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Why should I convince you either way? Make your own mind up you're a big boy now. We look forward to welcoming you back to the Mac in due course :)
 
Do it
Buy / build a PC & go with that for a while
If you like it - great, you've saved yourself a heap of cash
If you don't - well, we'll see you back here

There's no reason not to try different OSes these days, but also no reason to stay with one you're not liking - so give it a go, why not
 
guess depends on your needs...but why not both?

mine:

-older 17" 2.0 intel iSight imac (replaced doa G5 imac) leopard (will upgrade to lion and 4 gig ram when needed)
-acer c-50 netbook with ati 6250 (win 7 starter...clean install...so no crapware.... using "Activation Backup and Restore"...google it)

$200 craigslist imac (like new cond)...$199 netbook on sale bb=total $399
 
I'm not going to try to convince you whether you should stay with your iMac or not.

You've used it enough to know the positives and negatives for the Mac platform. Its your money, your needs and your decision.

Personally, I find apple's ecosystem to be the biggest selling point. Everything integrates so well with everything, its a no brainer for me.

To each his own, one size does not fit all, and if you think building a pc is a better option go for it.

btw, I've done that as well and I still buy Macs.
 
I own a i5 3.1GHz iMac with the 1gb 6970m.

It costed me $2k. However, looking at the prices of building a Pc, it seems like I should sell the iMac and build a Pc. Several things frustrate me about the iMac. For example, for a PC to get a SSD to boot off of, I can simply buy one and install it. I can get a good 64Gb drive for my apps and os for $80.00 and easily install it.

For the iMac, I need to either install it myself (voids warranty, easy to get dust under screen) or pay apple the huge premium (like $600 to get the 256gb ssd and the 1tb hdd). And who needs a 256gb ssd for apps and OS? It would be great if apple offered 64gb or 128gb options.

Also, I love the apple aesthetic as much as the next guy, but there is a point where it is too much. Apple went to using a mobile graphics card in a desktop computer? Why in the world would I want a 6970m in my desktop? It performs similarly to a desktop 6850, which is an average to slightly above average card. In a $2k computer, I want top of the line - not average.

I looked at it, and I can build a computer with a i5 2500, a 6850, a 1tb hdd for around $600.00. I own windows 7.

I know that people love the iMac's displays and apples supposedly brilliant customer service, but how is it worth the premium of atleast $1k?

It is looking very tempting for me to sell my iMac for around $1700 and build a PC. I can get a pc with i7 2600k, a radeon 6970, a 64gb ssd + 1tb hdd, blu-ray burner, a dvd drive that spins at atleast 24x (A load faster than apples "Superdrive" which spins at 8x) and other specs that outperform the iMac while having a fair amount of cash to spare which I can use to upgrade in the future.

Why should I stay with iMac?

Please sell it and move on. If you are a grown adult but need people to convince you to do this or that, then you seem have decision issues. Sell, sell, sell.

Hope this helps.
 
Why should I stay with iMac?

That is a question you need to ask yourself. Don't just rely on other people to form your opinion/preference for you.

I'm not going to try to convince you whether you should stay with your iMac or not.

You've used it enough to know the positives and negatives for the Mac platform. Its your money, your needs and your decision.

Personally, I find apple's ecosystem to be the biggest selling point. Everything integrates so well with everything, its a no brainer for me.

To each his own, one size does not fit all, and if you think building a pc is a better option go for it.

btw, I've done that as well and I still buy Macs.

I agree 100% and couldn't say it better.
 
I don't see the iMac updated in 2012. A stronger Mini with a Thunderbolt display could replace the iMac.

Possibility of an update since Intel is releasing that new nano chip and hopefully Apple wants to fix the yellowing problem (wishful thinking anyway)
 
I looked at it, and I can build a computer with a i5 2500, a 6850, a 1tb hdd for around $600.00. I own windows 7.

I know that people love the iMac's displays and apples supposedly brilliant customer service, but how is it worth the premium of atleast $1k?

Who cares about what components are inside?

It's the result that matters, mostly a matter of ergonomics and operating system.

I'd say a Mac beats any other desktop experience hands down, and the displays are... well, I have a cheapo Asus display at home.
I never really understood how much ass it sucks until I've seen the same display attached to a 24'' iMac at work.
I was like, "WHAT?"

I made the mistake of ditching the Mac and getting a PC when I didn't feel like paying Apple's prices even if I could.

I've regretted that decision for years, stuck with a crappy box with a crappier operating system.

I strongly urge you NOT to make the same mistake.
 
I guess it boils down to if you really need a 27" IPS display, cheapest i've seen are 800$ for dell with discounts, if you don't need it then yeah building a pc would be cheaper.

When i got mine, I determined the cost of the components and it came out to around the same (taking into account taxes and shipping since i'm not in the US) but with a ATX case and dell display vs the iMac, so i ended up going for the iMac. but if i didn't need/want the 27" IPS display i could've saved a lot building the pc since i already had a 22" dell lcd.
 
I own a i5 3.1GHz iMac with the 1gb 6970m. It costed me $2k. .... Why should I stay with iMac?

Buy / build or use what you want. Luckily, we each live in a free country and have freedom of choice.

For me, NO more future iMacs. Yes. As a general statement, they are slick, they are simple and they have no visus "situations". For the CPU size, they run fast as well. Very sweet machine and OS. But.... The cost... OMG.... I can buy many Windows machines for the same cost of buying an iMac machine. When overlaid with my limited available dollars, I would buy a Windows based machine. Especially for my typical home user tasks.

Buy / Drive Ford, Dodge, GM or Imports. The choice is really yours as well...

.
 
Do you have other Apple products?

iPhone, iPod, iPad?

To me the Apple ecosystem is the #1 reason that I use Apple.
 
My reasons for sticking with the iMac:

  • If you prefer OSX over Windows. (you can always run Windows in the iMac, but not the other way around)
  • Apple's customer service will usually be better than the different companies you will end purchasing the PC parts with (Apple's warrantee service is impeccable! -- my personal experience).
  • If you prefer an all-in-one PC enclosure over what you'll end up with with a big CASE+Display (ohh think of the cable clutter!)
  • If you value the way your room/den/office looks with the iMac vs a commodity PC (before you answer this, consider bringing a girl over and what she might think of you when she sees an iMac vs a custom built desktop rig).
  • If you think you'll use thunderbolt devices in the near future (PC thunderbolt will launch quiet late).
  • The iMac's display is probably worth around $850 (if you get the Apple 27" cinema display, thats almost $1000).
  • If you care about resale values when you upgrade after 2-3 years (believe me on this -- I've sold tons of apple systems in the past 5-8 years - I get atleast 10x the interest/ number of callers when I post a Mac craigslist ad vs. I'm still trying to sell a Core2Duo 2.8ghz custom rig for almost a year now -- gave up).
  • You can probably connect a SSD via thunderbolt pretty soon (it will cost you though) - my guess is that it will be atleast $150 (50 for the cable, and $100 for the enclosure).
    • You could instead pay OWC $169 to upgrade your iMac for you (with warrantee)

If you really value upgradeability and gaming, Windows is clearly a better choice.

I think cost is a harder argument to make (gone are the days when Apple commanded a $500-$1000 premium over equivalent PC hardware). If you are smart shopper, you can find Apple systems for really good deals nowadays (Just a year ago, I got a refurb Mac mini for $419 - core2duo 2.0ghz, sold it on craigslist a year later for $450!).
 
If Mac users need to resort to tactics like this ^ to keep people on Macs there is something wrong.

With a clean install of Windows (versus factory image with bloatware), I find Windows 7 faster and better for my workflow than Snow Leopard.

the post you quoted makes me a shamed of having a Mac...
 
For notebooks Apple's simply cannot be beat. For a desktop if you want to stay with the Mac OSX operating system, without paying the "apple tax" on hardware you could always build yourself a hackintosh.

You'll save money up front on hardware.

You'll pay more in the end if you can't navigate all the quirks of using 3rd party hardware or if something ever goes wrong.

I hackintosh'd my old core 2 duo win7 box to see if I liked the OS enough to finally make the switch from windows to apple. Cost me $30 and about 15 hours of my time to work out all the quirks. I decided I liked OSX a ton and bought a 15" macbook pro.

When it comes time to replace my desktop I'll likely buy an iMac.. The little gaming I do these days is all console based, and I video edit as a hobby.
 
Well i hated XP, but I find windows 7 just as good as snow leopard.

I think that the reason that most people associate windows with crashes and poor build quality is because the majority of windows computers out there are <$500 dell or hp computers.

I think that if you build your own computer which really is not that hard to do these days, you can get build quality just as good as the iMac. And the built in screen can be a problem later in the computers lifespan. The screen of my 2007 iMac was just fantastic, however when the logic board died and apple wanted like $800 to fix it, the display that I payed a huge premium for became useless.

You won't be building an all-in-one...and that screen is expensive.
 
I never understood the "convince me" approach. why should we convince you to do anything.......go ahead build a windows box. unless its a hackintosh youll be back.
 
Hmmm.....

More importantly: what on earth are you using the computer for?

Frankly after spending a day dealing with Windows it is pleasant to come home to my Mac where I can write my music and do my thing without under the hood nightmares.
 
You are clearly a tinkerer who likes to build hardware. You should be using a PC so you can be constantly ugrading your hardware so you can tell people that you have the fastest video card or fastest motherboard or faster gumblefump than anyone else.

You don't want a mac you want a pc. Sell you mac to somone who like to use software to get things done, not just likes to play around with hardware.
 
Yes OP ... you still don't answer the main question. Why did you buy iMac in the first place? and not just any iMac, you bought the hi-end 27" standard configuration iMac.

Did you want to try and test whether you like iMac or not? Do you live in country with Apple Store? If so .. you had 14 days to return it. Should've used it if necessary.

We deserve some explanation here. I won't tease or convince you about iMac because others has answered it nicely. I just wanna know "Why bought iMac at the first place?"
 
I Have Only a One Word Reply

ZeUSbot

My wife got hit with the Zeusbot which jammed her up completely. I have and have had a Mac since 1985. So from my point of view: what's a Zeusbot? At least for now.
 
If you wanted a PC in the first place, then why buy a iMac? :confused:

Yes, Apple is expensive. If you truely want to compare Apples to Apples (lol), then price your PC with a $900 screen from Dell with the same specs as the iMac :eek:.

Yeah, it's usually cheaper in the end to go with a PC. I have quite a few posts on a forum with endless debates of Mac vs PC, and I must say, you shouldn't ask for a opinion, you shouldn't tell others what to get, you should shut up and buy whatever YOU want to purchase and use. Yes, Apple is expensive. If this is a issue, save more money or buy a PC.
 
If you ask me, the benefits become apparent later. When Windows starts becoming slower and slower and your PC starts acting up in all sorts of funny ways (I know, I was a windows user) while your Mac remains as fast as the day it was purchased.

You don't have to spend half an hour every day downloading multiple updates for your various programs designed to keep your OS running in tip top condition, or scouring the net for that latest driver just because your video can't play properly. No more smartdefrag+systemcare+AVG+malwarebytes+CCcleaner+Comodo combo that is a pain to maintain.

I used to think it was cool to have a 101 different programs doing this and that to keep my PC in tip-top form. Now, I realise that their very existence shows just how flawed windows is.

Only drawback, OXS can't run Internet explorer, which I still need infrequently to access some govt-linked websites that I need for work-related purposes. For that, I used my school laptop. :p
 
PC fanatics people (and mostly Apple hater) would argue:

With $2000 you can build a $1600 gaming CPU (i7, XFire 6970 and all other components) + $400 cheapo ugly TN panel display. They will argue not everyone needed an expensive display. Answer this then, why bother using expensive and multiple GPUs but you use a crappy display?

It's a bit unfair to be honest. When you have to include 27" IPS 1440p display .. well those people are just ashamed and dead silent. They end up spending $2500-ish with their computer. Cost more!! The next thing is that they just can say "But ... but .. but" and ranting. :rolleyes:

Whenever you try to match custom built PC into $2000 while keeping that gorgeous 27" display, well you just can't beat iMac. You'll just end up having the same spec with hi-end iMac with some bonus (i.e upgradeability system and also power hog computer).

I challenge OP to build custom PC that can surpass equivalent iMac, cost $2000-ish and still using 27" IPS WQHD display. Can you do that?

I hardly upgrade my computer anyway. If I want something new, I'd just sell my whole computer.

The cost of partial upgrade is not feasible anymore to me. For example: old model RAM cost more than new one, so if I have to upgrade old RAM slot on my main board, it would be more expensive than it should be.

Or having an old motherboard with LGA775 can only maxed out to Core 2 duo. If I want Core-i5 or i7 .. I need new motherboard, which not really cheap. So I don't really bother with upgrading my CPU anymore. Just waste of money and time to me.
 
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