Mac or PC? And what does it say about you?

[MadImmortalMan]

The question to ask is "did you seriously consider buying [the other type of computer] before you bought [the type of computer purchased]" for both Mac and PC users. The percentage that answer "yes" is the percentage of savvy users of that type of computer.

I'd agree with this.

[garbon]

The question to ask is "did you seriously consider buying [the other type of computer] before you bought [the type of computer purchased]" for both Mac and PC users. The percentage that answer "yes" is the percentage of savvy users of that type of computer.

I'd agree with this.

Does that cover a quick spec/cost comparison?

Every time I look about buying a pc, the price of an equivalent mac is always outrageous.

[Arvoreen]

I can't pick a poll answer here...

I have both Mac & PC's @ home.  And a mix of OSX, Win7 and FreeBSD in use on a regular basis.  If I throw in what I use @ work, add Gentoo Linux to the mix

[DontSayBanana]

Does that cover a quick spec/cost comparison?

Every time I look about buying a pc, the price of an equivalent mac is always outrageous.

Tell me about it; I looked at the "$500 Gaming PC" article that Beeb linked to over in CCR's thread, and I managed to nickel-and-dime the same spec down all the way to $470.  What does the cheapest iMac clock in at again?

[Camerus]

I confess to not being terribly interested in computers.... But what are these tasks that most of you seem to do that require so much customization of your PC's?

My computer uses include:  Microsoft Office, printing stuff, surfing the net, emails, MP3s, pr0nn, video games, movies, and instant message programs.

Any customization I need for these things is extremely limited in both scope and time (e.g. changing resolution, switching to admin mode, etc.)

[DontSayBanana]

I confess to not being terribly interested in computers.... But what are these tasks that most of you seem to do that require so much customization of your PC's?

My computer uses include:  Microsoft Office, printing stuff, surfing the net, emails, MP3s, pr0nn, video games, movies, and instant message programs.

Any customization I need for these things is extremely limited in both scope and time (e.g. changing resolution, switching to admin mode, etc.)

Games and animation are generally the sticking point (factor in some moderate Adobe Creative Suite use in my case), but some people want a rig that can handle operations like ripping movies and music quickly, as well.

[MadImmortalMan]

Does that cover a quick spec/cost comparison?

Every time I look about buying a pc, the price of an equivalent mac is always outrageous.

Tell me about it; I looked at the "$500 Gaming PC" article that Beeb linked to over in CCR's thread, and I managed to nickel-and-dime the same spec down all the way to $470.  What does the cheapest iMac clock in at again?

$2700.


But you can get a Mac Mini for sub $1000.

[Barrister]

Does that cover a quick spec/cost comparison?

Every time I look about buying a pc, the price of an equivalent mac is always outrageous.

Tell me about it; I looked at the "$500 Gaming PC" article that Beeb linked to over in CCR's thread, and I managed to nickel-and-dime the same spec down all the way to $470.  What does the cheapest iMac clock in at again?

$2700.


But you can get a Mac Mini for sub $1000.

YOu can get an iMac for a lot less than $2700.  Apparently they "start at $1199" in the US.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I own PCs.

Buying a Mac basically says:

"I know enough about computers to know that random Compaqs, HPs, and Gateways off the rack at Best Buy or Wal-Mart are crap, and that Macs are generally quality computers. However, I don't know enough about computers to know that I can get a quality computer that is much better than garbage laptops and desktops sold to the masses without having to pay a 100% premium on the parts just to get the Apple branding."

[katmai]

I'm looking at buying mac laptop again, just because of work.

[Barrister]

I can get a quality computer that is much better than garbage laptops and desktops sold to the masses without having to pay a 100% premium on the parts just to get the Apple branding."

Simply not true.

You find me a PC with equal specs to any Mac that's for sale at half the price of the Mac.  It can't be done.

[Ed Anger]

What the hell. I had a quad core,2GB Ram and Gayforce 8600GT 3 years ago for 800 bucks.

Blew the pants off anything that moved. Now it limps along.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I can get a quality computer that is much better than garbage laptops and desktops sold to the masses without having to pay a 100% premium on the parts just to get the Apple branding."

Simply not true.

You find me a PC with equal specs to any Mac that's for sale at half the price of the Mac.  It can't be done.

Probably not. But I've had these discussions with Mac people before and what happens is you come up with a PC that would have essentially identical benchmarks but it's not the "exact same specs" as a Mac. Maybe even on the whole its specs are better, but because they are different, by even just a bit, they aren't directly comparable.

I'll give it an attempt if you post your system specs, though.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I will give a quick example:

Mac:

2.8 GHz Quad Core CPU
8 GB Ram
1 TB 7200 RPM HDD
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB GPU

$2874

iBUYPOWER X58 Core i7 System:

3.06 GHz Quad Core CPU
12 GB Ram
1 TB 7200 RPM HDD
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 GB GPU

$1350

I've listed pretty much the most important stuff about the computer. When configuring the iBUYPOWER system I upgraded the PSU to a 1000W one because by default they were still going to let you check out with 450W (probably wouldn't end well with the CPU/GPU on board.)

Where a Mac person would nitpick:

-Apple buys higher quality GPUs!

I'd respond that while different ATI manufacturers do have different build qualities, the iBUYPOWER people have all the major component manufacturers represented.

-Apple buys higher quality motherboards!

I'd respond again that the major Intel / AMD mobo manufacturers are represented by iBUYPOWER, iBUYPOWER has a generally positive reputation and there isn't much evidence of the factual type I have seen to substantiate this sort of difference.

-You didn't compare the exact same specs

You're right, you can't configure the iBUYPOWER system in question for 8GB of ram, it's 6 or 12. In the real world 6-8 is by far more than most anyone, even serious gamers, would need. 12 GB is overkill. The CPU isn't the same, it is a core i7 while all Mac Pros come with Xeon Nehalem processors.

At the end of the day though those are remarkably similar systems with remarkably distance price tags. And it's not some garbage Compaq or HP, it's a custom PC shop that has lots of positive reviews and generally good customer service.

[Alcibiades]