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...Am I missing something?


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Since a lot of people seem to love mac, I figured I'd give it a shot. I sold my gaming PC to downgrade, and decided I may as well try out a mac as a replacement. Of course, the mac mini is the only model that is relatively cheap, so I picked up an Intel Solo model (default specs) at Microcenter. After having it for almost a week, I cant say I've noticed any big advantages. It's slower than a PC I could get for $400, and though initially the interface is cool, it wears off fast. I've been using it for everyday things- mostly listening/downloading music and checking email and such. The speed isnt a huge problem until I run 3+ apps at a time. I can have firefox and itunes up, but thats it without the speed going way down. The videocard is horrible as well, flash-heavy sites crawl on this thing. Anyway, am I just not taking advantage of awesome features I havent discovered, or am I just not a mac person? GarageBand is definitely cool but not worth the sacrifice of speed, IMO. All helpful comments are welcome :blink:.

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Apple was never known to sell high performance for little money. That´s just not the business they are in. And this is the prime reason why people bother with OSX86.

 

Since a lot of people seem to love mac, I figured I'd give it a shot. I sold my gaming PC to downgrade, and decided I may as well try out a mac as a replacement. Of course, the mac mini is the only model that is relatively cheap, so I picked up an Intel Solo model (default specs) at Microcenter. After having it for almost a week, I cant say I've noticed any big advantages. It's slower than a PC I could get for $400, and though initially the interface is cool, it wears off fast. I've been using it for everyday things- mostly listening/downloading music and checking email and such. The speed isnt a huge problem until I run 3+ apps at a time. I can have firefox and itunes up, but thats it without the speed going way down. The videocard is horrible as well, flash-heavy sites crawl on this thing. Anyway, am I just not taking advantage of awesome features I havent discovered, or am I just not a mac person? GarageBand is definitely cool but not worth the sacrifice of speed, IMO. All helpful comments are welcome :D.
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Ok, I think we've established that it isnt the fastest machine in the world. Would anyone care to actually be helpful and tell me what the real advantages of a mac are? If not I'll take my pc-loser self to microcenter and exchange it.

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mate if your gonna speak liek that then go F*ck yourslef, saty stuck on your windows box, we are not all asshats, i personally use XP for most of my work, i just know a better OS when i see one. Now for you who prolly uses a computer to check his email and go into live web cam sites a windows box is prolly good enuff, then you can stick all your MS {censored} up ur pasty white ass.

 

Dickhead :whistle:

 

p.S: any way why teh hell is you rnick Mash71, tryign to be liek Mash?

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Once I can figure out why the hell people prefer osx over windows I might get it again. But for now, I'll take speed over being a non conformist. I'll enjoy every second of those live webcam sites on good ol' windows xp. As for my name being mash71, I use mash on every site I sign up for. Mash was taken here so I added the 71.

 

This thread can be deleted. Enjoy your iLives everyone.

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man, you are so cool, why dotn u juts say Asta la Vista frikkin n00b, if you like Xp and you have to use live web cam rooms with seedy asian hookers then fine go ahead im not stopping you, you asked for our advice i've given you mine, now go insert you thrustmaster or should i say pin into ur pc's gameport and you can play a little, after all its prolly the only sokcet that will let u in ever.

 

Any way why the hell would you sell ur pc to downgrade to a a {censored} core solo, wen u could ahev run os x on ur pc, not very smart i say

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All right, here's a helpful comment about the advantages of owning a Mac, which I have stolen from another post I did.

 

8. Macs are more expensive

 

I decided to put this up to the Mythbuster test and went to both Apple.com and Dell.com to configure some systems. So I went with the following two cheap systems:

 

1. Apple Mac mini 1.5 GHz CoreSolo prices at $599.

 

2. Dell Dimension B110, priced today (8/12/06) at $279.

 

The following changes were applied to the systems to make them as equal as possible. In all honesty, I expect the Dell to remain cheaper:

 

1. The Dell was upgraded to WinXP Pro at a price of $159 more. Apple markets OS X as pro, so I went with Pro on Dell also.

 

2. Changed RAM in Dell to 512 MB at a price of $50

 

3. Mac mini hard drive changed to 80 GB at a price of $50

 

4. While unable to remove the monitor and keyboard/mouse, I had to go to Macworld and obtain a price of $65 to remove both items.

 

5. Added speakers to the Dell system, at a cost of $20.

 

6. Added Microsoft Works to Dell and Appleworks to Mac mini. Both were $79.

 

7. Added antivirus software to Dell at a cost of $79. This isn't truly needed on a Mac...yet

 

8. Upgraded the Dell to the Deluxe Entertainment pack, as it more closely matches iLife. It was $49.

 

9. Added the Apple USB modem to the Mac mini. Cost was $49.

 

10. Added extended warranties of three years to both systems. This was $109 for the Dell and $149 to the Mac mini.

 

OK, at this point the score is: $759 for the Dell. $926 for the Mac mini. There's more to the problem, though, so let's continue. The sites I chose for purchases were strictly arbitrary, as I would not accept a freeware substitute (since it would make the playing field inherently unfair):

 

11. The Mac mini has Quicken. I went to Intuit and obtained a price of $30 for the cheapest version, so we add that to the Dell to make things even.

 

12. Comic Life has no Windows version. So we can either remove $30 (I rounded up) from the mini or add $30 to Dell for software of your choice. In this case, I decided to give people their choice of any $30 piece of software.

 

13. Big Bang Board Games presents a similar problem. Substitute a $25 piece of software for the Dell.

 

14. I needed a substitute for iDVD. The cheapest one I found at PCMall was $79.

 

15. I need to add wireless capabilities to the Dell to make things fair. I found a cheap one for $20 at PCMall. Unfortunately, Granny won't be able to install the wireless PCI card (because nobody shopping for el cheapo uses PCI cards). So a USB model is about $30 for Granny.

 

16. Bluetooth is needed on the Dell to make things fair again. This was another $20 spent at PCMall, and this one is for USB

 

So now our total is $933 ($943 if you went for the USB wireless) for the now comparably equipped Dell and $926 for the Mac mini. Truthfully, I thought the Dell (even with everything added) would wind up being maybe $50 cheaper than the mini. I really did, and I thought the myth would be confirmed.

 

With that out of the way, can someone close this thread because everyone is calling each other poopy heads.

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Alright mash71, you seem to not understand this. You did get a slow machine. That is affecting your opinion of OSX. Why do we love OSX? Lets see, NO Microsoft, close to NO viruses, more stable than windows, NO malware/spyware, and the freedom to have a choice. Plus the real Macs just work out of the box. I think you need to really sit down with a fast Mac, get some nice apps on it, and go from there.

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Ok, I think we've established that it isnt the fastest machine in the world. Would anyone care to actually be helpful and tell me what the real advantages of a mac are? If not I'll take my pc-loser self to microcenter and exchange it.

 

I think in your case. A increase in system memory would definitly increase snappiness of your Mac Mini.

Go for at least 1GB since Intel code tend to need more memory.

 

OSX is in that respect no better than Windows. They both need a ridiculous amount of RAM. Wait 'till Microsoft Vista arrives... then you'll see a goldrush for RAM.

 

The advantage (as you put it) is this.

 

1) You stand out from the Windows-lemmings. This suggest an open-minded approach and can be utilised when applying for jobs etc...

 

2) You don't need to tweak or tune an Mac in the same amount as you do with Windows. Most of these tweaks are certainly not as hazardous as messing around with the notorious Windows-registry.

 

3) If you find the apps you require. You probably wont feel the urge to buy a new machine every year. Because you a) can't financially and :) hardware upgrades are less frequent anyway. This aspect passes by unnoticed. So in that respect Mac's "appear" to last longer then similarly aged Windows PC's. Most Mac-users (I'm not talking about Mac-zealots here) one day see that a fellow user has a new version of App-x and then they see that another 2 years have past by with several revisions in OS and hardware.

 

4) Apple's products shield many OS-related items away from users. A good-looking UI is just one way to accomplish this. This way users can get more attention to the job at hand and the application in use. Apple's filosophy is that Apps are more important then the OS (though Microsoft let ppl believe otherwise). This fits in the attidute: What you do with it is more important then how you do it. At least Apple tries to make the "how"-part the least disturbing and most fun to use which is not bad IMO (especially at a time when you need things done instead of fool around). In that respect you buy the game install it and play it. No need to worry about driver X, gfx-API Y, and whatever else you need in order on a Windows machine before you can play that game. Things are "usually" less troublesome on a Mac for simple end-users. This is also overlooked in computing.

 

5) OK. You probably had a HackIntosh (otherwise you wouldn't know OSX86, right) so in that respect you already have been spoiled. You know that your P4/AMD/whatever home-build HackIntosh is as fast or even faster and cheaper than genuine Apple products. Don't forget however that Apple products come bundled WITH the OS AND a full DVD with productivity and/or multimedia applications. Your 400 $ homebuild PC probably came without Windows (as you already had a cracked/leaked/borrowed version) which adds another 100$, let alone the bundled Apple-apps. So deduct the price of the OS (at similar rate as Windows) and assorted equivallent apps from your Mac you'll see that the remaining hardware asking price isn't that farfetched anyway. In fact A Nonny Moose made an excact price comparision which demonstrates excactly what I mean.

 

 

Also Kiko's remark: Any way why the hell would you sell ur pc to downgrade to a a {censored} core solo, wen u could ahev run os x on ur pc, not very smart i say

 

Is a good question in itself. Why did you sell your PC since you probably could have run OSX86 on that too (if it's just to see if OSX is your taste)? The fact that your here proofs that at least you know about OSX86 and so-called "HackIntosh"-machines. Of which many seem to get run quite well.

 

You just need to be more objective about things and don't question your buying decisions. The Mac mini is "a good computer", a bit short breath: definitly, but the hassle-free environment should makes a less frustrating computing experience and could make you a happier person in general.

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