New computer - Apple or Windows?

[jcdeboever]

Dells? It still is running Windows. Can you still buy them with Linux pre-loaded? Anyway, Dell has really gone down that slippery slope of cheap hardware in order to remain competitive. I can't say I blame them.

In the end, I recommend high quality hardware, efficient Operating Systems for longevity, stability, and performance. OP was trying to decide what was better for them in relation to photography.

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[Village Idiot]

Dells? It still is running Windows. Can you still buy them with Linux pre-loaded? Anyway, Dell has really gone down that slippery slope of cheap hardware in order to remain competitive. I can't say I blame them.

In the end, I recommend high quality hardware, efficient Operating Systems for longevity, stability, and performance. OP was trying to decide what was better for them in relation to photography.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I don't know if they ever offered Linux or not. We generally don't deal in Linux unless necessary. The last time we did was when we needed to set up a free e-mail server in a pinch and used CentOS on a spare box we had sitting around to do so. It's just not something the average user ever really encounters. And Dell's hardware depends on the product line you purchase. You can always spend more to go with a business class machine. Their support is some of the best if you know how to navigate them. They'll replace practically anything in a computer if you can lie, cheat, or steal your way through their technician's flow chart.

 

[jcdeboever]

Dells? It still is running Windows. Can you still buy them with Linux pre-loaded? Anyway, Dell has really gone down that slippery slope of cheap hardware in order to remain competitive. I can't say I blame them.

In the end, I recommend high quality hardware, efficient Operating Systems for longevity, stability, and performance. OP was trying to decide what was better for them in relation to photography.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

I don't know if they ever offered Linux or not. We generally don't deal in Linux unless necessary. The last time we did was when we needed to set up a free e-mail server in a pinch and used CentOS on a spare box we had sitting around to do so. It's just not something the average user ever really encounters. And Dell's hardware depends on the product line you purchase. You can always spend more to go with a business class machine. Their support is some of the best if you know how to navigate them. They'll replace practically anything in a computer if you can lie, cheat, or steal your way through their technician's flow chart.

Yeah, they used to offer Ubuntu desktops and laptops, not sure if they still do. They have always stood behind there product. They used to have some pretty good optimized drivers for the hardware on the business class side. I seen some recent enterprise hardware and it was way lower quality than they used to be.

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[jbylake]

Cliff notes on the thread.
Mac VS PC debate has been dead for a while. They'll both work very well.
It boils down to what software do you wish to use and is it available on the operating system you currently use? If so why switch? If not time to switch.
/Thread

I think the day of the Mac vs. PC debate is long over. At one time a Mac was absolutely the only way to go for serious graphics. That line no longer exists. If you're going to use it primarily for photography, video or graphics, both platforms have the hardware available to you that are on equal par with each other.
Therefore, I would just say, play with both systems and buy what you like.
My only gripe, ever, with a Mac, is that you could always get half the speed and half the raw performance, for twice the price of a good PC.
As an aside, I was in Best Buy about a week ago, and looked at Mac's newest monitor, don't remember what model it was, but it was unreal. The price was also. Then the guy took me to the "PC" side and showed me a PC compliant monitor that was just as good, specs were almost identical and it was less than half the price.

J.

 

[gckless]

You'd be hard pressed to build a PC with a 27" 5k monitor, blue tooth, thunderbolt, 2TB drive, and all the other accouterments for $2,099. You can get them even cheaper as well.

Huh? When was the last time you priced anything? The only real expense there is the monitor. Bluetooth is like a $30 adapter, thunderbolt is unnecessary when you have USB3.0 on any recent MOBO, 2TB drive is like what, $100? And not sure what you're talking about with "all the other accoutrement", but I'd be willing to bet I can get it cheaper for a PC. Just as an example, just compare the price of a simple mouse/keyboard.

 

[jcdeboever]

Cliff notes on the thread.
Mac VS PC debate has been dead for a while. They'll both work very well.
It boils down to what software do you wish to use and is it available on the operating system you currently use? If so why switch? If not time to switch.
/Thread

I think the day of the Mac vs. PC debate is long over. At one time a Mac was absolutely the only way to go for serious graphics. That line no longer exists. If you're going to use it primarily for photography, video or graphics, both platforms have the hardware available to you that are on equal par with each other.
Therefore, I would just say, play with both systems and buy what you like.
My only gripe, ever, with a Mac, is that you could always get half the speed and half the raw performance, for twice the price of a good PC.
As an aside, I was in Best Buy about a week ago, and looked at Mac's newest monitor, don't remember what model it was, but it was unreal. The price was also. Then the guy took me to the "PC" side and showed me a PC compliant monitor that was just as good, specs were almost identical and it was less than half the price.

J.

Big difference when the covers are off.

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[hamlet]

Being a penny pincher when it comes to value for money, i've always used windows as my primary Operating system because i always build my own computers. However, lately you are able to get Mac OS streight from the apple store, so i could use mac instead now but really for me its probably too late, i'm just used to windows too much since i've been using it for years.

As far as monitors go: any of the newer well received ones will do the job. What you can do is get a 4k monitor if your budget allows it.

 

[BananaRepublic]

Hi all. I'm new to photography haven just acquired a D5500 w kit lens.

Simultaneously my computer reached the end of its life last week.

I have zero experience in post-processing.

Is there a preference for apple vs Windows software? Or are they the same?

From what I gather, monitor selection will be important. Does this make the iMac 5k more attractive?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Well the main concern will be budget but I have had both In the end I went Mac book pro didn't buy new but both a refurb cause I got much better spec for the same money I spend on a standard module and what I got was far better then a windows.

The editing software you probably end up using is adobe LR & PS from online store so base your spec needs off those platform requirements.

Both Windows and Mac will run those, I used to use a 4gb Acer 4810TZ windows 7 which was fine but windows can be troublesome with updates that are constant, viruses and things. Macs are not immune to viruses though.

My current Mac book, refurb, has: (15-inch, Mid 2012), 2.7 ghz ,intel i7, 8gb

Boils down to this really Budget.
Windows cheaper but stupid, have not used windows 10!
Mac expensive but simple

 

[Village Idiot]

You'd be hard pressed to build a PC with a 27" 5k monitor, blue tooth, thunderbolt, 2TB drive, and all the other accouterments for $2,099. You can get them even cheaper as well.

Huh? When was the last time you priced anything? The only real expense there is the monitor. Bluetooth is like a $30 adapter, thunderbolt is unnecessary when you have USB3.0 on any recent MOBO, 2TB drive is like what, $100? And not sure what you're talking about with "all the other accoutrement", but I'd be willing to bet I can get it cheaper for a PC. Just as an example, just compare the price of a simple mouse/keyboard.

The mid 2015 iMac that's 2299 has a Haswell i5-4590. That's $200. The average mobo cost is about $125. For two 4GB sticks you'd pay about $50. The GPU is a laptop card and you can't really price those, but to give you the benefit of the doubt, you could say $200, which is a bit on the low side anyways. Thunderbolts are about $70. A Bluetooth wifi card is about $30. Dell sells 27" 5K monitor for a little over $1600 (that is the expensive part!). A case would run you about $100 for a decent one. Window $10 home (not even pro) $100. Office home & student (Because OS X comes with apps like pages, keynote, garageband, etc... for free) is $119.

i5-4590 - $200
Mobo - $125
Memory - $50
GPU - $200
Thunderbolt PCI card - $70
Bluetooth wifi - $30
Dell 27" 5K monitor - $1636
Case - $100
Windows 10 Home - $100
Office Home & Student - $119

$2624

That's also without any disc drives. I don't know if the iMac has one or not.

Of course, that's an all in one with a very nice monitor. You could piece together the parts with a monitor you already have or one of lesser quality, pirate the OS and apps, and leave out some of the stuff like a Thunderbolt card and bluetooth and get a cheaper computers. All those prices were off new egg BTW. Oh, that's without a drive.

So yes, when you build a computer with all the same parts, you can actually see where a similarly equipped Mac isn't much more expensive. Where they get you is on the memory upgrades and since some of their devices have the memory soldered on to the board, you're forced to pay a lot more than you would if you could just but 16GB of RAM for $100

 

[Malavok]

I've been using Mac and PC simultaneously for years (have 2 Mac, 2 PCs, dual-boot Windows on one of my Macs).

Go with whichever one you prefer, they're both capable. If you're going PC, you should custom build and you should invest in a very nice monitor. I prefer Mac; much more reliable, parts break less (generally, though my HDD did fail once but was replaced for free by Apple), beautiful displays. One of my Macs (desktop) is 12 years old and still works and has never had a hardware failure.

In terms of software, Windows is freaking awful, though Mac OS is pretty bad in some areas too but it's still better than WIN.

Mac of course is more expensive, so consider that.

 

[Village Idiot]

I've been using Mac and PC simultaneously for years (have 2 Mac, 2 PCs, dual-boot Windows on one of my Macs).

Go with whichever one you prefer, they're both capable. If you're going PC, you should custom build and you should invest in a very nice monitor. I prefer Mac; much more reliable, parts break less (generally, though my HDD did fail once but was replaced for free by Apple), beautiful displays. One of my Macs (desktop) is 12 years old and still works and has never had a hardware failure.

In terms of software, Windows is freaking awful, though Mac OS is pretty bad in some areas too but it's still better than WIN.

Mac of course is more expensive, so consider that.

Anecdotal evidence from one person is not something to go by. I've had more problems with my Macs than I have with my 7 year old computer I built. I had to replace a power supply in it this month. My current MBP had to go in for repair because the keys were etching the glass of the screen. One had to go in because the power button fell into the body. I received a new one I ordered that had a portion of the case buckled. I've had several other issues as well. Just means I haven't had the best experience with the reliability of mine as opposed to you, who have.

 

[Malavok]

I've been using Mac and PC simultaneously for years (have 2 Mac, 2 PCs, dual-boot Windows on one of my Macs).

Go with whichever one you prefer, they're both capable. If you're going PC, you should custom build and you should invest in a very nice monitor. I prefer Mac; much more reliable, parts break less (generally, though my HDD did fail once but was replaced for free by Apple), beautiful displays. One of my Macs (desktop) is 12 years old and still works and has never had a hardware failure.

In terms of software, Windows is freaking awful, though Mac OS is pretty bad in some areas too but it's still better than WIN.

Mac of course is more expensive, so consider that.

Anecdotal evidence from one person is not something to go by. I've had more problems with my Macs than I have with my 7 year old computer I built. I had to replace a power supply in it this month. My current MBP had to go in for repair because the keys were etching the glass of the screen. One had to go in because the power button fell into the body. I received a new one I ordered that had a portion of the case buckled. I've had several other issues as well. Just means I haven't had the best experience with the reliability of mine as opposed to you, who have.

Not just anecdotal ~ Macs are (or were) statistically more reliable than most PC brands, although they are also significantly less reliable now than they used to be ~4-5 years ago; Apple has really gone downhill in its quality control. Custom-built PCs are great (probably preferable to Mac) but that's different than a prebuilt ASUS or Dell, for example. If OP can custom build a PC, great, but if s/he has a lot of money to spend and wants to buy prebuilt, I still highly recommend Mac.

Of course, this all depends on the computer model. MBPs are less reliable than Mac desktops (although I find laptops in general to be less reliable).

 

[Village Idiot]

I've been using Mac and PC simultaneously for years (have 2 Mac, 2 PCs, dual-boot Windows on one of my Macs).

Go with whichever one you prefer, they're both capable. If you're going PC, you should custom build and you should invest in a very nice monitor. I prefer Mac; much more reliable, parts break less (generally, though my HDD did fail once but was replaced for free by Apple), beautiful displays. One of my Macs (desktop) is 12 years old and still works and has never had a hardware failure.

In terms of software, Windows is freaking awful, though Mac OS is pretty bad in some areas too but it's still better than WIN.

Mac of course is more expensive, so consider that.

Anecdotal evidence from one person is not something to go by. I've had more problems with my Macs than I have with my 7 year old computer I built. I had to replace a power supply in it this month. My current MBP had to go in for repair because the keys were etching the glass of the screen. One had to go in because the power button fell into the body. I received a new one I ordered that had a portion of the case buckled. I've had several other issues as well. Just means I haven't had the best experience with the reliability of mine as opposed to you, who have.

Not just anecdotal ~ Macs are (or were) statistically more reliable than most PC brands, although they are also significantly less reliable now than they used to be ~4-5 years ago; Apple has really gone downhill in its quality control. Custom-built PCs are great (probably preferable to Mac) but that's different than a prebuilt ASUS or Dell, for example. If OP can custom build a PC, great, but if s/he has a lot of money to spend and wants to buy prebuilt, I still highly recommend Mac.

Of course, this all depends on the computer model. MBPs are less reliable than Mac desktops (although I find laptops in general to be less reliable).

I never had to send my 17" Inspiron in for service. Out of the 212 workstations I have under management, at least 150 of those are Dells and the number of problems we have that are Hardware related are relatively small. Normally if something goes on a Dell, it's a power supply. That and the age matters.

 

[JoeW]

I want to add a small shout-out of disagreement. It's not true that they run identical software. I just started using a program called "Affinity Pro." It's designed for Mac. I don't believe it's available on PC. It is intended to be a competitor to Photoshop. But unlike PS with the monthly rental (which adds up after a year), this is significantly less expensive.

In general, the same software is out there for both operating systems. But when you look specifically at photography and post-production, that is not always the case.

 

[DanOstergren]

I had a very nice Macbook Pro gifted to me recently from someone I used to photograph often. Since I'm usually broke, I never would have bought one myself because I would never be able to afford it, and Windows was working just fine for me. That said, now that I use a Mac, I really like it. But I also don't dislike Windows. If I ever HAD to go back to Windows, I would have very few things to complain about (if I went back to Windows 7. I haven't used any of the newer versions of Windows OS).