iMac vs PC

[croxsons]

I figure that there has been extensive arguements about Mac vs PC.

I have priced up an iMac, 24-inch, 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme and it works out at £1270 ex VAT when a few extras have been added on.

I can get my CS2.3 changed over to Mac for free, then upgrade to CS3 for about £500 IIRC.

If I price up a fairly decent spec PC, say:

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™2 Quad Q6600 (4 X 2.40GHz) 1066MHz FSB/8MB L2 Cache

Memory (RAM)
4GB CORSAIR DDR2 667MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (2x2GB)

Motherboard
ASUS® P5K SE: DDR2, SATAII, PCI-e x16, 2 PCI, 3 x PCI-e x1

Operating System
64 BIT WINDOWS® VISTA Ultimate (inc CD & License) (£119)

USB Options
8 x USB 2.0 PORTS (6 REAR + 2 FRONT) AS STANDARD

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7200rpm)

Graphics Card
512MB GEFORCE 8500GT PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT

Power Supply & Case Cooling
700W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£79)

Processor Cooling
ASUS SILENT KNIGHT II PURE COPPER ULTRA COOLER (£36)

--

It comes out at under £800, allowing me an awful lot for a very nice monitor, or two for that matter.

The upgrade for CS3 would be the same cost.

Whilst there is not a lot in it monetary wise, I am really not sure what to do!

The only stumbling block I can see would be Adobe would want me to un-install my existing version on my PC when I have the Mac version. I was hoping that I would keep a copy on my home computer for emergencies.

Also, how workable is it to move the iMac if I was working away for a week for example?

TIA.

A rather confused and frustrated computer user.

[croxsons]

kiwisr said:

The iMac would be a hell of a lot easier to move, just a screen + power cable, then keyboard and mouse (all wireless)

yeah, I figured that. I have done it before with my current beast, but not so usable.

My heart says iMac (not being brand led whatsoever *coughs) but the brain says PC.

[croxsons]

51mes said:

The 24" screen isn't light....

Oh and your MAC is rather like a laptop - not really upgradeable - so when you come to swap out your system unit in a few years time and leave your nice wonderful monitors - you can't.

My 2 year cycle for system upgrades stretches to 4 for monitors. and a decent screen is now along with the graphics card the single biggest ticket item in a PC....

The MAC thing keeps tempting me - I do wander into apple stores and have a play - but I've just got back into the linux thing - OSX is BSD Unix based and am lovin it. Kubuntu 7.1 has pretty much just been plug & play..

Don't know wether CS3 is available for linux yet tho...

What would you recommend then? The iMac is going to be a company purchase, and hopefully in two years I won't be doing the graphics side, rather more like MD, so looking ahead isn't really an issue. My existing graphics beast has lasted six years, despite being a Mesh, and only now is struggling. It wasn't anywhere near the best at the time either.

If I was going to spend £1400 all in, what system would you get? I would need a monitor in that cost too. My usage is mainly graphics using Photoshop and Illustrator.

[croxsons]

the only extras I plumped for were wireless mighty mouse and wireless keyboard.

The ram comes with standard with 2Gb, if it was a PC I would whack it upto 4Gb and get Vista 64bit.

Is 2Gb generally enough with an iMac

[croxsons]

what RAM should I be looking at?

Apples pricing is ridiculous

[croxsons]

is it easy to upgrade the memory myself? And will it invalidate the warranty?

[croxsons]

Globulator said:

croxsons said:

I figure that there has been extensive arguements about Mac vs PC.

I have priced up an iMac, 24-inch, 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme and it works out at £1270 ex VAT when a few extras have been added on.

If I price up a fairly decent spec PC, say:


It comes out at under £800, allowing me an awful lot for a very nice monitor, or two for that matter.

Actually it allows you £470 for a monitor, which I'd bet is a little shy of the cost of a monitor of the iMac 24s quality. I'm saying this as an Apple Cinema Display user, the apple displays are very very nice to look at and work with.

Also - have you seen an iMac? Not sure why the dilemma really, they run very different software and I'd be walking out of the shop with the iMac while Joe Mug is still deciding what PC virus checker to use.

seen one? oh yes, that is why my heart is saying get one, get one and make it quick. My brain is slowly coming over to the white side too.

Adobe want me to uninstall my CS2.3 from my PC when they send over the Mac version, is there a way of them finding out if I don't?

[croxsons]

PJR said:

croxsons said:

is it easy to upgrade the memory myself? And will it invalidate the warranty?

Yes, and no.

1 screw releases the memory hatch cover which is right at the bottom. Once off (can be a bit tight) you are faced with 2 (small) ram slots. Its as simple then as slotting in any other ram chip. Best to turn the iMac upside down to get better access. But other than that, its a doddle.
No warranty problems with doing this

While im here.. Im another Crucial memory customer and rate them quite highly, so would recommend them.

P,

good stuff ... I will probably end up doing that then. I have used Crucial before too, and will need to get some more for my old PC, and will probably increase my laptop to 2Gb, though CS2 runs fine on it, even with on-board graphics.

[croxsons]

HiRich said:

croxsons said:

The only stumbling block I can see would be Adobe would want me to un-install my existing version on my PC when I have the Mac version. I was hoping that I would keep a copy on my home computer for emergencies.

I can't promise this will work, but I'm pretty sure it did with my very old copy of Photoshop.

• When you install CS on the Mac, shot the PC down.
• Don't launch CS on one machine while the other's awake.

Perhaps someone can check?

This would be interesting to know!

I would be upgrading CS to CS3 from 2.3, but leaving 2.3 on my home computer if that makes sense.