computer help

[Eternal Prosper]

i dont have a computer. this summer im working to get one with the help of my aunt. well let me cut to the point. i dont know what computer to get. This guy was telling about the mac and i really like what i saw but i dont really know how to use one. or on the other hand i could get a 600 or 700 doller dell. plz help . BTW the computer has to be 600-700

PS: my aunt says macs are becomeing obsoliete and i dont think so, is this true?

 

[mjkmarker]

It depends what you are going to be using it for. If you are primarily doing things like video editing or using Photoshop or Illustrator then the Mac's great for that, but if you are going to be playing videogames then a PC's probably the way to go.

 

[reanjr]

It depends what you are going to be using it for. If you are primarily doing things like video editing or using Photoshop or Illustrator then the Mac's great for that, but if you are going to be playing videogames then a PC's probably the way to go.

That info is outdated. Macs are a perfectly fine replacement for PCs nowadays. It might get games later and not every little crap game some off-the-wall developer puts out, but overall, it's game selection is pretty good.

I'm a PC user, but if you're not, then Mac might be the way to go. Price wise they're a bit high, but they are so much more user-friendly and you will get some spiffy hardware out of a Mac, while a cheap PC might get you just that.

 

[Eternal Prosper]

i mainly want to use it to surf the web, chat, and play some games on the side like wc3 and diablo2 and ive checked and they are compatablie.well i can get an emac for 750, 100 more than the dell. is it easy to learn how to use it?

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

If that's all you want to do with it, get the Dell (dude). You won't have to learn anything new if you've been using a PC for years and you'll be able to upgrade it cheaper and easier sometime in the future.

And yeah, you CAN do just about anything with a Mac that you can do on a PC, but a Mac really is better for certain things like video authoring, and if you're not doing that than you're really paying a premium for something you're not going to use.

 

[Angcuru]

Well, if you plan to upgrade in the future, a Mac is out of the question. Plus they are more tools than playthings, so if it's for work, that that's good. For 6-700 you could get a decent PC with an ok monitor and basic keyboard & mouse.

 

[drothgery]

The basic problems with current Macs are

• A huge performance gap between Macs and equivalently priced PCs, except on the extreme high end (G5s don't do too bad relative to dual Xeon or dual Opteron boxes, but G4s look silly when matched up against Pentium 4s, Pentium Ms, and Athlon 64s).
• A hole in the middle of the lineup; the "iLamp" iMacs aren't enough better than the eMacs to justify the cost differential, and there's a huge gap between the top iMac and the bottom G5.
• Lack of software, outside the most basic (office apps, web browsers), graphics/publishing tools, and quick & dirty Unix-to-OSX ports of Open Source apps.
• Lack of upgradability; you're pretty much stuck with what you get.

 

[Steve Jung]

The basic problems with current Macs are

• 
  /snip/
• Lack of software, outside the most basic (office apps, web browsers), graphics/publishing tools, and quick & dirty Unix-to-OSX ports of Open Source apps.

• It doesn't sound like he wants more than that. Plus he checked what he wanted to use.
  

  [*]Lack of upgradability; you're pretty much stuck with what you get.

How upgradable is a $600 PC? Eternal Prosper, how comfortable would you be in changing internal parts of your computer?

Anyway. It's best to pick what the person you'll be relying on for help has.

 

[Krieg]

• A hole in the middle of the lineup; the "iLamp" iMacs aren't enough better than the eMacs to justify the cost differential, and there's a huge gap between the top iMac and the bottom G5.

To be fair, Apple will probably address this issue when they release the new iMacs sometime this year.

How upgradable is a $600 PC?

Compared to an eMac or (god forbid) a flat panel iMac?

Very.

 

[Steve Jung]

/snip/
Compared to an eMac or (god forbid) a flat panel iMac?

Very.

OK. I stand corrected.