macs... imac vs. mac pro?

SooTyLaD

SooTyLaD

SooTyLaD

Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
3,480
hi guys,

i've been playing with an imac recently and the more i play the more i want to convert from pc :shock: - or at least have both :D

my question is, is it worth my while even looking at the massive extra cost of going mac pro over imac? i am a heavy user of adobe stuff (primarily photoshop, illustrator and flash), so would the benefits of the pro really shine thorugh? or are the advantages of the really high powered variants only noticable with intense video and 3d stuff?

the imac (24 inch version with 2 gig ram and the 2.66 cpu) is the current choice, but will i be sitting there in a few months wishing i had gone for a pro?
 
The Mac Pro is only really justifiable if you're doing heavy video work ala 1080 etc

Any old Intel Mac with 2GB RAM can run most of the programs you have mentioned, the iMac is an excellent choice if your not looking to go portable.
 
I agree with Will. The Pro is really for those doing serious number crunching. If you could get one second hand it might be worth it, but otherwise for the applications you mentioned, it's not worth the extra expense.
 
thats exactly what i wanted to hear :) - i only ever deal with 2d so from the sound of it i'll be just fine :)

are these things any good at running windows to play games or it that a nono? the graphics cards dont really seem poo hot?
 
QuiKsiLVeR said:
thats exactly what i wanted to hear :) - i only ever deal with 2d so from the sound of it i'll be just fine :)

are these things any good at running windows to play games or it that a nono? the graphics cards dont really seem poo hot?
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I can play most games at low/medium with good results on my Macbook pro (Half Life 2, Episode 1, CS:S, DOD:S Supreme commander etc.) on the imac it'll probably be similar.

The higher resolution of the imac may have some bearing on the ability to play games imo I wouldn't buy the imac just to play games :) you will be dissapointed, but for the occassional mess around on some games, it'll be fine
 
yeah they run Windows natively with Bootcamp, or virtualised Parallels/VM Ware

The GPUs on the current models aren't exactly amazing but run last gen games OKish.
 
ok, well that was only a part of me wondering if i could just use the mac exclusively, in that case i'll stick with my pc and 8800 gts :D

mac sounds like the way forward for the work side of things tho... i'm just loving the way it all just... works!

i've heard that from the way programs are installed and uninstalled etc that the hard drive never really gets clogged and needs formatting, is that right? is it really that neat?
 
Pretty much. Some programs leave configurations in the Library but, for the most part, all are self contained within the .app. I think it is easier to keep clean that whatever variety of Windows is in vogue these days.
 
I have just bought a new self-build set up. However, I was *very* close to just getting the larger imac. It's pretty good value for money, very tidy, and good performance.

In the end I chose the PC route, as I just like tweaking too much :)
 
QuiKsiLVeR said:
i've heard that from the way programs are installed and uninstalled etc that the hard drive never really gets clogged and needs formatting, is that right? is it really that neat?
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For the most part, although some apps are just like windows apps and leave crap everywhere even when they're gone. There's AppZapper for those ones though.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
You could play games at low settings if you wanted to. That's the real benefit of the Pro, you can get it with a decently powerful GPU.
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And if you have a deep enough pocket to go with it - £170 (extra) for a X1900 is laughable.

Mind you they do charge £100 extra for a 7300, so who knows what world Apple live in :p
 
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