August

oh hai dur mature focused gamers,

Just looking for some advice.

Next week, I'm going to get a new (actually, my first) desktop computer. If you remember, I posted a thread asking for some help building one a few weeks ago.

Well, that'd be simple enough, but I purchased a 2.13GHz Macbook Air two weeks ago, and I'm loving it. The Mac interface is pretty sweet, and it's a refreshing breath of air in comparison to the PCs that I've used all my life.

Now that it's time to buy a desktop, I can't make a good decision concerning whether to purchase a PC or an iMac.

Thoughts? As some background information, I'm a senior in high school set to enter college in the fall. I already have two adequate laptops (a Vaio and a Macbook Air) and am looking for an all-around desktop. I wouldn't consider myself a serious gamer, but I like to play newer games from time to time.

Yes, I've done my research. Heh. I'm just asking for some overall impressions, as I know a few (read: all) of you are more computer-literate than I am. And from the images in the Post Your Setup thread, it seems like a fair number of you guys out there have both and would be (overly)qualified to give some buying advice.

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And even if the moon fell down tonight...

jepzilla

I'm not going to comment on Mac vs. PC, but why would you buy an Air? I haven't heard very good things about them.

For an all around desktop, you're probably best off with a PC, IMHO. With Apple your desktop choices are iMac/Mac Mini, which aren't upgradeable (they're designed and built like laptops), or a Mac Pro, which is way too expensive. If you like the Apple ecosystem you could go the hackintosh route although I had stability problems when I tried.

Bommando will probably disagree with me.

August

Impulse buy, heh. Something I really need to work on. I can't say that I'm having any major problems with it, though. I'm really liking it, in fact, although the hole it put in my wallet still makes me cringe.

That's what I'm hoping for. Just looking to see some differing points of view on the topic!

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And even if the moon fell down tonight...

Bommando

In the education sector, Macs still rule. At least over here. Windows PCs are very much in the minority among students.

The biggest issue you'll run into with an iMac is upgrading, especially when it comes to gaming. If you're getting new games even every year, the longest you'll be able to suffer without a GPU upgrade is probably about 3 years.

It might help us if you also let us know what work you'll be doing on the desktop. Graphics-intensive? If you're not needing a ton of grunt, just plug a monitor into your Air and use that as your school machine.

The only reason I'd imagine you'd want a desktop is for extra grunt. If this isn't required for your school work and mostly for games, you should go PC.

I have an iMac and a MacBook Pro for work and use a Windows PC in the office for games. I upgrade it as the need arises. Buy a nice case and it'll last you for ages. I use another Windows PC with a HTPC case as a media centre server in the lounge, mostly due to the lower price. If the operating system is abstracted, then it's better to just go cheap. I use old boxes as Linux servers for testing.

So, my advice is that if the grunt is required mostly for games and not for work, then go Windows PC. Just use the same monitor to plug into the MacBook Air when you need to do school work. Unless you're pushing a lot of pixels, it'll be just fine.

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L10N

Education wise mac is definitely behind in the US. I know people who have trouble with theirs when they go to college because many campuses still aren't mac friendly.

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Kristian

^ This.

No reason _at all_ to buy a desktop unless you're doing some heavy shit or gaming.

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icky

Yes. And also no reason at all to own a laptop unless you are doing nothing of significance.

Santa

Not so at my college. Seems like almost everyone who has a laptop has a mac. Of course, they all use it for Facebook and waste an unbelievable amount of time there. Whats hilarious is that they go to the library to get on Facebook.

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Zoopy

Depends if you are going for an art degree or something real.

What else do you use a laptop at school for?

ANGELofDEATH

The only thing a laptop is good for is browser use... maybe a little word processing. I never could see how some of you can play real games on them, I have smaller games like Braid and Goo on mine, but playing COD or any Battlefield title on a laptop? On less than an 18 inch screen? That just blows my mind.

As for the thread topic. I still use XP, laptop is Vista, I will move up to 7 someday, I have two copies already I avoided Mac in the beginning because of price and lack of future upgrade ability ..yeah, yeah I know, those points dont matter now days, but I will never buy a fully new desktop again.

I have used PC, Linux, Mac (pre-OS8) at work. They all have their pluses, they all suck if you dont take care of them. Linux runs clean, yet never used that box to screw around on. I like Macs for work, only if no one else uses it. I didnt want to run dual OSs to play the games I wanted to play, cuz Im lazy.
Personally I will continue upgrading the beige box until I cant anymore, then maybe I might buy a new case.

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