topic Re: Mac opinion pole in Installation & update

Mac opinion pole

Stephen Dolbee — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:56:34 GMT

Later this year (after snow leopard) I plan on making the switch to Apple. I have not read anything that would discourage me from doing so except under "problems with video display on a new alum. Imac", on this forum. This pole is not meant to be a PC vs. Mac debate. I am just curious how satisfied Mac owners are with their product-especially while using Archicad. Our firm does mainly single family/residential with very little rendering. Imac spec's should be more than adequate to meet our needs-that's what I really want. Thanks.

Re: Mac opinion pole

Erich — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:51:56 GMT

Stephen,

I also do single family work and work with an older MacBook Pro. If you go for the new iMac you will be just fine. The only issue I see, and it is a small one, is that since ArchiCAD will now recognize multiple cores you only get the benefit of 2 cores not 4 or 8 as you would with a Mac Pro.

Re: Mac opinion pole

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:53:07 GMT

I have both a one year old MacPro and a two year old MacBook Pro and have been very happy with both (running Mac OS or Windows). The MacPro is newer and WAY faster so I am particularly satisfied with it lately. I am also working on very large projects so the horsepower is great (and necessary). It sounds like the iMac would suit you well if the video is not a problem.

Re: Mac opinion pole

Thomas Holm — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:02:04 GMT

It sounds like this is a pole I'm securely tied to

I like the above don't have much to complain about the Macs. A MBP or an iMac will probably do. However, when rendering with Artlantis, the speed of the MacPro is much appreciated!

Re: Mac opinion pole

Eduardo Rolon — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:08:13 GMT

right now I have

1 iMac Intel white - no problems so far only have seen the "broken" display bug a couple of times

1 Macbook Pro

1 Mac Pro
___

I am very satisfied with all my systems. My main system is the Mac Pro so that was the option I chose on the poll.

Re: Mac opinion pole

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:03:53 GMT

Stephen, there's no single reason to get discouraged.
I have Apple computers in my office for about 9 years now and I'm more than satisfied with it. Even with the recent display hassles my next buy will be ..............Apple..............Mac Pro!

Re: Mac opinion pole

Stephen Dolbee — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:58:13 GMT

Thanks for all comments.

Re: Mac opinion pole

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:24:42 GMT

I'm very satisfied with my current iMac setup... We do mostly commercial and do some LW rendering, not artlantis though... No iMac screen issues on my Alum. iMac or the White iMac on our office...

Re: Mac opinion pole

Chazz — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:51:42 GMT

Stephen wrote:
Later this year (after snow leopard) I plan on making the switch to Apple.

If you will excuse me, I think your upgrade timing is sort of Windows-centric thinking that is not really relevant in the Mac world. I notice a lot of Windows users do not upgrade their OS, they just buy a new machine with the latest OS pre-installed.

This is not the Macintosh way. On all my Macs (since 1988) I upgrade the OS to the next major version the moment it comes out (because it is always better and always worth it). Upgrades take an hour or less and it's something you sort of just do as you're rushing off to lunch. It ain't no big deal. Just shove the dvd in and be done with it.

For the few Windows users I know who upgrade their systems, it seems like such a soul-searching, existential experience, fraught with trepidation and fear. Apple seems to have reduced the whole process to a triviality, as it should be. If you want a Mac, just get it now and install Snow Leopard whenever it comes out. I just got a new MacPro and the thing rocks. It will rock harder with Snow Leopard but for the time being I'm very happy.

Re: Mac opinion pole

owen — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:57:34 GMT

I would not let Snow Leopard hold you back from buying now if you need the machine now - it is a much cheaper proposition to do this on the Mac ... OSX costs US$129 vs a minimum of $199 for Vista Home Basic (up to $319 for Vista Ultimate). There is also little likelyhood of the hardware getting a spec bump again before then given the recent update (as insignificant as it was on the iMac)

An OS upgrade is generally a quick and pain free process on the Mac right from actually buying the software (there is one version which will run on even relatively old Macs, vs the whole 'Get Windows Vista/Windows Upgrade Advisor' experience), through to the installation which should take much less than an hour - something i have never had the fortune to experience with Windows.

In Microsofts defence though they have no control over the hardware end of things, unlike Apple who must cater to a relatively tiny number of hardware configurations.

Anyway back to your original question ... an iMac sounds perfect for your needs. I plan on getting one as soon as i settle into my new city a little more (and pay off my hefty 6 month holiday bill )

Re: Mac opinion pole

Aaron Bourgoin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:27:35 GMT

its pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if the latest crop of Apple Hardware isn't a little bit futureproofed - that is to say that it anticipates Snow Leopard and provides a bit of infrasructure that will meow a little bit harder when 10.6 ships.

Re: Mac opinion pole

Stephen Dolbee — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:01:06 GMT

Chazz wrote:
If you want a Mac, just get it now and install Snow Leopard whenever it comes out.

I guess I did imply I was waiting for Snow Leopard. Actually, I have some bills to pay off before another purchase. Hopefully, that will be later this fall.

Re: Mac opinion pole

owen — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:02:10 GMT

Yes OpenCL should make things very interesting indeed .. i wonder what impact GPU's will have on total system performance. Cinebench benchmarks have the 2009 Mac Pro's 2-3x (or more) in front of the 2009 iMacs, however i have seen benchmarks which put the iMacs quite close to 2009 Mac Pro's in gaming tests (which are very GPU dependent).

Still i think it is a shame there is no lower-end Quad Core 'desktop' processor option for the iMac to bridge the huge gap to a Mac Pro. At the moment it is really not much more than a deskbound Macbook Pro (albeit with a beautiful 24" screen)