i know this is the wrong forum, but i really need a strong response to it and this forum has the most activity. Please forgive my indecent forum placement! Mac or PC? which one do you think is better and why. Ive been looking into getting a computer for graphic design and I am really wanting a mac. I always thought that Macs were better from what i heard and read. just today, I started seeing reviews that are putting athlon proccesors on top. I just neeed raw speed and am getting confused as to which computer is the better one for graphics applications. I'm tring to stay in the price range of about 1-2k also, so please dont tell me about outrageously priced machines. i need to know whats the fastest within my budget. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated

MAC's are great machines...but not cheap ...as such I run PC's in my home, and I have been working in graphic design for about a decade (actually more...but it depresses me to count) So I would say if your budget is under 2grand...PC may be the best bet for you but thats just my opinion

PC's have far more available to use too :)

People that love Macs will tell you Macs and people that love PCs will tell you PCs. There will be no consensus to this question. Taking into account that you say you mostly need raw speed for a low price you should be looking into a PC (actually they are both PCs since PC means Personal Computer - you, of course, mean IBM clone style probably running Windows). The other consideration though is that you say you are really wanting a Mac. The best advice anyone could ever give you on anything in this life is to follow your heart. This is the machine you will be working with for hours on hours doing something you hopefully love. Why pick a machine you won't be happy with? Look into both and listen to the small voice within to guide you. Good luck with your choice. Either way you will be capable of creating great art. The time has long since passed since one of these platforms could truly be considered any better than the other. Frank

If you're asking because of Poser, I'd say PC. There's a bunch of Poser-related programs that are PC only. If you do go with a MAC, get a good PC emulator.

One obvious question: why do you want a Mac - because you've used both and prefer it, because of some particular feature(s), or because it's what "real artists" use? If the first get a Mac, if the last get a PC as above, if the middle one it depends.

I don't understand the Mac/artist association...whats the deal with that? Here's something to consider... ONE company makes Mac's. Hundereds of companies make PC's. Evo

artists use macs because the systems come bundled to handle graphics as far as basic macs go... the market drives the technology on a mac... and they only hafta deal with one company, to service a whole computer. macs have also been bundling graphics/editing/CG driven performance for their machines because people buy them. rather than spending more on a pc... both machines, either a mac or a win'tel-ibm-pc-clone, will acheive the same thing based on your skill and effort... but you cant open up a mac and go droping in new ram or a new drive or upgrade your video card... unless they got some new models out i havent seen...

I thought the whole point of the Gx series was that they were easy to upgrade? Even my sister's fairly early iMac could have its RAM upgraded by the user, not that Apple wished to admit it.

and i dont know anyone who would crack open an e/imac to cram in more of, or replace anything? LOL! well maybe the ram... so for a little more than 1-2k your suggesting, you can get an i/emac. which would run like snot compared to what i have. erjoner, you said you 'neeed raw speed'... your budget cant handle 'raw speeed' if your want a new computer for doing graphics... (unless your really good at scoping out the deals) for either a mac or wintel... my p4 !upgrade! cost me about $800... yup... for a tower, 300v power supply, two fans, p4 2.4ghz intel processor (w/heatsink), msi p4 motherboard 533mhz (w/bluetooth, optical D-audio, USB 2.0, and so on), a 64meg geforce4 mx AND finally a stick of 512ddr... 780 something... BAM! and i applied for an oem version (kinda bought everything at 1 store) so i grabed XP pro super cheap... even though i use 2k pro. (this was about 5 months ago) cant do that with a mac-anything ... you just cant. your stuck with their price for a system that is tailored to their budget and their software. you want diversity in applications? cross-appz comunication, OS integration? go wintel... more applications are built win-friendly, period. now my computer will last me the next 5 years easy... after that... it will most likely be upgradable to last another 2 maybe 3 years... so total i get near 8 years out of it (15 after it becomes a server and sits in a closet)... for a total investment of about... (w/upgrades) another $1500... added with my initial $800 comes to $2300... note, i didnt list any periferals.. like my 21" sony monitor... or surround sound system... hard drives (x2 40gig 7200rpm RAIDs, cd-rom...dvd... this was an upgrade.. not a full-on-new-computer-purchase... i stripped my old 1ghz... but its more a new computer than it was. so unless you can put one together as an upgrade and can budget your money for things you need, since you 'neeed raw speed', your initial budget cant handle the speed! GO PC!!!! flame on!

yeah the G4, my bad. GO PC!!!

and even the cheapest of the G4 wont give you the speed i have and what i assume your looking for... some comparison shopping based on the whats inside that mac and what you can get from a wintel might yield better results... IF you know what your doing...

well I definately dont know what I am doing. That would be the purpose of asking for input in this thread. And I now see that a PC might be a more viable choice for me at the moment. There is also the fact that I have "connections" to get cheap parts and my freind pretty much builds PCs for a living so I think I have found my road. I'll just have to wait till biz picks up and i can afford a mac.