pc'd off; considering a mac

System

I am pretty much fed up with microsoft and the pc.

Could someone argue why I should get a mac (you won't need to argue against the pc).

And/or could someone direct me to some of the better threads here that discuss this.

I use the computer basically for photography, using photoshop and a couple other smaller programs for processing.

I also use email and internet with occasional use of word processing, and listen to rhapsody.

thanks much

DavidTO

Wow. You're so ticked you forgot to hyphenate that entire message!!!

Isn't Rhapsody going away? I thought I heard that.

You can always check out Andy's Unsolicited Advice thread, sticky in the top of the gear forum, but this is fine, too.

You should get a Mac because it does everything you want on a more stable and user-friendly OS. There, I said it.

Plus, you get a Mac, you get lifetime free tech support.... from me!

System

DavidTO wrote:

Wow. You're so ticked you forgot to hyphenate that entire message!!!

Isn't Rhapsody going away? I thought I heard that.

You can always check out Andy's Unsolicited Advice thread, sticky in the top of the gear forum, but this is fine, too.

You should get a Mac because it does everything you want on a more stable and user-friendly OS. There, I said it.

Plus, you get a Mac, you get lifetime free tech support.... from me!

hah!

I did not forget to hyphenate.

I refrained, hoping you would answer.

Hard to beat that lifetime support!!

Had not heard anything re rhapsody; nothing would surprise me though.

Thanks much, david.


Boy, using periods seem so, well, final.

Andy

Dude, just do it.

Your problems will go away, leaving much time to do the important things in life-

pathfinder

Just do it, George.

You won't look back.

marlof

Just do it George. I did it. And went back.

Actually, I've found issues in both the Mac and the Windows world, and don't see that much of a difference in the end user experience. When my iBook died of an hardware issue a few months after its three year repair-under-warranty-window was closed, I bought a Windows notebook again. Not because I liked a Mac less than Windows, but because my wife couldn't get used to Mac OS X. I haven't actually missed Mac OS X. Nor am I glad I no longer use it. It's just a computer/operating system.

photodoug

gefillmore wrote:

I am pretty much fed up with microsoft and the pc.

Could someone argue why I should get a mac (you won't need to argue against the pc).

And/or could someone direct me to some of the better threads here that discuss this.

I use the computer basically for photography, using photoshop and a couple other smaller programs for processing.

I also use email and internet with occasional use of word processing, and listen to rhapsody.

thanks much

identify exactly why you messed up your PC....and try to find out if you'll do the same with the MAC....

not to put blame on you...but computers, on their own, usually hum along just dandy.

System

Andy wrote:

Dude, just do it.

Your problems will go away, leaving much time to do the important things in life-

great looking hyphen, andy.


thanks much

System

pathfinder wrote:

Just do it, George.

You won't look back.

thanks pf.

System

marlof wrote:

Just do it George. I did it. And went back.

Actually, I've found issues in both the Mac and the Windows world, and don't see that much of a difference in the end user experience. When my iBook died of an hardware issue a few months after its three year repair-under-warranty-window was closed, I bought a Windows notebook again. Not because I liked a Mac less than Windows, but because my wife couldn't get used to Mac OS X. I haven't actually missed Mac OS X. Nor am I glad I no longer use it. It's just a computer/operating system.

thanks for the input, marlof!

System

photodoug wrote:

identify exactly why you messed up your PC....and try to find out if you'll do the same with the MAC....

not to put blame on you...but computers, on their own, usually hum along just dandy.

you definitely have a valid point and a point to seriously consider.


I do appreciate the input.

DavidTO

You'll notice, George, that no one suggesting that you stick with PC has put their money where their mouth is, and offered you free, lifetime, tech support.

System

DavidTO wrote:

You'll notice, George, that no one suggesting that you stick with PC has put their money where their mouth is, and offered you free, lifetime, tech support.

hah!

maddernc

Recent Mac convert
Howdy George

I say do it, you certainly won't be any worse off.
Now to qualify my statement, I have been a software developer in the PC environment for over 10 yrs, and have had a PC of some sort all my adult life. 3 Months ago I bought a Macbook Pro and haven't looked back.
I am not bashing Microsoft, as a developer I have some appreciation of the enormity of their work but of late too many odd things have trashed my pc. Updates that have trashed low level drivers, other weird disk access issues after pc left running over night etc. Yeah you can fix it by reinstalling but who has the time. Sure your photos are backed up and on network drives but the settings in your photo processing apps are not (though you should backlup your system drives as well). Part of the joy of PCs is their tinker-ability but it comes at a price of stability.
Since I have had the Macbook, I hate to say it but the Apple thing of "It just works" has proved oh so true. I did manage to get some corrupt internal files after an update but it all kept working and when it did come to light it was repaired easily by the system utilities, no reinstall of OS required.
I still have my PC and use if for gaming etc but for the serious stuff (photos) I want a machine that is going to work day in day out and so far the MacBook Pro has provided the goods.

Regards

Cain

System

maddernc wrote:

Howdy George

I say do it, you certainly won't be any worse off.
Now to qualify my statement, I have been a software developer in the PC environment for over 10 yrs, and have had a PC of some sort all my adult life. 3 Months ago I bought a Macbook Pro and haven't looked back.
I am not bashing Microsoft, as a developer I have some appreciation of the enormity of their work but of late too many odd things have trashed my pc. Updates that have trashed low level drivers, other weird disk access issues after pc left running over night etc. Yeah you can fix it by reinstalling but who has the time. Sure your photos are backed up and on network drives but the settings in your photo processing apps are not (though you should backlup your system drives as well). Part of the joy of PCs is their tinker-ability but it comes at a price of stability.
Since I have had the Macbook, I hate to say it but the Apple thing of "It just works" has proved oh so true. I did manage to get some corrupt internal files after an update but it all kept working and when it did come to light it was repaired easily by the system utilities, no reinstall of OS required.
I still have my PC and use if for gaming etc but for the serious stuff (photos) I want a machine that is going to work day in day out and so far the MacBook Pro has provided the goods.

Regards

Cain

some really great info.

thanks cain!

dogwood

DavidTO wrote:

You'll notice, George, that no one suggesting that you stick with PC has put their money where their mouth is, and offered you free, lifetime, tech support.

That's because PC's are so well designed they don't need tech support.

Seriously-- the tip about figuring out what went wrong is darn good advice. I work on both a Mac and PC and can promise you-- they're both equally easy to mess up on. Just my two-cents, but go with whatever OS you feel most comfortable with. You're going to be spending a lot of time together, after all.

CatOne

dogwood wrote:

That's because PC's are so well designed they don't need tech support.

Seriously-- the tip about figuring out what went wrong is darn good advice. I work on both a Mac and PC and can promise you-- they're both equally easy to mess up on. Just my two-cents, but go with whatever OS you feel most comfortable with. You're going to be spending a lot of time together, after all.

I wouldn't say "equally easy." The bane of all things Windows is the registry. Seriously... that prevents things that are intuitive like "Hey, what if I want to move this application?" from having any CHANCE of actually working. Migrating a system (without cloning a la Ghost, which ONLY really works in corp environments because all PC hardware varies) on a PC is a day-long endeavor, where on a Mac it's a 15-60 minute operation. And the whole anti-virus/spyware/crap cleaner/other apps mess... just isn't necessary on the Mac. Macs REALLY don't have the problem of growing crufty with time like PCs can.

That said, yes, you can screw up a Mac, if you're determined to do so. But let's put it this way -- how many of us, if we were to support mom or grandma, would rather support her if she were using a Windows machine than a Mac? Q.E.D.

Anyway, now that I've addressed that without possibility of reproach -- on to the original question -- for photography (Photoshop and whatever else), email, web, etc., the Mac will be fantastic. If you're using Photoshop on the PC you can probably get a crossgrade to the Mac version from Adobe as well, if you call and ask.

DavidTO

Migrating a Mac is so ridiculously easy and cool to do. My dad just did it to move his iMac to his new MacBook. Everything worked flawlessly, like he never left the iMac.

System

thank you pete and catone

let's say I go with a mac

I don't believe in going barebones, because that's obsolete before you go out the door.

but on the other hand, I'm not so sure about 2 x quad core processors and 8 gig of ram!

what are anybody's thoughts on a decent setup?



and thanks again all for your responses!

DavidTO

gefillmore wrote:

thank you pete and catone

let's say I go with a mac

I don't believe in going barebones, because that's obsolete before you go out the door.

but on the other hand, I'm not so sure about 2 x quad core processors and 8 gig of ram!

what are anybody's thoughts on a decent setup?



and thanks again all for your responses!

If you're getting the MacPro, then just get the stock unit and upgrade the RAM from crucial.com.

Get a few drives for the bays.

dogwood

CatOne wrote:

I wouldn't say "equally easy."

You didn't have to-- I already did.

Really-- I work on both in very technical situations (professional audio editing on the Mac, professional photo editing on the PC) and I prefer a PC. But I see guys on Macs who whip right through all kinds of amazing stuff at blazing speeds. I can do that on a PC, but it's never as easy on a Mac-- for me. It really comes down to how comfortable you are with one system or another-- but that's just my two-cents. I work with IT guys who swear by Macs, but set me up side by side with a similar speced PC, and I guarantee I can do everything just as fast as them. Not saying one is better-- it all depends on the user.

Then again, did I mention that's just my opinion?

SloYerRoll

From the amount of work it sounds lke your going to do. I'd go w/ an iMac.
You are absolutely right that a 2x quad w/ 8GB of RAM is a little excessive for your needs. When you start using apps like final cut pro (video editing) and are batch processing 200+ photos every time you do post production. You need to buy a Mac Pro.

The iMacs are rock solid and have all the functionality it sounds like you need at almost half the price of the Mac Pro's.
Con's w/ iMacs though: upgrading is next to impossible after you buy it (get the 3GB RAM option from the jump). It's a sealed case. The monitor, hard drive, mobo, optical drive, usb's all are in one sweet little white box. Good thing is your entire computer is one sweet little white box that fits on your desktop in less space than your old CRT probably took up. W/o the disaster of wires too.

Another boon to Mac's in general is OS X maintains itself by validating it's file structure when it knows your not using the machine and blah blah blah keep you Mac running smooth and fast automatically. So two years down the road when you launch photoshop, it will still launch at the same speed that it did when you first got it. If not, TO will make sure it does.

Whatever you decide to pick, remember there is a small learning curve and things will seem to disorient you. No worries though. This will pass and you'll be stuck on Macs like so many others.
Oh yea, don't turn your mac off at night.

NOTE: I'm actually switching back to PC. This is just because it's more cost effective though. I can build a real banshee of a machine for less than half a Mac Pro costs. And this PC build will smoke a stock Mac Pro. If I had an extra 3500 I'd stick w/ a Mac. But the mighty dollar and performance means much more to me than sticking w/ a name brand. I also know how to avoid the pitfalls of a PC slowing down as well which is a huge help.

DavidTO

I recommend an iMac, too. I was just responding to what I thought George was going for.

Why do you say not to turn your Mac off at night? If it's for cron jobs, use Macaroni. It works a charm.

SloYerRoll

DavidTO wrote:

I recommend an iMac, too. I was just responding to what I thought George was going for.

Why do you say not to turn your Mac off at night? If it's for cron jobs, use Macaroni. It works a charm.

I edited my post when I re-read. I saw you weren't pushing the mac pro's.
I use macaroni too. Works like a champ. Just don't want to inundate George w/ too much mac stuff from the jump. Might scare him off before he takes the plunge. Once he gets drawn into your Andy advice thread. He'll have more than he can handle for a long time.

All the best.

dogwood

Oh yeah-- one other question for Mac users that is very specific to SM-- is uploading an issue? I use star*explorer and can't imagine life without it-- but I regularly upload 200-300 photos from events. I'm honestly curious because life before S*E was pretty bleak when it came to uploads.

SloYerRoll

dogwood wrote:

Oh yeah-- one other question for Mac users that is very specific to SM-- is uploading an issue? I use star*explorer and can't imagine life without it-- but I regularly upload 200-300 photos from events. I'm honestly curious because life before S*E was pretty bleak when it came to uploads.

I can't speak for anyone but myself. But the SM uploader bites major donkey on a G4 OS X 10.4.10.
I can't get past 150 photos w/o it crashing on me. One of the things I really don't like about it crashing is that SM spends a long time "processing" the photos so I can't see the last image that was uploaded until they are done on their side. Then I have to reference the photo to find out where to continue my upload. :splat

quark

Just do Ubuntu! Seriously - take a look. You can test drive it on your current PC using the "Live CD" to make sure it will work with your hardware. It offers many of the benefits of the Mac (registry issues, etc) plus you can run a "virtual" windows computer for anything you found you left behind.

Good free stuff .... http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

System

thanks slo, pete, david

quark

I've thought about the linux route but I am not tech oriented.

and I know ubuntu's supposed to be ok for an intermediate? user, but I do not impress myself to be even at that point sometimes.

I just want something to work where I don't have to call tech support or reload all my stuff on to the computer.

if I'm not working, all I want to do is photography.

and 90% of that time is photoshop.

(I do go out and take pics from time to time)



(keep forgetting to leave the hyphens off; ain't easy)

DavidTO

Nobody has written an uploader as feature-rich as S*E on the Mac side. But I've also had good luck with SmugBrowser, the Universal Uploader, PictureSync to name a few. I don't know where all the "choking" problems come from, I've had none.

thebigsky

SloYerRoll wrote:

NOTE: I'm actually switching back to PC. This is just because it's more cost effective though. I can build a real banshee of a machine for less than half a Mac Pro costs. And this PC build will smoke a stock Mac Pro. If I had an extra 3500 I'd stick w/ a Mac. But the mighty dollar and performance means much more to me than sticking w/ a name brand. I also know how to avoid the pitfalls of a PC slowing down as well which is a huge help.

Hi, what spec will you be building?

Charlie

CatOne

quark wrote:

Just do Ubuntu! Seriously - take a look. You can test drive it on your current PC using the "Live CD" to make sure it will work with your hardware. It offers many of the benefits of the Mac (registry issues, etc) plus you can run a "virtual" windows computer for anything you found you left behind.

Good free stuff .... http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

ROFL, dude. How are you going to run Photoshop?

Oh, that's right. You can't. But there's GIMP! Well... where's the 1D mark III RAW decoder for that?

Let's be realistic here. For photography use, there are huge numbers of holes with Linux. No Photoshop, No Aperture, No Lightroom, No ANYTHING commercial.

So let's scratch that off the list. I think, perhaps, you thought you were posting on Slashdot?