iMAC

[Windyplains04]

well duh... you still have to decide which you prefer...

sheesh.

face it... users rarely will spend the extra bucks for MAC hardware for a dedicated windows machine. Mac users will purchase intel based Macs for the option of dual boot with primary being MAC OS X. So in the end... you gotta still decide are you a Windows user or Mac user. You think the OP is going to purchase two licenses (windows and Mac) just so they can sit on the fence? Don't need to add confusion.

Next we'll talk about VMware.. virtual PC.. etc.. and really confused the OP. I say forget all of it and lets have class in something called Linux and its wonderful buddy Mr GIMP.

lol, I forgot about purchasing the other OS as I have all my licences from work but really if your not gaming why buy a PC. I could go on and on and on about this mac vs pc thing but i say buy a apple computer and if you find Mac os x isn't for you, theres always the option if taking your well built hardware to the windows OS not some plastic case with parts jammed in it. Obviously no one would buy a mac for use as a pc I was just saying if there are a few things about your pc you can't live without you can still have them with a mac(minus a hoard of viruses, spam, etc etc.) I've have a mac mini, macbook, powerbook g4, g4 tower, and a bunch on os 9 and under and none of the hardware has ever failed me. The mac mini was probably one of the best ones as well believe it or not. That tiny thing ran perfectly smooth and was never warm or gave off heat. My office is small but never became hot even when having my computer on for days at a time. Try putting all the pc parts in a 6x6x2 box and see if it doesn't melt.

 

[AdamZx3]

I use the Macbook Pro and I love it, I have the first series, and I maxed out the ram to 2GB...defiantly a must, and cheap using quality ebay mac ram. I have it sitting on top of a laptop chill-pad beside my desk, then I have a 22" lcd hooked up to it, as well as a keyboard and mouse via a usb hub. Works great.

Also I believe they have the heat issues worked out with the newest macbooks, mine gets very toasty running aperture or cs2!

 

[chrisburke]

I use the Macbook Pro and I love it, I have the first series, and I maxed out the ram to 2GB...defiantly a must, and cheap using quality ebay mac ram. I have it sitting on top of a laptop chill-pad beside my desk, then I have a 22" lcd hooked up to it, as well as a keyboard and mouse via a usb hub. Works great.

Also I believe they have the heat issues worked out with the newest macbooks, mine gets very toasty running aperture or cs2!

My macbook is also maxed out, i got my ram at canadaram.com and it was WAY cheaper then buying it from apple... 200 vs 600 that apple charges. I also use a chill pad and am hooked up to a 19" flat screen, and a apple keyboard and mouse, so when I'm at home, its basically just like a desktop computer, then I can take it on the road with me.

 

[AdamZx3]

Another thing I noticed is resale, if you search on ebay they resale on apple computers are very good. I can sell mine, a year old (with my 2gb of ram) for around 1600, and I paid 2000 for it. A very fine investment indeed. This allows you to sell it and buy the newest model for (in my case) around 400-500 bucks. The new ones are over 50% faster than mine and include 1gb of ram. Its comparable to selling a ford vs a honda. (though some mac fans would compare it to selling a Kia vs a Honda lol)

If you are curious to which one to buy I would defiantly visit the apple store in your area, they are knowledgeable and will let you sit down and play with them. Try out there aperture program, its like iPhoto on steroids! You can also visit a comp usa, but they dont have very good demo's at all. Applestore even has workshops to teach you about apple os-x and software like aperture, final cut pro etc... You can find locations at www.apple.com


Chris, do you have problems with your macbook pro overheating and having the laptop just reset? my friend has a newer model (2.3ghz I belive) and he doesnt have any issues at all with it. Mine will only do this under full load in aperture, i'm sure both cpu's are churning away. I hit about 77-80.c with the chillpad, and I do have the new firmware so the fans kick in sooner. Doesn't happen a lot but occasionaly. Hardly ever, if at all with photoshop, could be a bug In aperture guess, or I know the macbooks will shutdown if it gets too hot, could be that as well.

 

[chrisburke]

Chris, do you have problems with your macbook pro overheating and having the laptop just reset? my friend has a newer model (2.3ghz I belive) and he doesnt have any issues at all with it. Mine will only do this under full load in aperture, i'm sure both cpu's are churning away. I hit about 77-80.c with the chillpad, and I do have the new firmware so the fans kick in sooner. Doesn't happen a lot but occasionaly. Hardly ever, if at all with photoshop, could be a bug In aperture guess, or I know the macbooks will shutdown if it gets too hot, could be that as well.

no i've never had problems with it overheating. It does get hot, which is why i have a chill pad, but its never gone about about 72... i turned on all my ram whore like applications to get it working overtime, and it still does go munch above 72 or 73.... perhaps you should call apple care and see what they say.