Posted on 01/28/2014 3:21:35 PM PST by NYer
Covering the goats ROFL.
Not the only option. In fact, neither is Windows if you're tech savvy.
(Not needed on a mac).
I wouldn't bet anything of value on that.
I'm seeing on forums that the prosumer HP gets within about the same price as a MacPro only cannot match the MacPro's proprietary configuration at any price right now with PC hardware. The difference in price is small even if the HP offers greater 'right now' expandability (that you'll never take advantage of, like supporting 512Gb of 1866mhz DDR3 ECC RAM because it costs $120k) and won't be bested until more external Thunderbolt devices become available.
The bitchin' Camaro builders can build a powerful rig that may come close to a MacPro in power and save $600, but when all is said and done they're going to be Windows users driving a homebuilt PC of questionable reliability and no warranty.
Dollar for dollar, nothing beats the MacPro right now as a prosumer rig that mortals can afford. Best part about it is that it runs OSX Mavericks and can also run Windows in VM about as fast as the comparative PC can run it natively if you simply must have Windows around, like I do.
It’s no joke, it comes from a recent book that was actually sympathetic to Gates and his misguided programs.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
LOL!
I just installed parallels and now have to install my Adobe suite, which only works in Windows.
Some people here don’t like Mac. I’ve gotten to HATE Adobe, who continually upgrades their stuff and locks you out of updates while treating every one of their users like they are made of money.
Quark was the only game in town for desktop publishing for years. The product was so buggy that workarounds were a core professional competency for anyone in the business. The company was a-holish in the way only a monopolist can be, took forever to get updates out, had bugs unfixed through several major releases, and took every opportunity to squeeze more money out of loyal customers.
Adobe came out with Indesign, which took over the market with astonishing speed. Quark had PO’ed every one of its users so thoroughly that they were eager to jump to anything almost as good, and as a bonus, InDesign was better.
Fast forward a decade and a half, and Adobe is just like every other former insurgent turned dictator, and the masses are waiting for the next revolution.
Love my Mac also.
I also run Windows Parallel for the few programs I require for work that are not supported for Macs.
Not a gamer so I really don’t care about that advantage of PC’s.
I still have my Fat Mac (512K) that I purchased back in 1986
It’s been about 10 years for me. The first 4 (Compaq) were pure hell.
Someday, I’ll learn about all these cool little toys (in my “spare time”), but it’s more than enough that on my dumbest day, it gets me where I want to go & does what I want it to do- withOUT a struggle.
You better believe I love my Mac!
I had seen and used Mac in school during the mid-80’s and early 90’s, but never seriously used them. (I did use the lab Macs in college to write meeting minutes for an organization I was in - the only WYSIWYG option at the time - and also used them to format my resume for job hunting in my senior year). I was a UNIX guy, after all.
When it cam time to buy my own computer, budget was an issue, and I got a low-end no-name PC, because I could afford it, and Macs were way out of my price range. And so I started my chain of heartbreak with PC-class systems. Buying a cheap computer, more often than not, gives you what exactly what you pay for, maybe less.
Eventually, I was making enough money to get a high-end computer, and had a custom-built rig that was pretty solid. But event hat showed signs of “age” within a couple of years, and eventually it was turned into a file server in the house running some variant of Linux. I replaced with with a Sony Vaio system, which again, worked smoothly for a few years, but couldn’t really keep up with the demands of XP after SP 2 or 3. I’m currently typing this on that machine, but it now runs Fedora Linux (core 14, as it lacks the minimum requirements to upgrade to a later version) and I really only use it for web browsing and very light document editing.
Vista was the final straw. I wanted no part of it but needed to get a new computer or do a lot of upgrades to the old one that I felt was probably not going to be worth the time, money, and hassle. After pricing around higher-end computers, really, the iMac wasn’t “overpriced” compared to the machines it was competing against on the PC side - not the “budget” ones, but what we’d call the “prosumer” class. The Mrs. and I visited our local Apple reseller, spent a little time with the iMac, and decided to give it a go.
I haven’t regretted that decision once in the years since. I did have to replace the iMac once, about two years ago but that was due to my own stupidity in actually physically breaking the thing (out of warranty, even). I’d probably still be using that first one quite happily if I hadn’t broken it.
Since then, the Mrs. pushed me into getting a smartphone, and the iPhone specifically. I had had an iPod (3rd gen) for quite a few years at that point, using it on my commute, so I was well-versed with iTunes (I even used it on XP) and having a portable device, but the iPhone was simply amazing, and continues to be, as I”m looking ahead at getting my third one in the next few months.
I’m now just trying to put together a purchase for my next generation computing needs. I’m going to get myself a MacBook Pro (Retina), which will be my primary personal computer (freeing up the iMac for the Mrs. to take over as completely as she wants) and a Mac Mini to serve as my home media server (including DVR).
I do have one Win7 machine still, it was bought specifically for the kids as I was given a whole slew of Win95/XP educational games that my sister’s kids outgrew. While I think Win7 is actually a pretty good OS, for Microsoft, at least, I have zero temptation to switch back to Windows. (I also user Win7 at work, but that machine is so crippled by an over-zealous security group in our IT department that I try not to let it cloud my judgement.) Frankly, when they’ve outgrown those games, I’ll probably slap a Mac Mini in that computer’s place, as this 3-year-old machine is already showing signs of wearing out.
Get a Mac! It comes with Garage Band ... you’ll love it!
You know, I’d forgotten about Garage Band. The Apollo interface that necessitates the Mac comes with UAD 2 plugs. That might be workable! I’ll try it before I shell out for Cubase 7.
One thing I’ll pass along that’s based on something I heard one of the Macworld editors say: 30 years is a long, long time for a single product to exist in the tech industry. Yes, both the hardware and software have evolved over the last 30 years, and so you could make the argument that it’s not really the same product. But consider this... if you took the latest iMac running Mavericks and sent it back 30 years into the past, the user of the original Macintosh - after recovering from shock - would instantly recognize it as a Mac.
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