[Ahab]

Ever wonder that whenever you see a high level engineer/scientist/economist/graphic artist/etc. in TV or magazine article, they're using a Mac? I used to build my own too, along with sound systems and a lot of other stuff. I've since come to the conclusion that I'd rather pay for the expertise of subject matter experts designing a quality instrument. The ignorant will always come up with nonsensical arguments that they can build a cobbled together machine that equals a store bought item. I refuse to have one on my desk.

[vonBaloney]

Ever wonder that whenever you see a high level engineer/scientist/economist/graphic artist/etc. in TV or magazine article, they're using a Mac? I used to build my own too, along with sound systems and a lot of other stuff. I've since come to the conclusion that I'd rather pay for the expertise of subject matter experts designing a quality instrument. The ignorant will always come up with nonsensical arguments that they can build a cobbled together machine that equals a store bought item. I refuse to have one on my desk.

I've built lots of computers, and they are no doubt better than the store bought ones, or I'd buy them in the store. They simply don't make what I need, and they use crappy components. Now the better builders (Alienware, etc) make nice machines, but I can put together the exact same thing using the exact same components (if I wanted to) myself for a lot less money. Plus they don't come bundled with a bunch of software I don't want. It it hard to find a store bought machine that even has the edition of the OS I want installed. Your "cobbled together" argument may hold with some things, but certainly not computers.

Oh, and the reason they all use macs in the magazine is because Apple pays to be the magazine (often). Just like every character in every movie or TV show happens to use a mac. Of course, lots of people actually use macs in real-life too, but don't be gullible...

[TopherTheME]

Ever wonder that whenever you see a high level engineer/scientist/economist/graphic artist/etc. in TV or magazine article, they're using a Mac? I used to build my own too, along with sound systems and a lot of other stuff. I've since come to the conclusion that I'd rather pay for the expertise of subject matter experts designing a quality instrument. The ignorant will always come up with nonsensical arguments that they can build a cobbled together machine that equals a store bought item. I refuse to have one on my desk.

This in itself is a nonsensical argument.

I (almost, 1 semester away) have a PhD in mechanical engineering and don't use a Mac nor have I or any of my academic colleges used them. We have always built Windows or Linux based machines, even the ones we use in our labs. Nor do I or anyone of the other "high level" engineers and scientists at work use them. With the exception of the occasional mathematician or hipster theoretical physicists, Macs just don't have a place in STEM and if you know what you're doing building a machine is almost always a better value especially when you look at work stations. Who wants to pay $10k for a dual Xenon workstation when you can build one for $3k?

[link81]

I use a Mac for 2 reasons.
1. Support
2.osX

I'm an engineer by trade, and have to use a dell at work, and while win 7 is much better then xp, I still prefer osX by a longshot. My home media server/backup box runs centOS ( a version or red hat)

[TopherTheME]

I use a Mac for 2 reasons.
1. Support
2.osX

I'm an engineer by trade, and have to use a dell at work, and while win 7 is much better then xp, I still prefer osX by a longshot. My home media server/backup box runs centOS ( a version or red hat)

Just curious, if you're an engineer, why do you need support?

[Ahab]

This in itself is a nonsensical argument.

I (almost, 1 semester away) have a PhD in mechanical engineering and don't use a Mac nor have I or any of my academic colleges used them. We have always built Windows or Linux based machines, even the ones we use in our labs. Nor do I or anyone of the other "high level" engineers and scientists at work use them. With the exception of the occasional mathematician or hipster theoretical physicists, Macs just don't have a place in STEM and if you know what you're doing building a machine is almost always a better value especially when you look at work stations. Who wants to pay $10k for a dual Xenon workstation when you can build one for $3k?

Good for you....but I wonder how you know the review board will approve your dissertation for the PhD? As an aside, I once had to dismiss a "PhD" for spending far too much time fiddling with his home brew computer rather than using our perfectly good UNIX system.

[link81]

Just curious, if you're an engineer, why do you need support?

because every once and a while, stuff does break, and while i am more then capable of fixing it myself, many times it's easier and faster just having it done under warranty. knock on wood, but so far nothing has gone wrong with my 27" iMac. But our iPhones have been in for repair a few times. mostly they were stupid human error (glass and concrete don't mix) but one time i had a few dead pixels and they (apple) replaced it on the spot with a brand new one.

The interoperability between osX and iOS cannot be beat by any other manufacturer at this time.

[mecrox]

A home-built computer can be assembled in an afternoon - or in an hour or two, very often - and once set up does not need tinkering with. Other than adding new components or cleaning out dust, it should not require more upkeep than the finest pre-built PC from Dell and co.

I looked at Apple pretty thoroughly when choosing a new PC but I don't think they offer good value once one starts speccing a desktop PC which offers more than the base models in their range. I wanted more memory, more storage, an external backup and more than on-processor graphics. The Apple price shot up alarmingly after ticking a few boxes on their extras page whereas the Windows-based component prices remained fairly sensible and in the end cost about 40-50 per cent less and with superior, higher-grade components too. Examples: a 3.5" 3tb hard drive instead of a 2.5" 1tb drive; a ruff-tuff modular power supply; better onboard sound and far more USB ports.

I ran Linux (Debian) as my daily OS for many years but changed to Windows (somewhat reluctantly) because of its superior software for photography and colour management. Apple make the best notebooks in the biz, imho, but their desktop offerings are very different. They just don't get the development and attention Apple lavish on their other products. That said, if one of their models fits your needs, an Apple desktop would no doubt make a very fine machine.

[TER-OR]

You can build whatever you want. You can even build a "hackintosh" and run their OS and a Windows in two separate boot systems if you want. You can run Windows in a Virtual machine on a mac if you want. There are solutions for you. Apple desktops aren't worth the money anymore. Their notebooks are good, but make sure you can do what you want in the iOS environment.

If you're building, though, as mentioned do your homework. Tom's Hardware is a great resource. I've switched from ASUS boards to the Gigabyte UD series, they're very robust.

As an aside, I just had to replace the video card in my game rig - it wasn't a new card, a GTX 260, and had transitioned from the old game rig. It was a shrouded design with a full plastic cover. Don't buy those - the heat sink cannot be cleaned. I think that's what eventually killed it. I bought a Gigabyte 650Ti boost card, which is open.

All this said, game rigs and productivity boxes are two separate things. Some components are universal, but you don't need the heavy duty graphics and fast memory for most editing work - and you may want a processor with more parallel processing.

[link81]

alright, i won't sit here and beat a dead horse, the mac vs pc debate could go on forever, and it won't really benefit the OP, seeing how he said he wasn't really interested in a mac anyway.

Each side Has its benefits and each side has its drawbacks

i would look at a computer with an intel processor, i5 or better. You may or may not need a graphics card depending on what you do, and how you do it, intel's integrated gx are much better then they used to be. Right now in the performance vs energy catagory, AMD can't touch intel's i series.

[TER-OR]

If the Intel 4000 series graphics are good enough, the on-board video from an integrated processor is a great option, and keeps your costs down. The computer can be much lower power, too - making it nearly silent. It could let you pursue a NAS storage solution with some of the saved money.
I built a rig for a friend a while ago with onboard graphics, and the interior is really clean - and if you get a case with enough space for hidden wires it's really nice.

Don't rush the build, take your time and do your research. A lower-power i7 with better hyperthreading and integrated graphics might be a better solution than the i5 3770 type chips favored for gaming.

[markkuk]

Ever wonder that whenever you see a high level engineer/scientist/economist/graphic artist/etc. in TV or magazine article, they're using a Mac?

It's called product placement and Apple is very good in doing it.

[k5astro]

Buy a MacBook Pro. It'll do anything you care to through at it. I use OS X for personal use, photography, etc. and Windows 7 for work and astronomy. Mine is 4-5 years old and still kicks ass. I'm an engineer but can't be bothered to troubleshoot the problems that can come with cobbled systems. That's for hobbyists. However, if you're buying on a budget for less than $1000, I can't imagine better value than say an Acer or a Viao at Best-Buy, for example.

[Ahab]

It's called product placement and Apple is very good in doing it.

I'm not talking about actors and movies. I'm talking about interviews with bonafide professionals in their office/home/lab etc. I'm sure Apple doesn't go around placing their products with these people.

[jrafael]

My picks:

$224.99 Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K - Newegg.com
$76.99 ASRock Z75 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
$114.99 G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C9D-16GXM - Newegg.com
$89.99 Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-650 650W Continuous @ 50°C, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92, SLI Ready, CrossFire Ready, Active - PFC Power Supply - Retail - Newegg.com
$34.99 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+ - Newegg.com
$89.99 Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com
$94.99 Newegg.com - Toshiba Q Series Pro HDTS312XZSTA 2.5" 128GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

~$726.93

Optional:
$54.99 Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com
$184.99 MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com
$14.99 Prolimatech PRO-PK3-5G Thermal Compound - Newegg.com
$19.99 ASUS Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk Black - Newegg.com
$24.99 Rosewill RNX-N300X IEEE 802.11b/g, IEEE 802.11n Draft 2.0 PCI Wireless Adapter (2T3R) Up to 300Mbps Wireless Download Data Rates 64/128-Bit WEP, WPA PSK and WPA2 PSK (TKIP and AES) Vista/Win7 - Newegg.com
$19.99 Nippon Labs Delux 3.5" Internal All In One Card Reader/Writer with USB2.0 & eSATA Ports Model ICR-BB - Newegg.com