has not asploded....

Regards,
Calx

[britinozz]

interesting stuff thanks for advise.

[dulvariprestige]

I just bought a new PC, thought about a mac, but maybe next time,
As some have said, if it comes down to the dollar, I also think you can get more bang for your buck with a PC, for me I went with a Pyron AMD X6 2.8 6 core,12gb ram, 2gb graphic, 1TB hard drive, wirless etc etc for $1,150 without monitor, to get a Mac Pro in these specs it would have cost around 4 times that, and holy crap this thing is fast, it can stitch together 9, 120-135mb HDR tiff files together in 2min30, my old machine takes over 10min and gives me an unusable image that isn't stitched properly, and plug-ins like Nik and Topaz are also stupidly fast.
My next upgrade for this machine will be a SSD when funds allow.

[Analog6]

This is like the Canon / Nikon debate.

Go to the Apple store nearest you and have a play on the display ones in the shop - you don't have to buy. Apple online have 'refurbished' ones if you decide you like them. I'm a Mac devotee too (since the Apple Lisa back in the 1980s) but have used PCs as well at work and home. For me the Mac's more intuitive way of doing things will always beat a PC, but it is horses for courses.

Currently I have a 24" iMac and apart from the fact that I wish I could put more RAM on the board (4 GB limit) I love it. When I can afford to upgrade it will be to a 27" which can take 16GB.

[Calxoddity]

This is like the Canon / Nikon debate.

....Currently I have a 24" iMac and apart from the fact that I wish I could put more RAM on the board (4 GB limit) I love it. When I can afford to upgrade it will be to a 27" which can take 16GB.

Yes - that's exactly where I'm at as well! Maybe with the tax cheque this year...

[crf529]

I don't think the PC vs Mac question is ambiguous as the Canon vs Nikon debate. Albeit a Pentaxian, there seems to be little difference in the Canikon systems and how they match up.

There are many reasons why you would pick a Mac or PC over the other in addition to just personal preference. It's well known if you want to put your own system together then you can save alot of money going the PC route, just as if you have the funds the Mac is a much easier system to simply purchase and use. PC's can be cheaply repaired/upgraded, a Mac outside of warranty may as well be replaced. I also found my Mac was 100000x more reliable and simple for something like photo editing. You could keep doing this all day...

I'd work out what you want in a computer first, and then see where that leaves you in terms of budget. I have no bias towards either system, and have owned both before. Right now I'm motivated for a lightning fast system as cheap as possible whatever it takes, and while I'd love a Mac for it's simplicity I simply can't afford it. So that leaves me the PC option, that's how I came to a decision. Make it less PC vs Mac and more Specs vs Specs, then see what your happy to spend and on what 'features'. They will both do the same job at the end of the day, but the way they achieve it is somewhat different based on cost, simplicity, reliability, functionality, support yada yada yada.

[Erin]

Having used a major Mac machine during my design course but having a fairly high spec Windows machine at home, it comes down to horses for courses. The best thing about Mac is the monitor gorgeousness. The best thing about Windows is the ability to upgrade parts with ease. Take your pick. Personally speaking, Mac monitor, Windows machine wins for me.

[ameerat42]

So, the answer is still, "yes."
Well, as long as it goes...

[philmud]

Interesting discussion and one that's relevant to me as I'll be looking at an upgrade in the next 6 months. At school I use Macs, but currently PC at home - the specs on the machines at school trump my laptop, so CS5 runs better on them, but I have to say most of the time I hear people say "Mac for graphics" their argument is rarely elaborated on- why is Mac better for graphics? I do like Apple's intuitiveness, but I guess I can't help wondering if my bang for buck, photo-editing wise will be better with PC. Plus I'll have to buy CS5 again for OSX