No More PC's For Me

[thepominlaw]

It finally arrived, my first mac. After 25 years of PC's i would have never thought an all in one (i bought the base 21.5" imac) could be so good.

Absolutely love it. Why of why didnt i switch before

One questions for you all, i miss my TV tuner and want to get one for the iMac whats EyeTV like?

 

[bigredshark]

I like eyeTV actually - it's a pretty good app and does everything I think you can ask of it...it will also work with some third party tuners rather than the elgato ones it's bundled with - which isn't really that well publicised and may be helpful to know

 

[Random Guy]

Why of why didnt i switch before

Maybe because you liked the fact that PCs are upgradeable, and you were more into gaming?

 

[LordSplodge]

Absolutely love it. Why of why didnt i switch before

One questions for you all, i miss my TV tuner and want to get one for the iMac whats EyeTV like?

Well done on finally switching. I've heard good things about EyeTV but have never used the program myself.

Maybe because you liked the fact that PCs are upgradeable, and you were more into gaming?

Outside of hardcore PC users (like on these forums) who upgrades parts of their PCs anyway?

 

[paradigm]

Outside of hardcore PC users (like on these forums) who upgrades parts of their PCs anyway?

Loads of people, but typically only the same components that would be user serviceable on most macs anyway (RAM, HDD, add-in cards, etc).

 

[Cannaton]

Outside of hardcore PC users (like on these forums) who upgrades parts of their PCs anyway?

Not to mention even if you do upgrade the resale value of whatever you upgrade to depreciates quite a lot whereas at least with apple products there is always the reassurance you can get a decent amount back on your purchase.

 

[Beerbaron]

Maybe because you liked the fact that PCs are upgradeable, and you were more into gaming?

and didnt want to pay loads more because its shiny and has an apple logo

 

[Cannaton]

and didnt want to pay loads more because its shiny and has an apple logo

Or maybe you wouldn't want...

• A great IPS screen.
• Good specification, for the price.
• A well designed system, with potentially the only cable being the power cord.
• Excellent support.
• OSX.

While there is some truth to the "apple tax" argument, the iMacs are most certainly not bad value for money. They're a great conversation piece too and look lovely in a lounge or study.

 

[Random Guy]

Outside of hardcore PC users (like on these forums) who upgrades parts of their PCs anyway?

Um...you are misrepresenting the point I am trying to make. Leaving aside the huge population of what you refer to as 'hardcore' PC users, the fact is that the option is available to any PC user.

Loads of people, but typically only the same components that would be user serviceable on most macs anyway (RAM, HDD, add-in cards, etc).

Not sure I can agree with this fully. The PC is perfect for a new machine build at your convenience (CPU, motherboard).

Not to mention even if you do upgrade the resale value of whatever you upgrade to depreciates quite a lot whereas at least with apple products there is always the reassurance you can get a decent amount back on your purchase.

Well, even if this was true, I think the total spend for a new Mac would still be higher regardless of how much is clawed back through resale.

Don't get me wrong, there is no doubt that Macs are desirable tech for the average home computer user - its just that in my mind and for my purposes, I find the PC market cannot be beaten in terms of scope, depth and scale.

 

[Snax]

Or maybe you wouldn't want...

• A great IPS screen.
• Good specification, for the price.
• A well designed system, with potentially the only cable being the power cord.
• Excellent support.
• OSX.

While there is some truth to the "apple tax" argument, the iMacs are most certainly not bad value for money. They're a great conversation piece too and look lovely in a lounge or study.

Macs are not good value spec for the price.

The apple tax pc users speak of is the premium paid for
- aesthetically pleasing design
- osx

Most pc users dont switch because internally they cant justify the premium for switching to mac

 

[LordSplodge]

and didnt want to pay loads more because its shiny and has an apple logo

It's has been proven numerous times now that Apples are not overpriced. Yes they are expensive but something like the new imac represents good value especially in the 27" format.

Um...you are misrepresenting the point I am trying to make. Leaving aside the huge population of what you refer to as 'hardcore' PC users, the fact is that the option is available to any PC user.

Your normal computer user is not going to fit a new GPU or CPU. They may get somebody to upgrade the RAM and maybe HDD but that's it. You can do that with a Mac.

 

[ReeVo.uK]

Overpriced, overrated Apple.

 

[LordSplodge]

Overpriced, overrated Apple.

I suppose a $50 billion dollar company with $15.68 billion revenue this quarter must be doing something right. Remember there is a recession and other tech companies are struggling.

I guess the OP is going to have to get used to the usual anti-Apple diatribe.

 

[Snax]

It's has been proven numerous times now that Apples are not overpriced. Yes they are expensive but something like the new imac represents good value especially in the 27" format.



Your normal computer user is not going to fit a new GPU or CPU. They may get somebody to upgrade the RAM and maybe HDD but that's it. You can do that with a Mac.

Most PC users fall into one of two categories:
-cant build their own, want to use a pc for the most basic things
-can build their own, use pcs for more challenging purposes.

The former buy a cheap as chips package from dell, pc world etc, the latter build a custom made unit accoridng to their specifications.

Apples are not cheap as so probably wont appeal to the former group of purchasers. The latter set are put off by many reasons, not least the price premium.

I apologise for this generalisation, but most apple users I know either use apples because it is "cool" or because in a small number of cases they were brought up this way by their parents.

I really REALLY like what i see when i fiddle with apples. But when I actualyl start to use them for the taks I need them for they are actually quite slow e.g. the time it takes for a 30 inch imac to open a blank spreadsheet is longer than my cheap phenom 2 setup (this is a £2k setup vs a £600 setup).

Apple are exceptional designers but when the glossy fetish of aesthetics is removed, I cannot see a reason to choose a mac over a windows setup.

edit- my personal position is that I would love to be able to see the value in a mac setup; I keep going and playing with macs to try and get my head round why i need one.However, everytime I start putting a mac unit through what I need my pc to do it does not offer a performance premium equal to the price premium

 

[K1LLSW1TCH]

Well in my experience my MacBook is faster than my desktop PC at everything bar gaming.

 

[thepominlaw]

I was one of those serial upgraders, that enjoyed gaming at every oportunity.

When i look back at the money i have spent over the years its quite shocking. I had always been an Amiga person, then i swapped to the PC, a Gateway P60 that cost me £3350. Now in todays terms thats a lot of money, back in the day it was a hell of a lot of money. It just shows you the value of todays components. Hell i even spent £600 on a 4MB ram upgrade (yes thats megabytes).

So sitting here at my £949 iMac makes me happy, knowing its relatively cheap in tech terms (i wanted the 27" i5, but the wife and issues apple are having put me off - wife mainly ) it will do everything i want, it looks stunning and is quiet. Plus it takes up a LOT less space than my PC, Speakers, 24" monitor and Tower Case. So its all positives as far as i am concerned.

What about all my games? Something weird happened, i hit 40 and didnt want to use them that often, so the PC is still in the house, now my son has it so if i ever feel the urge a can always give it a go.

 

[LordSplodge]

Apple are exceptional designers but when the glossy fetish of aesthetics is removed, I cannot see a reason to choose a mac over a windows setup.

I can't speak for anybody else but I use a Mac because I need to get things done and spend all day with Windows so don't want to do any fiddling when I get home. You also cannot get Final Cut Studio on the PC.

I like the way Apple makes their products look and that's one reason more to buy one but not the only reason.

Oh and we've ran performance tests and the MacBook Pros at work (same spec almost as our Dells) are faster and let's say that the Mac Pro we have makes all other computers look like they operate in the stone age even beating the Dell Workstations we have. So Apples aren't slow...

However like everything else in life they aren't for everybody especially the tinkerers (I used to be one of these!)

What about all my games? Something weird happened, i hit 40 and didnt want to use them that often, so the PC is still in the house, now my son has it so if i ever feel the urge a can always give it a go.

I switched mostly to console gaming when I hit my early thirties. I still enjoy it but just like my Mac I want to come home and game and not worry about tweaks and drivers and all that jazz.

 

[Kainz]

I really REALLY like what i see when i fiddle with apples. But when I actualyl start to use them for the taks I need them for they are actually quite slow e.g. the time it takes for a 30 inch imac to open a blank spreadsheet is longer than my cheap phenom 2 setup (this is a £2k setup vs a £600 setup).

Ouch. So horribly incorrect in every area and that is coming from a PC diehard who grew with PC's and Windows from day 1. I've no idea what 'macs' you've been using but the Ghz game means nothing to an OSX based machine due to how fast the OS runs vs a similar specced PC running windows.

Any current OSX user, including me with a lowly 2ghz uMacbook will say that their rig runs way smoother, and faster in day to day activities then your odd windows machine.

I myself use my 2ghz uMacbook (my first ever mac purchased in 2009) more than my dual core 3.7ghz gaming machine. iMacs now are terrific value for money when you actually look at what you're getting.

 

[Snax]

Ouch. So horribly incorrect in every area and that is coming from a PC diehard who grew with PC's and Windows from day 1. I've no idea what 'macs' you've been using but the Ghz game means nothing to an OSX based machine due to how fast the OS runs vs a similar specced PC running windows.

Any current OSX user, including me with a lowly 2ghz uMacbook will say that their rig runs way smoother, and faster in day to day activities then your odd windows machine.

I myself use my 2ghz uMacbook (my first ever mac purchased in 2009) more than my dual core 3.7ghz gaming machine. iMacs now are terrific value for money when you actually look at what you're getting.

I understand your point about ghz; all I am going on is personal experience of the big expensive imac in the imac store and my "apple friends'" reactions when they see my pc running.

They just seem slower than a fairly cheap pc build at running fairly simple tasks. It isnt a huge issue because the differences are so small, but it is not what is expected given the apple price premium

edit- let's turn the debate around to help me understand and start to "getit" with macs. I WANT to be blown away by them after all.

Why should I spend £1k on a 21" screened pc running hardware specs that a 2 years behind what is currently on offer if I built it myself using windows as a base? What is it that makes the mac such a great bundle?

 

[TriedandTested]

I switched mostly to console gaming when I hit my early thirties. I still enjoy it but just like my Mac I want to come home and game and not worry about tweaks and drivers and all that jazz.

Aye, done that a couple of years ago. Mac Pro, Mac Book Pro and a 360. All I need.