Which mac?

T

thecomputeraddict

Limp Gawd
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I was thinking of saving all my money for the next year or so and put it towards a mac. I don't have a part-time job because I'm 14. I might get into web design more seriously. So I was thinking a Mac Pro because of the 4 or 8 cores and the amount of ram it can handle.

Or an iMac. I'm leaning towards the mac pro though because it can handle bigger and multiple displays. But I might go with a macbook pro for portability.


So what should I get for web design and school work. iMac, Mac Pro, or Macbook Pro?
 
for webdesign you don't really need much power at all, even a mac mini would work.

the mac pro would be a waste of money uneless you are doing video or some really heavy photoshop

A regular macbook would proably be your best bet if you want portable, an iMac would be great if you don't need portability

if you want to do any gaming get a macbook pro
 
I'm on the fence too.

I'm trying to decide between a Macbook Pro and a 24" Imac.

Jeff
 
are you trying to plan out how much money you need to raise?
 
It seems like the iMac is the "right" choice here...so long as it's the 24". I don't personally consider the TN panel in the 20" to be acceptable for graphics work, but the 24" panel is quite excellent. You'll need to spend a bit of time "adjusting" to the glossy screen if you're coming from a matte display, but it's not a difficult thing to get accustomed to. Just be aware that calibrating it is difficult and/or impossible, so if you need a workstation with a calibrated display, the iMac isn't the right choice.

Just so you know, the iMac has a mini-DVI output that supports digital displays up to 1920x1200, so you can run multiple monitors on the iMac.
 
Honestly, go with the iMac. You won't need more than that for standard web work. I'm an interactive/motion designer for web & video and I might be using a Mac Pro later. Right now, im using the rig in my sig along with my Macbook. Just go with an iMac and see if you want to upgrade when you're 20.

thecomputeraddict said:
I was thinking of saving all my money for the next year or so and put it towards a mac. I don't have a part-time job because I'm 14. I might get into web design more seriously. So I was thinking a Mac Pro because of the 4 or 8 cores and the amount of ram it can handle.

Or an iMac. I'm leaning towards the mac pro though because it can handle bigger and multiple displays. But I might go with a macbook pro for portability.


So what should I get for web design and school work. iMac, Mac Pro, or Macbook Pro?
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thecomputeraddict said:
An iMac will last that long?:eek:
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It should, especially for someone at your age and work. What sort of web design work can't you do on a 6 year old machine? Think we are brainwashed into thinking we have to upgrade after 2-3 years for the heck of it. You're in highschool,I don't think you'll have that kind of money that quickly. (Though I'm sure it's possible.) But really, how often do you ABSOLUTELY need to upgrade? :p ;)

Even for some gaming, an 8800 card will suit you fine for a good long while. Just don't expect to rune verything cranked up.
 
The MacBook and 20" iMac are out the window when it comes to any design work right off the bat. They both have displays that are of lesser quality and can really inhibit you when it comes to such work (display less color, brightness level isn't good, black's aren't as black).

As has been said, the MacPro is really a high-end video, audio and/or rendering workstation platform. Generally speaking, any design work would be a walk on the park for it and in the end the money you've spent will not be going to good use.

The MacMini can and most assuredly is being used for design work. The downside to the Mac Mini is it's onboard video card. It eats up a chunk of your system memory so it can display your video. That, needless to say, stinks! If you've never worked on a mac, already have a keyboard, mouse and monitor, then the Mac Mini could be a good "get to know" purchase for you. Since the Mac Mini is cheaper, it'd take you less time to save up and purchase it. While you're using it you can save up more money should you decide the Mac Mini is not enough power for you. Since mac's are actually the only computers that hold their value relatively well, you could then sell your Mini for not much less than what you bought it for. Win/win for you.

The *24"* iMac. At home, this is my primary system with a 24" Samsung LCD monitor. I *love* it. I have now owned my iMac for almost a year and it truly is one of the best purchases (not just computer, i'm talking out of all of my purchases) I have ever made. I have yet to experience one issue with it. I enjoy working on it. Screen quality is great, audio (for internal) is great, etc.

I am mostly a designer but also do some web development. I grabbed the second monitor mostly so that I could have up reference material on one monitor and develop on the other. Plus it's great to have up a movie and keep Entourage viewable more easily. At 24" even when I have a movie or reference material open, I can still see new mail which is necessary for me.

Oh, also I bought a 15" (15.4" technically) MacBook Pro about 4 and a half months ago. Except for it getting pretty darn hot, it's awesome. Doing web design, I wouldn't want a smaller monitor. I could get away with one with my graphic work but I do web development in Dreamweaver (mostly for syntax, but some other stuff for speed) and that really takes up some screen space. I have a coworker that bought a MacBook about 2 weeks before I grabbed my MacBook Pro... she wishes she got the MacBook Pro.

Well, this is a lot more than I thought I'd write. I hope this helps.

...

We really need to make a sticky that has the pro's and con's to each of the mac models. Any mod's around that think this is a good idea? I could probably scrounge something together that would be a good start and slowly but surely build on it.

Also if there are any mods paying attention, can we start getting some temp ban's on the trolls? Thanks! :)
 
Go iMac if you can save the cash,
If not as a median suggestion Get a mac mini throw the max ram in there, and you'll be good to go too.

I think the big factor is always going to be the cash.
Check into the Apple student discounts, and possibly the ADC discounts as well.
Might offset a good chunk of change.
 
Guys, I'd also like to remind you all this guy is 14. I wouldn't tell him to put all his eggs in one basket just yet. He's got girls he needs to take out on dates :D (Not to mention saving up for a car, which is also close the price of an iMac 24" )
 
Unless you absolutely need a notebook computer, get a 24" iMac. The H-IPS display it has is incredible (also found in NEC's $1100 24") and it is fast. The Mac Pro is a waste of cash unless you truly need to spend the $$$$$ on eight Xeon cores. It is cheaper than the same machine by Dell or HP but is still overkill for 99.99% of the market out there.

The Core 2 Duo in the iMac will do nicely. I run Final Cut Studio 2 on mine with a second 24" LCD plugged in for a second display and it runs like a dream. I couldn't possibly be any happier with it.
 
thecomputeraddict said:
An iMac will last that long?:eek:
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My G4 Powermac lasted me as a Final Cut rig for five years, so yes, the iMac should also last you a very long time.

The bonus is that the whole time I had it, no reformats or reinstalling the OS (not even when I upgraded to 10.3 and 10.4), no maintenance on my part, and it ran as fast as the day I bought it in 2002 up until I gave it away last November. Great machine to do work on and a huge reason to love OS X. :)
 
I say build yourself a hackintosh for under a grand that will smoke anything being sold by Apple.
Dont get me wrong, I love Apple products, but when it comes to the desktops, they are incredibly overpriced, and by building a hackintosh, you can overclock that baby to 5Ghz and absolutely dominate apple's pro's.
 
milan03 said:
I say build yourself a hackintosh for under a grand that will smoke anything being sold by Apple.
Dont get me wrong, I love Apple products, but when it comes to the desktops, they are incredibly overpriced, and by building a hackintosh, you can overclock that baby to 5Ghz and absolutely dominate apple's pro's.
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Don't bother, if you're going to spend any sort of cash do something reliable. Hackintosh's are COMPLETELY hit or miss. It's really not worth the trouble. If you want a Mac buy a mac, if you want a pc buy a pc. Your only real perk is that a Mac runs windows flawlessly under bootcamp. Not the other way around.

Regardless of price you know what you're getting when you pay for it.
 
I don't understand why macs are consider the better machines when it comes to graphics/design/video and all that kind of thing. Is it just the ease of use of the system? I don't understand how it wouldn't run the same on a similar spec PC machine.
 
MTXR said:
I don't understand why macs are consider the better machines when it comes to graphics/design/video and all that kind of thing. Is it just the ease of use of the system? I don't understand how it wouldn't run the same on a similar spec PC machine.
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It's not they they are 'better machines' in any way. Most of us say it's the overall package. It's the OS with integration of hardware regulated and managed by Apple. Drivers, updates etc.

Call it the "Apple Package"

Think of it this way, when you're buying a car you may have the budget for a Civic. Which is...highly modifiable, gets great gas mileage, and you might be able to get the performance of a BMW if you dump enough money into it in aftermarket.

Think of Apple as buying a BMW or (insert semi-luxury car of your choice here). BMW's have a luxury feel and all the bells & whistles standard most of the time. But it still operates as a car, just like the Civic. (Both the PC & Mac's are computers obviously) There's nothing wrong with either.

You pay an extreme premium for the Apple-factor. OS-to-Hardware integration is key with Apple. 9X% of the time everything works just plain and simple with a Mac, there's no tweaking required. When you buy a Macbook (Pro) you don't have to clear off 2 GB's worth of trial software that's pre installed. You pay that price, you expect to get that whole package.

IF you have the money to make that choice go ahead and make it. I forgot when the American people decided is was a great idea to criticize companies that didn't force you
to buy their product. If you hate Apple and it's prices, don't buy Apple. It's that simple.

Buy your Civic or BMW. Though...we all know you can throw a BMW engine in a
Civic...but it won't always work the same for everyone..heh.
 
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