[LastDeclaration]

Originally Posted by drewinseries

I came across that online, I would love that, but maybe its my novice on the subject, but I read that was highly illegal.

i'm no expert myself; i've only done it once. but from my understanding the only illegal thing about (assuming you buy the OS for like 40 bucks and don't pirate it) has to do with a part of the agreement that says something about only installing the OS on apple products. i'm not sure if this is accurate now or has ever been truly legit, but i remember reading that, because of the way they stated that part of the agreement, you could technically just slap an apple logo sticker onto your computer and you wouldn't be contradicting anything.

in any case, i don't think anyone's ever been sued for making a hackintosh. it's pretty commonplace. actually getting one to work is a long process though; you have to enjoy working with computers as a hobby or there's no way you'll have the dedication to get it working.

[drewinseries]

Originally Posted by LastDeclaration

i'm no expert myself; i've only done it once. but from my understanding the only illegal thing about (assuming you buy the OS for like 40 bucks and don't pirate it) has to do with a part of the agreement that says something about only installing the OS on apple products. i'm not sure if this is accurate now or has ever been truly legit, but i remember reading that, because of the way they stated that part of the agreement, you could technically just slap an apple logo sticker onto your computer and you wouldn't be contradicting anything.

in any case, i don't think anyone's ever been sued for making a hackintosh. it's pretty commonplace. actually getting one to work is a long process though; you have to enjoy working with computers as a hobby or there's no way you'll have the dedication to get it working.

Thanks for the tips, I will keep my eye open once I get my computer built. If thats the case for it, I wouldn't mind looking into it.

[Cøltøn]

Originally Posted by LastDeclaration

Ubuntu is kickass as well, as the above poster said. And you aren't gaming, so you wouldn't miss out on that. You might want to consider downloading Ubuntu alongside Windows on your current PC to see how you like it. It's extremely easy to do: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/deskt...dows-installer

I'll definitely check this out. I've heard of Ubuntu, but never actually looked into it all that much.

Originally Posted by spiffa0

Windows 8 is the shittiest thing to ever be on a computer. I'm a Windows guy, but I might be making the move to Mac next time I buy a computer.

I'm not really sure how I really feel about it either - and that's part of what is influencing my decision.

Originally Posted by SkateFirm21

I say there's no reason to switch to mac. You definitely will be able to build/customize your own PC with better specs, while spending less money compared to buying a mac. For more business uses like accounting, I'd suggest a PC as well. If you were to switch to mac, learning to use one and the OS shouldn't be hard at all, and if you're thinking of getting a laptop, they are pretty thin and really easy to travel with. But there isn't much a mac can do that a PC can't.... Unless you want to use garage band, which is a shitty recording software, and there's a software on PC that mirrors what garage band does.

thats my 2 cents.

Originally Posted by ctmk

Ok, here's my take. Apple products are beautiful and efficient and almost never have problems. I owned a Mac Book pro for 5 years. Loved it. Best piece of tech Ive ever owned. When it came time to buy a new computer, the price became hard to swallow. As I shopped around I began to notice that I could buy a mid to top of line PC for the price of a base Mac. I have a Sony Vaio S series and am loving it. Blu ray player, 12 Gigs of ram, 1tb of memory, 15' 1080p screen. Not to mention the laptop itself is easy on the eyes, sleek, thin and lightweight. All for a price less than a basic Macbook pro.

Originally Posted by drewinseries

I got a Mac laptop for school and I have loved it. I want to get a desktop and was looking at the iMac. While not the reason, I definitely wanted to try some gaming on it for Skyrim and Battlefield. Through research I was brought to pretty much everything but a Mac for a powerful system, and now I will probably be building my own PC. I love iOS and the look and feel of a Mac, but their prices are outrages, and it seems that if you keep up with upgrading, you system should run and will still probably have saved money. I will miss iOS, but at least I still have my laptop for that.

Just wanted to thank you guys for all the input! Will definitely take all of this into consideration.

[TorontoMatt]

Originally Posted by LastDeclaration

Macs definitely have their prices gouged by Apple. PCs obviously have more competition from all the different vendors (HP, Gateway, Dell, etc.), but Apple is the only one making Macs, so they can jack up the prices. Most people don't even realize the hardware in PCs and Macs is almost entirely identical, save for the casing, so it's really an arbitrary price increase by Apple. Anyway, tl;dr, you definitely get a lot more for your money from a PC, as you seem to have been told by others. Not sure why that other guy said "perhaps"; if you compare identical hardware builds of a Mac and a PC the Mac will pretty much invariably be hundreds of dollars more.

The only thing that you would want a Mac for [IMO] is because you really love the OS or you want to use the exclusive programs - that's all the extra few hundred bucks will be going to (and customer service, I suppose, but I don't think Apple's customer service is anything out of the ordinary). Getting one for the programs is kind of silly, I think, considering the multitude of fantastic programs available for Windows. Logic, for example, is great, but Ableton and Pro Tools are just as great.

Oh, and there's the whole no viruses thing, but as long as you're not a dingus you should be fine with a PC.

Obviously I'm a bit biased, but I think my reasoning is still sound. I would buy a Mac for someone like my grandma or a technologically illiterate friend, but other than that they're hard to recommend.

Ubuntu is kickass as well, as the above poster said. And you aren't gaming, so you wouldn't miss out on that. You might want to consider downloading Ubuntu alongside Windows on your current PC to see how you like it. It's extremely easy to do: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/deskt...dows-installer

Very sound post.

He is right. you can get a lot more for the same money with a pc. The virus point is true. I have avast which is a free anti virus and I have been safely using my pc for a few years now. Every now and then it blocks me from accessing a bad site.

I bought a macbook air a few months back, fastest model(I think it still is), and I simply felt pretentious. My pc handled big programs (Photoshop, coreldraw, audition, premier, after effects) way better. However the last two I use on apple more for whatever reason.

Imacs look good and are neat all-in-ones, so I don't mind that offering. Especially when no pc can compete with it. So with that said look into it, but if you don't mind having a tower and monitor, go with pc.

[TorontoMatt]

I haven't used 8 yet. It looks like it's made for your pocket devices, so that's kind of strange. I guess that would be very influential

[ominousnimbus]

No need to mince words here: the biggest reason you pay a heavy premium for Apple products (especially computers) is because they're trendy and hip and have an apple engraved. Yes, they're typically well-built and sleek relative to much of the competition, but that alone wouldn't justify the price differential if not for the first factor.

So many people get this "I need to switch" bug that has little to do with real problems on their Windows machines, and everything to do with marketing and seeing their friends toting the logo around. At least in this case you have a legit reason to weigh your options: your Windows-based laptop is crashing. However, consider this: you paid $500 for this laptop two years ago. That's well under half the base model, stripped-down MBP. In fact, it's starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel even for Windows laptops. At that price point, there are going to be tons of compromises, and longevity/durability may be one of them.

A modern ultrabook in the $750-1000 range will typically best the base-model MBP in most measurable categories while saving you several hundred. I strongly doubt you'll have any performance issues outside of hardcore video editing or gaming, which are better suited to desktops.

There's no doubt Apple makes nice products, but the ridiculous herd mentality and resultant price gouging always have and always will keep me away.

[LastDeclaration]

^name should be ominous omnibus

[popdisaster00]

I was raised on apple products. I have never owned my own windows device - pc, laptop, phone, MP3 player - nothing. But, I've used countless windows products at school, work, friends houses, etc. And what I can say is that I've never had a single problem with any apple product, ever. No viruses, no hard drive crashes, literally nothing bad at all. However, just about every Windows device I have ever used has crapped out on me one way or another. That's why I'm an apple guy, not because I'm a "sheep".

[perceptrons]

I think 8 is better in most ways, it just takes a bit to reconfigure your workflow.

[perceptrons]

Originally Posted by FuckT41182

hh, download some Linux distribution for free, Ubuntu is kinda easy to handle, you will save an awul load of money and Ubuntu is fully capable of executing all the actions that you want it to manage.

Originally Posted by LastDeclaration

Ubuntu is kickass as well, as the above poster said. And you aren't gaming, so you wouldn't miss out on that. You might want to consider downloading Ubuntu alongside Windows on your current PC to see how you like it. It's extremely easy to do: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/deskt...dows-installer

Come on guys. I use Ubuntu all day, every day and I love it, but even I wouldn't recommend it for the casual user.

[esposimi]

Boot Camp!

[marchofmarty]

Just buy a Mac and install Boot Camp and you can use both... problem solved.

I have used Mac hardware my entire life because of my dad and I have never ever ever ever ever had any problems with them before. I have upgraded my computer once since high school and it was so I could run Starcraft II...

[FuckT41182]

Originally Posted by perceptrons

Come on guys. I use Ubuntu all day, every day and I love it, but even I wouldn't recommend it for the casual user.

Are you implying that he wouldn't be capable of using it for the stuff that he said he wants to use his OS for or that he wouldn't be able to work with Ubuntu properly ? I think that Ubuntu is really easy to work with, my uncle and his wife are using Ubuntu, I installed the OS and every additional SW they wanted me to install, now they are happily using Ubuntu even though their skills with computers are extremely low.

The only problem was that I forgot that Ubuntu can easily work with ZIP files, but to be able to work with RARS, you have to write a little line in the terminal, I fixed that afterwards and there has been no complaint from my uncle and his wife ever since.

I checked the list the OP posted here, Ubuntu would easily execute all of it and it wouldn't require any special skills to get it going...

[Blueskyburning]

Originally Posted by Cøltøn

I

Why I'm thinking of switching:

- I've found over the past few years of owning my own PC's, I've been having to upgrade almost every two years and it's been getting
frustrating in that regard - I tend to upgrade because I find my computers get laggier and laggier

- When I do anything moderately intensive (such as using iTunes before v11 was released), open lots of tabs in Mozilla Firefox, use
certain streaming services (mostly the ones that bands use to stream concerts) my laptop gets super hot (even though I'm using a
cooling mat) and my PC will crash.

- Simple things are starting to make my computer lag out which is pretty frustrating.

- If I stay with Windows I'd be getting Windows 8 most likely, so I'd have to learn a new OS either way

1) Don't get this, I don't really understand why you have to upgrade your computer at all, especially if you don't game on it, I'm guessing you're not trying to run Crysis maxed out etc. I think this is a software issue, especially if you have an Acer laptop, it's going to have a shit load of bloatware and processes running that you don't even need, unless you've already got rid of it.

2) That's a problem with the laptop's cooling system, the i3 isn't a very beefy processor, sounds more like a hardware problem than Windows cocking up.

3) What do you mean by lag out? I'm guessing it's just locking up etc.

4) I've used Windows 8 and I think it'd be great on a tablet or touchscreen device, I wasn't too sold on it when I was using it on my laptop though so I think you'd be better sticking with Windows 7, they're not just going to drop support for it.

I think most of the issues you have are due to the lower end CPU in the laptop, and it sounds like it could do with a fresh install of Windows. I'd be surprised if you had any issues after that (Apart from the laptop overheating, again that's probably a hardware issue)

The laptop I use is old as shit, it's like 1gb RAM, shitty onboard intel GPU, 1.8ghz dual core but I have 0 issues with it. I formatted it and it does everything I would want to do on a laptop with no problems at all. Honestly, I would make a back-up of all your important stuff and do a fresh install of Windows, you might end up saving yourself some cash moniez.

I've not had any issues with Windows since ME (lol) I have no problems with Apple as a company, their software or anything like that, but I just would not fork out extra for the premium on the hardware. A 13" macbook on amazon is £882 whilst the Sony equivalent has a bigger screen, a bigger hard-drive and it's £479. Personally, for what I use a computer for a mac is totally irrelevant to both me and my wallet.

[perceptrons]

Originally Posted by FuckT41182

Are you implying that he wouldn't be capable of using it for the stuff that he said he wants to use his OS for or that he wouldn't be able to work with Ubuntu properly ? I think that Ubuntu is really easy to work with, my uncle and his wife are using Ubuntu, I installed the OS and every additional SW they wanted me to install, now they are happily using Ubuntu even though their skills with computers are extremely low.

The only problem was that I forgot that Ubuntu can easily work with ZIP files, but to be able to work with RARS, you have to write a little line in the terminal, I fixed that afterwards and there has been no complaint from my uncle and his wife ever since.

I checked the list the OP posted here, Ubuntu would easily execute all of it and it wouldn't require any special skills to get it going...

I'm saying he probably wouldn't like it, not that he's incapable. Of course Ubuntu can do everything he would want it to, but it wouldn't be as simple an experience. iTunes would be a pain, LibreOffice sucks, and gaming isn't as good.

If there's a problem, and there will probably be something, having to jump into the command-line for a non-technical user isn't good. Not everyone has a you or I around to help them, they just want everything to work.