Good reasons to buy an Imac?

[mobrocket]

My friend is buying a 27" Imac... and i cant think of any good reasons to spend that much money on a mac instead of building a pc.... can you?

 

[Pyree]

Well, you don't have to build it for a start...

Then there is the Mac OS with all the hardware and driver locked and not much you can screw around so pretty much fail safe...

And you can forget about upgrade in the future because you will be buying a new one...

Trouble free.

Just different people having different ideology of what a good computer should be like.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

I can't.

IMHO iMacs are best described as "Yesterday's tech at tomorrow's prices" - you only buy an iMac as a fashion statement (they do LOOK nice...but they are basically oversized notebooks).

Macs are fine if you want something fairly idiot-proof, don't want windows, and want to show you have a lot of money to spend.

 

[huron]

These questions all depend on what your friend is looking for.

Would I spend that much? No...but I don't mind the Windows/Linux ecosystem and don't want to pay that much for the experience (all the drivers, programs, OS, etc managed by Apple).

Some people want that experience and are willing to pay for it.

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

Remove money from the equation. That's snobby and assumptive. Everyone's threshold for "things" is different. Thats why we have watches that most people cringe at and alcohol that would make your wallet cry.

Troll or not, that pretty much goes for all these stupid threads. If your going to ask why, leave out the money thing in reference to what you can afford, or would buy.


That being said, have you ever used a touchscreen PC? Or tried building a touch screen all-in-one PC? First, they suck, second, building them from off-the-counter parts is quite limiting and you do not end up with a nice looking product of any speed or quality.

And if you ignore the OS, MAC is actually pretty competitive depending on how it is customized. If a car analogy is needed, sure, I could customize my own SCION and call it my own. But since an extra $20,000 doesn't phase me, why would I? I'd rather buy something of higher quality and resell value. Now my aging grandmother may question this as both will get me to work and back, but then again, she doesn't have the money and she is looking at it from the wrong reference frame.

 

[cadder]

It's a simple machine, not too many wires and stuff, doesn't take up much room, so in some office situations it would fit in better. It is simple to connect so you don't have to worry a lot about being able to get all of the wires back in the right places. It's pretty.

OTOH it is horrendously overpriced. It has a very limited OS. It would be difficult to repair and very difficult to upgrade.

If all of these things fit with a person then they could buy one.

 

[jeremy88]

My friend is buying a 27" Imac... and i cant think of any good reasons to spend that much money on a mac instead of building a pc.... can you?

I use an iMac at work and it is by far the worst computer I have ever used. Just typing this message is actually lagging and it freezes constantly. Basically these computers work decent for about one year and then they start working worse then netbooks. They do look nice, but I wouldn't buy a computer for looks alone, I need it to work efficiently and fast. My recommendation definitely go towards Windows 7 or Ubuntu based Desktops.

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

Jeremy88. Have you ever driven a Mazda? Those are the worst cars I have ever driven. Just driving to work was actually causing it to lag and choke. Basically, these cars work decent for about a year then they start running worse then Yugos. They do look nice but I wouldn't buy a Mazda on looks alone, I need it to get me to work efficiently and fast. My recommendation definitely goes towards Ford or Toyotas.

Of course this is based on my limited scope of Mazda's Ive owned. Considering they make millions each year, something tells me that maybe the car just needed maintenance. Actually, some times the most common things to fail on cars are parts shared across multiple manufacturers.

What causes a MAC to fail (hardware) is often the same hardware in PCs. Its all user generalization and ignorance. Aka "hard drives dont last in MACs, they use shoddy drives". Ya the same drives dell, hp, custom uses.

 

[cutebeans]

I'd never get a MAC. They're a waste of money.

 

[deathengine]

I have always been a PC user. I didn't like Mac's mostly because I didn't have much experience with them.

However, with my current position, i was forced not only to learn how to use them, but how to support them as well.
Are they over priced? Yeah, probably. But the OS is actually pretty nice and the new models are fast. Even the macbook air with its measly core2 duo can boot faster than my i5 win 7 beast at home.

I really like the analogy CompTIA used. If your computer runs lousy, it needs maintenance. Whether it be scanned for viruses, defragged, hardware issue, whatever.

The Mac has its place in the computer world. Just generally not with hardcore gamers, or those who have the need for the fastest ram, or the best video card, or the sickest watercooling set up.

 

[cutebeans]

Jeremy88. Have you ever driven a Mazda? Those are the worst cars I have ever driven. Just driving to work was actually causing it to lag and choke. Basically, these cars work decent for about a year then they start running worse then Yugos. They do look nice but I wouldn't buy a Mazda on looks alone, I need it to get me to work efficiently and fast. My recommendation definitely goes towards Ford or Toyotas.

Of course this is based on my limited scope of Mazda's Ive owned. Considering they make millions each year, something tells me that maybe the car just needed maintenance. Actually, some times the most common things to fail on cars are parts shared across multiple manufacturers.

What causes a MAC to fail (hardware) is often the same hardware in PCs. Its all user generalization and ignorance. Aka "hard drives dont last in MACs, they use shoddy drives". Ya the same drives dell, hp, custom uses.

It must be your car. Mazda's right now are pretty good.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

base model macs are fairly competive with Dell/HP/Gateway/E-Machines setups around the same price.

They gouge like *mad* on any upgrades.

the base model, for $1199 has a i5-2400S (2.5 GHz turbo to 3.1 GHz), 4 GB of notebook DDR3-1333 RAM, a 500 GB notebook drive, and a HD6750M w/ 512MB of dedicated RAM (somewhere between a 6450 and 6570 desktop in power), a slimline 8x DVD RW, and their 21.5" 1920x1080 monitor with built-in speakers. Add the wireless keyboard and mouse, and the suite of 4 USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, and gigabit ethernet, and consider that its an all in one, its competitive with the similar Dell all-in-one ($949 w/ the same processor, but bigger touch screen, 1 tb hdd, and 6 GB RAM, but only HD2000 graphics), and the HP all-in-one ($829, but an i3-2120 and only HD3000 graphics). but even there, its $200+ more expensive!

 

[mobrocket]

the price of their ram from apple.com is 8x what is it for the same pc memory...

personally only thing i could tell him, is they are nice to look at, but for the price they should be

seems like a linux build machine gives pretty much the same experience at a fraction of the cost

 

[Sherksilver]

I personally have nothing against a MAC, would never get one myself (because I hate the fact that if you get apple, you do not get to make any choices really. They make the choices, and upgrades are next to nothing). But, some people love em and love the OS. So for them - it is worth it.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Nope, I wouldn't buy one.

 

[jeremy88]

Jeremy88. Have you ever driven a Mazda? Those are the worst cars I have ever driven. Just driving to work was actually causing it to lag and choke. Basically, these cars work decent for about a year then they start running worse then Yugos. They do look nice but I wouldn't buy a Mazda on looks alone, I need it to get me to work efficiently and fast. My recommendation definitely goes towards Ford or Toyotas.

Of course this is based on my limited scope of Mazda's Ive owned. Considering they make millions each year, something tells me that maybe the car just needed maintenance. Actually, some times the most common things to fail on cars are parts shared across multiple manufacturers.

What causes a MAC to fail (hardware) is often the same hardware in PCs. Its all user generalization and ignorance. Aka "hard drives dont last in MACs, they use shoddy drives". Ya the same drives dell, hp, custom uses.

That may be true to some extend, all though many of the issues I experience with this particular build are software related, compatibility issues with certain programs and simple lack of proper customization.

But getting back to your point, if I purchase a $3999 iMac and a part breaks down, not only is it a pain to open it up and replace it with an overpriced piece of hardware, but my warranty is also void. Now if I purchase a $1999 customized linux/windows based system I will get equal or usually greater performance then said iMac and if any hardware breaks down I just have to unscrew two thumbscrews and replace that part with reasonably priced hardware.

 

[RichterFry]

If you would rather drive a Ford over a Mazda, then your opinion towards most things in life should be completely ignored. Also, how is a Mac higher quality than building your own PC? It has an ~ aluminium casing~ but it's all the same hardware on the inside.

I wouldn't ever own a Mac because a windows computer makes more sense in every way. There's literally NOTHING that makes me want to buy a Mac over building my own computer. Especially the retard OS.