Psystar Vs Mac (Vanity)

Psystar.com ^ | 8/19/09 | mylife

[mylife]

Howdy folks, I apologize for the vanity post, but My Son needs a Mac for art school and I was wondering if any of you are in graphic arts and if so...

Does any one have a Psystar? will it do the work that is necessary? It's running Mac OS X Leopard v10.5

Also, do you think there could be issue's in the future due to the Apple/Psystar court squabbles?

[mylife]

Thanks. I am bone ignorant on Macs and I aint made of money.

[Ronin]

Do the honest and honorable thing and get a genuine Mac.

[mylife]

Honest? Honorable?

Gee thanks for the cheap Dad shot. I dont own a Mac. I am running a walmart special L0L

[Randy Larsen]

Me too my...but I’m slowly learning.

[mylife]

http://www.psystar.com/

[Dr. Sivana]

Psystar would make an acceptable option (on the practical side, I am not addressing legal issues) for hobbyists who want to run a Mac on the machine with a certain configuraytion available from Psystar.

It is NOT for those who do not work with thes things at a low level on a regular basis.

In short, if you have to ask, it ain’t for you.

[mylife]

Learning the Mac? or learning Money? L0L

[Ronin]

And think about this...

Back in December I purchased an 20-inch iMac. I also purchased the Apple protection plan. Six months later, while (ironically) installing Windows on Bootcamp, the machine overheated and a portion of the casing about the size of a candy bar actually softened and melted a bit.

I packed it back up the next weekend, took it to the Apple store — and walked out of the Apple Store 2 hours later with a brand new computer — one that was actually an upgrade from the original purchase (better video card).

Cost to me? Train fare from my apartment to Shibuya and back. Total of 340 yen.

Try doing that with ANY PC maker.

Prystar is going to be out of business within a year. If something happens to your machine then, you might be able to use it for a doorstop, but not much else.

[mylife]

Thanks

[mylife]

I didn’t know Mac users were so frugal L0L!

[Dr. Sivana]

Options to Psystar:

New Mac Mini with after market flatscreen

Used iMac on ebay, it doesn’t have to be newest, but should be Intel-based, at least.

Frankly, even at academic pricing, the software will give the hardware a good run for the money. We are probably looking at Adobe CS4, and that will run you a hefty amount.

[jessduntno]

Try doing that with ANY PC maker.

Burned out board on a Dell PC under warranty.
Repaired at the office in 3 hrs.
No inconvenience.
No travel.
No cost.
No shit.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>Thanks. I am bone ignorant on Macs and I aint made of money.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTE3NjY

[mylife]

For Fun... a friend of mine went to the online Mac store and “built” his desired configuration.

He mashed the pricing button... 25K! L0L

I see reviews on the Psystar that say folks like it better than their old Mac mini.

[kickonly88]

My lovely and gracious wife is a graphic arteest/ designer and she says there is no substitute for a Mac! With a least a 20” monitor.

[mylife]

Book marked.

Thank you.

[mylife]

They love bells and whistles ☺

[max americana]

In Japan? wow..

[mylife]

Looks like this is a good way to go.

Thanks again

[Randy Larsen]

Well let me put it this way...

I bought a bright and shiny Dell 17” laptop and had Windows Vista Ultimate installed..1800 bucks!

Never could figure out the OS! Used it as a previewer for the Canteen until the motherboard died recently.

I went with Rush Limbaugh’s And EsmeraldaA’s recomendations and bought a new Imac 20”...$1300.

Learning to use the mac so I really can’t offer much of a recomendation other than the mac is lightning fast and user friendly.

Price wise...More computer for less money because the machine doesn’t need all that online protection!

[Charles Martel]

What sort of specs does your son's computer require? Memory, processor speed, the usual. Just thought I'd ask because the Mac Mini has a tolerable price tag.

Even if PsyStar manages to fight a successful delaying action for a while, I don't see this ending happily for them.

Find out what software your son needs to use and determine whether the Mac Mini will do the job.

[mylife]

Thanks. Imac “20” eh?

1.3k wont break the bank

[mylife]

Thanks.

I guess my post was premature. I need to do more research.

I just would like to get him the best machine for the money.

[GeronL]

My neice is a kid, she broke her monitor on the Toshiba laptop. They sent a box, postage pre-paid, they masiled off the box. About a week or two later a new Toshiba laptop is delivered by FedEx.

After a phone call they even reset the warranty

[OneWingedShark]

>They love bells and whistles ☺ Wives, or graphic design artists?

[mylife]

Both!

[Randy Larsen]

Yes Sir!

Nice machine...

[benjibrowder]

If he signs up with Apple as a developer, he can get a one time developer’s price discount. I don’t know if that stacks with other discounts, but it’s 50% off any Mac. So that $2000 Macbook Pro will go for $1000, rather than $2000.

[Dr. Sivana]

He mashed the pricing button... 25K! L0L

You can get similar numbers with multi-processor, multi-monitor PCs.

Even an entry level Mac Pro (with extra RAM) will do just fine for under 3K. When your daughter is graduated, that's the kind of Mac she would use.

Unless she is doing full motion video, the Mini should be adequate. No one said that it was the fastest or the best, but when you are on a budget, something's gotta give.

[Astronaut]

If your son needs a computer for school, I have 2 words for you: Lenovo ThinkPad. Best laptops made. Get it with 64 bit Windows.

[mylife]

It has to be a Mac Os for graphics.

[mylife]

I said SON quite clearly.

[mylife]

Thanks for the tip!

[Ronin]

Dell treats company clients a lot better than they do private owners.

[Uri’el-2012]

Photoshop ~$800-$1000
Gimp $0.00

[Dr. Sivana]

Ooops. Sorry got confused with another thread.

[mylife]

No worry’s

[mylife]

I want to try gimp! I must download that now!

[mylife]

D’loading now.

[Uri’el-2012]

Pixelmator for Mac OS X here for $59.00

[mylife]

Thanks

[jessduntno]

Dell treats company clients a lot better than they do private owners.

Honest...three years ago...bad sound card in my XPS at home...sent a guy who replaced it with an upgrade inside the box next day...at about 7pm. Dell gets a bad rap, but I have never had anything but good service from them...home or office.

[Nateman]

Save yourself some money! I made the above picture using a FREE program called GIMP I use it with Linux but it also works for Windows and Macs. All the graphics I make are with GIMP. Another nice thing about GIMP is that many years from now your old files will still be compatibility with whatever new version is out there.

[mylife]

I just downloaded GIMP but haven’t installed it yet

[pacific_waters]

I would pass. By the time you trick it out to an equivalent mac it’s not that much cheaper. Based on what you say go for the imac. Stay away from linux until you are proficient with your mac and are comfortable with troubleshooting installs and setups.

[Nateman]

Gimp has lots of helpful tutorials free but I taught myself how to do it with a book. Sometimes you have to download the help file separately depending on the version. Check out the works done by this GIMP master Josh Sommers.

[Nateman]

You don’t need Linux for Gimp, I Just happened to learn about Gimp because It comes standard on most Linux versions, but it’s made for Windows and Mac also.( I was tired of all the problems I’ve had with Windows over the years and BOUGHT a Linux only machine right from Dell. It’s worked out great for me.)

[mylife]

Thanks. I was just looking at options.

I love a lot of this open source stuff, and to be honest..

There is a lot of learning that’s involved with “bucking” the incumbent

[mylife]

Thanks. I will install it and fool with it

[r9etb]

Burned out board on a Dell PC under warranty. Repaired at the office in 3 hrs. No inconvenience. No travel. No cost. No shit.

Exactly the same experience when I had an "infant mortality" hard drive failure on my new Dell. A repairman visited my house the next business day and replaced the drive.