I’m contemplating buying a 27” iMac to serve as a main workstation & to replace my two-year old PC.

Now this is not a debate which is better, I’m just trying to get the EE forum members Mac ownership stats so that I can make an informed decision - it doesn’t quite make sense, but please just roll with it

LOL…you are going to buy a product based on how many of us use it?
Sounds like you want someone to help you justify spending 2x more on a mac.
If you want it just get it and call it a gift to yourself…btw your 2yrs old PC is not “old”...

iMac here with second monitor… whatever you get, treat yourself to at least a dual monitor setup (not sure how well that applies to the laptop options I guess, but if it’s a desktop you must have more than one monitor).

Also don’t get any mac with less than 4 GB RAM (6-8 if you can afford it), you’ll want to run some version of windows via virtualbox or similar emulation program and running 2 operating systems takes a bunch of memory.

lebisol - 21 June 2010 05:27 PM

LOL…you are going to buy a product based on how many of us use it?
Sounds like you want someone to help you justify spending 2x more on a mac.
If you want it just get it and call it a gift to yourself…btw your 2yrs old PC is not “old”...

Spot on! On all points - save first one - I reserve the right to final decision regardless of the vote

I’m looking to buy a new toy to help bring some extra fun into work (make it more enjoyable), thus making myself more productive . Tools I use work fine on both platforms.

Sounds crazy doesn’t it?

No man, not crazy at all…we all get bored with tools used every day. Change is good.Diversity is good. Besides, new apps come out every day and they might make your life easier and that is what applications are all about. Treat yourself as you know you your wish-list better than Santa Claus

I went mid way with monitors…22” HP monitor with 15.4” dell laptop and have it split. As Ty said, dual monitor is really nice especially if you are doing code and design at same time or even multi browser testing or rocking your itunes
4GB of ram is min. if you want to enjoy your machine to the fullest - either win or mac.

Third machine in your house should be this. :D

I use a 27” Imac at the office and my setup at home is a 13.3” MBP with a 26” Samsung T260 monitor.

I´m using a notebook with windows installed. But you´ll never now… I think I am going to switch to mac!

custom built PC dual 22” monitors - and cannot see how I would need much more!
One thing i will say - Windows 7 is a dream compared to previous versions of windows - especially with speed, use of ram, etc - well worth it if your software runs on it!

Just to throw my 2 cents in here: if you get the iMac, don’t get the extra RAM through Apple. Way to expensive for what you can get elsewhere…

15” MacBook Pro with a 22” external monitor. I find it nearly impossible to work with Windows. Give me Coda and CSSEdit and I’m happy.

i’m loving the fact that windows is the minority here! Makes me feel special!!!
Perhaps i should jump to linux to feel even more special!

nevsie - 23 June 2010 09:01 AM

i’m loving the fact that windows is the minority here! Makes me feel special!!!
Perhaps i should jump to linux to feel even more special!

You’re not alone! I use Windows 7 on Asus G71Gx with 6GB RAM and a few Unix servers on VMware. 3 x 24 inch monitors saves my day!

iMac and test local with IE8 in a Dell Laptop that we have in the office for accounting tasks. Have on mind that about a couple of months MySQL released its own version of a double-click install otherwise you’ll have to go with MAMP that sometimes behaves a bit slow. If you’re migrating to Mac there a couple of musts…

1. TextMate or CODA: I have both and just love them. I’m more used to CODA lately thanks to ths CSS options.
2. Transmit: I know… another Panic software. I love what they do. It’s an FTP program with an outstading interface.
3. Screenflow: Records evertyhing on your screen: we deliver the “how to” documents on video with that solution and it’s great! Sometimes I think is the one reason to have a Mac.
4. I’m also working with two monitors and It just saves the day.

Hope it helps.

Current set up at the office, is a 24” iMac (2.93 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB Ram etc) + 22” LG Monitor.

Tempted to upgrade the monitor to a 24” when I get around to it (and have the pennies for it).

Mobile machine is a now rather battered MacBook, but for Textmate/Transmit + Safari, it does the trick

Geoff

I’ve got a MacBook Pro that I bought at the start of the year along with an extra monitor, a Dell 2209WA.

MacBook Pro with an HP 24” monitor. Have a Windows machine for testing.

wouldn’t it be better to decide by how easy it will be for you to use these os?

Choose the one which you have the most experience with.

Ah… I love this topic. I use both a PC laptop and MacBook Pro. The PC is a 2.1GHz/2GB. The MacBook Pro is a 2.5GHz/4GB. When I say “use both” I mean that I literally sit in front of both of them, side by side, 8+ hours a day. I came from a PC world so I naturally gravitate in that direction. The MacBook Pro *is* wicked sweet. The only reason I ended up with it is because my workplace is a “Mac Shop”. The PC is my personal computer. If I were proficient in both flavors, I would go with the Mac. It has a better interface, boots twice as fast, and is generally more “pleasant” to work on. I stick with the PC because I am familiar with it and all of the software I have purchased over the past several years is PC based. I say go Mac if you have the opportunity.

The very best reason to have this Mac… Our graphic designers really want it. They are tied to their desktops. I tell them “It surfs the Internet rather well.” ;D

Just got my 27” iMac - it’s a beaut! Awesome bit of kit. I may have overspecified by going for the max processors but its nice to know they are under the hood even if they are just burbelling along.