Ferrous Moon
http://www.ferrousmoon.com:80/forums/

Thinking of buying a Mac
http://www.ferrousmoon.com:80/forums/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=1761		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  eddieringle [Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Thinking of buying a Mac
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? :)
Author:  Gwanky [Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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
Author:  eddieringle [Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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.
Author:  Switch [Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
BEWARE THE DARK SIDE LUKE.
Author:  eddieringle [Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
Quote:
BEWARE THE DARK SIDE LUKE.
So I'm guessing you are objecting?
Author:  ChaosR [Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
Not a fan of macs either
Author:  Switch [Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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.
Author:  Hammerit [Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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 ;).
Author:  Miah [Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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.
Author:  Hammerit [Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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:
Author:  eddieringle [Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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.
Author:  Rickton [Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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).
Author:  Switch [Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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.
Author:  Soldier of Light [Wed Apr 22, 2009 8:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Thinking of buying a Mac
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.
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC-05:00
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/