The rumours were right. The new iMacs are significantly different than the previous all-white iMacs. When I saw the first photos, and heard about iLife 08, then saw the new specs, I almost whipped out my credit card and ordered one online. I want! Must have! Gimme!But I resisted. I took a deep breath. I wiped the drool from my chin and changed my shorts. Then I heard a voice. Was God talking to me? Was it the voice of reason? Was I channeling the spirit of a wise Buddhist monk? I listened. It said, "Oh ye with troubled spirit. Drink not the wine from the look of the barrel. Consider ye the vintages from all the regions."
Not wanting to piss off any spirits, I navigated to the apple store page, jotted down the price and the specs. I then made my cyberway to Memory Express's site, and jotted down the specs and price of a comparable PC.
Here's what I got....
iMac
Cost $1299
2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo (model number not provided)
1 GB RAM
250 GB Hard Drive
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory
8x double-layer SuperDrive [DVD +/- RW]
20 inch display
Memory Express
Cost $1098
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Processor
G33 chipset motherboard
PC5300 2G DDR2 Memory
250G SATA2 Hard Drive
18x18 DVD writer
8600GT SC video card with 256M
Samsung SyncMaster 206BW 20in Widescreen
Okay, those are the raw specs. But there's more to life than numbers. On the "Pro-Mac" side: the Mac would come with all the software to begin actually using the darn thing. The PC would not. The iMac looks good, suitable for any room. The PC's monitor may look nice, but the box typically is not, and needs to be "stashed" in an aesthetic manner.
On the "Pro-PC" side: the PC is cheaper (yes, I am of Scottish descent). The actual machine is more powerful, I could experiment with the latest cutting-edge games if the whim hits me. I could also upgrade various components to the PC: video card, Hard Drive. The iMac is on lockdown: no touch-ee!
So I will meditate on these thoughts. I'll go to Best Buy and fiddle with the new iMac, pop by Memory Express fiddle with their stuff. I'm curious to see which way I will go.
10 comments:
Well, you kinda answered your own price question. On the surface, the PC may cost less, but what's that extra software going to cost? You'll try to emulate iLife '08 (unsuccessfully, I'd imagine) and have to pay all kinds of $$$ to do so. iLife is free with your new iMac. Score 1-0 Apple
Hardware updates. Yes, you can open up your bulky PC box and swap out components (upgrade), but do you need to? If you want a better video card, you can get an upgraded one at the start by spending a bit more with Apple. Get the 2.4 GHz and you'll have a better video card. You can also upgrade the internal HD as well. Down the road? You could get an external HD, but you'll be stuck with the video card. I'll give the PC the points here with the provision that you consider your needs (will you really need a faster/better video card in the future?) Score 1-1
How does it look? Box & Screen & wires? Or, well, you know.
Score 2-1 Mac
Leopard.
3-1 Mac
Need to run a number of operating systems? OK, need is a strong word...want?
4-1 Mac (and that 1 was a gift).
I'm biased, I'll admit it. But do it right, get the iMac.
I have to admit, I'm "leaning" towards the Mac. What may have cinched it is my oldest boy doing some creative stuff in iLife, Garageband specifically. Windows has no close equivalent.
if you're gay go with the Mac. If not go with the PC. Simple as that...
yes, Mac users do tend to be happpier than PC users. What with the ease of use, really cool free applications, lack of viruses, and such.
I have to admit, my new iMac is all nice, and shiny and fast, and oooh....wow!
Eric. Do you not have a Mac in your house? I do believe I can show you PRECISELY where said Mac is situated.
Therefore, I can only assume that you .....
Actually, Eric, you have a PC AND a Mac. Therefore, you go both ways!
yes, my daughter has a mac... and I have a PC. I am not gay so therefore I don't use her Mac.
Right now A. is complaining that her iMac is too slow and now uses another PC in our house. If I could only upgrade this iMac so that it would run faster...
Oh yeah, the only way to upgrade it is to buy a whole new friggin' system from Apple. What a racket!
Hey G-man. Get the iMac. Everything with the Core 2 Duo's run great. Speed shouldn't be an issue for awhile. In fact with a 64 bit OS coming in Leopard, your speeds should get better.
I use Parallels to run Windows (and even Linux) so I'm really not losing anything there. All my software can be utilized just fine. And... it's nice to have a copy of Windows, where the reinstall (through Parallels) is just a copy and paste procedure.
As for the upgrade argument... that's kind of getting old. Granted you can re-purpose some components even on a massive upgrade, but PCs are basically disposable nowadays. I know more people you just replace their rigs completely after a couple years than tweak and build over time. They're all just commodities now.
For you I think the iMac would be great if for nothing else than Garageband and iPhoto. Oh, and Photobooth. The kids and I still play with that.
I also wasn't aware that Madden 08 is going to be available on the Mac. An interesting sign of respect, and a sign of things to come?
You know, the whole upgradeability thing about the PC? Who, other than hobbyists actually do it? By the time it is worthwhile to upgrade in speed boost terms, you often need to replace the motherboard, ram, processor and possibly even the power supply and graphics card. So what is left? A tiny hard drive and a case? The custom configure options on the PC side are great, but for a plug-it-in and forget about it experience you cannot beat a Mac.
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