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PC or imac?

frocco

frocco

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 27, 2009
498
43
Hello,

I am trying to decide on a HP or 27" imac.

1909.98 get me this:
Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-860 processor [2.8GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache] edit
Memory SAVE 35%! 8GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs] edit
Hard drive 1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive edit
Graphics card 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4850 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters] edit
Primary optical drive Blu-ray player & Lightscribe SuperMulti DVD burner edit
Networking Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN edit
Front Productivity Ports 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio, video (for TV Tuner) edit
TV & entertainment experience TV tuner, dual format ATSC-NTSC with PVR, remote edit
Sound Card Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports edit
Speakers No speakers edit
Keyboard and Mouse HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse edit
Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0 edit
Security software Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 month edit
Your additional options:
Click edit to modify. NOTE: These items are in stock and will ship immediately.
Monitor HP 2709m 27-inch Diagonal 16:9 Full HD Widescreen Monitor edit


Imac is 2199.00 for i7

Question:
Is windows 7 good enough now to make the pc a choice?
With the imac, it has an IPS display.

The price is close, just lose Blu-ray with imac. Seems a shame, having the 27" display and no Blu-ray.

Am I hung up on the Blu-Ray? I think we are headed towards everything being streamed.

What would you do?

Thanks
 
At the end of the day its down to personal choice

most people here will tell you to go for the iMac. I have seen the 27" C2D in the shops and it has the WOW Factor. Its one nice bit of kit

Personally I would say go for the iMac. They look just fantastic and finally its got some decent hardware in it. Bluray is no bigdeal. I am going to get a slimline one and use it via USB

if you really need windows then there is bootcamp, Fusion 3 and Parallels 5 now. from what I have read both offer great performance.

Also look at what you want from your new PC/Mac.

If its the latest games & want top notch performance then got PC with a ATI 58XX card. But as you have listed in your PC spec out its the same card as the iMac I guess gaming is not top of your list. The 4850 while not the greatest of gaming cards but it will deal with the latest games, but you will have to tweak the setting.

My son has a C2D 1.8 CPU with a 4850 and he plays WOW, Dead Space, Eve and he is trying Aion and they all run just fine. Ok you might have to from the screen res a little on the 27" as he is playing them on a 22" WS monitor

Personally of your prepare to spend that money on a new computer I would go mac.. :)

Good luck and hope this helps
 
Let me post a little story for you....

Was an avid Windows PC user for most
of my life. Never considered going to a
Mac because all of us are brainwashed
with our first PC purchase into thinking
that MACS are too expensive and too
difficult to use. I was always told that
people who used Mac were snobs who
thought they had something better than
PC users.

Well, in 2006 I bought a $4,000 custom
built PC from a reputable online company,
Velocity Micro. That computer, for the
entire year, kept breaking down on me.
It went back and forth to VM a total of
6 or 7 times for repair. Finally, the
company gave me a full refund on the
purchase.

It was at that point that I decided I was
tired of dealing with Windows. Between
the registry conflicts, the viruses and
programs not working well with each
other I decided to take the biggest gamble
of my life -- to buy a MAC.

I bought a $3,000 Mac Pro.

For the first 30 minutes after hooking it
up I just stared at the new operating
system wondering what to do. By the
end of the day, I was merrily working
under OS X installing programs and
playing with the software.

Despite what I was brainwashed into
believing, MAC OS X was actually easier
to use than Windows. Additionally, I did
not have to install an antivirus software.
Best of all, everything worked perfectly
with no hardware or software conflicts.

Installing a program was simple enough
but uninstalling was simpler -- just drag
to the trash can. I didn't have to worry
about crap being left in the registry.

But I haven't even told you the best part...

These Mac computers come with
exceptional software already installed.
I was taking home movie camcorder
footage and making my own DVD movies
complete with my own menu designs. I
was creating webpages easily by dragging
photos into the template. I was able to
organize my entire photo collection easily.

Take it from a former Windows user --
there is nothing like a MAC. You pay more
for it, but outside of gaming, it's SUPERIOR
in most every way to Windows.

Let us know what you decide.
 
Thanks for the info.

I do play some games from time to time with my Son, like Metal of Honor.

What is the slimline one?

I recently sold my MBP to get the imac 27".
I lost my job a few months back, so I do not need a laptop.

Anyways, the imac screen would be a real nice change for me as I wear glasses.
 
Well the PC does come with Genuine Windows 7 - - that's pretty tempting...
 
First, Most PC guys say that they prefer PC because Macs cost too much ??? :confused: ??? If you are spending $2000 on a machine I think that argument pretty much goes out of the window!
[edit: I just read NJRonbo's post I agree with his first paragraph totally...this how I was brought up too, like a religion..that Mac sucks. If it ever was the case, it's not the case now!]

As for your situation,

The PC spec does not look significantly different from the 27" iMac I7.

For $300 I would be happier with the iMac...I will not presume that you will be happier... but I would say that the only benefit that the PC would have is that you could possibly upgrade it in another year or every year to satisfy performance requirements for newer games. (eventually spending more than $300 of course)

If your ONLY concern is gaming go for the PC. You won't miss what you don't know about. If you want the ability to do tons of other things...right out of the box without buying additional software... on a BAD ASS machine...with a BIG ASS screen...the iMAC no question.
 
bobob said:
Well the PC does come with Genuine Windows 7 - - that's pretty tempting...
Click to expand...

LOL.. All the more reason to not buy :) saying that Win7 is not that bad.. :eek:

Slimline Drive. Its the type if DVD/Bluray player that you get in laptops etc and you can get a caddy for them to fit into with a USB connector so that you can hook them upto well anything with a USD port on..

I know alot of people have gone on about Bluray but personally its not big deal. Between USB Sticks and USB Hdds I am sorted

I would get a Slimline USB BR Player just to watch Star Trek in HD.. :D
 
If I were to go pc I would not be choosing the specs you did. As far as multi-tasking the mac will run circles around it. You can build a pc with way betters specs for that price, and I think you'll find that it will play games very nicely. But I'd be willing to bet that if you do a lot of tabbed browsing, the PC would still fall to it's knees before the iMac.

ALSO. Youre going to have a ton of HP and other windows software that is useless other than running in the background to slow the computer down further.

And about this bluray thing. GO TO YOUR LIVING ROOM TO WATCH YOUR MOVIE. dvd should do for a 27" screen. I really don't understand this, but to each his own.
 
#1 - If you must get a machine that doesn't run OS X, then I would get a Dell and stay far away from HP

#2 - Why buy a Windows-only machine when you can get a Mac and run Windows AND OS X?
 
what actual benefit do you think you will gain from getting the imac vs the pc? personally the obvious choice would be a pc.

macs are generally only good for basic computer use (browsing internet, emailing, watching youtube videos of cats, etc). if thats all you plan on doing and you for some reason want to spend a few extra hundred dollars doing this, then by all means get a mac.

i have no idea what the clown in this thread is talking about when he says the mac will run circles around the pc in terms of multi-tab browsing. he clearly has no idea what hes talking about and is just spewing random mac-centric crud.

its really not that hard to uninstall HP/whatever software you want. windows 7 has become much more modular, allowing you to uninstall a ton of things now including internet explorer if you don't want it.
 
hmm may i put fuel into the fire

i would choose neither of them

i dont care about blue ray as it will get forgotten in a couple years like beta 2000

glossy lcd screen or not i dont care crt screens are still superior , i want natural colours , i want a quick response time and i absolutly want to see everything from any angle especially if its a big screen

so as i cant expect apple or a pc maker to build crt all in ones again ,because our obese fast food society is not able to lift a crt or why is always talk about the weight of a crt
...how often do people carry their iMacs around the house ,do you show them your house or the countryside surrounding it or what? buy a laptop if you need a portable computer ,weight is no issue on a desktop

only alternative to crt screens are plasma screens , as they dont have the issue of viewing angles , they have natural colours ,best you could wish for if you look photos or films and they have a next to zero response time, best a gamer could wish for and you could have a 50 inch screen , so you could write your word dokuments from the other side of the room

i prefer a small screen 17 inch are more than big enough on the desk
so for now there is no alternative for me to my eMac where i can even alter the resolution without any loss of brilliant clear picture
i said it before i have a good eyesight , i am not colorblind and i want to see black as black and red as red and green as green and blue as blue and not shades of these colors
i had the possibility to compare the iMac 21.5 and 27 inch next to my eMac
watching the same film in each one , ok they might be equipped with faster processors and better grafic cards but what does it help if the screen lets them down :(
 
Not now it would not.

OS X does not support Blu-ray.

Perhaps, running Windows on your
iMac you can.

There are others more educated in
this than I.
 
Hi,

I had the same dilemma, apple solved it by announcing a wonderful 27" monitor and beefed up spec list including the i7 and i5.

Yes i am one of those Windows convert who always bashed apple users. But i did appreciate the ease at which OSX worked. and i wanted to get to know OSx better. I then realized that if i buy an AIO PC, i would have to go through so much trouble (IMO) to get OSX working on it . But if i get the iMac and use BootCamp , then i can have the best of both worlds in 1 beast.

So i am waiting for it Core i7 iMac :)

And that BluRay drive should work in Windows if you use bootcamp.
 
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I'm just interested in playing Blu-Ray, but it is not a show stopper for getting the imac. I just love the ips 27" display.

My other concern is heat, the macs are hot already with the core 2 duel, and I don't know if the i7 will cause problems.

Also, how do people handle buying movies through itunes?
What's the best way to store them away from the mac and still be able to watch them?

I'm thinking some kind of network drive.
 
MacHamster68 said:
hmm may i put fuel into the fire

i would choose neither of them

i dont care about blue ray as it will get forgotten in a couple years like beta 2000

glossy lcd screen or not i dont care crt screens are still superior , i want natural colours , i want a quick response time and i absolutly want to see everything from any angle especially if its a big screen

so as i cant expect apple or a pc maker to build crt all in ones again ,because our obese fast food society is not able to lift a crt or why is always talk about the weight of a crt
...how often do people carry their iMacs around the house ,do you show them your house or the countryside surrounding it or what? buy a laptop if you need a portable computer ,weight is no issue on a desktop

only alternative to crt screens are plasma screens , as they dont have the issue of viewing angles , they have natural colours ,best you could wish for if you look photos or films and they have a next to zero response time, best a gamer could wish for and you could have a 50 inch screen , so you could write your word dokuments from the other side of the room

i prefer a small screen 17 inch are more than big enough on the desk
so for now there is no alternative for me to my eMac where i can even alter the resolution without any loss of brilliant clear picture
i said it before i have a good eyesight , i am not colorblind and i want to see black as black and red as red and green as green and blue as blue and not shades of these colors
i had the possibility to compare the iMac 21.5 and 27 inch next to my eMac
watching the same film in each one , ok they might be equipped with faster processors and better grafic cards but what does it help if the screen lets them down :(
Click to expand...

A 27" CRT-equipped iMac is going to weigh north of 125 pounds (~8.9 stone), encompass a rather absurd amount of desk space and consume preposterous amounts of electricity.

I can wax nostalgic about a variety of by-gone technologies, but CRT's are definitely not one of them.
 
frocco said:
I'm just interested in playing Blu-Ray, but it is not a show stopper for getting the imac. I just love the ips 27" display.
Click to expand...

Apparently $50 stand-alone Blu-ray players are on the horizon, so you might want to sit tight with regards to Blu-ray player purchases. They need to sell more Blu-ray discs and less DVD's and a good way to make that happen is to flood the market with players (now that the early-adopters all have theirs :)).

frocco said:
Also, how do people handle buying movies through itunes?
What's the best way to store them away from the mac and still be able to watch them?

I'm thinking some kind of network drive.
Click to expand...

If I'm going to "buy" something, I'm going to buy physical media (DVD or Blu-ray). I just rent otherwise.

That being said, I wouldn't bother with a NAS unless you NEED a NAS. For an iMac, I'd just get a Lacie 1 or 2 TB FW800 drive and call it a day.
 
Win 7 is now at least as good as OS X

If you know Windows then i would say stick with them.

Win 7 is now very, very good, easily as good as OSX and at least as stable.

Even on a low brow dual core celeron. Office docs open in 1-2 seconds... no more bouncing doc icons....waiting...

Plus Apple's hardware quality in my direct experience (mini, iMac, iphone) is no better than any run of the mill hardware maker... in fact its' worse.

for me it wouldn't be a tricky decision, but it isn't my money.. ;)

Instinct is a great decider..go with the flow.

iMac's keep their value anyway. ;)
 
i never would put a 27inch screen on my desk , i would have no use for half of it , i dont want to make posters so why would i need a 27 inch screen be it crt or plasma big screens make sense in the living room to watch films or videos as a tv
for a computer on a desk its some sort of overkill and i cant see the point if i sit in front of the computer to turn my head if i want to look from one side of the screen to the other
ok it would give at least your neck a bit of exercise while sitting in front of the computer and your right arm while pushing the mouse from one end of the screen to the other :D
 
I am never getting another HP - You can mark my words!!! My HP desktop, which was my work computer, just crashed yesterday after only a year & a couple months. :mad:

Since, it was a couple months out of the one year warranty, HP technical service would not even talk to me about anything. :mad:

The C drive is fried, and the motherboard is having problems. So my HP is done, and I can't do anything about it except trying to recover my files in the fried C drive. My IT Director is doing his best to recover my files.

I now have the iMac 21.5'' w/ the ATI GPU, and am enjoying it, but am having an issue setting up Outlook.

Get the iMac, but if you don't need it right away, wait till they fix the issues with 27''. If I had a preference, I usually wait till the second update of a new edition, but this time, it was a timely issue.
 
NJRonbo said:
Let me post a little story for you....

Was an avid Windows PC user for most
of my life. Never considered going to a
Mac because all of us are brainwashed
with our first PC purchase into thinking
that MACS are too expensive and too
difficult to use. I was always told that
people who used Mac were snobs who
thought they had something better than
PC users.
Click to expand...

Mac is pretty expensive compared to the PC with same hardware specs, and what can be done on the Mac and also be done on the PC. And some mac users are indeed snobs.

NJRonbo said:
It was at that point that I decided I was
tired of dealing with Windows. Between
the registry conflicts, the viruses and
programs not working well with each
other I decided to take the biggest gamble
of my life -- to buy a MAC.
Click to expand...
Ya right, do you even know what a registry is sir??? what conflict?? From your writing I think you are just trying to sound like you know **** about computers, but it seems you just suck @ using computers in general, so let's be honest hmmk?

NJRonbo said:
For the first 30 minutes after hooking it
up I just stared at the new operating
system wondering what to do. By the
end of the day, I was merrily working
under OS X installing programs and
playing with the software.
Click to expand...
For you , it's not just for the first 30 minutes, it's like that for the rest of the day.

NJRonbo said:
Despite what I was brainwashed into
believing, MAC OS X was actually easier
to use than Windows. Additionally, I did
not have to install an antivirus software.
Best of all, everything worked perfectly
with no hardware or software conflicts.
Click to expand...
You argument is the most one-sided i've seen.
Only reason Mac OS doesn't get much virus is because way less people use it, not because it's more secure okay? And Mac has loads of problems too both software/hardcore just like pc, basically if you don't have applecare you are f'ked. So don't mislead OP by saying how mac is more robust than Pc, that's not the case.

NJRonbo said:
These Mac computers come with
exceptional software already installed.
I was taking home movie camcorder
footage and making my own DVD movies
complete with my own menu designs. I
was creating webpages easily by dragging
photos into the template. I was able to
organize my entire photo collection easily.
Click to expand...
k show us your website then? i doubt your website has anything more than a title and a picture.

NJRonbo said:
Take it from a former Windows user --
there is nothing like a MAC. You pay more
for it, but outside of gaming, it's SUPERIOR
in most every way to Windows.

Let us know what you decide.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't listen to a fanboy who doesn't know when press "ENTER". He talks about how he is brainwashed before, and you can tell he is still brainwashed now.
 
Sorry to hear about your P problems.
Hope you made backups, it really sucks to have to go through this recovery.

I worried now the 27" would be too big for my desk.
 
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