any reason not to buy one?

I've been a cheap-laptop only sort of guy for years, as I don't really use my computer for anything intensive enough to need anything more. Now, however, I use a cheap netbook (MSI Wind), and I have it loaded with Ubuntu, so I need a "real" computer.

Other than internet, word processing, and other really basic stuff like that, the big thing I want it for is for audio editing/recording. I want to set up a basic home recording "studio" (well, at least some mics/stands, a keyboard, and DAW software). Also, I've never been into video games, but I have enjoyed playing Call of Duty out here in Afghanistan.



The question is, do I go buy an iMac and be done with it? Will it be powerful enough to easily do all that I want to do?

Do I buy a PC tower instead, and if so, do I give anything up by getting a 1080p TV for it instead of a true computer monitor (I'd do it just for the sake of size).

Should I buy a PS3, or will an iMac 27" be just as good at playing games (I won't play them that much, but I don't want them to run poorly if I do)

9/19/2010 7:35:54 AM

im pretty sure call of duty and other such games don't have a native apple install and you would have to both buy a license of windows but any time to wanted to play you'd have to boot into it. If mac os is something you like, I'd go for a mac mini, a tv, and a ps3. run the mini and ps3 into the tv.

9/19/2010 9:07:18 AM

I've never really understood the appeal of the Mac Mini, as you have as much (or probably more) money tied up in it as you would in the much more capable iMac by the time you buy a display, keyboard, mouse, etc.

on the other hand, for my purposes, that might actually be a pretty good set up. i hadn't even thought about that. the PS3 would also give me BluRay capability, so I wouldn't have to buy a standalone player. I would consider dual-booting any Mac I bought to run Windows if I ever needed it. Of course, I can't imagine what I'd need it for if I installed Logic and Mac MS Office. I guess I could always keep my shitty Windows laptop stashed away in the closet for use in a pinch.

is there any disadvantage to using an HDTV as a monitor? Any features I need to make sure I get (2x HDMI inputs, etc)?

9/19/2010 10:01:25 AM

pixel density kinda sucks but if the screen is across the room it doesn't really matter. I wouldn't get the newest generation mini. I'd get the last one that was reasonably priced ($499/599). Again, that's only if you're dead set on mac os. if you don't care between windows and osx, get an hp or emachines/gateway and be done on the cheap. saw a 8gb ram, quad core, 1tb hdd box for like $599 the other day

9/19/2010 10:21:41 AM

bump for any further inputs

9/22/2010 8:46:02 PM

I'm going to give you two different takes.

First take: If you want a recording "studio" for a hobby, get the $1199 iMac, put Garageband/Logic/whatever your app of choice is on it and have fun.

Then get a PS3 for the television.

Advantages: Simple experience, Blu-Ray.
Disadvantages: More expensive, more $ if you need to use Windows, no connectivity between PS3 and the iMac.

Second take: Buy a 400-500 dollar beefy desktop PC on special from an OEM (Studio XPS 8100 available on Dell Outlet right now for ~550 bucks after 20% off coupon)
Get a 24" LCD for ~175 bucks

Then get an Xbox 360 for the television and a Netflix subscription. I have a big expensive HTPC with a blu-ray player and it's never been used. I stream everything and don't miss the dvd/blu-ray experience at all.

Advantages: 1/2 the price, more performance. The 360 is FAR better as a game platform. More games, less bullshit, cheaper. If you ever wanted to use the xbox as your TV set top box, it only requires buying a tuner for the PC (~100 bucks).

Disadvantages: No blu-ray support, no OSX option (unless you want to roll your own OSX86 install), lower resale value down the road.


I actually just downsized from 4 devices to three. I had a quad core HP desktop, Mac Mini, custom HTPC and xbox360. Just sold the HP desktop, and use the Mac Mini as my daily at-home computer.

It definitely wouldn't cut it as a DAW for me, but an iMac probably would. If I had to just go with two total devices, I would ditch the Mac and keep the HTPC and the xbox 360.

9/22/2010 10:08:05 PM

Quote :

"First take: If you want a recording "studio" for a hobby, get the $1199 iMac, put Garageband/Logic/whatever your app of choice is on it and have fun. Then get a PS3 for the television."

Yeah, that would work. Already have a 42" 1080p TV. I have a netbook running Linux, but I also have a broke-ass laptop (battery doesn't hold a charge; AC power input has loose connection. Bad combination!) that I'll keep to run windows in a pinch (or maybe end up dual-booting the Mac).

Quote :

"It definitely wouldn't cut it as a DAW for me, but an iMac probably would."

You really think the Mac Mini would struggle to do recording with Logic? I'm no computer nerd, but I find that hard to believe. The idea of sitting on a couch with a wireless keyboard and trackpad, computing on a 40+" wall-mounted "monitor" intrigues me. The iMac is nice too, though.

Not interested in a PC. The whole point is to have OS-X (sure, could do the Hackintosh thing, but it's not like netbooks...they make nice, readily available, fully sorted desktops).

9/25/2010 11:54:30 PM

I don't think he really care about how it runs (at least not enough to appreciate software like you, I, and others would suggest).

In all seriousness, the biggest drawback to the Mac Mini is the HD is going to be slower than in a desktop Mac. It's just not quite as nice of a drive stock, and the interface is slower.

It would probably work fine in 90% of cases though.

And my friend had a mac mini hooked up to his TV full time for usage, with a wireless keyboard, and it worked pretty well. OS X has a lot of neat zooming features that makes it very feasible.

You would also get decent gaming performance out of it, especially if you booted into Windows. And OnLive works very well in OS X if you want to give that a spin.

Worst case scenario, if you hate the Mac Mini with wireless setup, you could probably sell it for a large percent of what you paid (because Macs have higher resale value than typical PCs), and just jump on the iMac.

9/26/2010 1:37:28 AM

Well, I mean, I like nice stuff, and I'm not technologically retarded or anything. I'm not all wrapped up in benchmarks or anything, though. What am I going to need the processing power or HD speed for, really? 95% of the time, it'll be for surfing the internet, sending emails, looking at pictures, playing music or movies, etc. If I buy a PS3, I don't see why I'll need big power for gaming (hell, I'll probably barely use the PS3, haha). Maybe I would need the additional horsepower for recording with Logic.

That said, if the iMac is the better solution, then I'm on it. I don't think that there will be much difference, cost-wise. It's more of an issue of whether I'd prefer a 40"+ TV display, or the greater computer power. I don't really see how there's much difference, otherwise.

[Edited on September 26, 2010 at 2:34 PM. Reason : ]

9/26/2010 2:22:18 PM

Let me tell you this from experience. Everyone thinks that using a HDTV as their computer monitor is going to be awesome.

It never is. Either you're a normal person and it's 10ft away from your couch, where you have to zoom everything to read the screen, or you have it sitting on the desk in front of you where the heat bakes you day in and day out and the density is so low you can see individual pixels.

In either case, its fun for about a month, then the novelty wears off.

I own a Mac Mini. The hdd is a slowballs 5400rpm laptop drive. Now you can spring for the twin 7200rpm Mac Mini (for a $1000) that eliminates that problem, but then it's another 150 bucks to get all that inside a big 21.5" monitor with a better video card.

9/26/2010 3:05:19 PM

A PC would work perfectly fine as a DAW... use Reaper, its free until you feel guilty and then it costs $60 to feel warm and fuzzy. Its getting very popular and is quite powerful.

You don't NEED a mac for anything.

(And i do a LOT of audio/music work on my Mac using Logic and Ableton)

9/27/2010 8:35:04 AM

Well, I'm not strictly interested in a Mac for audio production. I kinda just want one as my everyday computer...but the only thing I'd likely do that needs any more capability than I have in my netbook would be using it as a DAW.

9/27/2010 10:52:54 AM

Quote :

"I stream everything and don't miss the dvd/blu-ray experience at all. "

If I could watch stuff that's pretty much live (news, sports, weather, etc), I'd be fine with not even having cable/satellite, and just streaming stuff I wanted to watch (movies, other TV shows, etc).

I don't get anywhere near my money's worth out of my satellite TV. I wonder how much I'd miss out on just by having an HD antenna/tuner and a Netflix/Apple TV/etc subscription?

10/5/2010 11:59:03 PM

Quote :

"The 360 is FAR better as a game platform. More games, less bullshit, cheaper. "

10/10/2010 4:07:56 PM

...waiting on the 2011 iMac refresh...

2/9/2011 6:44:50 PM

^^Which of those three statements isn't true?

2/9/2011 9:46:39 PM

what's the less bullshit part mean? psn is free. you have to pay for even basic access to xbox live right? is there something else i'm missing?

2/10/2011 12:41:48 PM

any game worth playing on the 360 has a superior port on PC.

2/10/2011 1:11:46 PM

Quote :

"any game worth playing on the 360 has a superior port on PC."

This is mostly true. You also have the advantage of using a mouse/keyboard when you want or a 360 controller when you want.

For example for Dead Space/Mass Effect/Batman AA type 3rd person games I use the 360 controller and for first person shooters I use a mouse/keyboard.

Some may argue that the 360 is less of a hassle and the online community is better but lately looking at some Black Ops stats the PC online community is quite alive.

Although now with Steam I would argue that gaming on a PC is more convenient and less hassle free.

Desktop gaming cost way more though but if money isn't an issue it's much better IMO. Plus it just flat out looks WAAAAAAY better. Even crappy ports look better. My GF's roommate is addicted to his 360 and it's hard to watch him play all the games because they all just look so much better on a PC.

2/10/2011 4:09:16 PM

Quote :

" what's the less bullshit part mean? psn is free. you have to pay for even basic access to xbox live right? is there something else i'm missing?"

It means you don't arbitrarily lose advertised functionality with firmware updates. It means you don't have to look at a matrix to figure out which revision of the console to buy given the feature set you want. It means supporting the independent development community instead of suing them.

And no xbox live silver has and always will be free. PSNhas tiered service too, and it's shitty as hellcompared to xbox live.

^don't start comparing PC gaming to consoles. The cost of entry is at least triple, the product lifecycle is 1 year vs 7, and most people do not want to sit at a desk to play games.

2/10/2011 4:56:54 PM

Quote :

"It means you don't have to look at a matrix to figure out which revision of the console to buy given the feature set you want."

yeah, good thing every 360 sold came with an HDMI port and a hard drive...

2/10/2011 7:09:00 PM

if you are really serious about audio processing, recording and encoding, PC is going to give you the best options in terms of power, flexibility and generally a better value. You can get away with an imac, but honestly you are either going to get a nice expensive mac pro tower or a decent powerhouse computer for 1/2. Since you really don't need heavy graphics power (although CUDA and Open CL could open up a number crunching to apps to use GPU processing which is around 30-35 times more capable than a regular cpu).

I'm no audio expert, but you really won't spend your money on the PC itself, but the actual audio processors that would hook up to the PC. I forgot which sound card add-on card was the semi-pro choice, but it was like 400-600 for it; then add the mixers, keyboard and other audio crap that can pile up.

Only if you aren't that serious though, most people can get by with a decent mic and simple audacity.

Personally if I was semi-serious with audio, I would just get a simple pc box with a cheap/decent gpu (like 1k for the pc), a few monitors and a decent mic. Then attempt to soundproof the room a bit with acoustic dampeners.

2/10/2011 7:18:44 PM

Audio interfaces will work with PC or Mac. The main difference is the software, if you are debating between mac and pc, decide on the software you want to use and move from there.

2/10/2011 7:25:40 PM

Quote :

"^don't start comparing PC gaming to consoles. The cost of entry is at least triple, the product lifecycle is 1 year vs 7, "

I made sure to say: "if money was not an issue".

Quote :

"and most people do not want to sit at a desk to play games."

It's 2011. Most computers have HDMI ports. Hook a computer up to a HDTV and use a 360 controller. You essentially have an XBOX but with better graphics. Almost all major games that come out for 360 have great Windows support. You're able to hook up a 360 controller and play it exactly like you were on a 360 just with way better graphics. Plus with Steam the whole experience is just that much more fluid. In fact all the latest games recognize if you have a 360 controller plugged in and automatically switch the in game menus/tutorials to treat it just like you're using a 360.

But yes if you're cheap get a 360. If you have money get both and decide for yourself. I'm just saying IMO after having both for an extended period of time I'd rather give my money to Steam and play on a computer. It looks better. I don't have to fuck with a disk. It's a better experience and I have the option to use a keyboard/mouse OR a PS3/360 type controller. Plus an HTPC with XBMC/WMC beats a 360, Bluray streamer, or WD type media streamer any day.

2/10/2011 9:46:10 PM