Question about Apple Mac and PeeCee

[cynkronyze]

I know its not related to Amiga but lot of you out there are hardware guru's meditating for the next biggest thing !!! .......and i really  wanted to know before i make a purchase........

Now that the Mac is on the intel bandwagon, does intel produce custom Mobo's for Apple or is it all the same.

What i really wanted to know was is there any difference as of right now between Mac and regular peecee hardware .....besides the OS.....

P.S any news on the Natami project their forums dont give much news out...........

(i really want another computing platform.)
Regards,

Cynk

[save2600]

AFAIK, Apple still designs the mobo's - just utilize the Intel chip. Component wise, I'd like to think that my Apple hardware is superior. And after a couple of decades of using just about every brand computer made - sure seems like it. My experience has shown that surely Apple products are better built than the generic AMD/WinTel mobo for PeeCee's.

One thing people often fail to realize with a Mac purchase is all the great software you get with it. Whether you want to believe you're paying for an innovative looking case design or not, can't escape the reality of the bundled software. The entire iLife suite is amazing and actually, I personally do not need anything fancier for writing a letter, editing a photo, cataloging my record or game collections, making a movie, storing my music, etc. Wouldn't trade *any* of that for *anything* made for a PeeCee. Mac's work and they work extremely well. Once you bite into the apple so to speak, you'll never go back to all the hassles that come with PeeCee ownership.

[tone007]

Once you bite into the apple so to speak, you'll never go back to all the hassles that come with PeeCee ownership.

I disagree.

I went all Mac for one year and it worked, but I still preferred Windows so I sold the Powerbook G4 while it was still worth something.  I have a couple of Macs lying around still, but only because I got them for next to nothing.  I'd never buy a new Mac again.

As for the hardware, the Intel machines have alot of hardware identical to what's being sold in PCs, but they aren't generic boards.

[Methuselas]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mg6wrYCT9Q


Eric Schwartz said it best. XD

[Tajmaster]

Im pretty sure its spelt "PC". With a  little maturity we can have a constructive debate instead of a slag-off fest

[Tajmaster]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mg6wrYCT9Q
 
 
Eric Schwartz said it best. XD

:lol: thats ones cool vid!!

[save2600]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mg6wrYCT9Q


Eric Schwartz said it best. XD

Yeah, I've seen that video - awesome! Definitely no doubt here which computer we'd all like to see "mainstream" again. lol

@Tone007: I think it really is a matter of what you get used to. I have very little patience for modern computing anymore and no way could I tolerate a WinTel box today. Since computing for me is more or less a utilitarian venture, I believe that things should just 'work'. Not fudging around with drivers, install problems, spyware, viruses/resource hogging anti-virus programs, etc. What I was trying to convey also is that the Mac platform (hardware and software) has more of that 'old skool' charm to it. In other words, even though you may mostly just use a computer as an appliance of sorts, the Mac does seem to even make that more "fun" somehow. And now with the Intel CPU, people can choose to go either way if they want (errr... that didn't come out right).  lol

[tone007]

I believe that things should just 'work'.

What I was trying to convey also is that the Mac platform (hardware and software) has more of that 'old skool' charm to it.

Sounds a bit contradictory to me, "old skool charm" and "just work" don't really fit in the same category.  When do Amigas ever "just work?"  Getting them up and running with all the addons and software the way you want them to is usually a project that makes configuring a PC from scratch seem like child's play.

I will agree that Apple computers are more appliance-like due to the OS design and the limited hardware configurations it needs to support.  I'll be first in line when they start selling Espresso machines, but only if they come in black.

[BinoX]

I use both macs and PC.. and in general it doesn't really bother me which I use... although I do put a 2 button mouse with scroll wheel on the mac, I don't get on with the whole single button thing... But that's just 'cause I'm used to 2...

I'l state a few things that I have noticed about the 2 systems over the years (If I get somethign wrong, please correct me but do tell me HOW I am wrong, not just that I am)
(Note: Below I use the term "Mac" for Apple OSX configurations on apple hardware and "PC" for windows configurations on standard PC style hardware)


If you want to be able to pick exactly what hardware you want then you kinda have to stick with a PC otherwise you're stuck with what apple considers to be a "mac"

If you want an operating system that feels fluid and responsive, I can't fault OSX at all.. it has to have the best "feel" out of most OSes, it just seems to flow naturally...

If you want to run all the latest games, then you're stuck with windows for now. yes, I know you can get WoW and other games for the mac, but there just isn't quite the volume of mac games being released.

Cost is an issue. For the specs you get apple hardware seems a little expensive. I know it comes with a lot of software with it.. but initial cost is a big factor for some people.

My main quibble about OSX is... that there's too many damn versions of it and things are only compatible with never versions... it wouldn't matter if the upgrade was free, but it isn't.

Now for my major windows complaint... Ever since XP SP2 came out the OS has become a lot more bloated than it was before... Vista made it worse and Windows 7, whilst seeming slimmer, just moved the fat somewhere else. It also looks awful! Vista and Windows 7 are gloomy and depressing. Windows XP was not the best design either with it's kiddy look, but at least it was bright and colourful.

Mac hardware support bugs me a little... While it's true I can go out and buy any hardware that says "mac compatible" on it and plug it in and it just works with no drivers, there's a lot of hardware that I do like to use and the "mac compatible" hardware is too expensive... Scanners being the worst (At least last time I looked)

Summarising my complaints:
Macs have a nice user experiece and are easy/fun to use but if you want to play a lot of games you're probably out of luck. And if you have specific hardware requirements, maybe go somewhere else.
PCs are "cheap and cheerful" but are not built to last. The OS is clunky and bulky due to the massive range of hardware that it aims to support. But if you're a big gamer, step this way.

I'm a Mac and a PC and I like both sides.

[persia]

The song is about the game Portal, which is only available on Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mg6wrYCT9Q


Eric Schwartz said it best. XD

[pwermonger]

There isnt as much difference as you'd think. Does Apple extra engineer some of the acessability features such as the side-loading opening they had on the G3-G4 towers? Sure they do. But other than that its all components. They're main design win is the case and I have a feeling most PC case manufacturers are just afraid to overengineer in convenience like those since they have no control over how high or side the CPU cooler will be that the user gets. Or exactly where the RAM will be and how high a clearance they need for it. Apple has extra comfort of knowing all these things going in since they have one motherboard going into it. Then if they want to reuse it for another machine they design the motherboard around the limitations of the existing case.
 
That said, you generally always saw no personality in PC motherboards. A bit of personality in Mac, and tons of personality in the real old school machines like Amiga, Commodore, etc. Names silk screened onto them, etc. Last MB I saw with some style was a G3 from Apple with an Apploe silkscreened onto the MB.

[save2600]

Sounds a bit contradictory to me, "old skool charm" and "just work" don't really fit in the same category.  When do Amigas ever "just work?"  Getting them up and running with all the addons and software the way you want them to is usually a project that makes configuring a PC from scratch seem like child's play.

Old skool charm as in: happy and glad to be using a computer productively vs. pissed off that you need to constantly be tending to its every need like you do with WinTel. Especially when worrying about the health of your HD, viruses, adding new hardware to one or replacing its power supply, mainboard or other cheaply made 3rd party component that just blew. Old skool to me is C64, Atari 8-bit, TI-994/A, Apple ][, stock Atari ST, Amiga, Tandy, etc. Most of these computers came with what you needed to get going right away. In almost all cases, adding a fancy new color monitor, disk drive, tape drive, printer, OS, modem, graphics tablet, light pen or whatever was a snap. Almost as easy as simply plugging it in and knowing a few command lines that were readily available in the manuals you used to receive. Closest thing we have to this ease of use today is a Mac system.

And Amiga's "just work" whenever I turn them on  :-)  Okay, besides some of the voodoo and rain dances one sometimes needs to perform when substantially adding on to their Amiga system... but I digress, I thought we were talking about WinTel compared to Mac products? And there's no comparing the two as far as configuration and ease of setup. Mac's are and will forever be vastly superior in that regard. The architecture and their business model commands it and that's the main premise behind all their products.

[persia]

APple chooses quality hardware, the motherboards are custom design and everything is tested to play nice together.  No wasted ports, when something is useless they remove it.  They're great machines, they tend to just run.

[koshman]

save2600,  agree with most of your points, Macs just work for obvious reasons. But this "...adding new hardware to one or replacing its power supply, mainboard or other cheaply made 3rd party component that just blew..." is nonsense, don't you think? What's the problem with the fact that you can add new cheap hardware to your computer? Plus, it's not like you have to, nobody's forcing you. And that generic PC hardware malfunction more often? It may well be true if you buy on the cheap (which you cannot with Mac - again, an option), but the truth is you can buy quality components and still spend significantly less than on a comparable Mac.

Edit: I also cannot agree that Apple chooses quality hardware as persia says. It's not my experience, but I've heard a lot of people say that you should never buy first revision of anything Apple, because there are always problems, especially with their notebooks. Although I suppose the situation is probably much better today than it was let's say 5 years ago. They have nice cases, but quality components? I think they use mostly the same generic hardware as any PC builder today. Drivers and compatibility, that's a different story, of course, in this regard they are hardly challenged by Windows, logically. Today's Mac is a stylish case and OS - my $0.02.

[tone007]

AmigaOS 4.1 is better than OS X.