I don't know what to put in that account really. I am using 13MB or so, mostly a few scans of artwork that I stashed up there for safe keeping. Even my second Gmail account which I use for online site registration that I suspect will bring me spam is mostly empty. The spam filter catches most of the crap coming in anyway. I guess I should make DVD backups and seperate them into 10 meg attachements and upload them. Then I will never have to worry about scratching my copy of Gigli.
Gah, well that depends on the program you want to run. World of Warcraft is kind of right out for this little 233Mhz strawberry iMac I have next to me. Even though the RAM is maxed out.:(
Even the non-Sony models are more expensive compared to SD cards. Pricing on New Egg has the 512MB module at $57.31. That's still a lot more than the $35 I paid for my 512MB SD card.
I wasn't trying to say that the GIMP is suitable for Prepress. The lack of a CMYK color space is the major obstacle, but the inability to handle spot inks or additional color (i.e. 5th color on a press) is another big drawback. The GIMP is fine for playing around with RGB images. I would say that includes web graphics on professional sites. Web color management is pretty much impossible due to variation in monitor color, personal color settings on each individual monitor and gamma variation between operating systems.
Pantone is not a color model like CMYK. Pantone is a method of insuring consistency in color. There is a Pantone Process series which IS CMYK based (CMYK are process color inks vs. spot color inks). There is a conversion between Pantone spot colors and Pantone process. So that if your company logo uses a particular spot (custom mixed ink) color, you can find the closest approximate to use in a process (4 color CMYK) print job (i.e. a magazine ad).
My personal favorite is the Corporate Machine. I fun strategy that's quick to pick up and simple enough to play after drinking a six pack. I nice little game, I still have installed on my hard drive years after it came out.
Because although he may have lost his job with Pepsi, the story the resulting broo-haha over the ad would have been enough for some other media outlet to pick him up. I work in media, things like this happen all the time.
Who needs more speed. Speed is no longer the differeniating aspect of modern computers. I mean why would you want some ugly, huge, noisy optically driven monster when you could have a quiet, cute Mac mini? Get with the program and stop this excessive compensating with "my GHz are more than your GHz" bullshit. I guess maybe you need that if you're running some lame virus and spyware infested piece of crap excuse for an operating system.
But considering the court ruled in Pepsi's favor and Leonard didn't get his Harrier, I doubt the writer who came up with the commercial conference is suffering for it.
"In the end you will still have a big, noisy, ugly PC box with a lot of outdated software."
Guys like you have to through insulting and pointless adjectives in don't you? I've never called it a puny, weenie, gay looking little underpowered Mac. Do you think the G5 is the only attractive tower ever made? Or the only quiet one? Do you think that what's under the hood might be more important for some people than the size?
You can change the case at time of purchase. The Coolermaster and Trinity cases are pretty nice. Or you can get a plain vanilla case if you like.
Believe me I have plenty experience with Mac OS X. I support OS X and Mac OS 9 machines. I've got two on my desk at the office. I've used Macs far longer than I've used PCs. I also run Linux and FreeBSD. Computers are tools, if iLife floats your boat than I certainly wouldn't argue that you shouldn't go that route. Personally I find it annoying that Apple railroads you into specific hardware options with their stratified product line. Of course I understand why they do this. Obviously if I wanted to switch to a Mac as my main machine than I would need to get a PowerMac. It is the only model flexible enough and upgradeable enough for my needs. But I run Windows at home. Why? Well like you said it's the software. I know the system in and out so spyware and viruses haven't caused me any problems. When I'm at home I mostly use my computer for remote connectivity to work or for gaming. Since I game, I prefer the wide array of gaming software available on the PC. So just as someone who is stuck on iLife and willing to pay extra for it, I'm willing to put up with Windows idiosyncracies to play Half Life 2 or City of Heroes.
Yeah, I know paranoid. Unfortunately I've seen more break-ins and attacks come from inside the network than through the perimeter. Most commonly from compromised laptops being plugged in. So I keep my tin foil hat handy when I need to think about security. I've seen to much weird stuff not to.
If it was my son and I new he wanted to play games on it then I would go with Windows. If it's in my house and I have control over the LAN then I don't have a problem. If it's someone else asking me I will state both sides of the story. I will note that the Mac has less problems with viruses and spyware. I will ask them what software they need to run. Many of them have specific applications they need to run on Windows. Many of them are looking for a computer to play Half Life 2 on. Fine. I also give them the card of my friend's company that does $50+ parts pc repair if they choose to go the Windows route. Alternately, you can run Linux or FreeBSD. I use both as well as Mac and Windows.
I assure you, even the low end Intel onboard video is quite capable of playing back full motion video in a number of formats. You don't need to exaggerate. As for the additional tangent - I'm not arguing about the nature of the OS. The discussion was about the video options on the Mini. I just get tired of everyone raving about how wonderful the video is on the Mini when it's the low end of the last generation of ATI's chipsets. It's a less than $50 part. Whoop dee do.
It's more about making the best use out of the components for the lowest cost and getting exactly the components I want. The last time I upgraded my computer, I also upgraded my son's and his mother's. This was a lot more cost effective than throwing everything out and buying new ones. And yes I do have other things to spend my money on. My job is just fine and I could wrangle an company computer of them if I wanted to, but I don't want a Dell. I instead have negotiated for reimbursement of computer components.
Hahahahaa. You are funny. Why can't you admit that the pretty darn good Radeon is a $50 part? At Christmas time I saw an HP PC at Wal Mart with these specs:
Celeron 2.5GHz 256MB RAM 40GB HD CDRW/DVD combo 17" CRT
Selling for $500. It had an AGP slot. Are you HONESTLY going to tell me that this machine is going to perform worse than a $500 spec mini if you throw a $50 Radeon in it? Yeah ok so go ahead and say Celeron sucks, Wal Mart sucks, it sucks. Whatever. For most people that is a very powerful PC. My girlfriend uses a 2GHz Celeron with 256MB of RAM and never complains. Hell she even runs 3D games with it. When I offered to upgrade her she asked "why?"
You get a Mac Mini if:
You absolutely want a Mac You don't care if you can't upgrade it easily You can't afford a better Mac
Hell, if you are buying a Mini and you don't already have a monitor to go with it - I would heartily suggest you get an iMac G5.
"the mac mini trumps similar PCs with its video hardware and that is all there is to it."
OK, well then thusly:
"the low cost PC (same price range as an mini) trumps the mac mini with it's capability to upgrade to better video and more RAM at low cost"
I'm glad you love your Radeon 9200. Enjoy it. You are never going to have any option to get anything else in there.
The reason most of these lower cost PCs use onboard video is because most people are not running 3D games. For most business users, you will not have any benefit from using a Radeon 9200 to run Word. Nor will Grandma see any benefit from using it to view pictures of her grandkids. Most of these lower computers come with an AGP slot. Which means you can upgrade it. Yes it is an additional cost, but really how much cost is that? Well the closest I can find is a Radeon 9200 64MB which will set you back a cool $50. It should also be noted, that you can upgrade the PC with a better video card than a 9200. An option you don't have on the Mini. So yes you can play World of Warcraft on the Mini, but I would bet your performance in Doom 3 is going to leave somthing to be desired.
"I find it really absurd that after years and years of people clamoring for a low priced bare bones mac, now that apple has released one, many of the same people are now whining that the mini in fact *is* a low priced bare bones mac."
First let me state, I understand what the Mini is and isn't, but induldge me and let me show you why it might be a disappoint for what most people consider a barebones system. I rarely have the cash to drop on a totally new system and I don't like wasting perfectly good hardware. My process has always been one of upgrade. A barebones PC in the same price range as a Mini is still upgradeable. You can add more RAM, a new video card, more internal hard drive space, put a DVDR in when you have the extra cash. It can grow with you and get better and faster over time. So you start with something fairly limited but you build on it. With the Mini upgrades are a significant problem. No you won't be able to ever swap out the motherboard or CPU. Because there is a single DIMM slot, any memory upgrade means you are tossing out the old RAM. You can't double 512MB to 1GB by buying a cheap second chip, you effectively need to purchase a total of 1.5GB of RAM to do the upgrade. You cannot upgrade your video card ever. Upgrading your internal hard drive means tossing out the old one, since you have only 1 mount point. You can add external hard drives optical drives but you will pay more than the equivalent internal unit. The same goes for any expansion card (video capture, sound etc.) - if you are lucky there will be an external version, if not, you can't use it. I'd love to see a low cost Mac that you could upgrade and make better over time. It's never going to happen. Apple has to stratify it's product line to prevent cannibalization. They don't want high end users (professionals) using Mac Mini's. They want the Pro Tools engineers, Final Cut pro editors and graphic designers to be using fully decked out PowerMacs. They do not want you to be able to get the equivalent power on a lower end machine. So in a nutshell, a barebones Mac Mini and a barebones PC are very different animals. I know from my needs that I am obviously best suited for a PowerMac. It has the expandability I require. I just can't justify the cost.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't know what to put in that account really. I am using 13MB or so, mostly a few scans of artwork that I stashed up there for safe keeping. Even my second Gmail account which I use for online site registration that I suspect will bring me spam is mostly empty. The spam filter catches most of the crap coming in anyway.
I guess I should make DVD backups and seperate them into 10 meg attachements and upload them.
Then I will never have to worry about scratching my copy of Gigli.
OS 11? 12? 13? Then why are the version numbers 10.1, 10.2, 10.3?
Well.. Leopard, Bobcat, Cheetah, Puma, Caracal, Serval, Kodkod, Margay?
My personal favorite: Flat-headed Cat?
Um, Sabertooth errr Smilodon?
Domestic?
Calico?
Maine coon?
Civet? (ok not really a cat)
Gah, well that depends on the program you want to run. World of Warcraft is kind of right out for this little 233Mhz strawberry iMac I have next to me. Even though the RAM is maxed out. :(
Even the non-Sony models are more expensive compared to SD cards. Pricing on New Egg has the 512MB module at $57.31. That's still a lot more than the $35 I paid for my 512MB SD card.
Ensure, hmm. Isn't that the drink made for old people?
I wasn't trying to say that the GIMP is suitable for Prepress. The lack of a CMYK color space is the major obstacle, but the inability to handle spot inks or additional color (i.e. 5th color on a press) is another big drawback.
The GIMP is fine for playing around with RGB images. I would say that includes web graphics on professional sites. Web color management is pretty much impossible due to variation in monitor color, personal color settings on each individual monitor and gamma variation between operating systems.
Pantone is not a color model like CMYK. Pantone is a method of insuring consistency in color.
There is a Pantone Process series which IS CMYK based (CMYK are process color inks vs. spot color inks). There is a conversion between Pantone spot colors and Pantone process. So that if your company logo uses a particular spot (custom mixed ink) color, you can find the closest approximate to use in a process (4 color CMYK) print job (i.e. a magazine ad).
My personal favorite is the Corporate Machine. I fun strategy that's quick to pick up and simple enough to play after drinking a six pack.
I nice little game, I still have installed on my hard drive years after it came out.
And Big Mac stands for two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
Keep it straight people!
Because although he may have lost his job with Pepsi, the story the resulting broo-haha over the ad would have been enough for some other media outlet to pick him up.
I work in media, things like this happen all the time.
Sarcasm never works well in text does it?
Who needs more speed. Speed is no longer the differeniating aspect of modern computers.
I mean why would you want some ugly, huge, noisy optically driven monster when you could have a quiet, cute Mac mini?
Get with the program and stop this excessive compensating with "my GHz are more than your GHz" bullshit.
I guess maybe you need that if you're running some lame virus and spyware infested piece of crap excuse for an operating system.
But considering the court ruled in Pepsi's favor and Leonard didn't get his Harrier, I doubt the writer who came up with the commercial conference is suffering for it.
There sure was something seriously wrong with your GF's PC.
Dell 2.53GHz Pentium 4 Runs Circles Around Fastest Mac G4
"In the end you will still have a big, noisy, ugly PC box with a lot of outdated software."
Guys like you have to through insulting and pointless adjectives in don't you?
I've never called it a puny, weenie, gay looking little underpowered Mac.
Do you think the G5 is the only attractive tower ever made? Or the only quiet one?
Do you think that what's under the hood might be more important for some people than the size?
You can change the case at time of purchase. The Coolermaster and Trinity cases are pretty nice. Or you can get a plain vanilla case if you like.
Believe me I have plenty experience with Mac OS X. I support OS X and Mac OS 9 machines. I've got two on my desk at the office. I've used Macs far longer than I've used PCs. I also run Linux and FreeBSD.
Computers are tools, if iLife floats your boat than I certainly wouldn't argue that you shouldn't go that route. Personally I find it annoying that Apple railroads you into specific hardware options with their stratified product line. Of course I understand why they do this.
Obviously if I wanted to switch to a Mac as my main machine than I would need to get a PowerMac. It is the only model flexible enough and upgradeable enough for my needs.
But I run Windows at home. Why? Well like you said it's the software. I know the system in and out so spyware and viruses haven't caused me any problems. When I'm at home I mostly use my computer for remote connectivity to work or for gaming. Since I game, I prefer the wide array of gaming software available on the PC. So just as someone who is stuck on iLife and willing to pay extra for it, I'm willing to put up with Windows idiosyncracies to play Half Life 2 or City of Heroes.
Yeah, I know paranoid. Unfortunately I've seen more break-ins and attacks come from inside the network than through the perimeter. Most commonly from compromised laptops being plugged in.
So I keep my tin foil hat handy when I need to think about security. I've seen to much weird stuff not to.
If it was my son and I new he wanted to play games on it then I would go with Windows. If it's in my house and I have control over the LAN then I don't have a problem.
If it's someone else asking me I will state both sides of the story. I will note that the Mac has less problems with viruses and spyware. I will ask them what software they need to run. Many of them have specific applications they need to run on Windows. Many of them are looking for a computer to play Half Life 2 on. Fine. I also give them the card of my friend's company that does $50+ parts pc repair if they choose to go the Windows route.
Alternately, you can run Linux or FreeBSD. I use both as well as Mac and Windows.
I assure you, even the low end Intel onboard video is quite capable of playing back full motion video in a number of formats. You don't need to exaggerate.
As for the additional tangent - I'm not arguing about the nature of the OS. The discussion was about the video options on the Mini.
I just get tired of everyone raving about how wonderful the video is on the Mini when it's the low end of the last generation of ATI's chipsets. It's a less than $50 part. Whoop dee do.
It's more about making the best use out of the components for the lowest cost and getting exactly the components I want.
The last time I upgraded my computer, I also upgraded my son's and his mother's. This was a lot more cost effective than throwing everything out and buying new ones.
And yes I do have other things to spend my money on.
My job is just fine and I could wrangle an company computer of them if I wanted to, but I don't want a Dell. I instead have negotiated for reimbursement of computer components.
Many other low end computers do have AGP slots. Contrary to popular belief Dell is not the only PC manufacturer.
How about $540 for this:
Athlon 64 3000+ CPU
512MB DDR 400 RAM
PCI Express Nvidia 6200 128MB video card
80GB Hard drive (7200 RPM)
52X CDRW/DVD combo drive
Includes mouse and keyboard
Oh I guess the typical response would be "it's ugly". Well change the case option then.
Hahahahaa. You are funny.
Why can't you admit that the pretty darn good Radeon is a $50 part?
At Christmas time I saw an HP PC at Wal Mart with these specs:
Celeron 2.5GHz
256MB RAM
40GB HD
CDRW/DVD combo
17" CRT
Selling for $500. It had an AGP slot. Are you HONESTLY going to tell me that this machine is going to perform worse than a $500 spec mini if you throw a $50 Radeon in it?
Yeah ok so go ahead and say Celeron sucks, Wal Mart sucks, it sucks. Whatever. For most people that is a very powerful PC. My girlfriend uses a 2GHz Celeron with 256MB of RAM and never complains. Hell she even runs 3D games with it. When I offered to upgrade her she asked "why?"
You get a Mac Mini if:
You absolutely want a Mac
You don't care if you can't upgrade it easily
You can't afford a better Mac
Hell, if you are buying a Mini and you don't already have a monitor to go with it - I would heartily suggest you get an iMac G5.
"the mac mini trumps similar PCs with its video hardware and that is all there is to it."
OK, well then thusly:
"the low cost PC (same price range as an mini) trumps the mac mini with it's capability to upgrade to better video and more RAM at low cost"
I'm glad you love your Radeon 9200. Enjoy it. You are never going to have any option to get anything else in there.
The reason most of these lower cost PCs use onboard video is because most people are not running 3D games. For most business users, you will not have any benefit from using a Radeon 9200 to run Word. Nor will Grandma see any benefit from using it to view pictures of her grandkids.
Most of these lower computers come with an AGP slot. Which means you can upgrade it. Yes it is an additional cost, but really how much cost is that? Well the closest I can find is a Radeon 9200 64MB which will set you back a cool $50.
It should also be noted, that you can upgrade the PC with a better video card than a 9200. An option you don't have on the Mini.
So yes you can play World of Warcraft on the Mini, but I would bet your performance in Doom 3 is going to leave somthing to be desired.
"I find it really absurd that after years and years of people clamoring for a low priced bare bones mac, now that apple has released one, many of the same people are now whining that the mini in fact *is* a low priced bare bones mac."
First let me state, I understand what the Mini is and isn't, but induldge me and let me show you why it might be a disappoint for what most people consider a barebones system.
I rarely have the cash to drop on a totally new system and I don't like wasting perfectly good hardware. My process has always been one of upgrade. A barebones PC in the same price range as a Mini is still upgradeable. You can add more RAM, a new video card, more internal hard drive space, put a DVDR in when you have the extra cash. It can grow with you and get better and faster over time. So you start with something fairly limited but you build on it.
With the Mini upgrades are a significant problem. No you won't be able to ever swap out the motherboard or CPU. Because there is a single DIMM slot, any memory upgrade means you are tossing out the old RAM. You can't double 512MB to 1GB by buying a cheap second chip, you effectively need to purchase a total of 1.5GB of RAM to do the upgrade. You cannot upgrade your video card ever. Upgrading your internal hard drive means tossing out the old one, since you have only 1 mount point. You can add external hard drives optical drives but you will pay more than the equivalent internal unit. The same goes for any expansion card (video capture, sound etc.) - if you are lucky there will be an external version, if not, you can't use it.
I'd love to see a low cost Mac that you could upgrade and make better over time. It's never going to happen. Apple has to stratify it's product line to prevent cannibalization. They don't want high end users (professionals) using Mac Mini's. They want the Pro Tools engineers, Final Cut pro editors and graphic designers to be using fully decked out PowerMacs. They do not want you to be able to get the equivalent power on a lower end machine.
So in a nutshell, a barebones Mac Mini and a barebones PC are very different animals.
I know from my needs that I am obviously best suited for a PowerMac. It has the expandability I require. I just can't justify the cost.