Mac or PC the eternal debate....

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:09 am

Here’s the deal. I have been a MAC fan since I was a kid. As any other fan, my reasons for liking the product are not always logical. However that said, I have always thought Mac designers have historically been very good at pushing the technology and advancing the current state of personal computers.

Do I currently run a Mac system? No.

Why?
I dropped out of the Mac race back when I was a starving student. And now I have a quite a bit PC based software, so it is hard to justify the switch. Especially with the price differences for a decked PC and a new Mac.

So my debate is do I make the jump over to my beloved computer, and buy new software and plug –ins? Or do I just save the cash and buy a fancy new PC?

I figure a new Mac, software and plug-ins will cost me about 6,000.
Where as a new PC maybe 3,000 at worst.

Will the debate ever end…….

What would you do?

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:15 am

Personally: Never have anything to do with a mac in the first place Wink

I just never liked them, or anything about them.

Whereas Windows, with a bit of time, can be made to run exactly how I want it.
And plus, if I want to take a screwdriver to my case, and upgrade my graphics card to play Crysis, I can.
With a mac, I don't even get a place to put my screwdriver into (except through the screen)

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:22 am

Link555 wrote:

I figure a new Mac, software and plug-ins will cost me about 6,000.
Where as a new PC maybe 3,000 at worst.

That pretty much ends the debate for me. What exactly does one get for the extra money? They both add 1+1=2, as far as I can tell.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:25 am

New PC will let you play games, with enough graphical oomph.
Mac will let you play Chess.

Sorry, but I'm a gamer. Mac bashing is in my blood.
The only reason I would go to Vista from XP is for DX10.

RO Admin Joined: Mar 20, 2000 Posts: 4262 Location: Canada

IMHO.... Mac is smarter in every aspect (still), however, some software is PC only so... I am using both in my chain. I am using PC's for, samplers and slaves and/or for "PC only software" in the chain of a group of computers.

Both, configured properly, get the job done. In the end, the music sounds the same from either OS. I have a (PC) rack system (beast) from ADK and its stunning. I have another smaller box from Rain. I have a Mac Pro and its ... what can I say... a Mac....

The next generation of CP's are going to work together. You don't have to be set, and be forced to use one or the other. We are going to need more than one box if you are taking this serious. Bottom line... Start with what you can afford. As you grow, add what you need.

My two cents in the constant debate over who's better.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:52 am

Hey guys thanks for the advice. I grew up on Mac, and yes you can take a screwdriver and upgrade them.
Are there as many upgrade options as PC?
no

As for cost, for the first time in my life it does not have to be the deciding factor. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be. I will always have a poors mans guilt when making large purchases.

I guess that guilt is holding me back from spending the cash, although I think I would rather be running a Mac, ....just cause.

Hey big tree I have been eyeballing the ADK stuff for awhile. After you made the purchase how long did take you to get yours?

Thanks, again.

RO Admin Joined: Mar 20, 2000 Posts: 4262 Location: Canada

You need to adjust your poll, add "Both" to the equation.. Both is my answer now...

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:55 am

Yeah, both.

Same here.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:06 pm

Yeah, but no.
Since this is a Pro Audio Gear forum, I'll limit my discussion to that field.

Forget about the money. It's impossible to figure it out.
Go with what will get the job done for you within your budget.

I run a mac system, my partner runs a non-Mac system.
In the last 6 years I have been able to grow with my mac, but my partner has had to buy 2 more non-Mac systems in the same time to keep up with the same productivity. This might not be the case with everyone, but it's impossible to figure all the variables.

Mac's have less 3rd party interference and seem to run with less problems over the long haul. Also less prone to viruses as well. I've never had any of my Mac's in the shop, nor have I ever had to call tech support except for the very first Mac back in 1994. So computer down time has been pretty much zero. This is in a commerical recording studio mind you, running 7 days a week.

If you want to just play a game, i guess a non-Mac would do just fine, but if you need an Pro Audio system that can handle a variety of platforms including both Mac and non-Mac platforms, then there's no choice.
Yes, it's pricey on the front end, but it's better value in the long run and it's certainly not for everyone. But it's been very very good for my career.

RO Admin Joined: Mar 20, 2000 Posts: 4262 Location: Canada

re ADK, once it was made... shipping to my door was 10 days I believe. Their packaging, and process was totally pro. Everything about that company from what I can tell is quality. The ADK box I have is definitely pro audio quality.

For less cash...
re Rain, once made came in the same timely manner, excellent service as well. I can't compare systems because the Rain system I have is a smaller and more consumer looking system, however, I'm only using that box for a sampler, not controller. I believe they make a pretty hefty rack DAW as well. I can't give you the apples to apples comparison. ADK is definitely worth checking into.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:39 pm

I feel more comfortable on a PC. It doesn't seem so streamlined, I can do what I want on it. ANd since I'm not terrible with computers, I shut off many processes that are unnecessary on my computer. Navigating in the Windows browser is just easier for me as well.

So despite that fact that I have a crappy Dell and integrated graphics, I can still run many programs that can't run so smoothly on a better, not well kept computer.

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:51 pm

I agree PC's can work very well, I have been running PC's for the last 10 years as my main DAW's.

However I sometime lose patience with the constant tweaking, when I make any changes to my system. I am a hardware guy at heart, although I have written lots of software over the years, I would much rather get out the soldering iron and apply a fix at the board level.

But maybe the new Macs are just as bad? Anyone care to comment on low level operating system tweaking requirements on a new Mac?

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 12:59 pm

Like everybody else here, I've used both.

Mac first since I couldn't deal with DOS.

But since 1995 when computerand selections turned into a smorgasbord, I figured I'd start to help myself? So it was largely a desire to learn the machine both from an operating system standpoint and how all those little electron bits runaround inside, like kids at a carnival fair. So I decided to start to build my own machines up from scratch. Full integration so to speak. That makes you fairly confident within a short period of time and without the need to enroll in any classes. And since I was already a good technician building of kits from chassis to plugging in wasn't anything new to me. But I also really didn't care for the more cartoonlike environment in Macintosh. At least the Windows thingy can be configured to look a little more businesslike which also streamlines & shortens operational function time since it's not doing special video tricks & effects. Unfortunately, it is far less stable, regularly prone to viral attacks and has a real poor memory as to where it has stored your program data since it seems, it doesn't know how to put it's things away properly on your disk drive? Requiring frequent restarts just so it knows where it is and hopefully, you haven't lost any data in the process that cannot be retrieved?

So I have 9 PCs of various vintage with 5 being relatively new, 2 laptops & 3 desktops. And a single Macintosh Mac book G3 and my Macintosh LC II sitting at the bottom of a pile somewhere with the other Pentium I I & I I I' as?

I'd like to try an ADK someday?
Ms. Remy Ann David

RO Admin Joined: Mar 20, 2000 Posts: 4262 Location: Canada

I've added "Both" to the poll...

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:37 pm

mwacoustic wrote:

Link555 wrote:

I figure a new Mac, software and plug-ins will cost me about 6,000.
Where as a new PC maybe 3,000 at worst.

That pretty much ends the debate for me. What exactly does one get for the extra money? They both add 1+1=2, as far as I can tell.

That's not entirely true. If you look at the specs for a Mac Pro: Dual Quad, up to 32 GB of Ram, up to 4 Terrabytes of Hard Drive, built in wireless among many other features. Price this against an equally equipped ADK an you will find that the price skyrockets. The base model of the mac pro with Dual Quads, 320 Gig HD, and 2 Gigs of RAM is $2899. An equally equipped single Quad computer from ADK is $2051. So tack on a motherboard that supports dual quad and the additional chip and you pretty well have the same price.

Laptops? I think you will find that a MacBook, which is more than capable, is easily the same price or cheaper than many similarly configured laptops.

Myself, I use both for different reasons. They both have their uses.

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