Imac or PC?

hobodan

hobodan

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Hi all

I'm having a bit of trouble deciding what system I should purchase; my budget is around £650.

I could either buy a used Apple IMac 21.5 with - i3 processor - 500gb hard drive - 4gb RAM.

Or

I could purchase a new Chillblast PC with 21.5 screen (obviously I could upgrade this I the future) -
i5 processor - 1gb hard drive - 8gb RAM.

The main programmes I would run are Lightroom 4 & Elements - and general multi media usage.

Am I going to notice much performance difference between a i3 & i5 processor? I've heard that apple computers run quickly even with a lower spec because there's less software clogging up the system? I've no experience with apple computers so I've no idea. The other benefit to the Apple is the resale value (but then you're also paying a higher price for a lower spec machine!).

I would appreciate some views from any of you who have used Lightroom on both systems (or even if aperture 3 is better for the Imac), because at the moment I keep changing my mind every 5 minutes :D

Thanks
 
That Chillblast PC does not give much info about the screen so it could well be a basic TN panel - the 21.5 mac does at least have a decent IPS panel if you can live with the glossy coating.
 
Interesting thread, I am currently using an old Macbook and am finding it struggling with the likes of photoshop and capture one.

The thing is with Macs is the OS is brilliant. It is leaps ahead of anything microsoft have ever released. But you pay a premium for it.

If you've never used a Mac before, it takes some getting used to. This isn't to say making the transition isn't worth it - it is! However if you are using the machine mainly for photo processing work, you'll get more raw performance for your money going with a windows based tower.

You should check out Novatech.

One of the most important elements here though, isn't necessarily the computer. The monitor is key. A good IPS panel screen around the £300 - £400 mark will make an incredible difference to a normal TFT. Furthermore if you calibrate it properly, you will be in a position where the photos you are seeing on your monitor have an accurate colour and tonal balance. I use a 21 inch Dell monitor and I can't fault it.

Apple monitors are not the best for photo rendering, simply because they are very reflective. You don't need huge amounts of RAM or a mega high clock speed processor to run lightroom and elements. i5 + 4gb RAM should suffice.

If you want the machine quicker, consier using a RAID array or SSD drives. Furthermore, with a windows based tower machine, there is room for upgrading components later on, this is very limited with a Mac.

Don't get me wrong, I love apple kit, if I had a limitless budget, I would pick up a £12000 Mac Pro anyday, but I don't!
 
1TB sorry

The plus for the pc as far as I can guess would be upgradable monitor - higher performance?

The plus for the IMac would be the operating system, oh and the sleek apple look -

Hmm; I'm still no closer to deciding :D
 
Which i3 and which i5? They could be close or could be miles apart.... (my guess is the i5 will be significantly quicker than the i3 but I can't tell you that until I know the part numbers...)
 
My option would be to go with the mac. Why, well I have several Mac's myself, but, my concern is the quality of the screen. The Mac screen is very good. OK it's glossy, but if you position it correctly it's not a real problem. I don't know the Asus screen the PC uses , so it is my main concern. I know what a Mac can do and their screens calibrate very well.

I'd also check which version of the operating system the iMac currently has. At the moment the Mac is using Lion version 10.7.4. Prior to that it was Snow Leopard 10.6 and prior to that it was Leopard 10.5. Any of these OS's are fine and upgrading is not expensive.

It is a hard decision.
 
If it's the i3-540 (3.06GHz) processor vs the i5-2500K (just done a quick google of i3 iMacs) the i5 is about 2.5x as powerful as the i3 in raw compute power as it has twice as many cores as the i3. You will be able to utilise this extra power in PS/LR as they split the image up and can process in parallel. On general computing tasks (e.g. encoding an mp3) it'll probably be 15-20% quicker as it is a more efficient design and has higher clock speed.

I'd want 8G of memory if I were doing more than a few things at once (heck, even my firewall has 2G in it...)
 
Thanks, that's quite helpfull.

I think I'm swaying towards the pc option & purchase a decent monitor a little down the line.
 
The PC always gives the option to upgrade various parts at a time, and the parts do seem cheaper for the PC than the Mac. Software seems cheaper and more readily available in my neck of the woods too, not sure if that's a country wide issue though.
 
Chappers said:
My option would be to go with the mac. Why, well I have several Mac's myself, but, my concern is the quality of the screen. The Mac screen is very good. OK it's glossy, but if you position it correctly it's not a real problem. I don't know the Asus screen the PC uses , so it is my main concern. I know what a Mac can do and their screens calibrate very well.

I'd also check which version of the operating system the iMac currently has. At the moment the Mac is using Lion version 10.7.4. Prior to that it was Snow Leopard 10.6 and prior to that it was Leopard 10.5. Any of these OS's are fine and upgrading is not expensive.

It is a hard decision.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the Time Machine back up
 
im also looking at going down the mac route
was looking at say maybe 21 or 27 system
but if the monitors are not as good as you say. what about the mac mini are they a good option
 
marky.b said:
im also looking at going down the mac route
was looking at say maybe 21 or 27 system
but if the monitors are not as good as you say. what about the mac mini are they a good option
Click to expand...

Depends what spec you want, you can't have the i7 and the higher end graphics if I remember rightly.
 
got a dell xps 710 that ive had for a while . but just fancied looking at the macs
anything thats not microsoft
neil_g i dont understand your reply
 
Build your own PC, its easy and you will get a vastly superior one for your money, especially when compared to outrageous prices of Macs (considering their spec).
 
ive had pcs for years so wanted a change
anyway i got an imac 24 last week off one of the members on here.
its awesome. everything works. none of this not responding problems,
it just recognises everything you hook up to it
and its instant .same deleting programmes. just drag the prog icon to the trash and its all gone. unlike windows was unable to remove all of the components. please do it yourself.
ok ill miss tinkering with pcs. but ive been trying to erase all my internal pc hard drives and reinstall windows before my mate takes it. ive been at it for hours, and problem after problem
its been fun but im loving the apple. and it intergrates well with my iphone and ipad
 
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