Need some Computer advice, pwease ^^ | INFJ Forum

Need some Computer advice, pwease ^^

TigersGoRAWR

TigersGoRAWR

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Jan 12, 2011
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Okay, I have a few questions about PC's, Laptops and MAC's xD

- Which are better in your opinion; Desktop PC's, All-in-one PC's, or Apple Mac's?

- In the future, if I were to get a new computer, which would be best, a decent apple laptop or a decent normal laptop, and why?

- What kind of computer/laptop would be best for Photoshop, photo editting in general, and gaming?

I know laptops tend to over-heat after a while, but Ive heard somewhere that Apple Laptops dont.... no idea if this is true or not xD

if anyone could give me some advice, that would be greatly appreciated :)
 
I love Macs. Mostly because mine never have any issues and they last me years. Also, my mother can use one (which is a miracle) and the versatility is there. I'm not sure about gaming on laptops, it'd depend. I could dual box WoW on my Mac laptop fairly easily when I played. Also, the computer science & engineering dept of my college switched to Macs. I figure they've got to have good reason :p but again, the computer needs to fit the person, so it'd probably be best to just look up the specs.

In my personal opinion, I'd go for a Mac if you can afford it. I've had 2 Mac laptops over the past 7 years (will probably be getting another one this year) and last year got an iMac ( <3 ). Gaming hasn't been an issue and I have no complaints thus far.
 
If you're gaming you want to stay far away from a Mac.
 
Hello :wave:

TigersGoRAWR said:
Okay, I have a few questions about PC's, Laptops and MAC's xD
Click to expand...
:shocked:

TigersGoRAWR said:
- Which are better in your opinion; Desktop PC's, All-in-one PC's, or Apple Mac's?
Click to expand...

In my opinion, I prefer Desktop PC's but only because they meet my needs entirely. Definitely not All-in-one PC's, I mean I wouldn't suggest anyone buy one. As for Mac's, they are good too if they do what you need them to do.

TigersGoRAWR said:
- In the future, if I were to get a new computer, which would be best, a decent apple laptop or a decent normal laptop, and why?
Click to expand...

I've never owned a laptop but if I were to get a laptop, it would only be a support to my main computer so I would only use it whilst travelling or at uni so I would go for the cheapest but quality laptop I could get, which would mean getting a normal laptop.

However if you are looking to seriously invest in laptop that you will use as a main computer for a few years, definitely get a Mac book. [MENTION=3465]Limit[/MENTION]; waxed lyrical recently about how long his last mac book lasted. Mac Books are quality, quality products, will last a looooong time and very rarely fuck up on the software and hardware sides. It's expensive at first but it's worth it.

TigersGoRAWR said:
- What kind of computer/laptop would be best for Photoshop, photo editting in general, and gaming?
Click to expand...

Macs and PC's can both Photoshop fine with no clear advantage, as far as I'm aware? Gaming is different issue, as a Windows lappy will play any game by default but a Mac has a limited amount of playable games, though this has been changing quite recently. Steam is supporting more and more new games for the Mac, Portal 2 is out on Mac off Steam. But if you are a proper gamer, I'd do some research into the kinds of games that Mac will support in the future.

Having said that, Laptops aren't great for gaming anyway. The graphics cards in them can't catch up with modern games and Mac GPU's are slightly on the shit side from what I can see on their online store.

TigersGoRAWR said:
I know laptops tend to over-heat after a while, but Ive heard somewhere that Apple Laptops dont.... no idea if this is true or not xD
Click to expand...

Again Macbooks are quality products that last for years, I know many people who have one and they have always lasted for ages. Even if you did have those kinds of problems, they'll fix it for you.
 
Hello everyone :mhula:

[MENTION=3900]Chamomile[/MENTION] Thank you for your response :) I have been more on the Mac side, but I wasnt sure, as Ive never had one before xD What kinda Mac do you have? and do you prefer your Mac to the iMac? xD

[MENTION=2495]88chaz88[/MENTION] Thank you for your response :)
Do you say this because there is only limited games for the Mac or because of the specifications of the computers in general?

[MENTION=1378]Orion[/MENTION] Thank you for your response :)
Like I said earlier, I have been leaning more towards Apples, but I dont know a great deal about them xD
Im a bit undecided with Laptops and PC's. If I got a PC/iMac, I would miss the portability of a laptop, and I may need the portability when I go to college. But again, I know if I got a laptop with the wrong spec's for what I need (Which I have done 3 times now T_T) I will go completely potty xD so I need to look really carefully if I decide to go for an Apple Laptop or a Normal Laptop. o_O
 
TigersGoRAWR said:
@88chaz88 Thank you for your response :)
Do you say this because there is only limited games for the Mac or because of the specifications of the computers in general?
Click to expand...

Yup, that's the only reason.
 
Yeah if you want great gaming, desktop pc's is the way to go. They are more powerful because they dont have to be concerned with energy consumption and heat related issues so much (laptops need to be designed in such ways for obvious reasons).

It kinda depends how far you want to go with gaming as to what your choice might be. Casual gaming... well maybe a laptop with windows on it would be suitable. Many games won't run as efficiently on the Mac or Macbook as they do on PC because they need to rely on a bit of persuation to run on the mac system. For simplicity's sake i wouldn't take the mac if your interested in gaming. (although in theory you can play many games on the mac, it is possible)
 
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- Which are better in your opinion; Desktop PC's, All-in-one PC's, or Apple Mac's?
- In the future, if I were to get a new computer, which would be best, a decent apple laptop or a decent normal laptop, and why?
- What kind of computer/laptop would be best for Photoshop, photo editting in general, and gaming?

As far as I know, Macs are preferred mostly at special uses, like 3d rendering, video convertion, etc..
On the negative side they bleed in most security test, and have less games accessible (I'm almost sure that there is a method of running windows-binaries on them though, like WINE at linux, but those are never 100% usable.), and cost more for the same output.
At basic uses/gaming I would recommend a 'normal' laptop. But hey, some ppl love the feeling, that they have Macs.

I know laptops tend to over-heat after a while, but Ive heard somewhere that Apple Laptops dont.... no idea if this is true or not xD

Only if excessively used, and I don't think that it depends on the brand. (If you don't want to use resources-heavy apps like rendering, simulation, etc.. which use 100% cpu for 15min+, then you will be fine.)
The only problem might be if they shallow too much dust over time, and that can reduce the air-colling, this can be solved with a can of compressed air, so this isn't a problem either.
 
shafishstix said:
Its actually bootcamp which allows you to run windows games in a windows operating system "over" Mac's OS X. See here -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Camp_%28software%29
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Is this like a dual-boot system? Do I understand this right? Or more like a virtual machine? (That would be running a WinOP "over" Mac's OS.)
Technically then there shouldn't be much problem, except the annoyance of changing OP for different uses.
 
TomarctusHU said:
Is this like a dual-boot system? Do I understand this right? Or more like a virtual machine? (That would be running a WinOP "over" Mac's OS.)
Technically then there shouldn't be much problem, except the annoyance of changing OP for different uses.
Click to expand...

Bootcamp allows for a dual-boot system
 
Keep in mind though running boot camp on macs take up 16 gb, not THAT much, but memory should be still taken into consideration, especially if you aren't necessarily going to have a use for specific mac software. I'd personally get a windows laptop, you have less worries about software compatibility issues. Portability is a great sacrifice and you can use the web almost everywhere nowadays with wifi being common in public areas. I'd personally get a windows laptop with a lot of ram. The convenience of laptops is just too powerful to look past. I'd also look for one with a lot of battery life. :D
 
TigersGoRAWR said:
Okay, I have a few questions about PC's, Laptops and MAC's xD

- Which are better in your opinion; Desktop PC's, All-in-one PC's, or Apple Mac's?

- In the future, if I were to get a new computer, which would be best, a decent apple laptop or a decent normal laptop, and why?

- What kind of computer/laptop would be best for Photoshop, photo editting in general, and gaming?

I know laptops tend to over-heat after a while, but Ive heard somewhere that Apple Laptops dont.... no idea if this is true or not xD

if anyone could give me some advice, that would be greatly appreciated :)
Click to expand...

The meme 'Once you go mac you'll never go back' applies to me... I can't speak for everyone. They're more expensive, but also have proven themselves to me higher quality, tougher, more powerful, more reliable, easier to deal with, etc, than any PC i'd ever owned in my 20-odd ears of PC'ing prior to my first mac. This is one viewpoint you can tally against others =3 :m027:
 
Thank you everyone for the advice :)
I will take everyones points into consideration ^^

Another question I thought of:
What would be your recommended stats for a computer?
like, RAM wise, HDD wise, Graphics Card wise etc etc.
 
You can install windows on a mac though for gaming. I'd go with a mac though cause it's awesome.
 
bickelz said:
You can install windows on a mac though for gaming. I'd go with a mac though cause it's awesome.
Click to expand...

Thankfully fewer and fewer games are coming out these days that don't have a mac version. They play smoothly and quickly, too, so I have no complaints. EVE online, WoW, Dwarf Fortress, Civilization 4 and 5, etc etc etc. The gaming industry is realizing that macs are powerful and are here to stay. =3
 
Macs are expensive, for what they are. Very expensive. A friend of mine had to get a new laptop, and in the range she was looking a mac cost about 2x as much as a PC with comparable hardware. Like... $1600 vs. the PC's $800. If you get a mac you're definitely paying a lot for the name... at least in laptop-land. I think it's similar with desktops, although I don't have any recent experience with people looking for those.

Chaz is also right: you're probably gonna want a PC if you're gaming. I don't exactly know how true this is anymore (since macs got popular, I'm not sure if gaming companies are/have already started porting games to it more often), but it was at least historically true that macs couldn't game that well.

Macs are also nasty when it comes to licensing and repairs and things like that. I had a friend who worked in a computer repair store for a while, and he said that they legally were not allowed to touch macs. Macs are built with tools such that they can't be opened except by someone associated with Apple... so if someone came by with a mac they wanted repaired, the store he worked at would have to mail it away to an Apple repair store instead of trying to fix it themselves. On the other hand, I'm not sure I've ever heard of anyone having any major problems with their macs, so maybe "what happens when it breaks" isn't much of an issue. On the third hand, I've never had any problems with any computers... so I have no clue why people keep saying they do. On the fourth hand I'm going to be a software engineer, so when things go wrong it's usually not that hard for me to figure out what it is and fix it. More often than not it's my fault for fiddling around with stuff anyway.

On the topic of overheating laptops: if you're worried about it, just spring for the Intel chip, rather than getting an Athlon one, then make sure you don't block your computer's air vents and it'll probably be fine. Intel chips run cooler than Athlon ones, so they last longer and tend to overheat less. I suspect most of the problem with "overheating PCs" is due to people with air vents on the bottom of their laptops using them in bed, blocking the vents with the blankets instead of using them on a flat/hard surface, or things like that.

For hardcore artsy stuff, though, I've heard mac software is better. I'm not sure about photo-editing, but for videos especially I've heard the programs for mac are a lot nicer. However, photoshop works perfectly fine on both, so if you know how to use that and anticipate using it for your photo editing, either would be about equal for this.

As far as laptop vs. desktop, I would strongly recommend a desktop unless you really need your computer to be portable. I've never had any problems with my laptop PC (which I got 4 years ago), and I'm glad I had it for college because it was easy to transport to and from home for vacations, but when I graduate and move into a more permanent home (in about a month) I'm going to be getting a desktop. Laptops are not only more expensive for the same hardware, when compared to desktops, but you're right that they can overheat and when one piece of a laptop breaks, chances are you need to get a whole new laptop. If you get a desktop and your video card gets fried you can just buy yourself a new video card and switch it out. Laptops are far harder (/impossible, I think, depending on which part goes) to fix that way.

Another reason to go desktop over laptop: for both gaming and photo editing, it'll be nice to have a fairly large screen. My laptop has a 17" screen, which is quite large for a laptop, but as a compromise it can be a little uncomfortably heavy and it's still not very big.


So yeah... if you're looking strictly at the hardware involved, you will always get more for your money if you go PC over mac, and always more for your money if you go desktop over laptop. The only real reason to go laptop over desktop is if you want the portability or battery power (although I'll warn you: batteries die after about 2 or 2 1/2 years anyway, and then only hold a charge for a few minutes before dying). The only real reasons to go mac over PC are if you like the software better (typically I've heard they have better 'artsy' software), like the name/image/advertising campaign, or plan on doing heavy computer programing/remote work on other computers and don't want to be bothered to dual boot linux.
 
frozen_water said:
Macs are expensive, for what they are. Very expensive. A friend of mine had to get a new laptop, and in the range she was looking a mac cost about 2x as much as a PC with comparable hardware. Like... $1600 vs. the PC's $800. If you get a mac you're definitely paying a lot for the name... at least in laptop-land.
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Yes they are expensive; no, you are not just paying for a name (though you are also paying for it, too.) I spent the majority of my life in PC land, and upon using macs found them to actually be WORTH at least MOST of the extra money. I've found them to be be more stalwart and reliable, more resiliant, less prone to hardware and software issues, less prone to infection, last longer, are quite powerful, etc. By the time you spec a PC up to the performance of a mac, you aren't actually paying much less at all ~and~ while a savvy computer user can deflect and cure the typical ailments of typical pcs, not all that many people can really say that.

Macs aren't perfect nor are they for everyone, but they are slick, powerful, and valuable machines that do far more than a dyed-in-the-wool pc enthusiast will admit to. The extra money is well spent.
 
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~jet said:
Yes they are expensive; no, you are not just paying for a name (though you are also paying for it, too.) I spent the majority of my life in PC land, and upon using macs found them to actually be WORTH at least MOST of the extra money. I've found them to be be more stalwart and reliable, more resiliant, less prone to hardware and software issues, less prone to infection, last longer, are quite powerful, etc. By the time you spec a PC up to the performance of a mac, you aren't actually paying much less at all ~and~ while a savvy computer user can deflect and cure the typical ailments of typical pcs, not all that many people can really say that.

Macs aren't perfect nor are they for everyone, but they are slick, powerful, and valuable machines that do far more than a dyed-in-the-wool pc enthusiast will admit to. The extra money is well spent.
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+9000
 
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