The "Get a Mac" Thread (1 Viewer)

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Oh, agreed already; the mac is somewhat harder to make malware for. I'm sure that also ties into it. If, however, macs had 50% of the market, I absolutely guarantee that the amount of malware for it would increase dramatically.

Your math, however, is at least as bad as the oft-stated (and in my opinion valid) opinion that relative popularity heavily factors into it. Your 60k/whatever statistics have very little validity IMHO - the determining factors are that a successful Windows virus infection will be much bigger even if it hits a minor fraction of all Windows user than a virus infection that would hit 100% of all macs ever made.

Since - and yes, I admit that higher difficulty in hacking macs plays a role, albeit I'm personally convinced it is far less important than you think - it takes somewhat less of an effort to breach Windows boxes and there are many millions more of them out there to breach - which system would you go for if you were a virus writer who wanted to establish your very own botnet?

 

[Andrew Pratt]

This is interesting...

As for windows if everyone did the updates and stayed with current versions we'd see far less problems then we do now...but there's only so much you can do to force updates on people...esp. when you're microsoft.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

I've since found out that the wireless card they used to gain access to the MBP wasn't the OEM one but an add in USB card and that the built in wireless chip isn't vunerable to the hack. I'm not sure if Intel or Dell's wireless cards are vunerable either as this was some 3rd party USB dongle they hacked into.

Note: It appears Intel was quick to act.

http://news.com.com/Intel+sends+out+...3-6101488.html

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i'd choose windows, because it's easier to hack into, AND most users login as admin. i agree that virus writers choose windows for a reason, but if market share was identical, i think mac/unix would have much less of a problem than windows.

CJ

 

[Bob_Chase]

Throw out the old comparisons, there's a new kid on the block.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7...ag=cnetfd.blog

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

That's a load. I put together a system on mac's site and one on newegg matching up the components the best they could. The 'pro' mac came to $7700. The PC, $5700 complete with a better video card and better ram.

I would say the same to those HP and Dell workstations as well.

I do love how they say '4 million combinations'. Let's see, only 1 choice of cpu with 3 variations on speed, 3 video cards, no choice on ram, no choice on hard drive, no choice on sound card.

 

[Carlo_M]

I don't know what site you're looking on Jason, but the Apple Store has plenty of config options for the MacPro for RAM and HDs.

By the way, "maxing a PC out on a manufacturer's site" isn't the point, as everyone knows that manufacturers make the most $$$ out of premium component add-ons (like cars, you can buy the base model or you can buy the super-tricked out model for 2X as much from the dealer, or you can trick it out yourself for 1/2 as much).

The point of the keynote comparison and the CNet blog was that at that particular standard config that the MacPro came in, to get a similar priced Dell or HP was more expensive. And that is true. Can you price a Mac to be more than the other two? Yes. And vice versa. But at that particular standard config, which is the one that will be out in most stores and be most readily available to Mac buyers, it is cheaper.

EDIT - I just re-read your post. You're comparing a built system from a manufacturer to one you build yourself from a parts reseller like Newegg? Now that's hardly a fair comparison. The whole point of buying a Mac is that the person probably doesn't want to build their own PC!

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

The whole point of my argument was the fact that I could build/configure a system with the same/better specs for less. That's also why I through in the HP and Dell which were referenced in the cnet article. That is still the biggest advantage of the PC platform. We've already went over in this thread that it isn't for everyone. But it is fair to show how much markup you are paying extra for that manufactured system. For some, that probably makes the most sense.

But for those that are always out for the good deal, you can save a whole lot for the same machine by building yourself, or paying a hundred bucks and having the neighbor tech geek build it. And my comparison on newegg was the exact same specs as the one configured at the apple store.

From http://www.apple.com/macpro/
"More than 4 Million Possible Configurations....the über-configurable Mac Pro lets you build your personal dream machine."
To configure mac pro

Drop down to the hard drives, you have a choice of 1, 2, 3 or 4 harddrives. And with the first drive, you have a choice of 3 compacities. That's like if Baskin Robbins only offered vanilla, but you can have 1, 2, 3 or 4 scoops of it. I wouldn't call that a plethora of choices. Who makes the hd? What is the cache? Where is the 10k rpm one? Why is the 500gig $400 when you can get a high performance hd of the same specs for $250?

The only good price for a component that I've seen is for the Quadro FX 4500, which appears to be typical retail.

I see your point of buying the cheapest config available and then buying the upgrades yourself, but then again, what is the piont? If you are planning on upgrading and modifying it as soon as you get it, why not do it from the begining and save even more dough and get better equipment?

But again, we all have our own tastes and preferences. What works for one, doesn't mean it will work for another which is why I'm not posting all of this in the Mac Pro thread. But since we've already had this type of discussion here, I figured it would be already to show the other alternatives if people are reading and not sure.

 

[Ken Chan]

Only if your time is worth nothing. Or if you consider the building a goal by itself, something you enjoy.

But it's not really the same machine, is it? Does your Newegg special allow adding additional drives without screwing around with cables? Do the FB-DIMMs have improved heat sinks so that they run cooler and the system runs quieter? Can it run Mac OS X?

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Do people that work on their own cars find it worth it? Do those that fix em by going to Checkers Auto, get the parts on the cheap, and put them in their cars with the help of a buddy and a case of beer find it worth it? I bet they do. For cars, I don't since I know squat about them. But for computers, you bet I do.

That's a limitation imposed by Apple, not the hardware.

 

[Carlo_M]

Jason, I thought we'd all agreed in this thread that the Mac was clearly not for those interested in PC building so I completely disagree that it is a fair comparison.

The point of that CNet article was to show that Macs, who historically have been priced much higher than equivalent pre-built PC counterparts, has now made an attempt to shed that label. The only fair comparison to make or refute that point would be to configure a prebuilt Dell, HP, etc. to the spec of the standard build of the MacPro.

Everything else you've argued is outside of the bounds that we'd set in the discussion earlier just to bolster whatever point it is that you wish to make, which we'd already conceded way back when. If you want to build your own PC, then more power to you, Macs aren't for you.

But if you're comparing pre-built systems for serious DV editing or the like, then the historical Mac overpriced model is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Ok fair enough, I'll concede to that then.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

The other factor is build quality. I'm now sitting in front of two PC's...one's an Dell 6000 and the others a brand new Asus W3J. The Asus is head and shoulders better built then the Dell but that build quality came at a steep cost. In fact the Asus and the MacBook Pro are within a $100 of each other for the same specs/hardware so IMO its not so much that the PC's are cheaper but most Mac's are built to higher standards then most PC's. I went back and forth on the MBP vs the Asus and ended up with the Asus given the software I typically run but I didn't want to buy another PC that was built like the Dell's so I ended up spending about the same on a higher quality machine.

 

[Carlo_M]

I totally agree, Andrew. I wanted a light yet powerful and sturdy laptop replacement for my still-relevant eMachines M6809. It's an AMD64 machine, with a 7200rpm HD I installed myself. It was great in every way...except that it weight 8.5+ lbs.

I searched high and low for a Windows laptop that was light but well built (not light and easily breakable like some feel) yet still wasn't a compromise on processing or video power (I will never buy "built-in video"). It was a lot harder than I thought. I never knew about the ASUS brand you bought, I just stayed with the major players (Tosh, HP, Dell, IBM/Lenovo, etc.). I initially wanted a Win Machine because I didn't know how well Bootcamp really worked, and also I believed Macs to be price-premiums.

The closest I could come to what the MBP offered (as most light laptops were also light on power and build) was a Lenovo Thinkpad T60p, which when I spec'd it out to near MBP standards was already approaching $2300 + tax. The fact that I could get the 2.16GHz 15.4" MBP at my student store for $1999 + free iPod actually made the MBP considerably cheaper (I sold the iPod to a buddy for $160 so you can subtract that off of my purchase price). The Lenovo offered similar build quality (not the cool aluminum finish, but Thinkpads are very well built) and power, but now the Lenovo would have cost me $400-$500 more.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

It took me awhile to find the build quality I wanted as well and it was more by luck that I stumbled across the Asus models

 

[Chris Souders]

Hi guys,

So, I "got a mac" a few days ago.. Macbook Pro.
I'm going to attempt for it to be my only computer. I got the airport extreme and hooked up my printer USB to it and can now print wirelessly.

Can I buy an external hard drive and allow it to be accessed via some fashion by my laptop wirelessly? Needless to say, there are some things I don't want to fill up my laptop harddrive with. If this is possible, please be as descriptive as possible because I'm fairly clueless when it comes to networking/wireless stuff, though I did manage to setup my network and printer....

Also, my only pet peeve so far is how do I close all running applications with one command or keystroke? If I've got 5 or 6 programs running, it's a pain to click on each one, go up to the menu and choose quit for each one. Windows you can just right click/close along the task bar..

Thanks for your help...
chris

 

[Luke_Y]

As to wireless access to a hard drive, it sounds like you should look into "NAS" (network attached storage) accessed through your wireless gateway.

 

[Chris Souders]

Hi,

I've found this device http://westerndigital.com/en/product...sp?DriveID=243 which allows me to use an ethernet cable to connect to my network. I assume it would plug into the ethernet jack on the airport extreme. My only problem with that is that if I want to (for some reason) hardwire my laptop, the port would already be used by the harddrive. Is there a way to expand the ethernet ports of a airport extreme?

Actually, what I would prefer, is some sort of device which has Firewire or USB ports which can wirelessly connect to the network and allows me to add the harddrives externally so I can upgrade storage as needed... Does that exist?

Chris

 

[Citizen87645]

All running applications show in the Dock. You can right click or click-hold on the application icon and select Quit from the context menu that pops up. Pretty equivalent to the Windows task bar right-click method.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Look into the Linksys NSLU unit to get access to your external hard drive on the lan. It just plugs into your wireless router and is very easy to set up. Still depending on what you're going to be using it for speed over the wireless network might be an issue vs plugging it in directly via Firewire or USB