PC versus iMAC

hallelujajordan · 21-01-2009 2:01pm #1

Budget of approx €1000 . . Can get either a well specced laptop (prob a DELL) with 4GB RAM, Dual Core, Separate Graphics card and a 500 GB HD or An Apple imac with a similar spec (for a little bit more money).

Main uses are photography (photoshop etc), videoediting, music management and general internet / office stuff . .

Thoughts ?

Voodu Child · 21-01-2009 2:29pm

An imac is a desktop. A Dell laptop is a laptop.

Which do you want? A desktop or a laptop? Thats pretty much the first thing you should decide..

hallelujajordan · 21-01-2009 6:24pm

voodoo_child wrote: »

An imac is a desktop. A Dell laptop is a laptop.

Which do you want? A desktop or a laptop? Thats pretty much the first thing you should decide..

Yes, thank you . . I have no preference other than that I don't want a fully fledged windows desktop. My question really is around which machine will fulfill my technical/performance needs best.

Ricky91t · 21-01-2009 6:37pm

Save abit more and go for a macbook pro?
Can't you get that bootcamp and dual boot if needed?

Hugh_C · 22-01-2009 1:48am

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Main uses are photography (photoshop etc), videoediting, music management and general internet / office stuff . .

The iMac would satisfy all those needs technically. For photography, iPhoto (free) is pretty good at organising stuff, but it's a while since I've used it for editing so I dunno. You could always try Gimp (free) or PhotoShop (not free).

For video editing there's iMovie - I don't use it but I hear it's not bad. I use Final Cut which is an industry standard video editing - this is what I do for a living so naturally I'll endorse Mac and FCP. Or Avid, I think there's a free version downloadable.

For internet stuff, it's all built-in and integrated, a pretty neat OS (but I'm sure there'll be detractors in here

). For office stuff, I use MS Office which fits my needs...

Hugh

bmcgrath · 22-01-2009 1:57am

Macs are great for photography. And pretty much hassle free too. But do you game or anything?

hallelujajordan · 22-01-2009 8:30am

Hugh_C wrote: »

The iMac would satisfy all those needs technically. For photography, iPhoto (free) is pretty good at organising stuff, but it's a while since I've used it for editing so I dunno. You could always try Gimp (free) or PhotoShop (not free).

For video editing there's iMovie - I don't use it but I hear it's not bad. I use Final Cut which is an industry standard video editing - this is what I do for a living so naturally I'll endorse Mac and FCP. Or Avid, I think there's a free version downloadable.

Hugh

I'm looking at the 20" iMAC with the 2.66GHz processor . . For video-editing and photog stuff mainly . . Would you recommend increasing the RAM from 2GB to 4GB ? Any other changes I should look at versus the standard spec ?

Also, have you tried Aperture ? Looks fairly neat and much cheaper than PS?

bmcgrath wrote: »

Macs are great for photography. And pretty much hassle free too. But do you game or anything?

Only on my PS3 . .

TerrorFirmer · 23-01-2009 11:44am

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Yes, thank you . . I have no preference other than that I don't want a fully fledged windows desktop. My question really is around which machine will fulfill my technical/performance needs best.

That's a bit weird. You will get a Mac desktop but yet you won't get Windows desktop but are willing to get a windows laptop?

The Mac will have much better software as standard but a Windows based Desktop would be about 50% of the cost of the imac or even 60% with a 24" monitor included, not to mention twice as powerful. In fact for the same price as an iMac you could get machine about 3 times faster, 3 times the storage space, and so on. Not saying not to go the Mac route but do weigh each option up carefully. The iMac standard spec is pathetic for the money being paid.

If you do go with the iMac, don't pay Apple for any upgrades, do them yourself. That's not just Apple, the same goes for Dell etc. They often charge several times over what the upgrade is actually worth.

FibbersON · 23-01-2009 11:49am

I was in the same boat about 6 months ago, bought arefurbished MAC Book for about 750 and love it. Mainly use it for internet, and occasional photography, just family celebrations, none of your arty stuff, have edited movies (same kind of family occasions etc.)

Have to say I love the Mac, it gives no hassle. I'd say get a Mac to everyone.

hallelujajordan · 23-01-2009 2:50pm

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

That's a bit weird. You will get a Mac desktop but yet you won't get Windows desktop but are willing to get a windows laptop?

The Mac will have much better software as standard but a Windows based Desktop would be about 50% of the cost of the imac or even 60% with a 24" monitor included, not to mention twice as powerful. In fact for the same price as an iMac you could get machine about 3 times faster, 3 times the storage space, and so on. Not saying not to go the Mac route but do weigh each option up carefully. The iMac standard spec is pathetic for the money being paid.

If you do go with the iMac, don't pay Apple for any upgrades, do them yourself. That's not just Apple, the same goes for Dell etc. They often charge several times over what the upgrade is actually worth.

I've been trying to compare. . . On DELL.ie I can buy a machine with 2.33Ghz Quad core processor, 4GB RAM, 22" screen and a separate 256MB Graphics card for about €1100 . .

On Apple.com (if I buy in Belfast) I can get a 20" iMac with 2.66GHz Core2Duo, 500GB HD, 4GB RAM and the same graphics card, all for about €1200 . . The apple also gives me free photo and video software that i understandis pretty good. .

Is the DELL machine better value, better performance ? Should I be looking out for anything other than RAM, processor speed and graphics card in order to judge performance ? Does Quad core make a huge difference ?

Also, if I opened my iMac to insert extra memory post-purchase, would this impact my warranty in any way . . ?

I am lost in a minefield of technology !

Alanstrainor · 23-01-2009 3:23pm

Just to note, comparing the uk price of the mac and the Irl price of the Dell doesn't really make a lot of sense. And from what specs you've posted, even at that price difference i'd still go with the Dell.

astrofool · 23-01-2009 4:15pm

You're not really comparing like with like, which means that your decision is going to have to boil down to personal preference.

Mac's are easy to use, but not overly customisable, and you have a limited range of applications (which can be fine).

Windows, also easy to use (not as easy as a MAC), very customisable, large range of applications (but have to be got as extra's rather than by default with a MAC).

Do you already have a copy of applications like photoshop?

I'd really go back and look at what you wanted, either a desktop, or a laptop, and go from there.

Hugh_C · 24-01-2009 2:01am

hallelujajordan wrote: »

Would you recommend increasing the RAM from 2GB to 4GB ? Any other changes I should look at versus the standard spec ?

Also, have you tried Aperture ? Looks fairly neat and much cheaper than PS?
Only on my PS3 . .

absolutely bump up the RAM but buy it from Crucial or similar, NOT Apple. Maybe spec a bigger drive. Aperture I have seen but my preference is for adobe lightroom. Installing ram doesn't affect your warranty.

regards,

hugh

hideous ape · 24-01-2009 6:57pm

Get a Mac...if you don't like MacOSX then just use Bootcamp to install XP or Vista on another partition. Then you have both a Mac and a PC:)

The opposite is also true, known as a Hackintosh, but life is too short to spend weeks researching what does and doesn't work. I have tried to get MacOSX running on a PC laptop and yes it did work eventually. It took a solid two weeks of messing, reading forums and many failed installs. Some software would not run and selecting my €200 soundcard in Ableton Live would crash the PC. After a few hours the graphics would become corrupt....I gave up at this point.

Running Windows on a Mac is a feature supported and fully endorsed by Apple through Bootcamp. Running MacOSX on a PC is not supported by anyone, your on your own. Hackintosh DVD installs may have improved since I tried 8 months ago so if someone is determined to give it a shot...start reading: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showforum=85

Dell has given our country two-fingers so we should do likewise to their products. If your gonna buy a PC laptop have a look at http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/
Two companies that consistently produce good quality PC laptops are Toshiba and Acer...can't go wrong with either.

I would hold off getting a new Mac right now as the MacMini, iMac and Mac Pro ranges are long overdue a refresh. A good site for the latest Apple news is: http://www.macrumors.com/

PC versus iMAC

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