Mac or Pc $1300.00 to spend

[John27]

...Had my Mac for 2 years.....Ive not had one virus/malware etc ...

That has more to do with the user than the software/hardware. If you don't open up malware/virus infected content you'll most likely never get a virus. I haven't had a virus in years on my PC. It's a matter of using what common sense you are blessed with or else you will get farked no matter what OS you run. It's a common misconception that Apple OS machines are less likely to get viruses and malware. Not to mention the more popular they get the more they will targeted.

I definitely agree with that. I haven't had a virus or malware on any of my PC's in years. I'm fairly proficient when it comes to PC's and have the experience and knowledge to know what to stay away from. The VAST majority of viruses and malware are installed by the user with permission, they don't just suddenly appear (though the user often thinks it did). But that cool toolbar or awesome 'free cursor pack' you downloaded a couple weeks ago was where the virus got in! Remember, TINSTAFL- There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, anything 'free' on the internet should be carefully evaluated. What does the producer stand to gain.

However, as to the misconception, the inherit security of OS X comes from it's unix architecture. There have only been a couple (as in a couple, not millions like in the PC world) of viruses out in the wild, none for the longest time. Instances of malware on Mac OS / OS X machines are significantly lower than their PC counterparts. People use the 'but less people have them' argument, but that's pretty false. Virus developers can easily develop the same malware for other platforms, and they have tried. It's just a very tight operating system. With a windows PC, installing software opens up a huge line of shared libraries, the registry, and all sorts of ways for software to do nasty things. Unix (the backbone of OS X) is much more locked down. It is, by design, a much more secure operating system. It is also MUCH more protected from remote attacks (though those are highly unlikely with a typical persons computer!)

As a matter of fact years ago a large anti-virus company was sued and later hit with a big class action fraud lawsuit when they produced a Mac anti-virus. The reason? It had 0 definitions in it. It was a dormant program, there were no viruses, thus, there was nothing for the AV to detect or fix! There HAVE been a couple of malware pieces here a little bit more recently, but instead of an AV, Apple promptly released fixes closing the loophole that allowed them to be destructive. Microsoft has also been more pro-active though, the NT Kernel isn't very secure nor is the design of windows, but Microsoft goes the other way and provides an arsenal of free and excellent anti-virus solutions and monthly updates to keep up with the onslaught of viruses. The typical user who is somewhat tech savvy should be perfectly fine on a Windows machine running Microsofts security tools.

 

[manaheim]

Ugh


Macs and PCS are both viable.

Macs have come a long way but you will still find more titles available for pcs that are not available for macs, though there are cases of the reverse.

Bang/buck pcs are still a bit cheaper.

Macs are a bit simpler to use but you are also typically boxed into a reduced number of ways to do things.

These are FACTS. Not opinions.

 

[jamesdak]

I am in pretty much the same situation. Have to update a 7 year old machine used for all my photography work. When it came right down to it I just could not justify the price of a Mac no matter how much I wanted to use it. You get so much more for your dollar with a PC. And yes I could have looked at use Macs but same thing, buying a PC used would really yield one heck of a machine. Now people talk about virus but I run good anti-virus on my PC and don't share this computer with my kids so viruses are never really a concern. And no Macs are not immune to viruses... I was going to build my own PC but found a well spec'd Dell at a really cheap price and went that route. No regrets at all.

 

[rexbobcat]

If you buy a laptop think about getting a Mac. Their laptop screens are sooo much better than the budget screen you get from Dell/HP/whoever.

With PCs though you can get a faster PC for the same price as a Mac, AND can get a nice bright screen as well.

 

[Designer]

I had to of assumed I would be starting a Mac vs. Pc debate. As for the 'Specs' references, arn't really good Specs something I should be lookng for in the case of program usage. The 'User Interface' is alot simplier on the Mac, but will that be worth the Lack of Specs it will have for up and coming program upgrades and requirements. Considering this is a computer I will have this for the next 4 or 5 years, depending on my future budget. I was looking at the brand new IMac 21.5in. 2.7ghz, Thats roughly my price range, But at the same time just Built my own HP on there site and was able to get double the 'Specs' for the same price.

Tough choices,
Thanks for the help.

Dear OP; you're going at this bass-ackwards. You FIRST need to decide on the software applications you intend to use, THEN that will indicate what hardware to get.

For instance; if the software you wish to run is not available for the Mac, but is for the PC, then that will make your decision for you.

I have an iMac, BTW. We also have two HP's, but I use the Mac for my stuff.

 

[unpopular]

I was going to build my own PC but found a well spec'd Dell at a really cheap price and went that route. No regrets at all.

You will in about two years. It's a Dell.

 

[jamesdak]

I was going to build my own PC but found a well spec'd Dell at a really cheap price and went that route. No regrets at all.

You will in about two years. It's a Dell.

LOL, whatev!! Still have two 10+ year old dell pentium 4 towers running at the house right now. No concerns about buying Dell at all. Especially with the deal I got, hell financially if it blew up in a year I'd be happy. So there!

 

[stpierre87]

Through out all of this I believe I have decided to choose the new IMac. I now have another Techy question if everybody would care to respond and give me some more advice. In the mean time, while saving for a more expensive Imac I'm thinking of just upgrading my Pc to hold me over. I already have a really good display. The pc is a HP p6110, all stock. Pentium dual core CPU E5300, 2.6 ghz, RAM 6 GB, 64 Bit operating system, 640GB 7200RPM 3g/sec hard drive. I Baby this computer. Just some programs are running slow and I try not to run two programs at once. The actual question.... What is the first piece of hardware I should upgrade to make things run faster. ?

Thanks.

 

[John27]

stpierre those specs are pretty good. Are the same programs running slower than they did before?

Keep in mind some applications are just demanding. I have a very high end system and it still takes a couple seconds to do some things in photoshop.

If the issues you are struggling with are related to video or high resolution images, then a discrete graphics card may be the best upgrade. This will take some of the load off of the CPU and better process the images on your screen. It doesn't have to be anything extreme, just something a little faster than the likely onboard graphics.

Also, when you say a 'good' monitor, do you mean an IPS display? It's not just about being 'good', it's about being a display capable of handling a full spectrum of colors and being accurate. If you aren't doing this professionally it's certainly not crucial, but I really think it can help you get the most out of your images.

 

[texkam]

Defrag. Run CCleaner.

 

[stpierre87]

stpierre those specs are pretty good. Are the same programs running slower than they did before?

Keep in mind some applications are just demanding. I have a very high end system and it still takes a couple seconds to do some things in photoshop.

If the issues you are struggling with are related to video or high resolution images, then a discrete graphics card may be the best upgrade. This will take some of the load off of the CPU and better process the images on your screen. It doesn't have to be anything extreme, just something a little faster than the likely onboard graphics.

Also, when you say a 'good' monitor, do you mean an IPS display? It's not just about being 'good', it's about being a display capable of handling a full spectrum of colors and being accurate. If you aren't doing this professionally it's certainly not crucial, but I really think it can help you get the most out of your images.

I do have a IPS display, its a 23' 1920 x1080 Res, Full Hd monitor. Its not a apple display but I think its nice. Do you think the graphics card is keeping my source monitor in adobe premiere running slow. ? The other programs such as adobe light room, and photoshop just seem to run slow switching in between presets or zooming in, things of that nature.

 

[stpierre87]

Defrag. Run CCleaner.

As I said before I do baby thing comuter, I run the defrag once a week as well as the disk cleaner.

 

[Mike_E]

Defrag is good and so is CCleaner but why not try formatting and reloading your OS before dropping all that money on a new comp? No matter how good you are after a while you just need a fresh start.

$1300 would pay for a really nice prime lens.

Just sayin'.

 

[Rhoads238]

Apple is great for photo and video editing. but for a 1300 dollar price range you arent going to get much from mac. get a pc. It's what I have even though i wanted a mac but I couldn't find one that had the features I wanted for around that price point (mine was slightly lower). But I managed to get one that can run all the programs I need, has a boat load of disk space and has a pretty decent 17" display (i got a laptop).

 

[John27]

stpierre those specs are pretty good. Are the same programs running slower than they did before?

Keep in mind some applications are just demanding. I have a very high end system and it still takes a couple seconds to do some things in photoshop.

If the issues you are struggling with are related to video or high resolution images, then a discrete graphics card may be the best upgrade. This will take some of the load off of the CPU and better process the images on your screen. It doesn't have to be anything extreme, just something a little faster than the likely onboard graphics.

Also, when you say a 'good' monitor, do you mean an IPS display? It's not just about being 'good', it's about being a display capable of handling a full spectrum of colors and being accurate. If you aren't doing this professionally it's certainly not crucial, but I really think it can help you get the most out of your images.

I do have a IPS display, its a 23' 1920 x1080 Res, Full Hd monitor. Its not a apple display but I think its nice. Do you think the graphics card is keeping my source monitor in adobe premiere running slow. ? The other programs such as adobe light room, and photoshop just seem to run slow switching in between presets or zooming in, things of that nature.

If it is slow now but wasn't slow before (with the same version of the program working on the same resolution images) then the issues lies somewhere else. A fatal flaw in Windows is it's registry that, over time, becomes sort of 'clogged up' with unnecessary data. The OS would need to be re-installed in that case.

However, if you are talking about running Adobe Premiere on an onboard graphics chip, then you definitely need to upgrade that.

You will need a PCI Express port on your motherboard in order to upgrade this. If you aren't sure if you have this, then take the side panel off of your computer and take a picture and upload it here. If you don't have a PCI-E port then you are pretty much as fast as you are realistically going to get. You can rarely upgrade the CPU on an OEM motherboard (the BIOS is usually very limited) and you have more than enough RAM to handle the stuff you are doing. And besides, I really think your bottleneck is your GPU.

If you do have a PCI Express slot, here are two good options;

Newegg.com - MSI R6670-MD1GD3 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Newegg.com - MSI N640GT-MD1GD3 GeForce GT 640 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

You could even go cheaper if you need to, but these will perform excellently and really speed up any video editing and certainly any high resolution image editing.