To build or to Mac?

[blueapplepaste]

Go with the Mac!!! While it might be cool to build your own; that iMac will be smokin' and it will give you virtually problem free operation. I have a 12" PowerBook and anyone who has used it for a little while falls in love with it. I've probably had 4 or 5 die hard "build my own computer windows rocks!!" people switch and never look back.

Plus; they can run Windows natively now. So you get the best of both worlds. Apple's iLife software is also worth it by itself. iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD are all a hoot. I took pictures of our family reunion; sorted them in iPhoto; then burned a DVD slideshow with music that I mailed to everyone there. My grandparents were thrilled. The hardest part was deciding the order of the pictures; the rest was a breeze!

Seriously reconsider the Mac before you make a decision. Because now that you can run windows there is nothing you can't do on a Mac; but you can't do everything on a windows machine.

Just my 2¢.

 

[zoziw]

Battie wouldn't be a switcher.

 

[Battie]

Battie wouldn't be a switcher.

Haha, I might be if I had the cash to buy my dream model (mmmmm, PowerMaaaaac).

But I do appreciate the input, blueapplepaste.

 

[zoziw]

Haha, I might be if I had the cash to buy my dream model (mmmmm, PowerMaaaaac).

But I do appreciate the input, blueapplepaste.

You have a Mac right now....right?

 

[Battie]

You have a Mac right now....right?

Oh, is that what you meant by your comment?

No, unfortunately, I do not. I've used them at school and repaired them, but I've never had my own.

Instead, I have a 3 1/2 year old HP craplaptop.

 

[blueapplepaste]

But I do appreciate the input, blueapplepaste.

You're welcome. Regardless of what you end up choosing I hope it's the machine that you want and will serve you well. There's nothing like having a problem invested computer to drive a person to insanity!

 

[WhirlwindMonk]

No, unfortunately, I do not. I've used them at school and repaired them, but I've never had my own.

Repairing macs? I assume you made good use of the mac upgrade kit?

On a more serious note, I think the custom build with XP will work just fine for you. Everything else has already been said.

 

[JeffreyLloyd]

I just got the new iMac... it's awesome. Don't waste your time with Windows when you can have the awesome powers of a mac!

Seriously, this is a no brainer... spend a few extra bucks and get a computer you'll enjoy and instead of one you'll have to "take care of."

 

[Battie]

Repairing macs? I assume you made good use of the mac upgrade kit?

On a more serious note, I think the custom build with XP will work just fine for you. Everything else has already been said.

For some reason clicking the link just brings me to a page with the URL on it. It's a shame, too, because if it's from Worth1000 it must be good.

I just got the new iMac... it's awesome. Don't waste your time with Windows when you can have the awesome powers of a mac!

Seriously, this is a no brainer... spend a few extra bucks and get a computer you'll enjoy and instead of one you'll have to "take care of."

Glad you're enjoying it.

Unfortunately, while a part of me wants to just sit down and do art on the computer, there's another part that just loves to "take care of" computers. I ordered all the parts a few days ago and they should come in a day or two. I'll post a list of what I got soon.

I'm going to dualboot Windows XP and Ubuntu.

 

[WhirlwindMonk]

For some reason clicking the link just brings me to a page with the URL on it. It's a shame, too, because if it's from Worth1000 it must be good.

Let's try again...

 

[Quantos]

Nope nothing still

 

[Battie]

Same here.

This is what I finally settled on:
-ATADC CA-DRAGONFIRE-SL Silver 0.8MM SECC Steel Metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-Hanns·G JW-199DPB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
-Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
-AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Orleans 2000MHz HT Socket AM2 Processor
-BFG Tech BFGR73256GSOCE Geforce 7300GS Supporting 512MB(256MB on board) GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card
-pqi TURBO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model PQI25400-2GDB
-Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
- Thermaltake TR2 W0070 ATX 430W Power Supply
-NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A
-Logitech S-100 BLK 5 Watts RMS 2.0 Speaker
-Logitech Internet Pro 967450-0403 Black PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard
-Sunbeam FireLine Optical Mouse MS-2011-BK-BL Black 3 Buttons 1x Wheel USB Optical Mouse w/Blue Light
-D-Link DWL-G520 32bit PCI2.2 Wireless Adapter

I splurged a little on the case, but I loooove it. I can't wait to get started on this!

 

[WhirlwindMonk]

Oh bah. Just do a google search for "Mac upgrade kit" and you'll find it pretty easily.

That is a nice case, but honestly, it really isn't that expensive, comparatively. And that's a nice comp. Congrats.

 

[Quantos]

Oh bah. Just do a google search for "Mac upgrade kit" and you'll find it pretty easily.

That is a nice case, but honestly, it really isn't that expensive, comparatively. And that's a nice comp. Congrats.

After typing Mac Upgrade Kit* I found this ?

* And then some more searching after that

 

[Battie]

Oh bah. Just do a google search for "Mac upgrade kit" and you'll find it pretty easily.

That is a nice case, but honestly, it really isn't that expensive, comparatively. And that's a nice comp. Congrats.

Haha, I guess I should have said that I splurged relative to my budget.

But thanks!

 

[rdale]

There may be hope yet Battie...

Windows Vista nears RC1, Customer Previews to be reinstated
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060811-7486.html

RC1 Availability Update
http://blogs.technet.com/windowsvista/archive/2006/08/10/445959.aspx

GoogleLinks
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&q=windows vista rc1

 

[Battie]

There may be hope yet Battie...

Windows Vista nears RC1, Customer Previews to be reinstated
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060811-7486.html

RC1 Availability Update
http://blogs.technet.com/windowsvista/archive/2006/08/10/445959.aspx

GoogleLinks
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn&q=windows%20vista%20rc1

Aw, too bad I bought XP. Oh well, at least maybe I can play with it on my old laptop. Thanks for the info.

If anyone's interested, I have a few photos up here:http://battie42.livejournal.com/182673.html

I love my new computer. Thanks everyone for your help!