Hi David,
Hmm iMacs and built-in displays, I don't like the idea at all, though thanks
for the suggestion. WHat if the display breaks down some day or I want a
different display for some reason, such as the screen size I mentioned
(optimal 15 inch and no larger than 17 given my current sight). Surely the
screen being part of the package can be a handy option for some people but I
think I'm not in that lot, at least initially.
It's true that the Mac Mini doesn't have the display which I like but in
that machine the specs are a bit of a problem. I've got enough sight to play
some games and thus would like a decent but not a very high-end video card.
A sighted friend of mine, whose a Mac user, adviced me right away to stay
away from the integrated Intel chips. it eats your RAM and performance in 3D
apps is awful, I've heard. Not that there are that many 3d games I'd be able
to play, but I wouldn't want to get graphics hardware that's, well, on the
weak side to begin with. As OS X now uses 3D hardware to accelerate
essentially 2D windows, and provided that this trend continues, graphics
hardware might matter even more in the future, and unused RAM is always
nice.
Fortunately it isn't that bad at this point, but I cannot help thinking
Vista in terms of graphics requirements. Ironically trying to stay away from
Vista, based on the roughly three years I've read Win Supersite about it and
a couple of chances of trying it, is one reason why I'd like a Mac. But by
no means the only reason, just the most recent one.
I should have stresssed it more, but expandability is another important area
for me. I'd need at least two PCI slots for continuing to use my existing PC
sound and synthesis hardware. I think the Mac MIni doesn't have any free PCI
slots, right? Howabout the iMac models? Hmm is the PRo model the only
sensible choice, then?
Note that <at this point, the discussion is a bit theoretical if you will.
I'm considering the Mac just as an alternative and won't be updating my
aging PC for at least half a year, I think. I'd need to wait for the new Mac
OS to come out to have Braille, for one thing, and by the time that happens
the current hardware has probably already changed. I'm just looking into the
different kinds of broad hardware choices Apple offers as a whole to
evaluate what switching to a Mac means in the long run.
It's great to get this quick a reply, though, and sorry for my pessimist
tone in this reply. I've always valued the ability to customize hardware and
software, when I need to do that, and thus integrated anything is pretty
much a minus unless I truely need it. Now laptops are another story but I'd
like a desktop machine, mostly for music making and occasional gaming.
--
With kind regards Veli-Pekka Tätilä ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Accessibility, game music, synthesizers and programming:
http://www.student.oulu.fi/~vtatila/
David Poehlman wrote:
you can get a mac mini without the display. IMacs have the display
built in but you can connect a display to them if you like.
you can also up the specs on the second 17" IMac.
From: "Veli-Pekka Tätilä" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<snip>
I'll have to get a new display anyway but ideally I'd liek to choose
the size freely. I've noticed that a 15 inch flat screen might be
about ideal for my sight and I've learned to live with a 17 inch
screen. <snip>
Looking at the current iMac specs, as an example, the machines seem
to have been differenciated primarily by screen size plus som other
more expensive HW options. Here's a link, I hope this will work and
that I only stripped the session ID:
<http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nclm=iMac>
The table columns are two 17 inch models with different clock freqs,
the 20 inch model and the 24 inch model at the far right. So if I'd
like to get something like the 20 inch model specwise, am I stuck
getting a 20 inch screen with it? I hope you can also order a Mac
without the display. Actually I think the pro models would be more my
cup of te apart from the pricing, I'll be spending something like
1500 euros max, I guess. These specs talk very litle about expansion
capabilities, too. Yet I know I wil need at least two PCI slots for
transfering my TerraTec EWS88 MT and HarDSID cards on the Mac side if
I end up getting a Mac anyway. SO my other q Would be, how's hardware
expandability in Apple machines? <snip>
