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New computer - Mac or PC? Desktop or Laptop?



joshread

joshread

I get paid tomorrow and the first (and only) thing I will be buying this month is a new computer.

I will probably get a desktop as you normally get more for you money, but I cant really decide if I should go for a Mac or stick with something like a Dell or HP.

Im looking to spend around £600-£700 WITHOUT a monitor as I use my tv screen instead.

I'm probably looking at a Mac Mini with upgraded RAM or a high spec HP desktop.

Any Advice? Thanks
 
The Boosh!

The Boosh!

ClioSport Admin
  Elise, Duster
Id deffo go with the mac. I did and never looked back!
Also, because the mac mini has been replaced about 2 week ago you can get the older ones pretty cheap now!
 
S

sneeks

  Citroen DS3 DSport
MacMini is a good option or a Dell Studio Hybrid is a nice computer and a good spec for £629 with the current discount offered. This includes a screen and is actually cheaper than building a spec minus the screen.
 
Last edited:
joshread

joshread

Id love a macbook but they cost a bomb even for the basic ones. I was looking at getting the new mac mini which is £649 then upgrading the RAM for about £80. The only thing with a mac is..Im a lazy s**t and use my computer whilst im either in bed or on a chair without a desk. Im using a keyboard with a built in touch pad, but I've been looking around and there isnt one available for the Mac. I dont think an optical mouse would work on a duvet lol.

What spec mac have you got Boosh?
 
The Boosh!

The Boosh!

ClioSport Admin
  Elise, Duster
Iv got a new uni body macbook!

250GB HDD
4GB Ram
2.4Ghz processor
Dual core
Mac OSX

:)

They are worth the money imo. I payed £1051 for mine with a mobile me subscription and 3 years apple care. Needless to say il never need another laptop again. Apple care can be renewed every 3 years for pretty cheap and you can take it in every year for a clean (they take it to pieces) and a HDD clean up!

Buy cheap buy twice. Get a mac mini! ;)
 
N

Nigel

  A4 Avant
I think you need to let us know what the computer is being used for, if it's just for browsing the net and a bit of photo editting a mac mini shall be fine. Pretty expensive way of doing it though.

Great minds and all that, Iain.
 
joshread

joshread

The main things it will be used for are..Football Manager, internet browsing and listening to and downloading music. But a lot of the time I will be doing all of this at once.

Boosh is your laptop the white plastic one or the aluminuim one?
 
O

Omid

  Megane
I have a MacBook as well as a Vista desktop and I really couldn't imagine not having access to a Windows computer however much I love Macs. I would probably go for an iMac and dual boot it, especially over a Mac Mini
 
The Boosh!

The Boosh!

ClioSport Admin
  Elise, Duster
Its the aluminum one mate.

The polycarbonate ones (white ones) can be had cheap now though!

With this i get best of both worlds. Can plug it in to my monitor and use it as a desktop for doing work on, then unplug it and take it to uni.
 
O

Omid

  Megane
joshread said:
The main things it will be used for are..Football Manager, internet browsing and listening to and downloading music. But a lot of the time I will be doing all of this at once.

Boosh is your laptop the white plastic one or the aluminuim one?
Click to expand...


Mac download clients aren't as good as windows, similarly gaming on the PC is still by far the way to go no matter what people say.
 
O

Omid

  Megane
The Boosh! said:
Its the aluminum one mate.

The polycarbonate ones (white ones) can be had cheap now though!

With this i get best of both worlds. Can plug it in to my monitor and use it as a desktop for doing work on, then unplug it and take it to uni.
Click to expand...

True but, I think it is unfair to pay so much for a Laptop then have to have 2 separate wires, one for sound, one for video, I am really gutted about not having HDMI on my mac book, I feel like I have been scammed
 
The Boosh!

The Boosh!

ClioSport Admin
  Elise, Duster
Gaming is better on PC agreed but you can still get the games for mac in most cases.

As for download clients we will have to agree to disagree. I use transmission and its exactly the same as U torrent was on my vista machine.
 
joshread

joshread

A mac mini with the following spec comes in at £975.02

2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
320GB Serial ATA Drive
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac mini - Auto-enroll
 
S

sn00p

ClioSport Club Member
  A blue one.
Omid said:
Mac download clients aren't as good as windows
Click to expand...

lol

Transmission, Speed Download and Transmit = download client heaven.

Omid said:
True but, I think it is unfair to pay so much for a Laptop then have to have 2 separate wires, one for sound, one for video, I am really gutted about not having HDMI on my mac book, I feel like I have been scammed
Click to expand...

In what way, surely you knew it didn't have an HDMI port before you bought it?!
 
S

sn00p

ClioSport Club Member
  A blue one.
joshread said:
A mac mini with the following spec comes in at £975.02

2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
320GB Serial ATA Drive
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac mini - Auto-enroll
Click to expand...

There's an alu macbook in the refurb store for 979, 2.4Ghz, 2GB, 250GB drive.
 
joshread

joshread

LOL i didnt mean to start a war between pcs and macs, I just wanted to get some advice as to how much to spend, what spec to go for etc!
 
I

iain187

  DCi
joshread said:
The main things it will be used for are..Football Manager, internet browsing and listening to and downloading music. But a lot of the time I will be doing all of this at once.

Boosh is your laptop the white plastic one or the aluminuim one?
Click to expand...
exactly what I use my laptop for (pc laptop)

here is the spec of what I got

HP 6735s Laptop, AMD Turion X2 Dual Core RM-72 2.1Ghz, 4GB 800DDR2, 250GB 15.4" DVD RW LightScribe Writer, WLAN, Webcam, Bluetooth 2.0+, Onboard ATI Radeon HD3200 Windows Vista Home Premium, MSO rdy (60 day trial or 25 uses)
Click to expand...
the most intensive thing is obviously football manager and it's 3d job. Any computer worth its salt should be able to download/internet/music all at once these days!!

I paid £400 but it was on sale from £500 if i remember rightly. - the site i got mine from says its now out of stock and now sells a 2gb version for £350. I'd google HP6735s if that looks interesting to you :)
 
joshread

joshread

b00st said:
There's an alu macbook in the refurb store for 979, 2.4Ghz, 2GB, 250GB drive.
Click to expand...

Only 2GB RAM..good buy though.

The other option would be to get a PC custom made buy an independant IT specialist. But I guess its not worth it as I'm not going to be using it for anything like video editing, design etc.

What is the word proccessing software like on the Mac as standard without buying additional software?
 
M

maximinimus

  Clio 197
If all you do is fire up AI and think you are some sort of imaging guru while wearing tight jeans / chapless pants or quite fancy Gok Wan then the Mac is for you.

If you are a coder or gamer go for the PC.
 
CHRIS172CUP

CHRIS172CUP

  Weeman sucks ****
if you can find a first gen macbook pro with a dual processor on ebay/cancom etc then go for that. they're quick!

or macbook rather than a mini imo. failing that just get an old powerbook for what you're looking to use it for and you'll have change. i cant' fault my powerbook at all
 
joshread

joshread

iain187 said:
exactly what I use my laptop for (pc laptop)

here is the spec of what I got

the most intensive thing is obviously football manager and it's 3d job. Any computer worth its salt should be able to download/internet/music all at once these days!!

I paid £400 but it was on sale from £500 if i remember rightly. - the site i got mine from says its now out of stock and now sells a 2gb version for £350. I'd google HP6735s if that looks interesting to you :)
Click to expand...

A friend has got an HP either the same or very similar and hers has had numerous problems after only a few months. I know this might be nothing to do with the laptop itself and more to do with how she uses it but it put me off laptops. If I was going to get a laptop it would be a Mac.
 
joshread

joshread

Im going to take a trip into reading (nearest town) and have a look in a few shops and see what deals theyve got. I'm hoping to pick something up from John Lewis as I'll get 12% partnership discount. I wont be buying anything today, so I'll check back later and see what anyone else has to say. Thanks everyone.
 
O

Omid

  Megane
b00st said:
There isn't any.

Pages (is good and cheap) and Office is available for OS X.
Click to expand...


Not compatible with .doc though, Office Mac is quite good

But surely there would have been no harm in putting a firewire and HDMI on the machine, most 200 pound netbooks have it :D Why doesnt a £1000+ lappy?

I wasnt on about torrent really, different clients
 
Tom

Tom

ClioSport Club Member
  EV (s)
Open office?

I have Dvi on my mac = hdmi.

Only need a £15 adaptor plus a £5 cable.
 
S

sn00p

ClioSport Club Member
  A blue one.
Omid said:
Not compatible with .doc though, Office Mac is quite good

But surely there would have been no harm in putting a firewire and HDMI on the machine, most 200 pound netbooks have it :D Why doesnt a £1000+ lappy?

I wasnt on about torrent really, different clients
Click to expand...

Pages does open word files.

And the most likely reason for dropping fire firewire is because it's going the way of the dodo.

Apple were an early adoptor on it and their machines have had it for years, sure it's had upgrades (FW800) but does your average consumer really come across firewire that often? Not really. Consumer video cameras & external drives (the major applications where firewire has been prevalant) all have USB2 interfaces.

SpeedDownload is an amazing download client if you're talking about one that integrates into a web browser? Transmit is my favourite FTP client on any platform because of the way it integrates with TextMate.
 
N

Nigel

  A4 Avant
Smarties said:
Open office?

I have Dvi on my mac = hdmi.

Only need a £15 adaptor plus a £5 cable.
Click to expand...


But DVI won't carry sound.

I was really tempted by a mac mini until I realised it has no HDMI.

Even the budget Dell studio has this feature.
 
S

sn00p

ClioSport Club Member
  A blue one.
Nigel said:
But DVI won't carry sound.

I was really tempted by a mac mini until I realised it has no HDMI.

Even the budget Dell studio has this feature.
Click to expand...

As Tom said, buy a cable. HDMI is DVI with sound, seeing as they both plug into the back of the Mini it's a non-issue.
 
joshread

joshread

So I can get HDMI on a mac if I buy a seperate cable?

Another thing I'm not sure about..is it worth going for a pc with a blu-ray drive? Is the quality when watching a movie going to be as good as a blu-ray player?
 
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