Please build me a computer (NOT GETTING A MAC UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES)

Originally Posted by Jumbie

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Heat. Cost of electricity. Prolong life of components. Noise. You don't need it on at night because you're not downloading, folding, rendering, converting, etc. Pick one.
Recent computers are very power efficient. The process of turning off/turning on constantly probably consumes more power than just leaving it on, and definitely reduces the life of components. How does turning something on and off prolong the life of components? Makes no sense.

I was a power PC user for a good 10 years before finally coughing up the dough for a Macbook Pro last year. Best computing decision I ever made.

Do yourself a favor and just buy a damned iMac. You won't regret a thing.

This should do nicely:

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/...mco=NDE4Mzg4NA

Originally Posted by Sherman90

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I was a power PC user for a good 10 years before finally coughing up the dough for a Macbook Pro last year. Best computing decision I ever made.

Do yourself a favor and just buy a damned iMac. You won't regret a thing.

+1. They even run Windows and use Intel chips now.

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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+1. They even run Windows and use Intel chips now.
-1. They run it about as well as some crappy DIY PC. Bad drivers, bad BIOS emulation. Unreliable, overdesigned and underengineered shiny baubles compared to Dell / HP's Pro offerings and bad value compared to their consumer lines, less flexible and an overhyped OS that's less versatile and no different - and inferior in some ways - to Vista/W7 for simple uses like the OP's. I appreciate the design aspect, but it comes with functional compromises that affect me at best at upgrade, at worst in everyday use. One of the problems is the functionally detrimental obsession with silence, which is taken to levels that affect the machines to do work. And while the design may be clever or just oh-so-pretty, there are some real dunderhead engineering decisions inside any Mac you care to name that isn't on something that really 'just works' from the upper ranges of Dell, HP et al. People with an ego who like to blame their ignorance on their computers seem to rave about Macs. It's always the 'computer did such and such' people who'll tell you Macs are better, mainly because problem solving is at a level much more compatible with the technologically marsupialed for the most part - although it's surprising given OS X's supposed maturity how soon you need to drop down into Terminal, as opposed to still being within an effective GUI wrapper in Windows, for any indepth issues. I need OS X and I have no real trouble with it as an OS, but beyond that I'm slightly happier in Windows. But as far as the hardware running the OS is concerned... Apple needs to realise Pro doesn't mean a bull**** graphic designer with plenty of time on his hands who thinks he's God's gift to mankind.

Originally Posted by montyharding

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-1.

They run it about as well as some crappy DIY PC. Bad drivers, bad BIOS emulation.

Unreliable, overdesigned and underengineered shiny baubles compared to Dell / HP's Pro offerings and bad value compared to their consumer lines, less flexible and an overhyped OS that's less versatile and no different - and inferior in some ways - to Vista/W7 for simple uses like the OP's.

I appreciate the design aspect, but it comes with functional compromises that affect me at best at upgrade, at worst in everyday use. One of the problems is the functionally detrimental obsession with silence, which is taken to levels that affect the machines to do work. And while the design may be clever or just oh-so-pretty, there are some real dunderhead engineering decisions inside any Mac you care to name that isn't on something that really 'just works' from the upper ranges of Dell, HP et al.

Blah blah blah...

That sounds like a lot of huffing and puffing to me.

I don't care to cite or research, but as far as was aware Macs run Windows just as well as any PC. Integration is not as seamless, but improvements are made monthly and the Windows runs just fine as it is. In fact, back in '07 Macs were touted as the fastest Windows-based PCs available! http://www.switched.com/2007/10/31/f...book-is-a-mac/ (...which is besides the point, because in my estimation OS X mops the floor with Windows, particularly for OP's intended purposes. I don't even have a disc copy of Windows laying around anymore!).

As for reliability, it is also my understanding that Macs are among the most - if not THE most - reliable computers on the market today, backed by excellent support and an amazing host of USABLE, well-integrated software.

And with respect to engineering and design, I think you fail to see how beautifully Macintosh integrate the two. Denigrate all you want, but a uniform aluminum body, magnetic adapter, and glass-coated single-button trackpad are not marks of underengineering and overdesigned. It's obviously the opposite: an intelligent marriage of ADVANCED engineering and seamless usability.

It's pointless arguing with born-again fanboys.

As the owner of more Apple gear than most Apple-droolers will own in their lifetime and a mass of comparable Windows hardware (which is probably really what makes me more objective - I'm not comparing something much cheaper or something much older) for starters, I'm just throwing out the above as my opinion. But then, the OP might turn out to be a born-again fanboy too, you can never tell.

Originally Posted by username79

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Recent computers are very power efficient. The process of turning off/turning on constantly probably consumes more power than just leaving it on, and definitely reduces the life of components. How does turning something on and off prolong the life of components? Makes no sense.

How does this make any bloody sense at all? Is there some huge power spike to turn on a computer that's somehow more than cumulatively leaving it on 24/7? I'm not an electrical engineer but I seriously doubt it.

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/myths.html

i love SF.

SField don't worry, that computer will be fine for your needs. You do not need 18 gigs ram and 6 30' monitors!

when I played games I ran dual 24s, don't really think anything larger/more monitors would have been practical.

OP, sounds like your needs can be addressed with any prebuilt system out there. Just buy yourself a Dell or something.

Originally Posted by montyharding

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It's pointless arguing with born-again fanboys.

As the owner of more Apple gear than most Apple-droolers will own in their lifetime and a mass of comparable Windows hardware (which is probably really what makes me more objective - I'm not comparing something much cheaper or something much older) for starters, I'm just throwing out the above as my opinion. But then, the OP might turn out to be a born-again fanboy too, you can never tell.

Well spoken. Respect!

Originally Posted by javyn

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OP, sounds like your needs can be addressed with any prebuilt system out there. Just buy yourself a Dell or something.

no but I have bought premade systems before and eventually they let me down. I just hate how stuff takes so long to load. Even Itunes takes forever.

Well - it's about buying the right prebuilt for you, and not buying the cheapest piece of crap.

One of the reasons that so many first-time Apple switchers have such a great experience is actually independent of the merits of the OS or hardware - it's that if they are left to make a choice, they end up making a dumb one. So having an a la carte menu reduced to their level of decision-making capability, they actually end up buying a class of machine (as inferior as it may be in terms of comparably-priced Windows machines) they should have at least bought in the first place.

I'd say go the SSD route as I suggested. Have one to store your OS and the apps, and a bigger, regular hard drive to store your Appreciation. It will blitz even iTunes (until it bloats a whole load more).

Originally Posted by SField

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Even Itunes takes forever.

That's mainly because iTunes is a bloated ************* on Windows.

Why in the flying **** do Mac users keep recommending that people buy a Mac and then install ******* Windows on it? The only thing Mac has going for it is the OS. The hardware is not important - that's why they switched to Intel. If I wanted an overpriced Windows box, I would buy a Sony.

It's like you're recommending buying a Ferrari and then dropping a Honda four-cylinder into it.