doobies computer needs jesus

[cyanide]

I'm not really sure, but I think this barrier has been exceeded. I think most of the stuff done on iLife and iWork can be easily accessed on a Windows-based PC, and vice versa.

As I said, though, I'm not really sure, so Cyanide, Magius, Ty, and the other Mac-guys can confirm.

Yup, the files with Microsoft Office can be opened with iWork or OpenOffice (or Microsoft Office for Macs), and basically all of the common files like PDFs, Adobe files, and image files are cross-platform accessible.

[maceo24]

Everything you can do on Windows, you can do better on Mac OS X (except for videogames), IMO.[/b][/color]

That, my friend, is a HUGE but. I can use a mac but i have to buy another 1300 dollar machine to play a decent game on.

Id rather have one machine that can do it all, then one essentially "specialized" piece of hardware for one and have to buy the competitions model in order to enjoy myself.

I know there are some games and entertainment functions on a mac, but chess, lode runner and the bugdom demo just arent cutting it. Whats that? Doom3? yeah that's awesome, best game of 2004, great work apple.

BF2142 and NFSCarbon are the newest releases, and theyre only and entire year too late. Games arent everything, but when purchasing a machine, knowing that you cant enjoy them like you should counts for something, IMO.

[Joe']

I can use a mac but i have to buy another 1300 dollar machine to play a decent game on

Do you really have to be that dramatic? Just buy a fricking Xbox!

Who the hell still plays video games on PC's anyway? Everyone knows consoles are the way to go. They cost lots less and they're a lot more fun to play on.

The PC-only releases are very rare nowadays. I'd dare to say inexistent. The last one I recall is Age of Empires III, which is two years old and has a Mac version.

So IMO your post isn't really valid, Maceo.

[shadowgrin]

Not valid?

Id rather have one machine that can do it all, then one essentially "specialized" piece of hardware

Last time I checked Joe' an XBox360 can't help me type my reports.

[Joe']

My point is: I'd rather have a Mac and a console than a Windows-based PC that "can do it all" (in a crappy way), even if the price is higher.

You have your Mac whenever you need a computer and you have your console whenever you feel like playing video games.

A console is definitely better than a PC for playing video games, and a Mac, IMO, is way better than a PC for everything else.

A good PC lasts slightly more than five years without upgrading.
After that, you will surely have to upgrade your PC (that means $$$) to play the latest games (and not only that).

You will never have to upgrade a console, instead, because video games are specifically made to run on them.

And a Mac lasts a lot more than a PC without upgrading.

Because Macs are goddamn expensive.

I'd like to return to this sentence for a moment, because it really pisses me off.
I kind of stand on my own point, but whatever.

Now, say you go to the store to buy a digital photo-camera. You see two photo-cameras.
One is a compact digital-camera, it's 6MP and is just $200. The other one is a digital single-lens reflex camera, it's 8MP and costs 600$.

Now, in this case, you'd be more than glad to pay 400$ more for the higher-quality product.
Why wouldn't you pay more for a Mac, knowing it's better than a PC?

[maceo24]

I can use a mac but i have to buy another 1300 dollar machine to play a decent game on

Do you really have to be that dramatic? Just buy a fricking Xbox!

Who the hell still plays video games on PC's anyway? Everyone knows consoles are the way to go. They cost lots less and they're a lot more fun to play on.

The PC-only releases are very rare nowadays. I'd dare to say inexistent. The last one I recall is Age of Empires III, which is two years old and has a Mac version.

So IMO your post isn't really valid, Maceo.

LOL, ok so yeah it was over the top. Slightly. You can build a decent XP based machine nowadays for about 550-600 bucks. Which is the cost of a loaded 360 or a PS3. but the main point of contention is that if you are looking for ONE machine to do everything you could possibly want from a machine like that, you would have to concede that the PC would be the more viable option. Macs can run windows yes, but that in its own way should say something. It says that despite Apple's apparent OS "superiority", it has acknowledged the need for windows, since, well, you cant cant run everything (translate- many things) on a Mac OS.

And I for one, would absolutely love more games to come out for PC. I build one pretty much every 18 months, and I put the time, effort and spend the hard earned cash to have a machine that could beat the technological shit out of any of the new consoles. Why wouldn't I want to enjoy my hardware with some kickass games that look crisper and run smoother on my rig than on an overheating piece of white plastic garbage?

That said, I'll still be buying the new 360 with the 65nm architecture. But Id much rather have the games for 360 on my PC.

[shadowgrin]

A good PC lasts slightly more than five years without upgrading.
After that, you will surely have to upgrade your PC (that means $$$) to play the latest games (and not only that).

Consoles also have only 4-5 years. After that a new 'generation' gets released.

[Joe']

Consoles also have only 4-5 years. After that a new 'generation' gets released.

At this point, you sell your old console and buy the "new generation" console. It'd still cost you less and the quality will always be higher, IMO.

The amount of money spent on a console will always be lower than that spent on a PC (except for the PS3. Sony's gone nuts with the price. The result is: everyone gets a Wii or an Xbox 360).

[el badman]

Who the hell still plays video games on PC's anyway? Everyone knows consoles are the way to go. They cost lots less and they're a lot more fun to play on.

The PC-only releases are very rare nowadays. I'd dare to say inexistent. The last one I recall is Age of Empires III, which is two years old and has a Mac version.

A console is definitely better than a PC for playing video games

There's so much bullshit in this, dunno where to start...
Obviously you've never had a high-end PC that can do it all and make the games look a zillion times better than on stupid consoles.
Goddamn, everyone's obviously entitled to their opinion but that's the kind of ignorant shit that keeps people from finding out what they can do with a good PC...

You will never have to upgrade a console, instead, because video games are specifically made to run on them.

Yeah, it's not like any recent games have ever had bugs and framerate issues on the newest consoles...

Why wouldn't you pay more for a Mac, knowing it's better than a PC?

So much certainty, so little knowledge...

The amount of money spent on a console will always be lower than that spent on a PC

I'm fairly sure that the games themselves are pretty much all the time more expensive than their PC counterparts, and they certainly offer less potential (visuals, optimization, mods,...).
Anyway, just thought this thread only (and painfully) had one side of the story.

[Silas]

No PC Only releases? You honestly have to be kidding me.

Think about some of the most popular games today...

World of Warcraft
Counter Strike/Half Life 2
Unreal Tournament or Battlefield series
Warcraft/Starcraft 2

Some of these games may have had very, very poor adaptations for the console, such as Battlefield Modern Combat, but they are most popular/successful and meant for PC.

Or maybe some big upcoming releases.

Quake Wars
Crysis
Starcraft 2

Not to mention the fact that with a computer you can achieve more powerful graphics than anything else on the market, yes even a PS3. And you can emulate the graphics of a PS3 while still having the ability to do a variety of other things, such as software and video editing.

To really have top end graphics on a PS3 you need a top end TV, and that costs just as much, if not more than the console.

[Joe']

World of Warcraft
Counter Strike/Half Life 2
Unreal Tournament or Battlefield series
Warcraft/Starcraft 2

PC-only releases are usually released on the Mac platform too.
I'm actually pretty sure a large portion of those games you listed were already released on the Mac platform.

Anyways, the number of games released only on the PC platform in the last few years is still very small. It's pretty much restricted to just strategy/tactical or shooter games.

There's so much bullshit in this, dunno where to start...
Obviously you've never had a high-end PC that can do it all and make the games look a zillion times better than on stupid consoles.
Goddamn, everyone's obviously entitled to their opinion but that's the kind of ignorant shit that keeps people from finding out what they can do with a good PC...

You have no right to call me ignorant just because you disagree with my opinion.

Anyway, as I said, I prefer to play video games on a separate machine that is especially designed to do so.

I don't give a damn about how good you can make games look on a PC, I like to play video games on consoles with big-screen TV's.
I've played lots of video-games on machines with top-notch hardware, I didn't like it.

And I don't think that because of this I deserve to be called ignorant. I know how games look and feel on good PC's, hence I'm not ignorant.

Yeah, it's not like any recent games have ever had bugs and framerate issues on the newest consoles...

You make it sound like PC games don't have bugs.

So much certainty, so little knowledge...

Once again, care to explain why you think I'm ignorant?

Whether one thing is better than another is never a given fact. It's all about perspectives, opinions. I'm just expressing my personal opinion.

[maceo24]

Only some PC games are released on Mac, eventually. They make it to mac after theyve proven to be a success on the PC platform. But its always too late by then, because by the time they release it, the next batch of games are out on PC, making Macs look horribly dated. Not saying they are, but an uneducated consumer (most of america) will see it that way.

And the perfect example of the benefits of PC over 360/PS3 is Oblivion. these games look great for both consoles, although a bit choppy in some areas. On a PC with the stones to run it, you get higher res textures, quicker load times, better draw distance, at smoother framerates running TWICE the resolution. Add that Bethesda's awesome approach to user created content, there really is no contest. And if you really want to use a controller, you can do that too.

As for the "feel" of PC gaming, its a personal preference I know, but nowadays, video cards are coming equipped HDMI outputs, so gaming on the big screen is totally possible. Throw in that you can use the wireless 360 controller with windows, the only differences between console gaming and PC is the game selection. The ONLY reason I bought a 360 was because the games available. A trend that hopefully is changing with the games for windows push.

[Silas]

See, Lupe O'Bryant is very right. Many games that are released for the PS3/360 and PC are much better looking on the TV. And, as Lupe said, the user created content far outweighs it. The patches are easier to obtain, you can get easier updates through programs such as Steam, you can download mods, etc. Half Life 2 is a great example of this. Even though the game is out for consoles, it has never even come close to its success and popularity on PC because of the above traits that a PC game carries.

[maceo24]

lol, Silas have you ever seen blazing saddles?

Howard Johnson is right about Abner Johnson's being right.

I read your post and it was the first thing to come to mind

[Its_asdf]

It's a freaking computer people. You're not going to magically become cooler if you get a Mac or a PC. Who the hell cares which one is better. The only reason why people are acting like their the shit when they have a Mac is because of those damn commercials. Now everyone thinks that they're going to have a "cooler" lifestyle because they have a Mac. I can't believe some people actually buy into this rivarly stuff.

I'm not saying the PC is perfect, but Mac people need to seriously stop thinking they're better than people who use PCs sometime.


Maybe I'm just being grouchy right now. The 2k elitist in the Games forums is starting to wear down my patience.

[Gundy]

^ My sentiments exactly. Unless using a computer is a big part of your life and you need it to get serious work done than it seems like buying a Mac is the right choice. But seriously, like Its_asdf said, it's just a computer. It really isn't that big of a deal. OMg. it can do everything!!! nuthing wrong ever happenssss. It even sucks my dick!!! Seriously, does it all really matter?

Sorry, I really got to do something about my angst problem.

[cyanide]

The only reason why people are acting like their the shit when they have a Mac is because of those damn commercials.

Hey, hey, don't generalize!

Anyhoo, does anyone know if it's possible to hook a gaming console to an LCD monitor?

[benji]

Anyways, the number of games released only on the PC platform in the last few years is still very small.

You cannot seriously say that. You have no clue how many PC-only games are released every single DAY...

Quality, legally-obtained software: 300$ if not more.
Anti-virus: (Norton 360 All-In-One Security): $80.
Anti-spyware: (Ad-Aware Plus): $20.
Firewall (ZoneAlarm): 40$/year.

Why would you pay for any of that, when you could get superior free open-source software?

Anyway, your silly price comparison...
iMac: $2299, 2.8Ghz Core2Duo, 2GB PC2-5300, 500GB SATA, 8XDVD-RW, Raedon HD 2600 PRO, 24-inch widescreen
I don't have time to build one myself right now, so I just fired up Dell, which I wouldn't buy personally: $2276, 2.4Ghz Q6600 Quad-Core, 2GB PC2-5300, 500GB SATA, 16xDVD-RW, GeForce 8600 GTS, 24-inch widescreen (+Vista Ultimate)

I know you can swap out that QuadCore for a C2D and upgrade to a 8800 GTS and stay UNDER $1600 without the monitor building yourself.

You're making yourself look like the preachy Mac-user who's trying to get everyone to convert. I mean, if you want to suggest a new computer, suggest your Mac and get out. There's no point in arguing with people who choose PCs because they want to play games and have no problems using Windows and it's mountains of software.

You have your Mac whenever you need a computer and you have your console whenever you feel like playing video games.

Yeah, but what if I want to play an online FPS or MMORPG? The two largest video game markets after Sports? Games that pretty much demand a keyboard/mouse interface. I have my PC for doing all my computing AND playing games I can only play on the PC, or play better on the PC. And I have a Wii, among other consoles for those games I can't play on the PC yet.

You will never have to upgrade a console, instead, because video games are specifically made to run on them.

And a Mac lasts a lot more than a PC without upgrading.

Because they're closed enviroments. When the hardware is locked, or one companies makes pretty much all the software, upgrading isn't needed as things don't advance as quickly.

Why wouldn't you pay more for a Mac, knowing it's better than a PC?

There's nothing that makes it better. It is only better if a person finds it to be better as you and cynaide and others do. That doesn't PROVE it is better, that simply says, for what you guys are doing, you find it better.

Anyway, I buy PCs over Macs the same way I pick consoles, it has the things I want. The Wii promised METROID PRIME THREE, the PC promises every piece of software I can think of.

I'm actually pretty sure a large portion of those games you listed were already released on the Mac platform.

He listed five games. Five out of the thousands that release each year for the PC. You may be able to play UT and WoW on your Mac from that list, but you will never be able to play Half Life 2/Counter-Strike without emulation. (Steam is Windows only...and Valve has declared it such for the foreseeable future. Linux is the only port they'd consider.)

I've played lots of video-games on machines with top-notch hardware, I didn't like it.

Alright, that's fine. Now take that logic and apply it to everyone who doesn't want to use a Mac.

Anyhoo, does anyone know if it's possible to hook a gaming console to an LCD monitor?

Yes, you just need the proper connectors. You can get them for pretty much any console. Even Dreamcast, which had official support. (While the PS2 did not...)

[maceo24]

Yeah you can buy cords that allow you to plug in the 15pin on an LCD. What system are you trying to hookup? Newegg has Xbox360 ones.

Believe it or not, Dreamcast was the first to do this.

edit- just saw the benji beat me to the dreamcast inclusion

so yeah, what he said.

[Its_asdf]

The only reason why people are acting like their the shit when they have a Mac is because of those damn commercials.

Hey, hey, don't generalize!

Anyhoo, does anyone know if it's possible to hook a gaming console to an LCD monitor?

You know that its true though. After seeing that commercial, the number of Mac users who think their shit don't stink have grown exponentially.

I have to admit that commercial was a pretty good marketing ploy.

[el badman]

I have to admit that commercial was a pretty good marketing ploy.

It is THE perfect marketing campaign for them, it was the right timing and they make it look so cool, I guess it's understandable why people would fall for that.
But after watching them, anyone who has a minimum of PC knowledge quickly gets that these commercials don't only target the "cool" kids, but very much the uneducated people (as in "not particularly computer savvy", not education in general of course).
I mean, they make it sound so fucking challenging to turn off Vista's UAC, to get free utilities and programs online (especially anti-virus like AVG, with which I never had any trouble in years, or firewalls like Kerio for example)....
Apple is just exploiting the fact that a lot of people are too lazy to look into that kind of stuff and wanna have something with "everything that's useful" already installed (yeah...like iTunes ). I guess there's nothing wrong with that, everybody's free to use whatever their computer is as they wish, but Joe, I'm just pointing out that claiming the vast superiority of Mac over PC in every possible way is pretty much absurd.

You have no right to call me ignorant just because you disagree with my opinion.

I'm not attacking you personally , I simply meant that the way you've been comparing Mac and PC makes your opinion appear biased and highly subjective, because you are simplifying things to the extreme and using the PC stereotypes to death without any shades of grey, and this sentence sums it up pretty well (despite the "IMO"):

Everything you can do on Windows, you can do better on Mac OS X (except for videogames), IMO.

[cyanide]

You know that its true though. After seeing that commercial, the number of Mac users who think their shit don't stink have grown exponentially.

I have to admit that commercial was a pretty good marketing ploy.

Maybe so. It's a good marketing campaign, but my rationale behind the Mac has nothing to do with the marketing. It's a good computer with a good operating system; I'm very happy with it, and I'll leave it at that

[Abctest123]

Well, I was thinking of starting a new thread, but I need the same sort of help. My computer got a trojan after I was trying to install a new codec thing for video files...and I got a trojan from it. I urgently need a free virus scan and delete program of some sort. Need suggestions and help ASAP.

[shadowgrin]

Stop downloading codecs just to watch porn. That's where you got the trojan.

I'll leave it to others to give you the help you need. I just find your situation hilarious if the porn angle is true.

[JT_55]

Apparently this is virus season. I think I might have one too. Strange sounds are coming out of my computer, and according to some computer book, that is a symptom of virus. The sounds are more like the ones one get when one closes windows (not Windows, but windows) and when one press accidently keyboard when in desktop.

Mofo, you can download a free virus scan from AVG, a lot of people recommend it.

And no, Grinch, I don't think this is from porn. At least, I hope not...