Which iMac

[dolina]

It boils down to how much you want/can spend and what is your intended intent.

I for example would never recommend a Mac if you intend to play high-end computer games but I would push for it if for creative and home use.

9gag.com is a humor site whose audience is basically highschool and college kids so the graphic I posted is rather shortsighted. What is humorous is insisting on buying a 1,000 pound used Audi without considering the cost of maintenance and other ownership cost for the next 5 years. I like for everything but Apple-related posts. It shows how immature they are without the benefit of years of experience.

Again, people will pay a premium for refined and polished products and services because they understand and appreciate such things. That's why Apple is the 2nd most valuable company in the world because there are not alternatives.

Apple's target market is the mass market high-end. Not high-end enough to only sell hundreds of thousands of machines but millions of machines. This is why they rarely offer Macs with Intel "Extreme" badged chips. Not enough volume to make it their while.

As for me, I want OS X on the fastest non-Mac Pro machine. I bought a Power Mac (PowerPC equivalent to the Mac Pro) back in 2002 and the only benefit I got from it other than processing grunt are the PATA slots. So for my uses it isn't worth buying. I would rather upgrade my Macs annually or biannually. I always have someone to pass the older Macs after 1-2 years use. And when I sell my Macs I get a good used price. There is always someone willing to pay a premium over a similarly spec'd PC.

Often people overlook and put down "great aesthetic design" but to be honest who doesnt want a small desktop that occupies less than 21"x26"x8" and weighs less than 22 lbs? Not to mention consumes less than 200w and thermal output of less than 682 BTU/h?

These things may not matter to places with cheap power and large spaces but they do matter to people in places like Japan where space and power are sold at a premium.

[RLPhoto]

My PC does everything a Mac can do and does it cheaper, faster, better, and with no compatibility issues.

[RMC33]

Thanks for all the advice!

UPS just stopped in and dropped off my GF's new tower and monitors. After about two hours of having the case open, setup and calibration I am quite impressed. Thanks Rusty and Night she is VERY happy. I was apprehensive about apple but this is one robust machine.

Took this:
One 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor
6GB (3 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory
1TB Serial ATA 7200 rpm
18x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

 ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB GDDR5 memory

Added 1 512 Crucial SSD, 6TB in RAID 1, 16GB RAM. We took the 1TB drive out of the Apple and tossed it into an extra NAS housing. It has two 27 in apple displays (which I want now). Any other recommendations for upgrades?

[cayenne]

My PC does everything a Mac can do and does it cheaper, faster, better, and with no compatibility issues.

Hmm.....so, it runs Aperture 3, and Final Cut Pro X nicely and easily?<P>


On my mac, however...I can run all those OSX only apps, and with VMWare I can run windows and/or linux for anything that runs exclusively on those.<P>
Sure, you can run OSX in VMWare on your PC, but technically, it isn't legal to run OSX on non-mac hardware. <P>
Not that 'technically' ever really stands in my way on things of this nature, but I'm just saying....

[cayenne]

Thanks for all the advice!

UPS just stopped in and dropped off my GF's new tower and monitors. After about two hours of having the case open, setup and calibration I am quite impressed. Thanks Rusty and Night she is VERY happy. I was apprehensive about apple but this is one robust machine.

Took this:
One 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor
6GB (3 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory
1TB Serial ATA 7200 rpm
18x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

 ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB GDDR5 memory

Added 1 512 Crucial SSD, 6TB in RAID 1, 16GB RAM. We took the 1TB drive out of the Apple and tossed it into an extra NAS housing. It has two 27 in apple displays (which I want now). Any other recommendations for upgrades?

Might we get an idea on the price you paid for said computer plus upgrades?

[RLPhoto]

My PC does everything a Mac can do and does it cheaper, faster, better, and with no compatibility issues.

Hmm.....so, it runs Aperture 3, and Final Cut Pro X nicely and easily?<P>


On my mac, however...I can run all those OSX only apps, and with VMWare I can run windows and/or linux for anything that runs exclusively on those.<P>
Sure, you can run OSX in VMWare on your PC, but technically, it isn't legal to run OSX on non-mac hardware. <P>
Not that 'technically' ever really stands in my way on things of this nature, but I'm just saying....

Aperture 3? Don't care, have LR4.

Final Cut pro? Don't care, have Premiere pro or would Get AVID for serious work.

OSX? Eh, the only thing I might do with it is for Cocoa and old legacy stuff I have. I wouldn't pay $$$ for that.

Its all good, but I don't ever use my mac anymore. Also, Hows tethering going with the new release of mountain lion? I heard it was pretty bad. :|

[Niterider]

Thanks for all the advice!

UPS just stopped in and dropped off my GF's new tower and monitors. After about two hours of having the case open, setup and calibration I am quite impressed. Thanks Rusty and Night she is VERY happy. I was apprehensive about apple but this is one robust machine.

Took this:
One 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor
6GB (3 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory
1TB Serial ATA 7200 rpm
18x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

 ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB GDDR5 memory

Added 1 512 Crucial SSD, 6TB in RAID 1, 16GB RAM. We took the 1TB drive out of the Apple and tossed it into an extra NAS housing. It has two 27 in apple displays (which I want now). Any other recommendations for upgrades?

I'm glad I could help! As far as other upgrades go, it really can't think of any. If the computer is too loud or you notice the computer running hotter than you would like, you could always replace the stock fans with some fluid ball bearing fans. Just replace the fans with those of identical size. A great brand too look into is Noctua because they move a ton of air and are unbelievably quiet. 

[RMC33]

Thanks for all the advice!

UPS just stopped in and dropped off my GF's new tower and monitors. After about two hours of having the case open, setup and calibration I am quite impressed. Thanks Rusty and Night she is VERY happy. I was apprehensive about apple but this is one robust machine.

Took this:
One 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor
6GB (3 x 2GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory
1TB Serial ATA 7200 rpm
18x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

 ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB GDDR5 memory

Added 1 512 Crucial SSD, 6TB in RAID 1, 16GB RAM. We took the 1TB drive out of the Apple and tossed it into an extra NAS housing. It has two 27 in apple displays (which I want now). Any other recommendations for upgrades?

Might we get an idea on the price you paid for said computer plus upgrades?

Refurb on all the Mac items. $2100 for the tower and $840 for the two monitors. SSD was an extra I bought, I think I paid $230 for it. HDD's were $180 each (3x Caviar Black 2tb). RAM ran $120. 4x 4gb sticks.

In total $4800 or so with shipping. Not my proudest moment in computing but she is in love with it.

[paul13walnut5]

My PC does everything a Mac can do and does it cheaper, faster, better, and with no compatibility issues.

Hmm.....so, it runs Aperture 3, and Final Cut Pro X nicely and easily?<P>


On my mac, however...I can run all those OSX only apps, and with VMWare I can run windows and/or linux for anything that runs exclusively on those.<P>
Sure, you can run OSX in VMWare on your PC, but technically, it isn't legal to run OSX on non-mac hardware. <P>
Not that 'technically' ever really stands in my way on things of this nature, but I'm just saying....

Aperture 3? Don't care, have LR4.

Final Cut pro? Don't care, have Premiere pro or would Get AVID for serious work.

OSX? Eh, the only thing I might do with it is for Cocoa and old legacy stuff I have. I wouldn't pay $$$ for that.

Its all good, but I don't ever use my mac anymore. Also, Hows tethering going with the new release of mountain lion? I heard it was pretty bad. :|

My next mac will probably be a PC.  Yes I will miss the loverly OS.  But it isn't enough.  Had FCPX not been an abomination and betrayal to pro users that would have been enough.  But they kicked me in the teeth then tried to sell me candy dentures.  Adobe Premiere CS is where Apple should have been at.  But they only care about iOS peoducts these days.

[cayenne]

My PC does everything a Mac can do and does it cheaper, faster, better, and with no compatibility issues.

Hmm.....so, it runs Aperture 3, and Final Cut Pro X nicely and easily?<P>


On my mac, however...I can run all those OSX only apps, and with VMWare I can run windows and/or linux for anything that runs exclusively on those.<P>
Sure, you can run OSX in VMWare on your PC, but technically, it isn't legal to run OSX on non-mac hardware. <P>
Not that 'technically' ever really stands in my way on things of this nature, but I'm just saying....

Aperture 3? Don't care, have LR4.

Final Cut pro? Don't care, have Premiere pro or would Get AVID for serious work.

OSX? Eh, the only thing I might do with it is for Cocoa and old legacy stuff I have. I wouldn't pay $$$ for that.

Its all good, but I don't ever use my mac anymore. Also, Hows tethering going with the new release of mountain lion? I heard it was pretty bad. :|

Why would I need to tether my home computer?

[cayenne]

My next mac will probably be a PC.  Yes I will miss the loverly OS.  But it isn't enough.  Had FCPX not been an abomination and betrayal to pro users that would have been enough.  But they kicked me in the teeth then tried to sell me candy dentures.  Adobe Premiere CS is where Apple should have been at.  But they only care about iOS peoducts these days.

Hi Paulie!!

You've given some good advice on the forums, so I'd like to ask...

Why do you dislike FCPX? I know when it first came out, that it was missing some key items that pros need, but from my understanding, the current, up to date version, contains pretty much everything people were complaining about (multi camera, multichannel sound, XML, etc).

I'm curious why you still don't like it? Is it due to the new layout an paradigm of editing on it (magnetic timeline)? I hadn't really used a previous NLE, so I learned FCPX's methods first, and I find it quite easy to use...I know relearning a new way is sometimes frustrating, but it shouldn't take that much effort to learn to do the same thing a slightly different way?  At least that my personal philosophy.
(On the other hand, I *do* still complain about the d@mned ribbon interface to MS's Office and other apps...hahaha).

Anyway, I'm just curious why you still dislike FCPX, when at least on the surface, it appears it now is up today with features that Adobe Premier has...?

Thanks in advance!!!

cayenne

[RLPhoto]

Because It looks cool and clients like to see photo's pop up over skype. 

[paul13walnut5]

My next mac will probably be a PC.  Yes I will miss the loverly OS.  But it isn't enough.  Had FCPX not been an abomination and betrayal to pro users that would have been enough.  But they kicked me in the teeth then tried to sell me candy dentures.  Adobe Premiere CS is where Apple should have been at.  But they only care about iOS peoducts these days.

Hi Paulie!!

You've given some good advice on the forums, so I'd like to ask...

Why do you dislike FCPX? I know when it first came out, that it was missing some key items that pros need, but from my understanding, the current, up to date version, contains pretty much everything people were complaining about (multi camera, multichannel sound, XML, etc).

I'm curious why you still don't like it? Is it due to the new layout an paradigm of editing on it (magnetic timeline)? I hadn't really used a previous NLE, so I learned FCPX's methods first, and I find it quite easy to use...I know relearning a new way is sometimes frustrating, but it shouldn't take that much effort to learn to do the same thing a slightly different way?  At least that my personal philosophy.
(On the other hand, I *do* still complain about the d@mned ribbon interface to MS's Office and other apps...hahaha).

Anyway, I'm just curious why you still dislike FCPX, when at least on the surface, it appears it now is up today with features that Adobe Premier has...?

Thanks in advance!!!

cayenne

Magnetic timeline is biggie. 

Having to capture tape via fcp7 or black magic deck control.

Exporting omfies.

Exporting to tape with intended timecode.

Wheras cs lets me do all of this retaining track based i-o editing with the fcp shortcuts I've used for 12 years.

After 1st March I will not be ableto upgrade my macpro (early 2008) to sometging with expansion pcis or software raidable drives.

Cs gives me the 64bit speed benefits in an interface I can transition to.

Although a lot of the problems are now fixed, (xml import for legacy fcp projects was historically a killer) i previously paid 30%_50% over the odds to edit on fcp because I learned on and loved fcp.   Now I can edit on cs instead I can also spend a lot less.

Apple aren't giving the pro users what they need and are losing the market.  If fcpx works for you then great.  It doesn't for me, or particularly my clients with big tape archives.

A pc will do a vastly better job for the same money when I replace the macpro in the office.

[RustyTheGeek]

The primary reason I owned a PowerMac a few years ago and consider buying a Mac Pro in the future is for video work.  Sounds like that is becoming less of an advantage.  Oh well!  This pretty much convinces me that a HackinTosh is the way to go so I can save money and use it completely the way I like with whatever OS I like.  I'm not attracted to aluminum that much anyway.

[paul13walnut5]

The MacPro is the boy.  I'm pretty happy with the performance of my now 5 year old tower, especially since going to a true 64bit OS, and doing bits and bobs in 64 bit versions of Premiere and After-Effects, however, it isn't going to last forever, I'm already onto my third graphics card (known issue with the early 2008 mac pro, now fitted the radeon 1gb option)

But as its a cap ex, I won't get money for a new tower before march, and from march you can't buy a mac pro in the EU (seems to be a temporary measure) if the new tower is absolutely brilliant and a major step up this time then I might spec that as my next machine, but as I'm heading in a less mac proprietary software direction (premiere instead of FCP) it becomes a question of how much do i really really like the mac OS.  The answer is, a lot.  An awful lot.  But then the difference in cap ex, is also a lot.  An awful lot.  Not that its my money, but my hd-25's are on their last legs.. as is the eng tripod.. we're using a domestic samsung LCD for client playback since the broadcast monitor died of obselete major organ failure...

If you are going to cut on FCPX then a macpro tower, when they upgrade, if they upgrade, running the OS off os an SSD fitted in the 2nd optical bay, and running two striped software raids in the 4 bays, one capture, one render, is absolutely the way to go.

If you aren't going to be cutting on FCPX (and I'm not) then a macpro suddenly looks like an unnecessary expense.  Especially compared to a PC with mercury engine card.