not daSkeptic
Graduate Poster
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On the contrary, even if you found all of the exact same parts you still haven't addressed the issues of quality or time.
On the contrary, even if you found all of the exact same parts you still haven't addressed the issues of quality or time.
Quality, probably the same, but hard to say since Apple doesn't disclose exactly what components they use. Time, wouldn't take me more than a couple hours to put the computer together.
jimtron
Illuminator
I don't know, but I keep hearing folks say that Macs are much more expensive for comparable PCs. I did some Googling and I found some articles that showed there was a wash, or that Macs were actually cheaper. Maybe you're right, but I still haven't seen a comparison where the PC had the same (or better) features for significantly less money. I honestly don't know how much it would cost to add the other stuff.
jimtron
Illuminator
Is the new Macbook expensive?
http://technologizer.com/2008/10/19/is-the-new-macbook-expensive/
http://technologizer.com/2008/10/19/is-the-new-macbook-expensive/
tesscaline
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Then there are other costs, besides just the machine itself to consider.
I too have yet to see an equal comparison between a Mac and a PC where the PC was actually cheaper.
not daSkeptic
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What about quality of workmanship in the assembly and testing of the unit? Can you meet or exceed the standards of a factory?
What about the time spent ordering the parts and waiting for them to arrive? What if one or more parts are DOA? What if something breaks while things are being put together? How much time is that going to add? How much is that time worth?
Lukraak_Sisser
Philosopher
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Most games are designed to run on PC's and I don't feel like running an operating system on an operating system.
Plus, I generally don't have the money to buy a full new computer and I do have the money to occasionally upgrade whatever happens to be the slowest/worst bit of my PC.
Hence, I use PC's.
But apart from that? To me its like the difference between McDonalds and Burgerking. Sans serif or Times new roman. Both types are perfectly functional in what they do. I've worked on Mac's that were a total disaster area with crashing programs and errors every hour. And PC's that worked like a charm. And vise versa.
The disaster computers always happened to be the ones that are shared at work where everyone can install anything. Turns out Mac's and PC's are equally incapable of handling idiots that download whatever their spam gives them.
As for cost, I guess that depends on what deals are available in your local stores at the time of purchase.
Personally I've never cared about what my computer looks like so that's never a factor for me. I look at the stuff on the screen, not the frame. But I'll admit that I am a total klutz when it comes to esthetics
Plus, I generally don't have the money to buy a full new computer and I do have the money to occasionally upgrade whatever happens to be the slowest/worst bit of my PC.
Hence, I use PC's.
But apart from that? To me its like the difference between McDonalds and Burgerking. Sans serif or Times new roman. Both types are perfectly functional in what they do. I've worked on Mac's that were a total disaster area with crashing programs and errors every hour. And PC's that worked like a charm. And vise versa.
The disaster computers always happened to be the ones that are shared at work where everyone can install anything. Turns out Mac's and PC's are equally incapable of handling idiots that download whatever their spam gives them.
As for cost, I guess that depends on what deals are available in your local stores at the time of purchase.
Personally I've never cared about what my computer looks like so that's never a factor for me. I look at the stuff on the screen, not the frame. But I'll admit that I am a total klutz when it comes to esthetics
PingOfPong
Critical Thinker
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I never owned a Mac. I used a friend's Mac one time and within 1 second I was wondering where the right mouse button was. The two-button mouse has a really nice paradigm for GUI's. You left click for for the most common action (usually selection) and right click to see a menu of more available commands. Mac users claim that their system is better but I would miss the right button for a long time until I got over it.
Also, I can't remember the last time that my Vista crashed. Certain MS programs which I use still crash occasionally but they don't take down the whole OS with it. Document recovery has been working too. It's been a long time since I've screamed expletives about Bill Gates because I've lost an hour of work.
It used to be that I put up with MS windows' instability because all the software I wanted to use required a PC. Now I wouldn't switch unless my PC broke and someone gave me a free Mac.
Also, I can't remember the last time that my Vista crashed. Certain MS programs which I use still crash occasionally but they don't take down the whole OS with it. Document recovery has been working too. It's been a long time since I've screamed expletives about Bill Gates because I've lost an hour of work.
It used to be that I put up with MS windows' instability because all the software I wanted to use required a PC. Now I wouldn't switch unless my PC broke and someone gave me a free Mac.
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fullflavormenthol
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That is so true. From my experience when people complain about a Mac it is the ones were people will install, uninstall, install, uninstall crap without performing the routine maintanence; in fact it is the same with PC's.
You don't have to defrag a Mac, but that task is replaced with verifying and repairing disk permissions. Generally a lot of Mac users don't have this problem, but power users have to repair things a lot.
tesscaline
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Just wanted to focus on this. By using Parallels, we not only run the mac OS, but we run windows, solaris, and freeBSD all on one machine, without having to partition anything, or deal with dual boot, or anything like that. Click an icon on the screen, and boom, there's your other OS. No muss, no fuss.
While that's probably not very useful for the average consumer, for a company that deals with cross platform custom software development, it's a bit of icing on the cake.
And btw? Windows runs even smoother under Parallels on OSX than it did on a dedicated windows machine.
fullflavormenthol
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tesscaline
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You... can go out and get a mouse with more than one button...
*looks at her mouse, with two normal buttons, a scroll wheel, and two side buttons*
jimtron
Illuminator
Shipping is free from the Apple store; I'm assuming that newegg is going to tag shipping onto all of those parts. Also, I just checked. You can get the MacPro from Amazon for $200/off with free shipping. This is typical discount from Amazon; I've bought a few Macs from them and this is usually the case. So we're talking $2299 and no shipping charge. There are other stores that typically discount Mac stuff a bit, including LA Computer, Club Mac, and Macmall.
PingOfPong
Critical Thinker
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You should try using one from the 21st century.
It was early 21st century. I also saw a recent Mac the other day that had one button. I did a quick search to see what the word is on two-button mice for Mac. Apparently Mac supports it out of the box. However, is it common for Mac software to support contextual menus available through a right-click or is it generally built around a one-button paradigm?
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tesscaline
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Yes... Macs completely and totally support all right-click functionality that you're used to.
It also supports scroll wheels, and extra buttons on mice. In fact, you can, just like on a regular PC, even reprogram which mouse button does what.
fullflavormenthol
Master Poster
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I was just joking with the comment, but to answer your question right-click is used with every program I have encountered on OS X, but you can also CRTL-Click to have the same effect; which is the old way. Still a user can set the computer to either or.
What you probably saw was actually the Mighty Mouse, which looks like a single button mouse; but is actually a two button.
jimtron
Illuminator
And speaking of mice, the Mac Pro comes with a wireless, multi-touch mouse. So if anyone wants to finish the comparison, please factor that in.
I think I can put a computer together as well as some guy in a factory in China.
About 15 minutes.
Same as if I ordered a Mac.
Possible but unlikely.
Certainly not $1000+.
Like I said earlier, I'll show a comparison of a computer built to order. But it will have a Core i7 processor instead of a Xeon. But it really doesn't matter because they are virtually identical. I just don't want to waste my time only to have someone say that they are not the same processor.
That fine, jimtron?
That fine, jimtron?
jimtron
Illuminator
That hasn't been demonstrated yet. After you add shipping charges and the missing features, I'm pretty sure you'll be well over $1299 ($1000 less than street price of MP).