Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

PC v Mac


WalMan
 Share

Recommended Posts

Ongoing from installing second drives for the Mac and PC.

Never did find the Mac cables and ended up getting a firewire box to put the drive in, BUT I then came to install the new drive in the PC yesterday, and here is why I am more & more coming round to Mac's

Inside the Mac G5 - [attachment=2963:mac.jpg]
Inside the PC - [attachment=2964:PC.jpg]

What a palaver installing the drive in the PC was, take the case side off, take the front off, make a new slot to put the drive through, fiddle around trying to make all the cables fit. As compared (if I had had the cables) to flip the switch on the back of the Mac, drop the side off, slide the drive in, fit the cables and close.

Still we are there now & the Tracktion update installed, so now to watch the 4 hour Traction help file/movie lessons and get started

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure how you can generalise about PCs from the likes of Dell, never mind a "beige box": manufacturers can do a better job of laying out the interior and designing cases for easy access, and some do. I know Compaq did, before they were taken over by HP.

Disclosure: I used to work for Compaq, and then for HP, though that was in relation to Servers and Storage, not desktop PCs. I still saw inside various PC models over the years. You think that Mac is well laid out, but have you seen the inside of a Proliant 8500 (DL760) server? :)

Edited by bnt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeh, if you spend your money, you can make a PC that looks just as nice inside, and outside. I built a computer for my brother who spent a load on a nice case and etc, so you get a load of drive caddies that slot in and out really easily, and clever cable routing and etc. It's just a bit pointless isn't it! I don't mind having a messy pc, 'cos i'm always messing with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='cheddatom' post='76553' date='Oct 19 2007, 03:06 PM']It's just a bit pointless isn't it! I don't mind having a messy pc, 'cos i'm always messing with it.[/quote]
I'd say it's pointless for a general PC, and mine is hardly nice inside either. However, if you're into overclocking and other envelope-pushing, keeping a tidy interior is not just aesthetic, it's also about clean airflow to the CPU, memory controllers and other hot chips.

(I've just realised that I put my current PC together nearly 3 years ago, from components that were hardly bleeding edge at the the time... yet the mid-range Ge6600 graphics card can still run a game like Guild Wars at 1440x900 resolution, 50+FPS. I really have to wonder who's buying these fire-breathing graphics cards, the ones that cost more than the rest of the PC, occupy two slots, and come with a leaf-blower on the back to keep them cool...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Bassman7' post='76655' date='Oct 19 2007, 06:50 PM']You just got to have the next Mac OS X Leopard with a screen like this![/quote]
I don't see anything special, to be honest. To me, Macs cost far too much for what they do, and I will never forgive them for the DRM they pushed on "Pod People" who didn't know any better.

My next PC purchase will probably be one of the [url="http://eeepc.asus.com/en/"]ASUS Eee PCs[/url], a laptop weighing less than 2lb with a flash HDD, running Linux as standard, and a price tag around £200. Something I can chuck in a rucksack and take everywhere. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes perhaps it is apples & pears, but I just know that for every PC I have had when I come to add a card, or drive it has always been a mass of cables and a right faff trying to slot stuff in whereas it was such a pleasure to open up the mac and find what appeared to be a well thought out interior with no clutter.

This is the second mac in the house. Oldest son got himself an iMac when he was doing his graphic design course. The G5 is the bottom spec with a small(ish) HDD, loads of memory & a 21" screen (though sadly not flat). It was picked up s/h from my drummers firm when they were upgrading, so the cost (£400) seemed not unreasonable, and the spec adequate to run recording software for youngest son's recouding course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='bnt' post='76823' date='Oct 20 2007, 12:51 AM']I don't see anything special, to be honest. To me, Macs cost far too much for what they do, and I will never forgive them for the DRM they pushed on "Pod People" who didn't know any better.

My next PC purchase will probably be one of the [url="http://eeepc.asus.com/en/"]ASUS Eee PCs[/url], a laptop weighing less than 2lb with a flash HDD, running Linux as standard, and a price tag around £200. Something I can chuck in a rucksack and take everywhere. :)[/quote]


It seems that PC users have an inane desire to kick against innovation and ease of use in computing and prefer to suffer the multitude of tortures that PCs can wreak on mere mortals!

Mmm...I've used PC's and Macs for business use and I have to say if it's all about getting on and using a computer (and actually making it fun and enjoyable) without any of the hassles that PCs bestow upon their unwary users (like driver and hardware conflicts, crashing (need I go on...?) then from experience the reality is that Macs simply allow you to just get on with things (they do what they say they can do on the box straight out of the box), don't crash or freeze, don't have the problems with virus' and trojans and.. that are pandemic to the PC world and they are not that expensive compared to similar performance spec'ed PC counter parts (that's well and trull a myth now...maybe 20 years ago but not in 2007).

I've taken my 14" iBook with me all over the world over the past 2 years and never once suffered a WiFi or Ethernet connection to a hotel Internet connection whilst I have had numerous colleagues with their PC laptops having to fiddle around with Windows to make it all work.

But then PC fans seem to have an in-built desire to meet the time consuming frustrations of owning and running a PC and fiddle.

OS X = solid, reliable, crash-free, ease of use operating system. Mac software + ease of use and productivity and wait for it...fun!!

DRM - don't forget that it was the record companies who forced Mr Jobs to use DRM with iTunes but hey common sense is now beginning to break through in the record industry at last (when over 90 per cent of their CD's were DRM free anyway and so can be ripped at anytime!!) in allowing what Apple wanted in the first place DRM free music.

Most people using iTunes on Mac or PC have the vast majority of their music ripped from their own CD collections. They want the best music experience in use and quality of sound so there really is only one choice - iTunes!!

Apple is all about ease of use to do the things we all want to achieve with the incredible benefits that modern computer offer us all. Just pay a visit to the Apple ads to see just why these machines are not just cool to look at but they really are the coolest and most intelligent way to compute!

Well, that's my Mac view of the day!

Ciao

Ian

[url="http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/"]http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/[/url]

Edited by SMART
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Bassman7' post='76655' date='Oct 19 2007, 06:50 PM']You just got to have the next Mac OS X Leopard with a screen like this![/quote]

I'm really looking forward to leopard, i think it's going to be great. They've added a lot of little features that just add even more convenience to using a mac. My mum's just bought one of the new imacs, it's an awesome machine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='SMART' post='76977' date='Oct 20 2007, 02:17 PM']It seems that PC users have an inane desire to kick against innovation and ease of use in computing and prefer to suffer the multitude of tortures that PCs can wreak on mere mortals!
...
But then PC fans seem to have an in-built desire to meet the time consuming frustrations of owning and running a PC and fiddle.[/quote]
Sorry - fundamental mistake there: you're conflating PCs with Windows, and you're confusing Microsoft with the other companies who make the hardware and drivers that go on there. Apple has the luxury of an ivory tower, from where it controls everything from the base hardware up. When Microsoft does that (just about), you get the XBox, but if they tried making a laptop from the ground up, you can imagine the hypocritical protests there would be from Apple fans.

That little laptop I mentioned won't come with Windows as standard, at least not at first. It runs a version of Linux. Windows will be made available later for those who want it, but I'm not one of those.

My other PC a desktop, still runs Windows XP SP2, and does it just fine, with none of those problems your leaders tell you that everyone else has. I know, from experience, what you need to do and not do. The things I need to do, to keep it going, are no more of an imposition than using a manual gearbox in a car, filling the tank and inflating the tyres. Vista, on the other hand... been there, done that, and said "no thanks" - they're trying to "do it all", and not very well.

I don't agree that Steve Jobs had no choice but to submit to DRM, but he did. He's since [url="http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic"]admitted he was wrong[/url] about that... but then he goes and locks the iPhone to AT&T in the USA, and it will be O2 only in Europe - again, submitting to anti-competitive pressure from other industries.

Apple has become what they once accused Microsoft of being - anti-competitive - but they're so much nicer about it, aren't they? Such a clean, hip image they project, such an aura of "innovation", with the "completely original" OS X core that they took from NeXT, who took it from BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) UNIX. This is the reason for Apple's better resistance to viruses etc., nothing Jobs & co. can take the primary credit for.

Do you think I have not heard all this before, and need to be subjected to a patronising lecture about how much of an idiot I am, for not joining the Cult of Apple? I prefer computers I can control, so that they do my bidding, and not [i]vice versa[/i]. Anyway, this is a bass forum, not a pulpit for your Cult Of Apple evangelism, please?

PS: I didn't mean to rant, I just hope people can look beyond the PC vs Mac stereotyping, and have a think about why things are the way they are. The first post got it wrong on the hardware differences (there aren't many), and your post gives Apple credit they haven't earned and don't deserve.

Edited by bnt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wish I'd got a Mac instead of the new laptop I bought earlier this year. The Mac software looks great, Vista is awful. Trouble is, when you've gone down the PC route and bought loads of little bits of software for Windows (as I have for my desktop PC), it's a big ask to swap over.

That said, right now I'd like to build a simple website for my band. Can my Vista "Premium" laptop do that? Can it $#$#$#@. I'll prob have to buy a bit of software that won't work properly and then get another one to upload it. Grrr!

If I did buy a Mac as my new desktop PC, could I still use my existing wireless router and my Windows laptop downstairs? I'm guessing yes. But anyone know?

Edited by stingrayfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

PC != Windows

Just a shame you pretty much need it if you're in education or business these days. Linux distros are much much better OS's than XP or Vista (which is a pile of crock).


Apple only need to build their OS's and infact design everything for a very small limited amount of configurations, PC has thousands of different hardware configs which an OS has to cater for, it's just a shame that Windows based ones are currently flawed right at the core of the OS, MS just keep patching over the problems rather than rebuilding and fixing.

I have used Mac's, can't say I was that impressed. Yes it was simple enough to use, but some of the filing systems did not make much sense at a glance nor where everything is in relation to the OS on the disk.


Also, Apple : Much more evil than MS. MS is just run by very good business men now, which is what Bill Gates was. If it was to improve the OS dramatically, it would need a management change in the company division for Windows.
MS Games studio pretty much crack out really good games most of the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='77089' date='Oct 20 2007, 06:49 PM']That said, right now I'd like to build a simple website for my band. Can my Vista "Premium" laptop do that? Can it $#$#$#@. I'll prob have to buy a bit of software that won't work properly and then get another one to upload it. Grrr![/quote]
I don't understand - are you expecting it to include a web page authoring app, like FrontPage, or Dreamweaver? The actual site itself won't be on your laptop, it'll be on a web server, and you'd do whatever is required to make that work. e.g. if the site has FrontPage Extensions, you can use FrontPage... or you can just use a text editor and FTP. Or base your site on a CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress or Drupal, and do it all through the web browser.

I think Macs are basically compatible with all WiFi routers - no reason to be non-standard, then they wouldn't be able to connect to public routers at airports etc. Standards are good - that's why there are so many of them!

Edited by bnt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who wants to just get on and use a computer without being half a techie? I expect most people do and so what ever the view is of Apple they make products that work and superbly. Isn't that what consumers want? Computers and music players that are a delight to own and use and do great creative things as easily as possible plus they look and function superbly as well. What's wrong with that and why's is it so wrong to get excited about it?

If people want a computer they can control and mould to their will and being then a PC will do nicely.

We all have choices as we all do with our basses and amplifiers and strings and pickups and preamps and cables and...and so with our choice of computer that's all and so far I have after working in the computer industry with hardware and software have found the so-called stereotypes about Apple and the competition (sorry if it hurt!) so actually true!

Anyhow, it was all meant in a light-hearted fun manner and its' always good for the heart and digestion not to take ourselves too seriously...

Ubuntu - thats a good name and perhaps a good solution to using a PC?

Ciao

Ian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, SMART!

Love my Apple and iPod, can't wait for the iPhone in November!

Apples secret is the software, it's all about the software bringing it all together seemlessly and it works and that's what I want and not aggravating PC downtime.

Hey, when do you think they'll make a bass with WiFi and OS X!!!! Great!!!

Caption: Straker, "why isn't the new HP colour laser working...What!...the printer driver not available yet for our new Vista upgrade??"

Edited by Bassman7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm posting this from Ubuntu Linux. I've used it since my PC died and I didn't have a copy of XP knocking around. Observations are that its far faster and more stable for general usage (browsing the net, working with images etc). Installing things can be a bit confusing at first, and I haven't got it to record sound using my onboard PC line in yet, but besides that, screw Windows and Apple, this is free! All I really use my PC for is surfing the net, so its ideal for me.

Plus, where with XP it took ages to configure my internet connection (and I'm a Microsoft certified XP specialist, fer god's sake!) Ubuntu connected of its own accord, instantly, which gives it brownie points as far as I'm concerned :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Wil' post='77182' date='Oct 21 2007, 02:20 AM']... and I haven't got it to record sound using my onboard PC line in yet[/quote]

There's a distro called <a href="http://ubuntustudio.org/">ubuntustudio</a> which includes a package called Ardour, which is supposedly pro-tools like. If you get around to trying it, or to installing Ardour, please post your experiences here since it's bound to be valuable.

For an alternative perspective, I have a server here running OpenSolaris, booting off a mirrored zfs file system. Took about 10 minutes to set up the mirroring and it seems to be rock solid. Not tried recording anything on it though.

Personally for quality construction I think you have to go a long way to beat the older Sun Microsystems kit. It's almost Burman-like!

I do have one mac, an old MacPlus which has been converted into a fish tank. I'll try and find some pictures. We're about to acquire a macbook when leopard is released - I think macs really do have advantages for people who aren't into computers and just want to get stuff done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...