Why buy a Mac over a better spec PC? Advice on purchase needed

Gazamonk said:
You just had to didn't you?
Couldn't help yourself?
Just want to cause trouble?

Tsk Tsk Tsk, you brought the N word into an already volatile environment. Lol
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I did say it with a wink lol. Just a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour :)

May I refer to my previous postI? I pointed out that this thread was likely to end up as one of those Nikon -V -Cannon arguments and that was a very similar debate on a recent Mac - V - PC thread. To be honest I prefer Fuji over my Nikon but that's another story...... :)
 
I've had PC desktops and laptops for years, like since the mid 80's including building, writing software, using all sorts of applications, modifying, upgrading and fixing them. Overall I've not had big problems with any if my machines, but last summer when my graphics card failed, I felt like it was time for a change and bought an iMac 27.

So far I have to say I really like it, very elegant design, excellent screen, boots quickly and has not crashed..yet!

But it's not without its frustrations, like not being able to simply transfer files from iPad (iOS) to the iMac (OSX). I think this should just work, but it doesn't. I don't understand why Apple's own Airdrop facility is incompatible between iOS and OSX... A real WTF moment to me.

Another issue I came across was Outlook pst file incompatibility between windows and OSX versions. That needed a bit of a work around, which was a bit of a pain.

However on balance and FWIW I'm enjoying the iMac and may in the future get a MacBook, though the iPad with a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard is very useful and perhaps almost a MacBook Air... ish..
 
Gazamonk said:
You just had to didn't you?
Couldn't help yourself?
Just want to cause trouble?
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It's OK... I'm sure Nick likes his padded cell of a night. At least he can't hurt himself there :D

Gazamonk said:
Tsk Tsk Tsk, you brought the N word into an already volatile environment. Lol
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Ha.. I'll take the N word and raise you a...




Linux... :eek:
 
Furtim said:
Pah! Who needs an OS! Hell, you're probably soft if you use a BIOS. Machine language is the way to go and write your own BIOS upwards!
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Nah that is just masochistic. :p
 
dejongj said:
Nah that is just masochistic. :p
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Not to mention expensive! They let us loose as first years on a bunch of chipped Atari ST computers. We were supposed to write the routines to control the floppy disk drive, but I think to a man, we all managed to completely knacker each and every one of the 30 odd computers. They didn't repeat that exercise with the next intake!
 
Ok so I got a bit lost / bored of the techy stuff so haven't read half the replies but I've worked out finances and think I'll probs go for the MacBook Pro. One question though which will require the more techy guys to probably answer...

I have a windows PC upstairs in my home office, how easy is it to network it with a MacBook?
 
ajax_andy said:
Ok so I got a bit lost / bored of the techy stuff so haven't read half the replies but I've worked out finances and think I'll probs go for the MacBook Pro. One question though which will require the more techy guys to probably answer...

I have a windows PC upstairs in my home office, how easy is it to network it with a MacBook?
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What version of windows is running on it? And what are you trying to achieve by networking them?
 
The insides of a MAC are the same as a PC, just the casing is different.

Why not build a PC and then install MAC OS on it. or even both MAC OS and Windows?
 
ajax_andy said:
Just done some more research and it seems the most like for like comparable laptop would be the Dell XPS 15 which comes in at about £1500.

I can get a 15" macbook pro for £65 more as I get £150 discount for working in education. Tbh it seems like a no brainer to go for the mac now I've found a real proper windows alternative to compare it against.

The Macbook pro comes with 8GB or Ram though which seems very poor… does anyone have any experience of using LR & PS with only 8GB or did everyone upgrade to the 16GB option?
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To bring the MBP 15 up to the spec of the Dell XPS 15, the full RRP price shoots up to £2099 (memory and SSD upgrades).
The Dell looks to have a slightly better processor (than the standard one in the MBP)

The Dell has a Nvidia GTX 750 video card, versus a GT 650 card in the MBP. The wider bus speed in the GTX 750 should make some noticeable difference to Photoshop CS6/CC.

Windows does need a little tuning to get the best performance out of it.

I've always thought Apple's screens to be overly contrasty, too saturated and too glossy for picture editing. Still, probably better than most PC Laptop Panels - I've always thought this is one area where laptop manufacturers scrimp and I'd always want to see a laptop screen before I committed to buying it.
 
billandben said:
The insides of a MAC are the same as a PC, just the casing is different.

Why not build a PC and then install MAC OS on it. or even both MAC OS and Windows?
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Well not exactly are they ;) If you've ever build a good hackintosh you'd know that....For starter why would you use a bootloader like chameleon and the likes....Just because it utilises the core Intel architecture doesn't mean they are the same...A fairly lazy post in my opinion.
 
billandben said:
The insides of a MAC are the same as a PC, just the casing is different.

Why not build a PC and then install MAC OS on it. or even both MAC OS and Windows?
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Because that would be breaking the EULA and you're not allowed to talk about such naughty things on here.

ajax_andy said:
Windows 7

I want to network them so I can say for example access my spreadsheets that are on the PC from the Mac, or image files etc
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Easy. Windows shares are SMB compatible.
 
Share the folder on the pc as normal (right click the folder), once done on the mac click go -> connect to server and enter smb://computersnetworkname. You'll probably be asked to enter a valid username and password for the pc and a list of shares should appear.
 
neil_g said:
Because that would be breaking the EULA and you're not allowed to talk about such naughty things on here.



Easy. Windows shares are SMB compatible.
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I checked previously about discussing 'Hackintoshes' , and this is the reply I got from one of the forum's esteemed politburo 'Yeah it's fine to discuss in general, as long as there are no links to sites that have, explain, or link to downloadable/copyrighted content'.....so it's OK in general I reckon.

I went along this route, and installed Mac OS on a computer I built, to keep within Apples EULA, I used an old Power Mac case , ripped the guts out of it, and installed an up to date processor/memory etc.

There are lots of instances of folk installing Mac OS on high end Windows laptops, so going back to the ops original post, he could get a decent spec windows laptop, and install Windowes & Mac OS?
 
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'Appy days, as they say. My little brother's first computer came with 1K and you have to buy a special 8Kb RAM pack if you wanted to run more than a few lines of code. The ZX81 was a kind of electronic Abacus, more or less.
 
ancient_mariner said:
'Appy days, as they say. My little brother's first computer came with 1K and you have to buy a special 8Kb RAM pack if you wanted to run more than a few lines of code. The ZX81 was a kind of electronic Abacus, more or less.
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Ha I bought a 16Kb plug in box for the zx81 :) that brings back memories. I was also soldering wires in mine to control my toys (fisher technik).
 
Les McLean said:
I checked previously about discussing 'Hackintoshes' , and this is the reply I got from one of the forum's esteemed politburo 'Yeah it's fine to discuss in general, as long as there are no links to sites that have, explain, or link to downloadable/copyrighted content'.....so it's OK in general I reckon.
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Odd, people always used to get asked not to discuss breaking EULA full stop by mods.

The rules these days are extremely vague but if I remember rightly it always used to be in there too.
 
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neil_g said:
Odd, people always used to get asked not to discuss breaking EULA full stop by mods.

The rules these days are extremely vague but if I remember rightly it always used to be in there too.
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That's one of the reasons I asked if discussing 'Hackintoshes' was OK, and the response was as mentioned.

I did not ask anything about breaking EULA.

And if I remember correctly, a Hackintosh was advertised in the forum's Buy/sell section recently.

But I do think it's an unenviable task for the mods, the whole 'Hackintosh' field is such a grey area, so they are often between a rock and a hard place in deciding what can/can't be discussed.
 
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neil_g said:
Installing osx on non apple hardware (i.e a hackintosh) is an instant breach of the EULA (see the osx 10.10 thread).

To be fair I think apple should open it up, but I was just saying the forum rules need clarification.
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My 'Hackintosh' is Apple Hardware (i.e. an Apple Branded Computer), so arguably, not a breach of EULA, if I'd installed Mac OS on say a Dell branded computer, then arguably it would breach EULA.

I think the difficulty for any responsible forum such as TP, is the ever shifting sands of what issues are legit or not (remember jailbreaking)

Apologies to the OP, this thread has gone way off course, but it is an issue that needs consideration.
 
neil_g said:
I don't think a case constitutes apple hardware :)
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I think we need to amicably agree to disagree on this Neil :) , Apple's EULA states 'you are granted a limited, nonexclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple branded computer', which is exactly what I did, it's a genuine Apple branded Power Mac, albeit the guts of the machine have been jiggled about a bit.

But I do think it's one of those 'greyish areas' that have yet to be tested legally, perhaps because Apple got their fingers burnt a bit over the 'jailbreak' issue with IOS, they are maybe a bit reluctant to dip their toes in the water regarding 'Hackintosh' ?
 
neil_g said:
lol okay. honestly id run a hackintosh but im under no illusions that apple dont clearly mean you have to run it on their macnines only.
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I agree. It is quite clear what the intention is.

However, likewise as an individual without commercial gain there is no real grounds they'd come after you for damages if you do so. And having been there, whilst you can, and it can work very well, like for like it is no cheaper, and whilst it can work well there are still the kind if PC type tweaks required to keep it going. For me no more than an interesting experiment but no substitute for the real thing.
 
I agree. they'll not hunt individuals down for a simple breach of EULA with no financial gain (i.e. not reselling pirated copies). the same way in that MS let you reuse an OEM when the EULA says youre "not allowed".
 
dejongj said:
I agree. It is quite clear what the intention is.

However, likewise as an individual without commercial gain there is no real grounds they'd come after you for damages if you do so. And having been there, whilst you can, and it can work very well, like for like it is no cheaper, and whilst it can work well there are still the kind if PC type tweaks required to keep it going. For me no more than an interesting experiment but no substitute for the real thing.
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For me it was considerably cheaper, I saved around a £1000 against a similar specced Mac Pro , which was and is a significant saving, and yes you do need PC type of tweaks to keep it going, but that's part of the fun :)
 
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