Seriosuly considering a Mac next year.

[88keys]

Okay so I'll be needing a new computer. The one I'm running now is 5 years old and though it has been upgraded, it is starting to show it's age. and I've decided to buy a new one next spring and summer.

I'm not much of a gamer these days and so the main things I do on my computer now involve video editing, audio mixing and mastering and I've been dabbling in blender lately. So I'm obliviously looking for a powerful system. I also plan on running x2 27" monitors.

So I'm not exactly knowledgeable in regards to whats available on the Mac side of things and so I don't know what my best option is. I'd be willing to consider refurbs provided the price difference is at least $100 or more because I can probably fix whatever goes wrong if that happens.

My main rig is in my sig.


Now for the reason I'm considering a Mac:

What this mainly amounts to is that I'm tired of M$ Windows. What I find aggravating is that the product life cycles are too short for the drastic changes they keep implementing (and they price they charge). The trend I'm seeing is that they the rush development to meet some arbitrary deadline and low and behold it has all sorts of problems, so they almost immediately stop mainstream support the previous OS (Win7/XP) and now it has 600MB of updates and updates for updates becuase they don't want to release a service pack because might discourage sales of their new crappy OS. That and the hassles that come with malware (I know it exists for all OSes) and keeping things running.
I just feel like I've reached a point in my life to where I don't want to tinker with computers anymore. I just want things to work correctly when I hit the power button.

As for Linux? no.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

So I'm not exactly knowledgeable in regards to whats available on the Mac side of things and so I don't know what my best option is.

iMac.

I'd be willing to consider refurbs provided the price difference is at least $100 or more because I can probably fix whatever goes wrong if that happens.

Refurbs are usually around 15% off, but you might need to wait a week for stock. They come with a "new" warranty. The rule for "fixing whatever goes wrong" is the same as with the new machines - It's a mac. Buy the extended warranty, and if it breaks after the three years are up, sell the parts on eBay and buy a new one.

My main rig is in my sig.


Now for the reason I'm considering a Mac:

What this mainly amounts to is that I'm tired of M$ Windows. What I find aggravating is that the product life cycles are too short for the drastic changes they keep implementing (and they price they charge). The trend I'm seeing is that they the rush development to meet some arbitrary deadline and low and behold it has all sorts of problems, so they almost immediately stop mainstream support the previous OS (Win7/XP) and now it has 600MB of updates and updates for updates becuase they don't want to release a service pack because might discourage sales of their new crappy OS. That and the hassles that come with malware (I know it exists for all OSes) and keeping things running.
I just feel like I've reached a point in my life to where I don't want to tinker with computers anymore. I just want things to work correctly when I hit the power button.

As for Linux? no.

Life in software development. OS X is, imo, better than Windows in that regard, but it's far from perfect.

As for stopping mainstream support - Windows 7 is nowhere near the chopping block. XP support ended when the OS was what, like, 12? Nobody sane thinks that was unreasonable.

 

[Zodiark1593]

If you're serious about using Blender, I'd strongly consider building a high end desktop and going Linux (using a VM for anything Windows based). Not only is Linux slightly faster in Blender, however, neither the iMac nor the Mac Pro have Nvidia GPUs available which is necessary for CUDA rendering in Cycles. And before you ask, I say yes, CUDA rendering is that big of a deal. (a $150-$200 video card will rip apart a $1000 Intel Processor many times over in Cycles)

That's not to say iMacs aren't nice machines, because they are nice machines, but if you are getting into Blender, the iMac is ill-suited for the kind of workload you're going to put to it, not counting CUDA.

 

[Subyman]

Some may disagree, but if you are doing CUDA/OpenCL intensive tasks then an older model Mac Pro (tower design) with a powerful graphics card will get you a whole lot done for very little money. The newer macs are limited by their pack-in GPUs, you can shove whatever into the older Mac Pros. I picked up a 5.1 Mac Pro Quad in great condition for around $500 on eBay. Drop $400-$500 in a GPU and you would have a great 3D workstation that is OS X capable. If you do CPU limited tasks then that wouldn't be a good option.

 

[weevilone]

The older Mac Pro's are still pretty competent for CPU tasks with a single hex core, or dual socket model. You can pick up a USB3 card, as well as SATA3 cards pretty cheap to get around those issues. Also, the scene for EFI flashed GPUs is pretty strong. It probably won't be long before 980/970 can be flashed for full boot screen support.

Nvidia Mac driver support is spot on for these as well. There are regular web drivers, with CUDA support frequently.

 

[alizee]

I've done a lot of audio and film/video work professionally, so I feel like my opinions are pretty valid.

I'm not much of a gamer these days and so the main things I do on my computer now involve video editing, audio mixing and mastering and I've been dabbling in blender lately. So I'm obliviously looking for a powerful system. I also plan on running x2 27" monitors.

I think many in the professional video/audio world would agree (though not as much on these forums), Macs are definitely the standard. Depending on what type of video editing you plan on doing, there are a lot of programs at different price points that will meet your needs. A quad-core iMac is pretty good, and essentially any Mac Pro will do great. Video cards are as important as people are saying, so be sure to get the best you can. Apple has a lot of support for OpenCL, so for Apple apps, the nvidia/amd debate is moot. For other stuff, there might be more support for CUDA. I feel like the iMacs show their age much quicker than Mac Pros just because of their video cards, which are not really upgradeable (both because it is a difficult job, and because newer video cards do NOT fit the form factor required for the iMac). On the previous Mac Pro, they are upgradable (but you're "stuck" with Westmere/Nehalem).

Final Cut Pro X - not as bad as a lot of people say, but it isn't what I'm used to (FCP 7). But, for $300 you'd be hard pressed to find something better.

Adobe Premier - Obviously expensive because its Adobe, but OpenCL support is great.

Avid Media Composer - Expensive, but it is the industry standard. Also has OpenCL support.

Audio mixing and mastering has great options as well. Logic is relatively cheap, and ProTools is the industry standard. They're both decent pieces of software.

As for Blender, people are right that Linux support is a lot better. That being said, it is still well supported on OS X, it just uses X11 (the non-native GUI). Just taking a quick look on the Cycle page, OpenCL support is limited, so CUDA will do a lot better. Depending on how advanced you are, it may not even matter yet (so don't buy nvidia just because of blender, make sure it is worthwhile money-wise, a faster amd gpu will treat you better in most applications than a slower nvidia one).

So I'm not exactly knowledgeable in regards to whats available on the Mac side of things and so I don't know what my best option is. I'd be willing to consider refurbs provided the price difference is at least $100 or more because I can probably fix whatever goes wrong if that happens.

Be careful here, because most Mac hardware is vender specific, you can't really just go to Newegg and get a Mac Pro logic board. Some parts are just fine (hard drive, optical drive, RAM, CPU), but otherwise you're stuck with a place like iFixit. With that in mind, though, Apple refurbs are a great option because they come with the standard 1-year warranty and you can get AppleCare just the same as buying a brand new one. iMacs also are relatively difficult to work on (cleaning the dust between the LCD and glass, taking it apart, etc.).

I think I gave a lot of vague advice, and I know you're trying to decide what to get. Here are a couple options:

1. You're buying new (or refurb) directly from Apple, and you don't mind upgrading your computer every 3-5 years: iMac and another 27" display. They're really great computers but they're not very easy to repair/upgrade. They color calibration of the displays are also top-notch. The 5k model is really sweet, as well.

2. You're buying used: Nehalem/Westmere Mac Pro with whichever GPU fits your budget, room to upgrade to a flashed GPU in the future.

I hope that helps, I know I kind of rambled.

 

[88keys]

iMac.




As for stopping mainstream support - Windows 7 is nowhere near the chopping block. XP support ended when the OS was what, like, 12? Nobody sane thinks that was unreasonable.

Technically no, but I get the feeling that mainstream support pretty much ends when the new product lifecycle begins which is basically about 3 years. Sure you'll get updates, but you can forget about any service packs or rollups or .x equivalents. The issue I take with this is that once you go a few years without some kind of follow up, you get alot of redundancy and hotfixes for hotfixes that are for other hotfixes. Service packs were intended to eliminate that every so often, but they don't make money making service packs so they basically told consumers to shove it.

I've done a lot of audio and film/video work professionally, so I feel like my opinions are pretty valid.



I think many in the professional video/audio world would agree (though not as much on these forums), Macs are definitely the standard. Depending on what type of video editing you plan on doing, there are a lot of programs at different price points that will meet your needs. A quad-core iMac is pretty good, and essentially any Mac Pro will do great. Video cards are as important as people are saying, so be sure to get the best you can. Apple has a lot of support for OpenCL, so for Apple apps, the nvidia/amd debate is moot. For other stuff, there might be more support for CUDA. I feel like the iMacs show their age much quicker than Mac Pros just because of their video cards, which are not really upgradeable (both because it is a difficult job, and because newer video cards do NOT fit the form factor required for the iMac). On the previous Mac Pro, they are upgradable (but you're "stuck" with Westmere/Nehalem).

Final Cut Pro X - not as bad as a lot of people say, but it isn't what I'm used to (FCP 7). But, for $300 you'd be hard pressed to find something better.

Adobe Premier - Obviously expensive because its Adobe, but OpenCL support is great.

Avid Media Composer - Expensive, but it is the industry standard. Also has OpenCL support.

Audio mixing and mastering has great options as well. Logic is relatively cheap, and ProTools is the industry standard. They're both decent pieces of software.

As for Blender, people are right that Linux support is a lot better. That being said, it is still well supported on OS X, it just uses X11 (the non-native GUI). Just taking a quick look on the Cycle page, OpenCL support is limited, so CUDA will do a lot better. Depending on how advanced you are, it may not even matter yet (so don't buy nvidia just because of blender, make sure it is worthwhile money-wise, a faster amd gpu will treat you better in most applications than a slower nvidia one).



Be careful here, because most Mac hardware is vender specific, you can't really just go to Newegg and get a Mac Pro logic board. Some parts are just fine (hard drive, optical drive, RAM, CPU), but otherwise you're stuck with a place like iFixit. With that in mind, though, Apple refurbs are a great option because they come with the standard 1-year warranty and you can get AppleCare just the same as buying a brand new one. iMacs also are relatively difficult to work on (cleaning the dust between the LCD and glass, taking it apart, etc.).

I think I gave a lot of vague advice, and I know you're trying to decide what to get. Here are a couple options:

1. You're buying new (or refurb) directly from Apple, and you don't mind upgrading your computer every 3-5 years: iMac and another 27" display. They're really great computers but they're not very easy to repair/upgrade. They color calibration of the displays are also top-notch. The 5k model is really sweet, as well.

2. You're buying used: Nehalem/Westmere Mac Pro with whichever GPU fits your budget, room to upgrade to a flashed GPU in the future.

I hope that helps, I know I kind of rambled.

I understand what is involved in regards to fixing electronics with proprietary components and that fixing a Mac would be more alike to fixing a laptop that needs specific parts that may or may not have propriety connectors etc. I've fixed my share of electronics from tablets to laptops to TVs to where I'm pretty confident in regards to what I can do. I have screwed things up here and there, but at the end of the day I can say that my risky behavior in that regard has paid off more than it has costed me.

But thanks for the help guys