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     Post subject:Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:03 pm 
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    Joined:Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:56 pm
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    Website:http://eddieringle.com
    Location:Detroit, MI
    Okay, so here's the deal:

    I received a $200 gift certificate for Newegg.com from my parents on Christmas.
    I have a desktop machine built in November 2007 costing around $600.
    I believe that the motherboard may be going bad (cheap ECS mb, _NEVER_ buy from them), so I found a good $80 Asus motherboard at Newegg.
    I figured if I upgraded the motherboard (New mb comes with AMD 770 chipset Vs. AMD 580 in my current mb), then I could get a few more dollars for my computer on Ebay or wherever.
    Then, keeping my two monitors, keyboard, and mouse, I buy a new Mac Mini from Newegg.com.
    Although I hear opening the thing up is a pain, I'd rather buy that model and spend $100 upgrading the RAM to 4GB and a 320GB 7200rpm hard drive rather than spending $800 on a Mac Mini that only has 2GB of RAM and a 320GB 5200rpm hard drive.

    Current desktop specs:
    2.6GHz (clocks at 2.7GHz) AMD 5200+ AM2 processor
    ECS KA3MVP Extreme motherboard
    2GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM
    HIS ATI RadeonHD 2600XT 512MB
    DVD-ROM drive (yeah, was too cheap to spend the extra $5 on a writer)
    500-some watt power supply
    250GB SATA hard drive

    My desktop is custom-built, and the copy of XP I used belongs to the family, so I can't include it along with the PC. I was thinking of offering installing Ubuntu Linux on it.

    Also, my wallet was only out $300 for the desktop, while my parents paid the other $300. So I really won't be hurt financially in the long run.

    So, any suggestions/comments/offers to buy my desktop? :)

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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:33 pm 
     

    Joined:Sun Jun 10, 2007 11:41 am
    Posts:344
    Location:Ninjaville
    My advice, don't buy a Mac mini, based on your current computers specs your taking a massive step down. Mac Minis have god awful integrated graphics cards terrible terrible Intel eXtreme Graphics. It will be a huge step down and you will be saddened if you need to buy a mac that badly get an older laptop off www.lowendmac.com


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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:35 pm 
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    Joined:Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:56 pm
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    Website:http://eddieringle.com
    Location:Detroit, MI
    I really don't play games like I use to, so I don't need the graphics power. I like the fact that OS X has *nix style applications and a great UI too.

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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:54 pm 
     

    Joined:Mon May 29, 2006 6:11 pm
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    BEWARE THE DARK SIDE LUKE.


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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:25 am 
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    Joined:Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:56 pm
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    Website:http://eddieringle.com
    Location:Detroit, MI
    Quote:
    BEWARE THE DARK SIDE LUKE.
    So I'm guessing you are objecting?

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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:47 am 
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    Joined:Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:40 pm
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    Not a fan of macs either

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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:54 am 
     

    Joined:Mon May 29, 2006 6:11 pm
    Posts:266
    Not a fan. Unless you really need to use an apple exclusive software like protools, I don't see the advantage when I find you can make a more powerful PC for the same price (Or same power PC for a lower price; whichever)

    Edit. Before I get called a troll or something, I'm fully aware that this probably won't change your mind.


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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:09 am 
     

    Joined:Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:49 pm
    Posts:33
    Quote:
    Not a fan. Unless you really need to use an apple exclusive software like protools, I don't see the advantage when I find you can make a more powerful PC for the same price (Or same power PC for a lower price; whichever)
    Right indeed. Where I'm from a Mac costs around 4times as much as a pc of comparable power ;).


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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:51 am 
    Literally Nine
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    Joined:Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:00 am
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    All of my dev is on a Mac.

    Anyway, you need to clarify "comparable hardware" as 2GB RAM isn't always the same. DDR2 RAM is a lot cheaper than DDR3. Guess which type comes by default with Macs?

    Not that I agree with this policy. I'm not a fan of the bottom line, but I do have to respect it, and occasionally the cutting edge (and more expensive) tech is a deal breaker. Nevertheless, if you were to square up hardware that was in fact the exact same, then you might find that it's not such a huge leap in price. Where I am, it's actually cheaper.

    Mind, I just buy the stripped down macs and load them with different hardware. DDR2 is fine by me.

    Anyway, I'd crack the thing open. This site might even have a take-apart guide for you.


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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:22 pm 
     

    Joined:Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:49 pm
    Posts:33
    Quote:
    Not that I agree with this policy. I'm not a fan of the bottom line, but I do have to respect it, and occasionally the cutting edge (and more expensive) tech is a deal breaker. Nevertheless, if you were to square up hardware that was in fact the exact same, then you might find that it's not such a huge leap in price. Where I am, it's actually cheaper.
    I don't doubt that since a friend of mine bought a Mac quite a while ago. Imported from the states, shipping, taxes, tolls and transaction fees included it actually cost him about 3/4 of what it's sold for in germany (saved some 800€).

    Btw to me comparable means "as useful" :wink:


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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:20 pm 
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    Joined:Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:56 pm
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    Website:http://eddieringle.com
    Location:Detroit, MI
    Quote:
    All of my dev is on a Mac.

    Anyway, you need to clarify "comparable hardware" as 2GB RAM isn't always the same. DDR2 RAM is a lot cheaper than DDR3. Guess which type comes by default with Macs?

    Not that I agree with this policy. I'm not a fan of the bottom line, but I do have to respect it, and occasionally the cutting edge (and more expensive) tech is a deal breaker. Nevertheless, if you were to square up hardware that was in fact the exact same, then you might find that it's not such a huge leap in price. Where I am, it's actually cheaper.

    Mind, I just buy the stripped down macs and load them with different hardware. DDR2 is fine by me.

    Anyway, I'd crack the thing open. This site might even have a take-apart guide for you.
    Thanks for the link Miah. I know DDR3 is more expensive but it's still cheaper than buying an iMac or Mac Pro.

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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:49 pm 
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    Joined:Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:47 pm
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    I can't speak for value among desktops, but when it comes to laptops my $1000 Mac laptop is better than my roomates' $1000 Dell Laptops.
    For games, even, believe it or not. The MacBook comes (or, came anyway. I have one from '07. No idea what the situation is now) with a better graphics card than the PC (it is embedded which isn't great, but it has more video RAM which means I can play some games they just plain can't).

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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:35 pm 
     

    Joined:Mon May 29, 2006 6:11 pm
    Posts:266
    Quote:
    I can't speak for value among desktops, but when it comes to laptops my $1000 Mac laptop is better than my roomates' $1000 Dell Laptops.
    For games, even, believe it or not. The MacBook comes (or, came anyway. I have one from '07. No idea what the situation is now) with a better graphics card than the PC (it is embedded which isn't great, but it has more video RAM which means I can play some games they just plain can't).
    In laptops then yeah, I concede that. Laptops are useless for gaming etc, and pre-built machines are generally crap. I'd only get a laptop that was custom built.


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     Post subject:Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
    PostPosted:Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:00 am 
     

    Joined:Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:57 pm
    Posts:175
    AOL:DKWiz214
    Personally I agree with the general consensus that macs are not worth the extra money. Unfortunately, neither are Dells or any other name brand. If you're planning on re-outfitting the machine anyway, it doesn't really matter what brand you buy.

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