Apple/MAC & the PC
Over the 2nd half of 2006 I was noticing a serious deterioration of both the Dell 650 dual XEON computer’s speed & ability to process either large files or large batches of files, together with an increasing need for maintenance, both hardware replacements & software tweaks & upgrades.
Most noticeable were that it took considerably longer to process similar sized files in comparison to when it was “new”, & the longer the period you left it switched on - often the longer you left it unattended & ”asleep” – the slower it would be to respond & process files when you returned to it. If you restarted the computer it would respond quicker – although occasionally it was very unwilling to shut down. There were also an increasing amount of serious crashes & “kernel” errors.
This resulted in a new motherboard & a new 250GB hard drive (the main drive) being fitted under the manufacturer’s extended 3 year warranty (& I must say that Dell’s service & speed in this respect were superb).
The above did result in somewhat better performance, but I was becoming disillusioned with the Windows platform in general – in terms of speed/performance, flexibility & especially stability/reliability.
So, I wondered about Macs, & wondered, & wondered. I wanted stability, reliability, & consistent speed. Eventually – last summer (before leaving Taiwan) - I took the plunge for various reasons (Dell Xeon machine was 3 years old, just out of warranty - & needed repaired already, wife’s laptop had been stolen whilst overseas, I got a huge end of contract bonus) I took the plunge & bought :
- MacBook 13” black for my wife – 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 160GB & 2GB RAM. It also now has Logitech Bluetooth mouse, Apple Bluetooth keyboard & Dell 22" widescreen monitor.
- MacPro dual Xeon 2.66 GHz (dual cores), 4GB RAM, 4 x 250GB hard drives (3 striped in RAID 0 as the working drive & for my portfolio), eSATA card with external Mini G RAID array (4 x 500GB in RAID 0 as storage for all RAW images shot) & a 500GB FireWire external drive as back up for my finished images (portfolio). Dell 30” monitor. All drives are Hitachi.
- MacBooPro 15” with LCD display, 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM & 250GB hard drive. I also have several ExpressCards for this – card readers & an eSATA connection.
In the past (i.e. 2004 when I bought the Dell 650) there was a premium price to be paid for Apple over PC’s, but in 2007 the premium had turned, & – for a like for like specification – there was a premium to be paid for a Dell 690 workstation over a similar spec’d MacPro. The laptop prices were very similar on a like for like comparison.
Initially I had planned to have 2 monitors on the Macpro, but the sheer size of the 30” monitor (& desk space used) meant that the 22” monitor is now connected to the MacBook (but occasionally the MacBookPro too) in the bedroom as a 2nd workstation, & is the main web access point used by my wife.
I was nervous at spending so much money, & not really knowing if it would be any better, different, reliable or more stable than Windows. But that was a needless worry. Coming to Romania maybe wasn’t one of my better ideas in life, buying Apple was. It's been 1 year now. They are faster, easier, more stable & gorgeous to look at. They are built from the ground up for a specific job, & seem to be considerably better road tested, & more complete by the time they come to market. I would class Dell windows machines as being like an early 70’s Ford (an Escort in the UK, an 1100 or 1300 runaround), compared to an Apple being like the latest model Honda or Lexus – simply worlds apart.
Unlike leaving Taiwan (for which I do have some regrets) I have no regrets in buying Apple.
After more than 12 months of using the laptops we have both found them to be sleek, fast, reliable & extremely well thought out & user friendly. The MacPro has proved to be extremely fast & reliable.
Some updates & bug fixes have been necessary due to upgrading to MAC OS-X 10.5 Leopard & the the new aluminium keyboards - a corded one on the Macpro & a Bluetooth version for the 2nd workstation (laptops) - but other than that it has been plain sailing.
It does take a little time to get to grips with where to find the various different system menus, set ups & preferences, however the layout does seem more logical, & several of the Missing Manual Books by David Pogue have enabled me to configure everything to my liking - & everything I could have liked.
I’m not an Apple is better than PC, or Canon is better than Nikon (or vice versa) sort of guy – I am reasonably unbiased. Ultimately, they are all tools to me, & at the end of the day – like a hammer, a screwdriver or a wheel barrow – they must do a job, do it well, be reliable, & bring something useful to the table. I buy based on ergonomics, ability, reliability, value (not necessarily price – but value) & service back up. For me Apple has improved my workflow & efficiency, & given me fewer headaches to resolve (although - as mentioned previously - you need to buy books to find answers to your questions because the IT guys at work know zero about Macs).
All in all, buying Apple/MAC has been one of the better decisions, & one I could thoroughly recommend to anyone considering purchasing one. Further details can be found in the Digital Darkroom.