PC or MAC ? Help needed please

[NaturesPixel]

Im a Switcher, i switched earlier this year and will never look back!!! goodbye windoze...lol
these sites helped me a lot http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=8 and http://www.ehmac.ca/forum.php
and dont forget you can run windows on a mac via bootcamp (comes with Leopard) or Parallels http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/

[RejectReality]

Originally Posted by amy-rose

a problem that i am having is not viewing all of the colors (i guess that is how i will call it) on my mac. i will post process some of my photos and then post them to my website only to discover all sorts of missed spots! especially when i view them on my pc.

Without seeing some sample problematic images, it's kinda hard to say.

Have a look at this thread, and the image in this post demonstrating a colourspace issue.

Is this similar to the problem you are experiencing?

[Kpclark1959]

Originally Posted by amy-rose

i just got a mac a few months ago and i'm seriously having trouble switching. i'm getting there, but i don't see the great benefit just yet. my computer (which is kind of old) was just as fast. i am very good with computers too!
a problem that i am having is not viewing all of the colors (i guess that is how i will call it) on my mac. i will post process some of my photos and then post them to my website only to discover all sorts of missed spots! especially when i view them on my pc. i never had this trouble using my pc and i don't know what to do! i know the color is much more vivid on my mac, but i want to throw it out the window at times! augh! for example: if i want a pure black background and paint it blacker, then some spots get missed because they all look black but aren't. if i look at the monitor from slightly above i can KIND OF see them, but not really well.
anyone got any suggestions for this?

Can I assume that your monitor is set to display millions of colors? You can check that in the system preferences>displays. You may also want to run through the calibration that is in the same space. Of course, black is tricky on monitors. You have to constantly check your values when doing that as no matter how good your monitor is, it's hard to see the difference between the differing values of black. Now, being in the graphic design and printing field, we deal with a cmyk color space which is a bit more difficult.

[jdepould]

If you want to fiddle with a computer get a windows machine. If you want a computer that just works get a mac.

99% using the computer is completely transparent, I don't think about the fact that I'm using OS X or even that I'm using a computer, I just do whatever I need to do.

It looks prettier.

[tjwExperience]

I vote for MAC. I have had my Mac Mini for almost a year and absolutely love it. And now the CS3 works extremely well on intel MACS, I have everything I need. (I do miss playing some of the games - but like mentioned before - less time playing games and more time do work).

[FrankenPengie]

I've been a PCer since day one. Then Windoze came along, got a little better, and then got worse and worse. I liked Win2k. ME was just wrong. XP sucked until XP SE... er, SP2 came out. It still has it's little things but I minimize as much hassle as possible by using the classic interface. We now have a new laptop downstairs running Vista in Classic Mode. It's used mostly for the occasional recipe hunt, email check, and one particular individual is about to wear the touch-pad out playing the abominable Freecell.

But I'm not impressed. I insert and SD card and it takes 4 evers for anything to happen. I'm about to unload it and try XP to see what happens.

It's been a while but I've tried Red Hat, Suse and a couple other Linux flavors. Most have been not my cup of tea. I'll likely dust off a spare drive and try Ubuntu soon, but I'm not holding my breath.

I say go to some stores, find friends, do whatever you can to get your hands on your options before you decide. I haven't actually been to an Apple store, but if there's one around, I bet they'd let you do about anything to sell you one.

[Nicole]

Originally Posted by Bateryman1970

Does anyone use a MAC, stupid question probably but need some advice?

Yep, a PowerBook G4 and when I eventually replace my desktop I will probably replace that with a Mac too. Especially since now I can still run Windows for gaming, but most of the games I play are ported to Mac in a reasonably amount of time.

Originally Posted by Bateryman1970

Has anyone used Mac Aperture processing software?

Yep. I'm still getting my head around it, so I can't give great advice on that. It's only part of my workflow. Mainly, the area where I keep track of things.

Originally Posted by Bateryman1970

What is CS3 like for the MAC

I assume it's just like CS3 for the PC. I use it and it loads pretty quickly and works as I would expect it to. There are, however, some plugins that are only windows, but most of the time you can find similar things that are OS independent.

Originally Posted by Bateryman1970

Are basic functions like e-mail and internet surfing the same?

Yes, I use Firefox on both my PC and Mac, and Mail isn't exactly rocket science It works just like any other e-mail program.

Other than that, I agree with what people were saying about value for money. I've read plenty of things that put the systems on par or PCs slightly more expensive. I love my Mac and have pretty much converted the rest of my family who also love using them.

[bbullerwell]

for my money, a mac is the only way to go, I switched 3 years ago, it was the best decision for my computer based life! Gone are the days of blue screens, installing drivers, trying to get things to work the computer, with the mac, you just plug it in, and it works. The fact that I don't have to worry about viruses is really nice too! One word of caution, it seems that Apple likes to build their machines with too little ram, so I would upgrade as part of the purchase. I am currently living out of the US, so I don't have my beloved mac, this windows laptop is going to be the end of me!

[RussHeath]

Sounds like a lot of people have made the switch and love their Macs. I just bought a new computer 6 months ago and I spent at least a month researching this and agonizing over this very decision.

I ended up with a very high end PC. With all due respect to the above comments about cost between the two, PC is still considerably cheaper for equivalent machines -- particularly if you already have a significant software investment in PC based software.

I could not find an exactly equivalent setup on Mac, but the closest I could find was over $1200 more. This was driven primarily by the monitors I chose, and in that respect I have never been happier with a piece of equipment. I use two ultrasharp dell 24 inch widescreens in a dual setup. Expensive as this was, it was nearly impossible to emulate with Mac for any comparable amount money. The closest I could get was a single 30" screen which after much personal comparison is far inferior for the way I work.

On my very fast machine, Vista works as advertised. I have quite a bit of computing experience and the minor tweaking does not bother me, but I do wish things "just worked" the way they do on Macs. For that reason, I will continue to consider macs for future purchases.

Overall I'm sure you'll be happy either way, I just wanted to make sure there was one voice of dissent here to even things out a little.

[Nicole]

I can't find the most recent article that I read just the other month, but I still beg to differ on the opinion that PCs are significantly cheaper when you're doing the equivalent to Mac comparison. Now, where that may differ is if you are looking at finding a Mac that is comparable to the PC you are looking for. Which seems to be what you're basing the comparison on Newbie.

I could not find an exactly equivalent setup on Mac, but the closest I could find was over $1200 more.

It all depends which way you're looking at it Although yes, there is the potential that you may have a big investment in software, but that's what bootcamp is for. Of course, then you still have to add in the cost of a Windows license.

In any case, previous Mac v PC cost comparisons: 2004, 2006, 2006.