• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Switched to Mac

rjssigns

Active Member
I still can't find a reason to move to MAC since computers cost 2-3 times more than a PC that has the same capacity and very or even the same components. Doesn't seems like the best business desition. I might get one for the front desk, they do are better looking.


Yes an iMac is more expensive than a PC because of the display. Buy a PC with comparable specs then buy a 27" IPS monitor with the exact specs of an iMac display. You'll find the Mac not so expensive anymore.

I also prefer the form factor of the iMac.

We have PC's in our shop too. One is our RIP server with another for invoices, accounting etc... They also get scanned and "swept" for bugs everyday which requires additional time and software.

That being said I am intrigued by HP's Z series. Not sure why they haven't been stronger competition for the iMac.
 

rjssigns

Active Member
Mac's and PC's are using the same processors, ram etc. Are they really lasting longer than PC's? I have PC's that I never turn off running for over 10 years. Some things like fans and replacing hard drives by cloning (so no reloading required) but they work perfectly. I know you can buy dirt cheap crap PC's, but a good PC with quality components and an adequate power supply seems to work for a very long time. Macs have hardware failures as well...

Is a new Mac vs a new PC with similar hardware specs really that much faster running Photoshop or Illustrator?

http://robertoblake.com/blog/2014/02/mac-vs-pc-argument-stupid/


No Macs are not perfect, but they have been proven workhorses in a public college environment.
 

Ditchmiester

New Member
I still can't find a reason to move to MAC since computers cost 2-3 times more than a PC that has the same capacity and very or even the same components. Doesn't seems like the best business desition. I might get one for the front desk, they do are better looking.

Yes they are more expensive. They do have the same hardware (minus the 5K monitor) and yes it was more expensive than building a comparable new PC but really its not as expensive as you think. I priced out a very nice computer build and was right at about 2K and that didn't include a high resolution monitor (my biggest selling point on the new iMac) But once again i'm not trying to argue the great PC vs. Mac debate. It all comes down to personal preferance and I like the Mac sandbox better than the PC sandbox. Thats just my .02
 
Mac based shop here also. Everything in the Mac eco system just works.

We have 2 iMacs, 2 Mac Mini's and a couple of laptops. One of the iMacs is also running OSX server and serves our files to the other computers. Then add in an Airport Extreme base station for Wi-Fi and ethernet networks -- everything just zings. Our shop is attached to our house so I have the Macs networked through our entire house with ethernet. Have a bunch of Apple TV's in the house also that are being served iTunes music and movies from a Raid also. Plug it all in and it all just works. Have one Windows machine in the shop that runs Onyx -- but it sees the Mac network perfectly.

Also when you are using iPhones and iPads then your contacts and calendars auto sync to your other Macs through the cloud -- simply beautiful....
 

bigwow

Premium Subscriber
100% Mac, eight of them on our network. Caldera RIP for the printers, SignCutPro for the cutters. Wouldn't change it.
 

Ditchmiester

New Member
So far I can't believe how well and fast this new iMac is. I'm ordering another VisualRip Seat for our caldera so I can rip and print right from this workstation. Still trying to decide on the program we are going to use to cut from the Mac. I really liked CoCutPro and the plugin. Is SignCutPro as good for cutting vinyl? We mostly cut paint masks otherwise we die cut from Caldera.
 

Bly

New Member
I still can't find a reason to move to MAC since computers cost 2-3 times more than a PC that has the same capacity and very or even the same components. Doesn't seems like the best business desition. I might get one for the front desk, they do are better looking.

Yep. The boxes are definitely better looking.

I just bought a custom PC with 2 SSDs (one dedicated PS scratch disk), 32g ram and it is blazing fast.

I did try and like macs a while back but didn't find them worth the premium.
 

brycesteiner

New Member
I have not worked on a Mac for a very long time.

That article seems to suggest Adobe is equally fast on either if the hardware is the same.

I really dislike the whole app store/8.1 desktop direction everything is taking. Win7 will do me 'til 2022 when they stop supporting it. Is the new Mac operating system going in the app direction as well?

Surprisingly, The Mac version of Indesign is much smoother and faster even on the older hardware.

We started our transition back in 2010-2011, with one iMac. It was more of a test run. I despised Macs before this, but I got so tired of fighting problems with Outlook and Windows that I needed to do something different. I would have random problems - especially with networking and backups. The PC I had purchased was a laptop and it cost $1000 more than iMac. It was very good. But it died after about 4.5 years or so. I wasn't moving the machine around anymore so I decided to go with it.
The trial went so well over the next two years we replaced every machine with a Mac including the server.

The entire system went better. I still run multiple Windows systems in virtualbox. I have to. I like windows XP (7 is okay, but I don't find it as configurable/hackable to what I want). I would use a virtual system on ANY computer I run no matter what the base system is. That's another thread though.

I ended up getting a PC last year and spec wise it was better than any Mac we had, other than the screen. But it could not keep up and I didn't have the space for it. I don't know if it was Windows 8 or not. But I sold it. I installed the RIP software in a virtualmachine in Windows 7 and the Mac drives it perfectly and much faster. Mutoh said it wouldn't work, but it wasn't a problem at all.

I stopped at our electric company who we print for and their marketing director just got a new PC with Indesign on and she asked me for help with it. I went and they purchased a new Dell for her. Excellent machine but it was not smooth or quick in Indesign, confirming my Indesign speed issue wasn't just me. It lagged and dragged. Redraw was not smooth at all. I'm guessing it's not the hardware but something with the OS.

Maybe Microsoft needs to go all in with OpenGL instead of DirectX and tie to one standard only and then force application designers to use it to where it's not just for 3d but all points of the GUI. I think this might be why Indesign is smoother on the Mac.

Oh well, if you are happy with what you have don't bother switching. That's what it comes down to.
 

player

New Member
It doesn't surprise me Mac's are faster, the only thing is if the Dell and your Mac have similar hardware specs... hard drive speed, ram size and MHz speed, graphics card or not, etc...

You make me want to try a Mac though. Especially for music recording...
 

OldPaint

New Member
funny...............ill bet 5 k in the pc world can get you 2 COMPUTERS......................... of equal speed and video display of 1 mac))))
 

Ditchmiester

New Member
Last edited:

Rick

Certified Enneadecagon Designer
funny...............ill bet 5 k in the pc world can get you 2 COMPUTERS......................... of equal speed and video display of 1 mac))))

More funny is that a 5K iMac is $2500.00...
you can't even get close to pricing a similarly spec'd PC
with a 5K monitor... C'mon man, a 5K Dell monitor
is 2500 bucks for pete's sake.

You could buy a 5K iMac, get Windows, and you technically
have a free computer (if you are paying for a 5K monitor)
PLUS you can add another 4K monitor for a few hundred bucks more.

So all this cr@p about Macs being 2-3 times more money
is lame. When it comes to a 5K iMac, seems to me a Windows
machine with the same hardware is close to twice the price.
 

rjssigns

Active Member
More funny is that a 5K iMac is $2500.00...
you can't even get close to pricing a similarly spec'd PC
with a 5K monitor... C'mon man, a 5K Dell monitor
is 2500 bucks for pete's sake.

You could buy a 5K iMac, get Windows, and you technically
have a free computer (if you are paying for a 5K monitor)
PLUS you can add another 4K monitor for a few hundred bucks more.

So all this cr@p about Macs being 2-3 times more money
is lame. When it comes to a 5K iMac, seems to me a Windows
machine with the same hardware is close to twice the price.

iMacs are a stellar value when you consider the display you're getting.
 

Dennis422

New Member
funny...............ill bet 5 k in the pc world can get you 2 COMPUTERS......................... of equal speed and video display of 1 mac))))


At least on Mac's the keyboards work well, I never had an issue with a key getting stuckkkkkkk ...........................
Man, it just happened, sorry

:Big Laugh
 

Ditchmiester

New Member
iMacs are a stellar value when you consider the display you're getting.

I completely Agree. Even the non-5K monitors are still higher resolution than most of your standard computer monitors out there. I don't think you know what you are missing until you get a high-res monitor for your main display.
 

OldPaint

New Member
i have a 28" 1080p VISIO LCD TV!!!!!!!! cost was $340.00 4 YEARS AGO!!!! and the display is wonderful. 1920 X1080.......... nice thing is if iam running the plotter........i can change the monitor to a TV.........while the plotter still keeps working))))) i just wish they made the new super high def TV's in a smaller size then 50-60"))))))))))))
 
Top