Apple iMac versus PC – the results may surprise you

[cerebus]

Oh - ok ...

Yea, iMac is in another league to PCs quality wise IMO

It's most obvious in the Macbook Air. I hate hate hate MacOSX but man... that thing gives me shivers.

[Zyzzyva]

Comparing an imac to a home built pc is like comparing a Ferrari to a 700hp kit car. Sure, the kit car might offer the same/better performance for less money, but the fundamental experience is vastly different.

Buy what makes you happy.

[bwana]

As a graphic designer I'm forced to use a Mac (fairly new one) at work.

But you're not forced to use OsX. Apple supplies the tools to load your exalted Windows 7 so why not dual boot?

[BeVonk!]

The artist in me will always push me to buy Apple products but then the engineer in me says otherwise and the engineer carries the purse.

[cerebus]

The artist in me will always push me to buy Apple products but then the engineer in me says otherwise and the engineer carries the purse.

An artist AND an engineer? Chicks must dig you.

[abandonallhope]

Why all the love for the Thunderbolt port?! It really isn't all it's cracked up to be! All it means is more adapters which you have to pay for. USB is the standard and USB3.0 is lightning quick (see what I did there! )

This is a big reason why Apple is so ****ed up. Why why why must they go and create another external connection interface/protocol everywhere else manufacturers are conforming to a USB standard, look at how brilliant this has turned out with cellphones : You charge your phone with the same cable you use to transfer data to it. Except, once again, Apple is on this little ****ty connector island all alone.

pfff

[Frikkenator]

This is a big reason why Apple is so ****ed up. Why why why must they go and create another external connection interface/protocol everywhere else manufacturers are conforming to a USB standard, look at how brilliant this has turned out with cellphones : You charge your phone with the same cable you use to transfer data to it. Except, once again, Apple is on this little ****ty connector island all alone.

pfff

Exactly, I'm forced to work on a Mac for dev reasons (also quite **** from Apple), and this means that I had to shelve out R500 the other day to connect a second screen to my MacBook... why... because Apple can't just use the industry standard VGA, DVI or HDMI ports, they had to now combine their "Mini-display port" and thunderbolt in one.

R500 to connect a screen... that's robbery!

[BeVonk!]

An artist AND an engineer? Chicks must dig you.

LOL! Nope.

The tension between strong left and right brains can be torture at times. The engineers don't understand you and the artists don't trust you. I bring art to engineering and engineering to art. Not everyone appreciates that but life is interesting for sure. Many days I hate being in engineering but it carries the family. Would have loved to do graphic design full time. Industrial design would have been perfect but at the time I started my studies it was offered at Wits Technikon only and no bursaries were available (and they insisted I do military service first). I then had three engineering bursaries to choose from.

[StevenC]

It amazes me that biased articles like this make it past the editor.

While both PCs used as examples undercut the iMac by a large margin, one should bear in mind that the build quality of the iMac packages is far higher than that of the PC packages.

Build quality - you must be joking. While I do conclude that Macs are renowned for this, it is a broad statement that has no basis in reality as the pre selected PC packages do not reflect accurately what most people would plough R17000 in to. The PCs also don't quite undercut the Mac, the Mac is overpriced

The iMac is also slimmer, takes up less space, and is quieter. It also ships with a Thunderbolt port, something PCs won’t be able to rival until the Intel Ivy Bridge chip is launched later in 2012.

This starts to smack of the "lets see what other meaningless attributes we can try convince people that my R21000 Farmville machine is better than theirs" argument that so many hipster douches love to flap about.

Thunderbolt looks great but is definitely a step ahead of being mildly useful at this point (which by "later in 2012" will still be the case) while USB3 is already becoming popular. Backwards compatibility and pricing make this so.

[kilobits]

iMac FTW

There is nothing that beats the form factor, reliability, functionality and performance of having an iMac on your desk

Repair costs and upgrades ? I have two iMacs, and neither have so much as burped, let alone a BSOD or need of repair. Upgrades ? I wanted to upgrade my RAM so I went down to my local Matrix Warehouse and paid a few hundred rands for my RAM - same as what any PC user would pay.

Hey Hey

Well, I have had family members have iMac screens repaired, long vertical bands appeared on the left-hand side 3 months out of warranty, it cost them R4300 to repair. Another's iMac hard drive packed up, HAD to get an Apple 2.5" drive because of a proprietary connector... R800 more expensive excluding labour... and it took ages to get them fixed.

Another family member has a 2 year old MacBook, purchased it from Incredible Connection... it just would not boot, grey screen and that is all... Incredible sent it in and he received a quote of R19000 (nineteen thousand) to replace the mainboard, RAM and hard drive. It cost R10K new.

Perhaps it is all in the luck of the draw...? I have my brother's original UMax Mac Clone here from the early 90's and it still works perfectly.

EDIT:

If Matrix Warehouse stock standard RAM works fine in the high-performance iMac, what makes the Apple(TM) official parts for replacement or upgrade so expensive from Core etc? Some of these official upgrade quotes are completely insane.

[NomNom]

Sorry to admit it but this article requires a version 2.0

[[)roi(]]

Here's the translation for you, inferno.

Short version:

Just avoid using it that way

Long version:

Using any OS will result in some degradation of its performance, with certain uses being worse than others depending on the placement of the code. This is a fact of life for every computer. If you ever experience this on your Apple Mac, avoid using it via the keyboard or trackpad in a way that covers both sides of the screen with programs, or simply cover it with a transparent lacquer and admire its form from afar.

Tra la la la Troll... Ps its not an iPhone 4

Clearly this thread has started going down the crapper: Windows vs OSX arguments are dull and boring... Use what you prefer, and let that be the end.

[bwana]

Exactly, I'm forced to work on a Mac for dev reasons (also quite **** from Apple), and this means that I had to shelve out R500 the other day to connect a second screen to my MacBook... why... because Apple can't just use the industry standard VGA, DVI or HDMI ports, they had to now combine their "Mini-display port" and thunderbolt in one.

So what if they combined them? It's the same adapter it always has been.

R500 to connect a screen... that's robbery!

Core sells them for R300.

Sorry to admit it but this article requires a version 2.0

I thought this was the 2.0 version of the same discussion we "enjoyed" in 2009.

[kilobits]

So what if they combined them? It's the same adapter it always has been.

Core sells them for R300.
I thought this was the 2.0 version of the same discussion we "enjoyed" in 2009.

Hackintosh builds then... put together a Hackintosh and then have a psuedo vs real shoot-out !!

[Roman4604]

Thunderbolt looks great but is definitely a step ahead of being mildly useful at this point (which by "later in 2012" will still be the case) while USB3 is already becoming popular.

Thunderbolt's design objectives are a bit more grander than USB3. Its meant to be a 'super aggregator' of all types of connections i.e. a cord cutter.

For laptops (e.g. MacBooks) it will act as a single docking connection, handling >FHD/HDMI video, 5.1 sound, gigabit Ethernet, USBs, Firewire etc. For example;

Apple Thunderbolt Display - http://www.apple.com/displays/specs.html

Future Belkin Thunderbolt Dock - http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/9/269...le-this-summer