Have I told you guys lately how much I love my Mac? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Carlo,

I can relate.

When I first got my Mac Pro I installed Vista under Parallels.
I used Windows as a crutch while I got used to OS X.

Now? I never use Parallels and Vista anymore. I have all
the programs and satisfaction I need to stay in the OS X environment.

 

[ErichH]

You guys are describing what a few of my friends are going through. The Mac UI takes hold, and suddenly Windows looks and feels like an unwanted relationship.

Divorce is immanent.

E

 

[Christ Reynolds]

Why not use VMware Fusion or Parallels and run XP inside OS X instead of booting one or the other?

CJ

 

[Carlo_M]

1) I'm cheap, and so is Bootcamp
2) I thought originally that I might do 3D gaming on the XP partition, so the only way to get full 3D acceleration is Bootcamp.
3) I'm cheap, and so is Bootcamp

 

[Christian Behrens]

There are really two issues at work here: If you have a Matsushita (i.e. Panasonic) drive, those are notorious for not having firmware to make them region-free, no matter what platform. Windows users are just as much out of luck there as Mac users.

Secondly, if you have a drive that *can* be made region-free (like the Pioneer in my iMac), then you need to do it from Windows under Bootcamp. That is a hurdle, no doubt, but it is possible, luckily.

-Christian

PS: Of course, there is software that you could use to just put the DVD contents on your harddrive and watch it from there...

 

[Christ Reynolds]

gaming is the only reason i'd go with bootcamp, although eventually 3D support will be improved in VMware, even though it exists now. after all, VMware Fusion is just as cheap as Boot Camp

CJ

 

[Yee-Ming]

Too much hassle for travelling. And if I'm at home, might as well use the Pioneer DV969 and watch on the 434, neh?

 

[Christian Behrens]

There might actually be firmware for that drive, but you would have to run it from OS 9. I've never seen firmware that you could install under OS X.

VLC is probably your best bet

-Christian

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I'd like to go Mac myself, but one thing stops me - the price.

I'm not a fan of the iMac - I want a case I can put under the desk and that I can open and put a 2nd, 3rd or 4th drive into. I want to be able to change the graphics card at some point. The only Mac that I can do that with is the Mac Pro, but that starts at £1700, and that's for a relatively low spec. I know the base specs are good, but it's still a crap-load of money and not everyone needs server-spec processing power.

It's like they've just left a big gap in their product line - you either get an all-in-one which you can't change much with, or spend biggo money on something beyond what is required. Odd.

 

[Carlo_M]

I believe that they left that gap on purpose. They know they can't compete with the DIY boxes in terms of price [a lot of which are devoted to gaming, which Mac/OSX are not really good at]. And to be honest, I don't think they even want to be in that market. They are targeting with the Mac Pro those who want the ultimate A/V editing and creation machine. With the iMac, they are going after the people who want a PC that "just works" with a good amount of power (and the iMacs are decent in that regard) and who aren't going to want to upgrade fairly frequently. With the Mac Mini they're targeting the "kids PC" or "super budget PC" market. I think Apple knows the DIY'ers and gamers by and large will not make the switch, even with Bootcamp.

It's funny Rob, I'm coming from the exact opposite direction as you. I used to build PCs for myself and friends/family. But eventually I realized that every time I wanted to upgrade say, my video card, then my CPU became the bottleneck. Well by the time I had money to buy the CPU, a better mobo/chipset was out, so I'd have to buy that. Then inevitably that new CPU/chipset used better or faster RAM, so I had to upgrade that. By the time I got around to upgrading that, a new graphics card had come out.

Eventually I just got sick of it. And I noticed too that a lot of slowdown came from the OS itself: XP. And all of the stuff you need to run on it to keep it safe: virus scan, malware, spyware, etc. I wasn't saving money by upgrading in piecemeal fashion.

Last year I gave the Macbook Pro a try. I got the maxed out combo (academic price of $1999) 2.33GHz C2D, 2GB RAM, 256MB VRAM, and to be honest, for half a year I've not even had a desire to upgrade a thing. It's snappy fast, and the OS doesn't feel bloated as it runs, like XP tends to after you install a lot of programs (and I have a ton on my MBP, 100GB of my 120GB HD are used).

And the one thing bugging me about my bedroom PC (Windows)? The box. I haven't updated it in a while, and in fact I barely use it as my MBP is now my primary machine, but the fact that the bulky box is down there and taking up floor space bugs me (I don't have a large place). I've decided when that machine gives up the ghost, I'm going with an iMac and not looking back.

 

[DaveF]

Rob, I've argued the same thing. But apparently Apple has determined that a general purpose, upgradeable mid-range box doesn't fit in their sales plans.

Nonetheless, I've decided to drink the koolaid next computer purchase, despite price and upgradeability concerns.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

I agree there is a huge gap in Apple's product line as well. The Mac Pro was great, but I'm not dropping 2k+ on a machine. I didn't consider the iMac, because I already had a 24" Dell widescreen panel. My only remaining option was the Mac mini, even though I'd have happily paid $1500 for a standalone upgradeable tower.

I have a dual-Opteron monster in my office, and it's collecting dust, because I bought the Mac mini. I would love more power than my mini, but Apple is making it really hard for me to hand them money.

CJ

 

[ErichH]

Go back 2-3 gens to a dual 2.5 or 2.7 and you can acquire a nicely fitted G5 for well under 2k. Real world performance gap to a current Mac Pro is smaller than benchmarks would lead you to believe.
Many sellers have upgrades on the drives and memory.

Just a thought

E

 

[DaveF]

Perhaps I've incorrectly assimilated benchmark performances, but it seems the C2D substantially outperform previous generation CPUs -- weaknesses in current mac performance are due to non-native software, rather than hardware performance. (Everything I saw placed G5 performance around the Pentium 4 class.) (If you've got numbers to counter my opinion, please correct me.)

If a guy finds new Apples too expensive, I don't think he'll be attracted to over-priced, outdated used hardware.


On a more intriguing note, the Apple store is down for updates...

[edit] Bah, it's only Final Cut Pro.

 

[Eric M Jones]

Wow. This is cool. I haven't checked in here for a few months and not only is there a new Apple forum but Ron is a recent convert! Glad your enjoying your new found appreciation for easy to use machines and excellent unbloated software Ron. You know your exactly the kind of switcher Apple is targeting? Get you to switch with the lure of being able to dual boot and then before you know it the Windows crutch it gone!

I've been a Mac user for over 15 years (personal and professional) and currently have 3 Apples in the house, an Intel Macmini for HTPC duty, a G5 iMac and an older G4 Powerbook laptop (I'm posting this on it). The cool thing is my Powerbook is only 800mhz and is running the latest version of OSX and is still a great machine. Show me see a 4yr. old Win laptop that can run a full version of Vista! Anyway I haven't been talking HT much lately but I love to talk Macs guess I'll be checking in more often now!

-EJ

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Eric,

Welcome Back!

I am extremely happy with my Mac Pro and Macbook Pro.

It's a wonder that people use Windows anymore

 

[Tim_Stack]

Congrats to the new Mac guys who have made the switch. My PowerMac G4 is getting a little long in the tooth so I need to get a new MacPro eventually. I'm waiting until Leopard is released in the fall. I'm hoping they keep BootCamp a boot manager and not an "emulation" piece. I want to be able to boot into Windows and play games.

I go to MacRumors.com regularly to find out the inside skinny on what Apple is up to next. Check it out.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I have a G4 mini and Of Course love it. If I were to buy another Mac it would probably be an Upgraded mini, if they release one with a Core Duo 2, or a Macbook. I'm just not a fan of the all in one design, so Imacs have never done much for me, and I could'nt mortgage my house to get a Mac Tower.

 

[Steven Simon]

I'm with you Ronbo... Will never ever go back to PC....

 

[Oren]

OMG, I love my Mac! When I had a PC, I remember spending all weekend trying to get it to just recognize my bluetooth phone. A friend had a Mac, and I had the whole thing setup and exchanging files with my phone in a few minutes. That was it for the PC.

I'm constantly discovering little touches that make it so great. Like how a window that is partly off screen will move completely onscreen if you drag a file over it and hover for a second. And then moves it back to where it was.

"Gee, my master might want to drill down into the icons off screen, so I'll move them onscreen for him. When he's done, I'll move it back."

I recently got .Mac and have been using iWeb. Say what you will about free alternatives to .Mac being available, nothing makes publishing slick web sites, syncing, and backing up to the web easier.

Next up: a home theater built around a new Mac when the new revisions are out. I'll be sure to publish photos (using iWeb and .Mac) when it's all set.

(By the way, to the poster pointing out that he wished there was a midrange Mac that would enable him to add a second, third, fourth drive, the Mac way is plug and play. Just plug a second, third, fourth drive into the (speedy) firewire port. Firewire 400, let alone 800, blows away USB 2.0.)