Considering making switch to Apple....Questions

I have HAD it with overseas tech support .... be it Dell or Microsoft.

Is Apple tech in the US? That alone will make me make the switch.

Then the next question is .... I love both photography AND video games.....

would a imac suit my needs or do you need the macpro for photo editing (and gaming).

Thank you.

Your question is a straightforward one; but be advised that at some point in this thread there will ignite another pointless religious war of PC vs Mac. I hope I'm wrong on that.

My background: I worked for Microsoft for 10 years and have also worked on specific projects with Apple over the years (while at MS). I am hardware agnostic and use both with great success. Each has its issues as well as delights.

Is Apple tech based in the U.S. -- YES. My personal interaction with them (as a consumer) has been very good. Only issue, as with any consumer technology company, is that the level-1 techs usually have to go through a script to make sure you have an actual problem, but once you get past that they are extremely helpful. And if you happen to have AppleCare (the extended warranty plan) they treat you even better.

Would an iMac suit your needs -- most likely yes. Load it up with RAM, just like you would for a PC. Photoshop/Lightroom/et​c. love RAM. But buy it with the factory 2GB and add the rest yourself (Apple is notorious for overcharging on memory)

video games -- I'm not much of a gamer anymore, so I can't answer that.

Another consideration -- if there are specific applications you use that are only on Windows, you can run them extremely well on an Intel-based Mac. Out of the box, you can do it via the built-in 'Boot Camp' software, but that requires a reboot. If you want to run Win apps alongside native Mac apps, spend $50 and get either VMware Fusion or Parallels. I use Fusion. It works great. I have a two-display setup, and when I run Fusion, I have it running full-screen on the secondary monitor. Clients think I have two computers... and I kind of do, they just happen to be running on the same box.

Hope this helps.

Scott M

For games, it depends on what you like. If you are wanting the very latest games with all the graphics detail cranked up then you may struggle as iMacs generally don't have cutting edge graphics cards. Even Mac Pro's have always been a bit limp when it comes to GPU power, mostly because there are few Mac native games available.

That doesn't mean you can't play games though, an iMac should handle a Half-Life 2 level of gaming quite well, obviously under Windows. But don't expect the kind of performance you can get from a PC with a top of the range GPU.

C.S.I. wrote in post #7568662
Then the next question is .... I love both photography AND video games.....

What games do you like to play?

If you are tired of overseas tech support check into ACER computers.

I had a tech question when I was first setting it up and was really surprised to hear a southern drawl on the gentleman'd voice.

"You're not located in India?", I asked.

"No Sir," was his reply, "when you need ACER tech support you'll get someone in Dallas-Ft. Worth are or Oklahoma City."

I'm still shocked and happy!

The 24" iMac 2.93 GHz comes with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 but can br built to order with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 (+$150) or the ATI Radeon HD 4850 (+$200). I'm not a gamer but they should have improved performance over the base model.

Macworld has benchmarks for the new iMacs here.

Thanks guys......

and moppie......pretty much the cutting edge stuff like Call of Duty World at War.....graphic intensive.....guess Ill have to bite the bullit on a MacPro then?

FotoGenes wrote in post #7568750
Your question is a straightforward one; but be advised that at some point in this thread there will ignite another pointless religious war of PC vs Mac. I hope I'm wrong on that.

My background: I worked for Microsoft for 10 years and have also worked on specific projects with Apple over the years (while at MS). I am hardware agnostic and use both with great success. Each has its issues as well as delights.

Is Apple tech based in the U.S. -- YES. My personal interaction with them (as a consumer) has been very good. Only issue, as with any consumer technology company, is that the level-1 techs usually have to go through a script to make sure you have an actual problem, but once you get past that they are extremely helpful. And if you happen to have AppleCare (the extended warranty plan) they treat you even better.

Would an iMac suit your needs -- most likely yes. Load it up with RAM, just like you would for a PC. Photoshop/Lightroom/et​c. love RAM. But buy it with the factory 2GB and add the rest yourself (Apple is notorious for overcharging on memory)

video games -- I'm not much of a gamer anymore, so I can't answer that.

Another consideration -- if there are specific applications you use that are only on Windows, you can run them extremely well on an Intel-based Mac. Out of the box, you can do it via the built-in 'Boot Camp' software, but that requires a reboot. If you want to run Win apps alongside native Mac apps, spend $50 and get either VMware Fusion or Parallels. I use Fusion. It works great. I have a two-display setup, and when I run Fusion, I have it running full-screen on the secondary monitor. Clients think I have two computers... and I kind of do, they just happen to be running on the same box.

Hope this helps.

Scott M

Very much so, yes...thanks for the insight!

C.S.I. wrote in post #7568662
Is Apple tech in the US? That alone will make me make the switch.

(I have a MacBook and an iMac running OS X, as well as an IBM ThinkPad running WinXP Pro. I run a Dell at work with WinXP Pro and use compute servers running Red Hat Enterprise Linux.)

If you are near an Apple Store, you have personal tech support. You can make an appointment at the Genius Bar and you can bring your equipment to them to see what's wrong. At least around here, you can make the appointment for the next day. "Here" is in the DC suburbs. Mostly I've had very good luck with Apple support at the Tysons Corner Apple store in McLean, VA. Here's a link to the list of the stores, and below that is how you make an appointment at a Genius Bar in any of the stores:

http://www.apple.com/r​etail/storelist/
http://www.apple.com/r​etail/geniusbar/

The most important thing you need to consider is what do you want or need to run on a computer? If the applications you need can run on both a Windows PC and a Mac, then it doesn't matter. If however you have an application that only runs under Windows, then sure, you can go with Apple and the virtual machine route, but imho you're still better off on a Windows box. You can always shop around for local PC support and service.

C.S.I. wrote in post #7570780
Thanks guys......

and moppie......pretty much the cutting edge stuff like Call of Duty World at War.....graphic intensive.....guess Ill have to bite the bullit on a MacPro then?

Then forget about it.
Even the Mac Pro has limited graphics card options compared to a windows based machine.

You would be better off getting a high end system from a local builder (or building one yourself).
If you spend a bit extra and get high end parts you will get a very high level of reliablity.

My Q6600 based Vista machine has been running since Novemeber 07, and while there was a manufactoring fault with the m/b it was quickly replaced under warrenty, and there have no problems with OS. Infact it ran the PS benchmark test faster the other week than it did 12 months ago.

You don't have to buy a large brand name machine, and unless your after an appliance for suring the web and basic tasks, I don't recomend it, as they are always compromised somewhere.

C.S.I. wrote in post #7570780
Thanks guys......

and moppie......pretty much the cutting edge stuff like Call of Duty World at War.....graphic intensive.....guess Ill have to bite the bullit on a MacPro then?

Moppie wrote in post #7570977
Then forget about it.
Even the Mac Pro has limited graphics card options compared to a windows based machine.

You would be better off getting a high end system from a local builder (or building one yourself).
If you spend a bit extra and get high end parts you will get a very high level of reliablity.

My Q6600 based Vista machine has been running since Novemeber 07, and while there was a manufactoring fault with the m/b it was quickly replaced under warrenty, and there have no problems with OS. Infact it ran the PS benchmark test faster the other week than it did 12 months ago.

You don't have to buy a large brand name machine, and unless your after an appliance for suring the web and basic tasks, I don't recommend it, as they are always compromised somewhere.

Ummm, the iMac can be upgraded to the Radeon 4850 for $50. The 4850 is an middle class video card well capable of playing World at War 35fps @ 1920x1200 with high settings (stats) and Crysis 20.9fps @ 1920x1200 very-high settings (stats) - Crysis is a GPU killer I think that's pretty respectable for a mid-level card. Now, a 280, 4870 or x2 system will double your fps, but also at twice the cost. Let us not forget that there will be bigger (literally) and better cards coming out ever year. The 4870 in the Mac Pro is tops and from what I'm hearing people are using hackintosh drivers to load up the 280 in Mac Pro's though it does take a bit of learning Terminal.

Now, if you are a diehard gamer then I would say you should stick with a PC - particularly if you're one of those types of people that like to go to hardware sites to take a look at the latest and greatest hardware. Mac's are nothing to baulk at, but iMac's were meant for lifestyle work while Mac Pro's were meant for professional application.

Edit: Darnit, lost the links. Well, they can be Googled easy enough. The 4850 is a fine card and the 4870 is better - well able to deal with current games and will likely be good enough to keep things on 'high' for another year before having to bump down the settings with the mega games of 2010

I suppose I should clarify my MAIN reason for considering the leap from PC to Apple.

I have had my share of overseas support through the years, and the straw that broke the camels back was with my Zune (microsoft) MP3 player. Im the type of guy that likes to try things out for himself, and go against the grain. So I resisted all temptation being a lemming and buying the iPod for my music. The most appealling thing to me about the Zune was the marketplace.....basica​lly I payed 15 a month for unlimited songs...I had a total of 3000 songs built up over 2 years. Did I own the music? No....but I really wasnt concerned about it at the time, as I figured microsoft wasnt going anywhere fast and a CD will cost you $15 alone.

Well. After downloading a new software update in Nov 08, we could no longer access the marketplace to sync our Zunes (wife had one as well). We both have the 30g video (which are now 2 $250 paperweights). After (no exageration) 12 hours on the phone (about 4 phone calls) over 4 months, Microsoft by their own admission stated that the issue was on their end, and that were working diligently on the situation. Needless to say I just cancelled my subscription to Zune last week (took about 40 minutes just to cancel on the phone). FOUR months without a fix for what they ADMIT was a software glitch on Microsofts end.

It was at this point I would no longer spend any more major coin on a Microsoft product (to include operating system on a PC).

I am now the proud owner of an iPod, and am so far very pleased with what I see.



Thanks again, guys....

C.S.I. wrote in post #7572354
I suppose I should clarify my MAIN reason for considering the leap from PC to Apple.

I have had my share of overseas support through the years, and the straw that broke the camels back was with my Zune (microsoft) MP3 player. Im the type of guy that likes to try things out for himself, and go against the grain. So I resisted all temptation being a lemming and buying the iPod for my music. The most appealling thing to me about the Zune was the marketplace.....basica​lly I payed 15 a month for unlimited songs...I had a total of 3000 songs built up over 2 years. Did I own the music? No....but I really wasnt concerned about it at the time, as I figured microsoft wasnt going anywhere fast and a CD will cost you $15 alone.

Well. After downloading a new software update in Nov 08, we could no longer access the marketplace to sync our Zunes (wife had one as well). We both have the 30g video (which are now 2 $250 paperweights). After (no exageration) 12 hours on the phone (about 4 phone calls) over 4 months, Microsoft by their own admission stated that the issue was on their end, and that were working diligently on the situation. Needless to say I just cancelled my subscription to Zune last week (took about 40 minutes just to cancel on the phone). FOUR months without a fix for what they ADMIT was a software glitch on Microsofts end.

It was at this point I would no longer spend any more major coin on a Microsoft product (to include operating system on a PC).

I am now the proud owner of an iPod, and am so far very pleased with what I see.



Thanks again, guys....

Sorry to hear that. There is a reason Zune has been doing so poorly and iPod's continue to dominate though. I've had some problems with my iPhone and iPod's though (I have several ). Sometimes when I hook them up to my PC I get a message that the iPod is working in USB 1.1. It's a Vista glitch it would seem (Apple support said there wasn't much they could do). It seems that if the Mass Storage drivers become corrupt this can happen. If you try to replace them with a version from the DVD Vista on next reboot will just change them back to the corrupted ones because the ones on the DVD are old. It's frustrating to say the least. I feel your pain though. I'm a Microsoft Developer and have been working on PC/Networks for more than 15 years professionally and can attest that Microsoft does not have the best stability background - hence the thousands of jokes .

It seems you're in another pickel though. If you want the best performance for games then a PC is likely the only option.

MaxxuM wrote in post #7572148
Ummm, the iMac can be upgraded to the Radeon 4850 for $50. The 4850 is an middle class video card well capable of playing World at War 35fps @ 1920x1200 with high settings (stats) and Crysis 20.9fps @ 1920x1200 very-high settings (stats) - Crysis is a GPU killer I think that's pretty respectable for a mid-level card.

My fiances Q8200 with 2GB of ram and a 9800GTS gets 50-60 FPS playing WOW, highest details settings and 1920 x 1200.
Crysis was cutting edge GPU intensive, it is pretty a pretty old game now, I recently saw it in the bargin bin at a local store.
TV is about 30FPS, anything less than that is not what I would call ideal for game play, especially a first person shooter where you want to be pushing 40plus.

And of course the graphics card in the iMac is not upgradable, what you get is what your stuck with. While the Mac Pro can be upgraded the choice is very limited, certianly no high end gaming cards.

As you said the iMac is a compromise. Ok for a bit of WoW and Sims or Spore, but not a serious gaming solution.

C.S.I. wrote in post #7572354
I suppose I should clarify my MAIN reason for considering the leap from PC to Apple.
....

Unfortunaly every large corperation will have its failings, and the bigger it is, the bigger those failings will be, especially when it comes to customer service.


Not much you can do about it really, except know that where every you do there is a chance it will happen.

That is why I suggested a local wholesaler/builder. Local service from a smaller supplier is always going to be better.

mathogre wrote in post #7570898
The most important thing you need to consider is what do you want or need to run on a computer? If the applications you need can run on both a Windows PC and a Mac, then it doesn't matter. If however you have an application that only runs under Windows, then sure, you can go with Apple and the virtual machine route, but imho you're still better off on a Windows box. You can always shop around for local PC support and service.

Being a former Mac Genius at and Apple retail store I can say the service is top notch and most all repairs are done in house I know the only time we would send a repair to apple was if it was out of warranty and would be cheaper for the customer. I you have quite a few windows only apps I would recommend going the boot camp rout and just setting up a duel boot system this will give you the best performance. If you want the best of both worlds as far as connivence of a VM and the faster speed of a native boot you can set up the duel boot and then also install Parallels on the mac and have it use the boot camp partition for the the VM.