General Mac hardware discussions: Dont see how Mac's are cheaper than PC's
Questions regarding yours
by mrmacfixit
- 8/9/06 4:57 AM
In reply to: That must have been a very small file by nutters
Was the external DVD burner a USB 1.0, USB 2.0 or Firewire (IEEE394)?
From your tone, I would guess that you are a PC user and that probably, all your peripherals, use the USB 2.0 interface.
Also, given your statement that the yearbook staff uses "horribly slow eMacs" then I will take a guess that the eMac was equipped with USB 1.0 ports. This would give you a transfer rate, if you were lucky, of either 1.5 or 12 Mbit/s, not the sort of speed that would be entirely suitable for the task in hand. 10GB would take forever!
If you were using an external DVD burner with an IEEE1394 interface, and it took as long to do the job as you describe, then I agree there is a problem with that machine. I get the impression though that your burner was USB. If this is the case, then that is the problem. Not the machine or Apple, but with your choice of peripheral.
Of course, I could be mistaken, you may have used Firewire.
P
External HD
by gilbertwhite1 - 8/9/06 6:27 AM In reply to: Questions regarding yours by mrmacfixit
Peter, Is it not true that if he entertained sharing files with his pee cee and the Mac, he could reformat the external HD from NTFS to FAT32? He couldnt do read and write but at least read the files on ext. HD?
He could then drag and drop to the mac if he wanted to modify JPG's?
Strange question, but
by mrmacfixit - 8/9/06 11:29 AM
In reply to: External HD by gilbertwhite1
the device in question was an external DVD burner and the plan was not to share the pictures, but to take them away to produce a presentation with them. That work was going to be done on a PC.
Formatting an NTFS drive to FAT32 would have enabled the Mac to read and write to it, as well as the PC, but this method is really not worth messing with.
The possibility of losing the existing data on the drive would probably far outweigh the, one off, advantage writing to a drive.
P
Both USB 2.0 and Firewire
by nutters - 10/29/06 3:51 PM In reply to: Questions regarding yours by mrmacfixit
My dvd burner is both USB and firewire. What took so long was the Mac, the way it burned to the disc. First it made a copy into the blank dvd folder which took 15 minutes then it actually burned it. which took 15 minutes cause the burner is only 4x. then it took another 15 to double check everything. Windows doesn't require that first 15 extra minutes to create a pointless duplicate. Windows is also much faster at verifying.
Who Said They're Cheaper?
by arou42 - 7/28/06 5:16 PM In reply to: Dont see how Mac's are cheaper than PC's by rohan.katipallyThis is my first time posting here, so "hello" to everyone.
I've been using Macs for nearly 10 years and based on ticket price alone, I've never known Macs to be cheaper; they've always been considered a higher-end item and their prices reflect this. Mind you, I used my PowerBook G3 for more than seven of those 10 years before it died; it wasn't without problems, but repair was a lot cheaper than buying a new machine, and that's taking into consideration that my Apple was one of the rare ''lemons''; I know users who've been running their Macs for even longer with few-to-no problems, and basically THAT'S why Macs are cheaper. And unless you can find a vendor that's selling a floor model (I've seen this done at CompUSA), you can forget about finding a deal on a new Mac--the prices are pretty much the same everywhere, as are the price reductions (the service at PowerMax is exemplary, though, and you'll save sales tax on your purchase).
Unless you're a power user, your Mac will be able to run OS/software upgrades for a REALLY long time, and even that's not written in stone because I know of studio engineers who still prefer to run OS 9 and software developers who ran their pre-Power PC machines up to at least OS 8.6 because they're built so well. It all depends on your needs.
After extensive research 10+ years ago, I bought a PowerBook, a manual or two (my favorites these days are The Missing Manual series), and picked my friends' brains until the intuition kicked in. It was that easy, and it will be for you, too; Macs are incredibly uncomplicated and lacking in temperament compared to PC's.
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but this is the first generation of Mac/Intel technology--I realize you want to run Windows programs, but I personally would wait a few upgrades down the road to invest in a MacBook Pro and would purchase a refurbished high-end PowerBook direct from Apple instead (which will also save you some bucks). For the time being, I recommend subscribing to Versiontracker.com for OS X for research purposes. Not only will you get a feel for what kinds of cool apps (many free or very reasonably priced shareware) are available for the Mac platform, but the daily e-mails include updates from MacFixIt.com as well--these are extremely useful because they alert owners to hardware and software problems (often with solutions or fixes) and provide a forum for discussing them. There have been issues with some of the new machines, the MacBook Pros in particular. It's good to know what to expect.
Mac prices
by jimnorb - 7/28/06 7:42 PM In reply to: Dont see how Mac's are cheaper than PC's by rohan.katipallyTo set the record straight - as I understand it - Mac prices don't vary at all in the retail marketplace. That's because Apple would withdraw the retailer's franchise if they lowered their price even a little bit. What the seller can do, however, is to sweeten the deal by including software, more hardware, memory, etc at little or no extra cost
About you wanting a mac computer
by maria Morris - 7/30/06 10:19 PM In reply to: Dont see how Mac's are cheaper than PC's by rohan.katipallyI was looking to buy a mac computer again and I was told to go to ebay to see how much I could sell my old mac computer for and I couldn't believe how many people were selling the same computer and how little they were asking for it. Its like buying a brand new car and then wanting to sell it back for some reason, you lose so much money that its not funny so I decided to keep what I have for another year or two or I'll just wait until it doesn't work any more before I buy a new mac. Just because of how much they cost and how little value they have after you buy them. So think care fully before you buy one.
Exactly the same applies
by mrmacfixit - 7/31/06 5:38 AM
In reply to: About you wanting a mac computer by maria Morris
to a Windows PC.
Almost all consumer electronics are not worth very much at all after a couple of years.
Technology moves so fast that this years hot item is next years junker.
It is not just Macs that it happens to
P
Vintage Mac Machines
by gilbertwhite1 - 7/31/06 6:02 AM In reply to: Exactly the same applies by mrmacfixit
I recently purchased a Powerbook G3 and new to Mac.
The first thing I noticed is how well made it was and how well it performed with a 333 mhz processor on broadband cable..indeed very impressive compared to a pc loaded with bloatware. Quality does matter. My current pc is a vaio (sony) PCV RX 280DS digital studio it is also well made but in the pc world there are many "throw away" pc's...
Here is my answer:
by maria Morris - 8/7/06 4:39 PM In reply to: Dont see how Mac's are cheaper than PC's by rohan.katipallyNO, you can't find them any cheaper Apple wants all the money they can sucker out to you. Even after you buy the computer from them you will find that there is always something more to buy from them and it never ends. Buy a PC.
Yes Indeed
by gilbertwhite1 - 8/7/06 6:24 PM In reply to: Here is my answer: by maria MorrisThat makes sense?....So the bottom line is that Apple is out to take your money away from you and the other Sterling builders of PC's are great guys, give you good deals and are not interested in capitalism. 
Oh don't forget that if you are a PC user and you value your "data" then you will spend at least $100.00 per year to buy firewall software, virus software and spyware software. And by the way if you think that one of the lovely security suits will cure all, you are sadly mistaken. You will need to layer your security setup. Happy Computing!.....Cheers!
I don't buy that software any more
by maria Morris - 8/8/06 8:06 AM In reply to: Yes Indeed by gilbertwhite1I stopped using virus protection any more because of editing. And even if I did spent a $100.00 on software I still spented a lot more at the apple store buying books and DVD's and software and apple care and a three years of insurance from them and more ram for my computer and the air port extreme card and I can't remember what else I bought from them I would hate to see how much money I spent now that I bought the emac.I guess I could have bought the G5 with all the money I spent at the apple store.
Upgrading System & Insurance
by gilbertwhite1 - 8/8/06 9:29 AM In reply to: I don't buy that software any more by maria MorrisI can understand your frustration. Sounds like you purchased a Mac that did not have all of the features that you need. In view of your film operations and other things you probably do with it. I also see why you are angry with the Mac sales people at the store you purchased your unit. They didn't ask and you probably didn't go into what you needed to do with your computer. Sounds like someone that was interested in making a sale and undersold you a machine. You obviously needed a high power "performance unit" and you purchased a nice computer that will do most or all things for the mainstream type of user.
Insurance, personnaly that is a big business where most resellers make a fortune and I feel it's a waste of money. You bought a Mac, a quality product that in most cases will not have major failures. If it is indeed defective that should be evident on the front end and the manufacturer should stand behind the product and make it right.
Gilbert
Upgrading system
by maria Morris - 8/8/06 6:08 PM In reply to: Upgrading System & Insurance by gilbertwhite1Hi Gilbert, The saleman who sold me my emac didn't know anything about editing but knew alot about photo's and how much the emac could hold up to and that it was a great machine for me to learn on without me spending a lot of money and he sold me alot of other stuff that I didn't need. I really wish he just sold me a better machine in the first place since the value of the computer goes down in price so fast, I would have been happier that way. In some ways I do like the mac computers and I have learnt how to use it pretty good where I can help someone else that doesn't know what they are doing. But I really need to go back to work and I really need a computer that i can use as fast as I get it out of the box. Right after I bought the computer I bought it back to return it but the wouldn't let me and if they were smart they could have sold me a better computer and made more money. So I can't make up my mind on what to buy now. Thanks for your reply Gilbert.
macs iclude more soft ware
by almostheaven83 - 11/5/06 7:07 AM In reply to: Dont see how Mac's are cheaper than PC's by rohan.katipallymacs include better video edtiding soft ware than windows movie maker. they also have iPhoto witch windows doesn't even have something comparable to that. also a web creator so macs would be cheaper if you bought a comparable pc and then added all of that software but if you don't use that software then a comparable pc would probably be better off with a dell r something like that
to see what software i'm talking about click this link
http://www.apple.com/ilife/
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