I'm getting a new computer for this christmas, and alot of my friends are saying get a Mac.. i was jw the difference and some opinions on which is better? Thanks in advance

http://www.xvsxp.com/

Depends on what you wanna do? Share with us what you plan to do with your new computer. With that info, I can push you into a better direction for your purchase.

Well allsi really use my surrent computer for is making graphics, webdesign.. downloading music chatting and of course school work. I cant think of anything much other than that!

A Mac sounds like a good choice.

My Mac is great, but its cursed with Outlook and IE (compatability u see:()

Can u have a play on a friend's mac? The only problem with a Mac is the lack of support from the games industry. But just going on your requirements above, Mac looks good

oops...sorry ds3circuit... didnt mean to just elbow my way in then!

I hate to disagree with the masses here, but I'd suggest a PC instead of a mac. While I think Mac computers look awsome, and have a wonderful operating system there are a few things that always push me to the PC side of things.

1st. Price. Hands down. Mac's are Expensive. Its partially because they use very high quality parts - and probabily partly because they have a little apple logo on them. PC's can be obtained cheaper and easier in a greater selection than a MAC.

2nd Performance (I can't wait to get flamed on this one). Sadly even in apples own benchmarks, a dual 3.2 ghz G5 gets slammed to the curb by both Intel and AMD single processor machines running the same clock speed. Especially in 3d which is surprising considering graphics was an area where Apple had always had the upper hand over pc's. On paper, an Apple machine looks very powerful. In the real world their performance has been lagging behind the market. Its probabily not that the machines are inferior, just that software isn't taking advantage of it the way PC software uses AMD and Intels special instructions to get better performance. Still, with identical video cards and a faster hard drive, the G5 proved almost 40 percent slower on average in 3d tests. PC magazine had one test which apple's G5 was nearly 120% slower. There is no software enhancements which would account for that large of a disparity, even in just one of many tests. Apple pulled their "Fastest Desktop on the Planet" Advertising campaign in light of the benchmarks that they themselves funded. Another problem is that OSX is a resource hog. Putting PPC linux on a new Apple could yeild a large performance gain, but I am not sure about that.

Even AppleQuicktime barely outperformed the PC, and it is optimized for the Apple.

You will get more for your money if you purchase a PC. There is more software readily availiable, and if you get the urge to play some games in school, you'll be ready for whatever game you want.

- So Long and Thanks for All the Fish.


P.S.

AMD Athlon 64 FX = Awsome!
Look into a machine with one - or better yet - build one yourself.

Right off the bat, since you are a student, a discussion about benchmarks, fps, and application compability seem to me, be on the back burner.

At this point in your life, I would heavily suggest a PC. They are far more dynamic, flexible, and cheaper for a future college student (I am correct in assuming this??)

If and when you decide to continue your graphics career, I would then re-exam the possibility of getting a mac. The industry of mass communication favors the mac platform (at least from my point of view).

In the end save your money. Buy a console and mod it for games, and get a decent machine for schoolwork.

Just my two cents.

I'm still in decidded there's alot of pro's and con's. But i thank you all for your opinions.

ds3circuit is Probabily right. At this point benchmarks and things like that don't matter that much. As for pros and cons though I can't really think of any pro's fr the MAC except appearance. They look friggin awsome. Makes me want one just to look at. Good luck with all your choices!

after rereading everything + you dont quite know what u wanna do yet career wise ... PC it is!

As for looks... well take a look over here - good looks out of the box

Build a PC- not only is it a learning experience you get exactly what you want, branded quality parts and it can look good too.

Thermaltake

Oh just save the hassel in the end and buy the mac 8)

You wont be able to play LAN games like Halo with PCs, but who cares, chicks dig dem lol