Please recommend a computer for photo editing

Macs today have the same hardware in them that PCs do, and they cost about 20-30% more. I have nothing against Macs, but I can't, in good conscience, recommend a Mac to someone on a budget, especially one under 1k.

Try 100% more.... a bare bones iMac starts at $1,200... an equivalent PC about $600. Toss into the mix the fact that the Mac operating system is based off of Unix, which is essentially Linux.... which is free....

But you are right.... I would never recommend a Mac to anyone... budget or not.

Something I forgot to mention in my first post. Avoid at all costs building a computer. Unless you are a high tech gamer, it isn't worth it. 10 years ago, it was a great thing... but today, computers are so cheap you aren't looking at saving much money by building one... and when you build one, you get no support. The $100 you save by building it yourself is going to get washed out in the 8 hours it takes you to build, configure, and install the OS on a homemade.

And another thing.... don't bother asking what brand to buy. You are going to get 10 different answers from 10 differnt people... and each of the 10 answers is going to get bashed by the other 9 people. Just shop around for a name brand computer... Dell, Gateway, Sony, Toshiba, IBM, HP... and you'll be fine. Some of them run good deals at times, and the bottom line is all the parts are made in the same place anyway.

Did you include about $300 for a good 22" IPS display?

And I'm assuming you're comparing it to a budget PC. What about a Sony AIO with the same specs? They run about the same price.

And OS X's design goes far beyond something like Ubuntu. I've only ever once had to manually install a driver for anything in OS X. Plus the built in features are something I have to use 3rd party programs in Windows to acheive.

Rosewill ATX mid tower $40
Mobo and Intel i5 - 750 2.66ghz quad core processor $315
GeIL 4x1GB memory $120
EVGA 1GB Nvidia GTS 250 $135
Antec 650W PS $110

You can get 1TB HDDs for about $100 and DVD driver for something like $20.

A basic build with a quick browse through Newegg. $840 + tax, etc...

Cheapest comparable computer on Dell's site in an Inspiron 580 with 20" monitor. Thing is it has a mediocre 512MB GPU and a 300gb HDD, irrc. Not to mention, with a self built rig, you know where the parts come from.
 
My daughter uses a Mac for her graphic arts courses in college. Its been highly regarded as a much better system for graphics and photos. PC (windows) is primarily better at word processing and pricing. You wont find a mac under $1000. I myself use a dell pc but dream of the day my daughter passes down her Mac to me.
A good pc for around $500-$700 will get your pretty far. Good luck and check around, You'll be fine.

Myths. There's only two reasons to choose an Apple over a PC for "graphics and photos" and they are personal preference and the want to use a program that's on one OS and not the other.

It used to be true a long long long time ago, but that was in the 80's? Either one will do either job suitably.

Oh. Hai! Mac Mini, $599 - Apple - Mac mini - The most affordable, energy-efficient Mac. I found a Mac under $1000.

Try 100% more.... a bare bones iMac starts at $1,200... an equivalent PC about $600. Toss into the mix the fact that the Mac operating system is based off of Unix, which is essentially Linux.... which is free....

But you are right.... I would never recommend a Mac to anyone... budget or not.

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Let's see, how many times have I had a blue screen of death on my Mac's?...0

How many viruses have I had on my Mac's?...0

How many times have I had hardware issues with my Mac's?...0

How many times have I had registry issues with my Mac's?...0

How many times have I had installation issues with my Mac?...1 It was the software vendors error that they had fixed by the next day, not a problem with my OS.

How many times have I had uninstall issues with my Mac?...0

Want me to go on???:D

Yes Mac's cost more in outlay, but their serviceable life is longer, they have far fewer vulnerabilities, fewer compatibility issues and the hardware that Apple uses is dependable top of the line.

While I too would probably not recommend a Mac to someone on a tight budget, I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quality, well written tight system that they can depend on.

I beg to differ... Mac can get a virus just as, if not more easily than a PC. Mostly due to the idea that 90% of mac owners have that they simply CAN'T get one. the fact of the matter is you can, and it'll happen faster than a pc would. The only reason mac users don't get them as often, is because 75% of the world uses PC's.

It would be a huge waste of time for a hacker to write and distribute a virus that will only effect 25% of a collective, when he can gain so much more information from the 75%. About a year ago, i was surfing the web daily, on a PC with out of date (by 2 years) virus definitions, and didn't cop a single virus.

The reason you hear of so many PC's getting hit, is not because of the hardware, but because of the ignorant users who don't know what things they shouldn't click on.

My art professor uses a Macbook Pro, and I've watched it crash more than once right in front of me while he was showing me photoshop/flash/bridge work. He got the blue screen of death once as well.

Some friends from my local church use macs, and two out of the four had to have there hard drives replaced due to random crashes and all information being wiped.

and for your uninstall, hardware, and registry issues, I've never had any problems with my PC, except for one update where I had to change a number in the code and reboot to start up. But it took me maybe 10 minutes to find and correct. And the ability to upgrade anything I want in my PC makes it worth having over a mac alone.

If you loosen a screw on your mac your warranty is voided.... WTF kinda ish is that?
=)

As for the OP, I'd say build your own PC. You can get a WAY better pc for 1k if you build it yourself than if you buy it from a brand. Newegg, and that Tiger site mentioned earlier are really good for buying parts, and are generally 20% or more cheaper than your local Best buy or Fry's.

The biggest thing is to get a quad-core processor, and ram to match. BE careful though because TOO much ram will cause problems in your pc, and to little ram will cause problems. I'd say if you get a quad core processor, 6gb of ram should be the perfect amount for photos. (video requires 12gbs).

also mentioned before duel hard drives is a must. Windows uses about 6 to 8 gb's of space alone just to install. running it uses more. so one HDD to run windows, one to store programs and back up windows. then a third or even fourth External HDD would be good to back up your photos, and other important files.

as far as graphics cards go, most brand name desktops put deecent cards in now, my gateway i bought in 09 came with a nice Radeon HDMI card and runs my video games flawlessly on HIGH everything. But if your building your own, i'd suggest going to a site called www.systemwars.com (I haven't been there in a long time but the PC section is called "Hermit Habitat") but make an account and ask what the pc world thinks is the best graphics card at the moment for your wants. they have strong opinions but they know what there talking about.

But graphics cards are just as important as anything else, because they define how well you see things on your monitor. The image quality, color modes, and smoothness of gradients and such.

Lastly FANS, LOTS AND LOTS OF FANS. Photo editing takes up a lot of CPU, photoshop, bridge, lightroom, they use a lot of CPU processes, so you need good fans to keep your PC cool. and even if you want to research it, Water cooling is something to think about, but it has Pros and Cons, so thats your decision.

Yes, we get it already. People are ignorant of the facts. The few vulnerabilities out there usually consist of using something like Safari to gain access to a user's computer, along with the user actually having to click on something granting permission to a hacker to do so.

When's the last time you've heard of an OS X install riddled with virii? Probably not as many times as I've actually had to fix PCs that were infected.

I've also seen quite a few people using Apples that would be just as clueless on a PC and if they were using a PC, would probably have a ton of malware, adware, viruses, and who knows what else.

I've owned Macs and numerous PCs and each company that I've purchased the equipment from has successfully fixed or replaced any piece of hardware that ended up malfunctioning within the warranty period. I've seen more PCs break down, but then again they're the cheap ones that're leased to our company.

I haven't read the whole thread but most people in "the arts" prefer the Mac; I personally like the PC. Whatever you buy make sure you buy the better version of the processor (only goes for PC). For Intel its Pentium vs Celeron, I'm not an AMD person but if you do choose AMD buy it's premium version. You should buy a Video Accellerator card - don't share the onboard memory. And don't go whole hog! whatever you buy today will be obsolete tommorrow.

I don't know how much pricing has been mentioned but you can get a HP Pentium I-3, 4 Gig of memory, 640 Gig hard drive and 512 Meg video card for approx $650. Just my $0.02.

Even if you buy a Mac, you want to best processor possible. Like buying an I7 iMac vs. a c2d for photo editing.

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Let's see, how many times have I had a blue screen of death on my Mac's?...0

How many viruses have I had on my Mac's?...0

How many times have I had hardware issues with my Mac's?...0

How many times have I had registry issues with my Mac's?...0

How many times have I had installation issues with my Mac?...1 It was the software vendors error that they had fixed by the next day, not a problem with my OS.

How many times have I had uninstall issues with my Mac?...0

Want me to go on???:D

Yes Mac's cost more in outlay, but their serviceable life is longer, they have far fewer vulnerabilities, fewer compatibility issues and the hardware that Apple uses is dependable top of the line.

While I too would probably not recommend a Mac to someone on a tight budget, I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quality, well written tight system that they can depend on.

If you are going to make the switch off of Windows in favor of a different operating system... make the switch to Linux.

I'm not suggesting that Windows is better... In fact I would agree the Mac has the superior operating system over Windows... but its NOT superior over Linux... and Linux is free. Linux is a quality, well written, tight system that you can depend on.... so why recommend someone pay $1,000 more than they need too?

When you by a Mac, you are paying for an image... not a computer.

Yawn. BS.

Linux can be a good OS, but there are so many varients that there's no real stability to the platform between different OSs and different upgrades even.

I upgraded from Ubuntu 7.X to 8.x and some of my hardware wouldn't work. They didn't include the drivers that came with 7.X in the 8.X upgrade (or is that downgrade?). I had to find Windows drivers and use a wrapper to get them to work. Worst part is, the wireless card was one of the devices affected so I had to use additional computers to fix my Linux box.

Saving me from that trouble alone is worth the $30 it costs for Snow Leopard. Not to mention all the other features just make it a million times easier to use than Linux will probably ever be.

When you buy a Mac, you buy at the beginning of the product's life cycle and you get a computer that is not that much more than comparable PCs, but with additional touches. When's the first time you've seen a notebook that was less than an inch thick and had a backlit keyboard? I don't know about you, but for me that was several years ago with the MBP. Can't recall the first time I've seen a PC clone, but I know it was that long ago and I'm pretty sure that the price is going to be similar.
 
Sorry guys, my intention was not to start a "mac vs. pc" thread...

Anyway, I'm leaning towards the "build your own pc" route. Thank you for everyone's comments, and if anyone has any other input on what kind of setup I should go with (similar to what Village Idiot provided a few comments up), that would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
Sorry guys, my intention was not to start a "mac vs. pc" thread...

Anyway, I'm leaning towards the "build your own pc" route. Thank you for everyone's comments, and if anyone has any other input on what kind of setup I should go with (similar to what Village Idiot provided a few comments up), that would be appreciated. Thanks.

I built a gaming rig last summer right before the i5 was released. It cost about $1700, but that's mainly because of the GPU and some other frivolties (even a word?).

i7-920
3 x 2GB RAM
1000W PS
Nvidia 1.8GB GTX 295 ($500 just by itself)
Blu Ray burner

and some other junk.
 
How come you called my post useless, but not gryphonslair99? Oh right, because you own a Mac, and you probably actually believe those Mac vs. PC commercials.

NO..


He is basically saying that he switch to Mac and things improved for him. It is a statement that is TRUE for his case. Your response is basically that of the "doctor" saying that gryph's experiences have no merit because "it works for you". Which is utterly idiotic.


As I said, most if not all market growth for Mac OS X in the recent years is solely placed on the mistakes within the Windows experience. The opposite cannot be stated.




--

Btw... I'm a Linux user steaming from a unix background. Last time I checked, I can't buy a Lightroom is not ported to Linux. So no.. that is not a solution.
 
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How come you called my post useless, but not gryphonslair99? Oh right, because you own a Mac, and you probably actually believe those Mac vs. PC commercials.

NO..


He is basically saying that he switch to Mac and things improved for him. It is a statement that is TRUE for his case. Your response is basically that of the "doctor" saying that gryph's experiences have no merit because "it works for you". Which is utterly idiotic.


As I said, most if not all market growth for Mac OS X in the recent years is solely placed on the mistakes within the Windows experience. The opposite cannot be stated.

And I am saying that I've used both Macs and PCs, and for the price you get more with a PC. What part of reading comprehension do you not understand? The post you originally quoted was a completely tongue-in-cheek attempt to show that the arguments used 10 years ago by Mac users are still being used today even though they are nearly completely irrelavant now. I've said in this thread (and in other threads...go ahead and search!) that you should buy what works for you. However, in context of the OPs problem, I couldn't recommend a Mac mainly because of the price. It was someone else who said they would never recommend a Mac.

If you consider me using a tongue-incheek method of pardody as a way of showing his experiences have no merit, then you missed the whole point of what I posted. He wasn't showing his experiences. He was basically repeating almost verbatim what the Mac vs PC commercials and stupid "fast PC" remedy products like finallyfast.com say about PCs.

Please quote gryphon as saying, and I quote from your post, "He is basically saying that he switch to Mac and things improved for him." I'm trying to find where he said that and can't find it. He might have switched, but nothing he said indicates that. I just read through grphon's post...twice...and again, there's nothing in there indicating that he switched, or he actually experienced those himself. Again...reading comprehension is good.

And to say what I've always said (both here and in other posts):

If you like PCs, stick with it.
If you like Macs, stick with it.
If you have a specific reason to have either one, then get the appropriate one.
If you're not sure which to get, but want a good computer for a good price, get a PC.

Please usayit, read what I say, read what others say, and don't extrapolate information that simply isn't there.
 
How come you called my post useless, but not gryphonslair99? Oh right, because you own a Mac, and you probably actually believe those Mac vs. PC commercials.

NO..


He is basically saying that he switch to Mac and things improved for him. It is a statement that is TRUE for his case. Your response is basically that of the "doctor" saying that gryph's experiences have no merit because "it works for you". Which is utterly idiotic.


As I said, most if not all market growth for Mac OS X in the recent years is solely placed on the mistakes within the Windows experience. The opposite cannot be stated.

And I am saying that I've used both Macs and PCs, and for the price you get more with a PC. What part of reading comprehension do you not understand? The post you originally quoted was a completely tongue-in-cheek attempt to show that the arguments used 10 years ago by Mac users are still being used today even though they are nearly completely irrelavant now. I've said in this thread (and in other threads...go ahead and search!) that you should buy what works for you. However, in context of the OPs problem, I couldn't recommend a Mac mainly because of the price. It was someone else who said they would never recommend a Mac.

If you consider me using a tongue-incheek method of pardody as a way of showing his experiences have no merit, then you missed the whole point of what I posted. He wasn't showing his experiences. He was basically repeating almost verbatim what the Mac vs PC commercials and stupid "fast PC" remedy products like finallyfast.com say about PCs.

Please quote gryphon as saying, and I quote from your post, "He is basically saying that he switch to Mac and things improved for him." I'm trying to find where he said that and can't find it. He might have switched, but nothing he said indicates that. I just read through grphon's post...twice...and again, there's nothing in there indicating that he switched, or he actually experienced those himself. Again...reading comprehension is good.

And to say what I've always said (both here and in other posts):

If you like PCs, stick with it.
If you like Macs, stick with it.
If you have a specific reason to have either one, then get the appropriate one.
If you're not sure which to get, but want a good computer for a good price, get a PC.

Please usayit, read what I say, read what others say, and don't extrapolate information that simply isn't there.

So you're saying that Macs aren't good computers for a good price. It's right there ^.
 
So you're saying that Macs aren't good computers for a good price. It's right there ^.

Close, but not quite.

And I am saying that I've used both Macs and PCs, and for the price you get more with a PC.

and

If you're not sure which to get, but want a good computer for a good price, get a PC.

I don't think that Macs are a good value if you don't have a reason to buy one. That is all. I use Macs everyday at work and actually like OS X. Macs are great computers, but you're paying a lot extra for what a lot of people would perceive as not much more value.

If you like Aperture and not Lightroom, get a Mac. If you prefer OSX to PC, and the extra "Mac Tax" is worth it for you, get a Mac. If you don't care what OS you use, buy a PC and put a down payment on that new 'L' glass you want with the money you save. :p
 
So you're saying that Macs aren't good computers for a good price. It's right there ^.

Close, but not quite.

And I am saying that I've used both Macs and PCs, and for the price you get more with a PC.

and

If you're not sure which to get, but want a good computer for a good price, get a PC.

I don't think that Macs are a good value if you don't have a reason to buy one. That is all. I use Macs everyday at work and actually like OS X. Macs are great computers, but you're paying a lot extra for what a lot of people would perceive as not much more value.

If you like Aperture and not Lightroom, get a Mac. If you prefer OSX to PC, and the extra "Mac Tax" is worth it for you, get a Mac. If you don't care what OS you use, buy a PC and put a down payment on that new 'L' glass you want with the money you save. :p

I just configured a 13" 2.26ghz MBP with 4GB RAM to nearly the same specs as a 13" 2.13ghz HP Envy with 3GB of RAM and the Envy came out at $1700 with the MBP at $1350.

That's a pretty steep Mac tax at -$350.
 
And I am saying that I've used both Macs and PCs, and for the price you get more with a PC. What part of reading comprehension do you not understand? The post you originally quoted was a completely tongue-in-cheek attempt to show that the arguments used 10 years ago by Mac users are still being used today even though they are nearly completely irrelavant now.

and what part of your own post do you not understand? What part of "Your experience does not invalidate the experience of another" do you not understand? What part of "It their f'in money they can spend it anyway they please" do you not understand?

Oh its "tongue-in-cheek" now.. hmmm I see. So are you now saying that 10 years ago Windows had problems and the statements were valid 10 years ago? Kinda interesting since 10 years ago is when MAC OS X started to make headway into market share.

Let's see, how many times have I had a blue screen of death on my Windows 7 machine?...0

How many viruses have I had on my Windows 7 machine?...Not sure, but I've never seen one, and I work in IT, so if I haven't seen it, it probably isn't there or anti-virus got to it first. I can't wait for the first Mac viruses to start running rampant. :) Just a matter of time...

How many times have I had hardware issues with my Windows 7 machine?...0

How many times have I had registry issues with my Windows 7 machine?...0

How many times have I had installation issues with my Windows 7 machine?...0

How many times have I had uninstall issues with my Windows 7 machine?...0

How much less did I pay for my Windows 7 machine than an equivalent Mac?...$500

Want me to go on???:D
 
So you're saying that Macs aren't good computers for a good price. It's right there ^.

Close, but not quite.



and

If you're not sure which to get, but want a good computer for a good price, get a PC.

I don't think that Macs are a good value if you don't have a reason to buy one. That is all. I use Macs everyday at work and actually like OS X. Macs are great computers, but you're paying a lot extra for what a lot of people would perceive as not much more value.

If you like Aperture and not Lightroom, get a Mac. If you prefer OSX to PC, and the extra "Mac Tax" is worth it for you, get a Mac. If you don't care what OS you use, buy a PC and put a down payment on that new 'L' glass you want with the money you save. :p

I just configured a 13" 2.26ghz MBP with 4GB RAM to nearly the same specs as a 13" 2.13ghz HP Envy with 3GB of RAM and the Envy came out at $1700 with the MBP at $1350.

That's a pretty steep Mac tax at -$350.

And if I wanted to, I could configre any number of Windows 7 based PCs to be similar spec'd and cheaper than a Mac. Your anecdotal evidence proves what, exactly?

and what part of your own post do you not understand?
I wrote it. I understand it. I was parodying the fact that he wasn't relating experiences (as evidenced by HIS own post) but complaints that people have had with PCs a decade ago. I was showing that those problems are all but gone today.
What part of "Your experience does not invalidate the experience of another" do you not understand?
What experience of his again? I asked you to show me where he said that those were his experiences and I have yet to get an answer on that. Like I said above, from his post, all I can assume is that he's listing the old laundry list of PC problems not his own experiences. Show me where he says that, and I'll eat my words. Until then, I wasn't invalidating experiences. I was invalidating the misinformation that is still running rampant about Windows based computers.
What part of "It their f'in money they can spend it anyway they please" do you not understand?
Um...let me quote myself to show I do understand...I guess you skipped over this part.
If you like PCs, stick with it.
If you like Macs, stick with it.
If you have a specific reason to have either one, then get the appropriate one.
If you're not sure which to get, but want a good computer for a good price, get a PC.

Remember, in context of this thread, I recommended a PC because of budget concerns of the OP. If he didn't have any budget concerns, I would have said he could look at Macs if he wanted to. Find me a Mac with specs good enough to do what he wants for under $1000 and you can completely invalidate my opinion from the very beginning.


Oh its "tongue-in-cheek" now.. hmmm I see.

See above.

I think I'm going to say adieu to this thread. It's obvious that certain people are either:
1) Not fully reading my posts
2) Not fully understanding my posts
3) For some reason are defensive about their choice of a Mac and hate to see that someone might think that a PC can be as good as a Mac.

This thread is going no where, and I totally regret engaging myself in this pissing contest.
 
BACK TO THE TOPIC.....

OP. Make sure that at what ever cost, when building your PC, DO NOT BUY VISTA! Get Windows 7 or Windows XP. I still use XP SP2/3 (not quite sure which one I'm on) today and I've only ever had 1 problem. XP was the last great OS from Microsoft, and 7 is the latest greatest OS.

Vista was basically a for sale beta version of Windows 7 and as you know it was riddled with problems. Also, Adobe CS5 is made to run on 7 if you plan on upgrading, CS4 wont run on 7 with out a hassle. Due to the fact that CS4 was built to run on XP/Vista (it runs way better on XP though).

As for the Mac vs PC debate.

Mac's are a waste of money IMO. They give you little advantage out the box over a PC for a good $600 dollars more. Also given the fact that if you really wanted to, you could duel boot OS X on a PC and run the few programs that work better on a mac than a PC with out spending the 1300 bucks for a mac book..... BUT truthfully, the only reason I'd ever buy, or recommend a Mac to someone, is for audio recording or production... Pro Tools is GOD on a mac. All of my DJ friends, (DJ Dust, DJ Ethical, DJ Alphatrion, DJ Klever) all Atlanta Local's but are well know around the world, use macs, and they do some damn good mixing. So I leave my views of mac at home when I'm around them.

I work in a local music venue as well, and the quality of sound we put out due to the mac hooked into the sound board astounds me.

So the only thing a mac has over a PC is Music compression and recording software and the like.

But thats just how I see it.
 
BACK TO THE TOPIC.....

Funny guy. You say that but immediately go back off topic.

OP. Make sure that at what ever cost, when building your PC, DO NOT BUY VISTA! Get Windows 7 or Windows XP. I still use XP SP2/3 (not quite sure which one I'm on) today and I've only ever had 1 problem. XP was the last great OS from Microsoft, and 7 is the latest greatest OS.

Vista was basically a for sale beta version of Windows 7 and as you know it was riddled with problems. Also, Adobe CS5 is made to run on 7 if you plan on upgrading, CS4 wont run on 7 with out a hassle. Due to the fact that CS4 was built to run on XP/Vista (it runs way better on XP though).

As for the Mac vs PC debate.

Mac's are a waste of money IMO. They give you little advantage out the box over a PC for a good $600 dollars more. Also given the fact that if you really wanted to, you could duel boot OS X on a PC and run the few programs that work better on a mac than a PC with out spending the 1300 bucks for a mac book..... BUT truthfully, the only reason I'd ever buy, or recommend a Mac to someone, is for audio recording or production... Pro Tools is GOD on a mac. All of my DJ friends, (DJ Dust, DJ Ethical, DJ Alphatrion, DJ Klever) all Atlanta Local's but are well know around the world, use macs, and they do some damn good mixing. So I leave my views of mac at home when I'm around them.

I work in a local music venue as well, and the quality of sound we put out due to the mac hooked into the sound board astounds me.

So the only thing a mac has over a PC is Music compression and recording software and the like.

But thats just how I see it.

Read much? There's been PC to Apple comparisons in this thread, even the HP MBP clone where the HP cost more than the superiorly specced MBP.

And quality of sound has nothing to do with Windows Vs. OS X. It has to do with the hardware and software. Pro Tools runs on Windows. I've recorded artists and bands with software on Windows and OS X. There's no sound quality difference.

From some one that's an IT professional and who's career is nothing but dealing with specs and tech, you should do a bit more research then trying to turn you biased opinion into fact.

Edit: And in addition, OS X runs Final Cut which is the industry standard in video processing too. Of course, there's Adobe Premier that runs on either of the two previously mentioned OSes, but is not as widely used as Final Cut. There's also Logic, which not as widely used as Pro Tools is becoming huge with the somewhat recent advent of A/D conversion hardware that's not software specific like Pro Tools gear.
 
And to think, I was worried about MY post geeking this thread up


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Buy just looking at the title .... I know this thread is going to end up a XX vs YY
 

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