justin_tx_16 Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Hey guys, what's up? Sorry I'm never here, busy with school and work and that thing called life. But whenever I need help, I come here first! I am about to replace my desktop computer. Specs Intel P4 3.16Ghz 300, 250 and 160 GB IDE hard drives 2Gb RAM WinXP Pro M-Audio 7.1 ATI Radeon 9550 (4xAGP, 256mb RAM) 16x DVD-R/RW/+/- Burner 52x CD Burner DVD Player Samsung 191T (monitor) I built this a few years ago, have updated, changed things around blah blah. It has now like four years old and running hot, buggy at times, I guess anything I would expect from a computer built ~ four years ago. I am looking at getting a 24" iMac, beautiful screen! Specs Intel 2.33Ghz Core 2 Duo 500Gb ATA Serial Hard drive 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM Mac OS X NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) The iMac will run me ~$2600 paid over two years with no interest (love my school). What do you guys think? Would it be that much faster or more powerful than my current computer? I like the simplicity on my desk and its operations. What about a surround sound for my speakers? I need either a USB/FireWire soundcard or an optical digital decoder; but which ones? Thanks guys, I know you will pull through for me haha. Any other thoughts? [poll] I am hoping for some cool iTV integration, the new iMacs snuck in 802.11n so I guess that was the update for iTV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 I worked for said company and I find apple a bit expensive for me... but I guess its like the complete package thing. The 24 sounds nice but the sound card stinks! [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Last year the best deals were right after Christmas. Although they were not bad just before. This is in general. Your old one is more of a hot rod than my new (almost 2yrs) one. Big screens are nice, we like our lcd (only 17"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 I would first backup everything then wipe the drive and reinstall the OS and update all the drivers to the latest version. This will probabaly cure the buggy operation. Then again, if you need to spend money, buy after Christmas and then send me your old PC. I will even pay for shipping. I have much less of a system both in the lap top and in the home PC so it would be a nice upgrade for me[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Agreed. Unless you are really geeked about getting a Mac, just back everything up, do a full system wipe and reinstall the OS. You still have a killer computer there...Not as fast as some of the new dual core systems but not bad none the less... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted October 4, 2006 Moderators Share Posted October 4, 2006 Hey glad to see you still breathing .[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 i still do wonders with my p4 1.8 gig only 256 rdram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted October 4, 2006 Author Share Posted October 4, 2006 Thanks for the thoughts guys! I have done the "back it all up and reformat" bit. I do have ten outdated drivers, but considering the number of devices, that isn't too bad. There are some hardware buggy problems too. The power switch for instance. I turn it on and it starts to go, then dies. Push it one or two more times and everything is fine. It isn't a power supply issue, I have a really nice 550watt Antec... Thoughts? Maybe I will do the backup and reformat thing again (did it in June...), only this time it isn't so easy. I have filled up my external drive. My iTunes library alone sits at around 200gb's (music and video). After Christmas might be a better idea... iTV comes out around then and right after iTV's release, they should be doing a more major upgrade to the iMac (rumour has it). Quad Core processor?... haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Get the Mac. It can run MacOS, Windows, Linux, Solaris or whatever. Can even run all of them at the same time. What PC can do that? I have a new quad Xeon Mac Pro. Some real neat technology in this thing. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Get the Mac. I dumped all my windows machines (four P-4) and replaced them with Macs. Having a windows machine is lik having a part time job. Updates, patches, spyware tools, adware tools, etc. The recovery process on windows is only goog if windows is working....if windows was working I would not need a recovery. On a Mac , you can do a disk image from your CD disk 1, and either recover from it, or boot directly off it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted October 4, 2006 Author Share Posted October 4, 2006 I have a new quad Xeon Mac Pro. Some real neat technology in this thing. Why did you choose to get the Mac Pro? I don't do video editing or a TON of graphics stuff, just this and that. I would like to explore a little video and audio composition with this machine, I should be good with the Duel Core 2.33Ghz right? It's a lot of money for a college kid to throw on a computer haha. My last computer, listed above, cost me like $1300 to build, if that? When does the new OS come out? I wish this was as simple as Apple likes to think... haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Agreed. The more I use a mac the more I like it. I have an old imac (450mhz, 512 ram) that I got at a garage sale and updated it to OS 10.4 (its barely meets the os requirements...) I had never had a mac before and thought I would try a cheap one and see what all the fuss is about. I have been running the mac for about a year as a second computer in my bedroom. I only use it for internet and the occasional word processing. It plays DVDs well too. No PC at the speed of this machine could even think of showing a DVD.... and it never has issues, it never hangs, it never needs the myriads of scans that my pc needs. It just works. My next compooper will definitely be a mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Hey...lookee..500 posts...yeah me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 After Christmas might be a better idea... iTV comes out around then and right after iTV's release, they should be doing a more major upgrade to the iMac (rumour has it). Quad Core processor?... haha No rumour, it is fact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 I have a new quad Xeon Mac Pro. Some real neat technology in this thing. Why did you choose to get the Mac Pro? I don't do video editing or a TON of graphics stuff, just this and that. I would like to explore a little video and audio composition with this machine, I should be good with the Duel Core 2.33Ghz right? It's a lot of money for a college kid to throw on a computer haha. My last computer, listed above, cost me like $1300 to build, if that? When does the new OS come out? I wish this was as simple as Apple likes to think... haha Justin, No good reason except I though the quad processor Mac pro might run multiple operating systems easier and I can go to more memory than the iMac with the Mac Pro. I could likely have used the new Core 2 duo iMac about as well. Either can do a second monitor without anything being added. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 If you want to run them simutaneously, it will slow down a LOT. Dual or multiple booting would be much faster for a given OS. The Dual Core 2 24" would be fine, and you can always use the optical out for higher quality audio. They are very stable, but they do still crash on occasion (I know, that what I have to fix where I work). We have more Macs come in DOA percentage wise than the Dells, which is not a good sign. If they get that under control it would be great. From a SysAdmin standpoint, Macs still don't play well in a Windows environment. You can't mount Windows shares unless you are willing to turn off encryption, which will be a security risk on the Windows side. Apple could fix it but they won't. Still doesn't work in 10.4. Safari is one of the worst browsers available. You can allow popups or not, but not selectively choose. If you offer it, it ought to be great. Firefox and Camino are way better browsers. Swapping the drive on an Apple laptop means almost totally disassembling the box. Most companies you remove one screw and pull the drive. Still, they are elegant in their design and major functionality. A real plus for the end user. My dual celeron 466 keeps chugging away, and has for six years now. I install junk, uninstall junk and it just keeps going. I have never had to reformat it yet. You need to pick the software you want to use and then see what it runs on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 24-inch screen? Good Lord, I still use a 15-inch 600 mhz iMac! I am gonna be SO jealous...Come back to California, would ya? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted October 5, 2006 Author Share Posted October 5, 2006 i will definitely be back in california within a few years. i have my house up there, why not live in a house in northern california, surrounded by wineries and totally paid for? too bad we never met up. i do believe I left a message with your daughter once haha. when i get the job at Apple in their marketing department, I will see what i can do about upping your 600mhz to, well at least 850! that is another reason i'm looking to Apple this time around. I plan on working there in the not-too-distant future. -justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 apple retail or apple corporate? and its one 25% discount per denomination per year [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted October 5, 2006 Author Share Posted October 5, 2006 Apple Corporate. My dad bumped into some marketing execs in Manhatten and it looks like I should be able to get a job there once I graduate from Mizzou. She was from Mizzou and seemed to be impressed with my dad's view on me... haha. Love the corporate-legacy type thing. 25% off per denomination per year? How does that work? Are you meaning to say 25% off? seems like denomination per year is only dollar value per year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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