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Hi,
I'm about to move to a new appartment, and I've been thinking about a new multimedia setup! At the moment I use a quite powerful PC for work, I also use it to watch streams/movies, surf the web, listen to music and some SC2. The computer is connected through a docking station to my TV and my speakers. But the thing is that I don't wanna risk my work-computer, SC2 lags and in my new appartment I'm going to have 2 TVs.
That's why I'm thinking about switching to pure Apple for entertainment at home. I'm not very experienced with Apple except through my iPad and iPhone. So basically I need help from someone who knows this shit!
What I need
- Computer that enables me to watch movies in 1080p with good sound quality and play SC2.
- To be able to connect to an external screen(TV) wirelessly. I want to be able to see my desktop, play music and watch movies/streams. I also want to be able to switch to the other screen.
What I'm thinking(complete Apple noob)
- iMac or MacBook Pro
- Apple TV connected to both screens
- iCapsule
Will this work? Do I need some shady software? Are there other options to satisfy my needs, or do I need to use cables(old school..)?
Thanks in advance!
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why are you thinking apple?
They're high quality, but way overpriced, and it all uses different adaptors and such that your stuck with the bullshit of having compatibility only if everything is applefyd. An apple laptop is competitive, but i still wouldn't go for one.
If your just trying to play starcraft 2 (streaming/watching TV can be done on a sub-$200 build...) than you can do that for around $300, more or less depending on quality and if your okay with used parts or not, etc.
I still dont understand where you got the idea this has to be apple.
The computer is connected through a docking station to my TV and my speakers. But the thing is that I don't wanna risk my work-computer, SC2 lags and in my new appartment I'm going to have 2 TVs.
Okay. PC works great for you. There is no problem, you just don't want to 'risk' your work computer, which doesn't make much sense, I don't know what you mean by this, how is playing sc2 a 'risk' to a computer, but if you need to keep work computer separate, whatever.
That's why I'm thinking about switching to pure Apple for entertainment at home.
So.... your thinking of going pure apple because you have a PC that works wonderfully for you?
Anything will work for you, it's just what price and quality you want. You can go to best buy, get the right set-up, and pay a huge mark-up on everything but if you are unknowledgeable and dont want to google anything, it'd be easy to do. If your willing to take an hour or two to look things up online, you can do as much as build your own set-up for a good value that does what you need.
Being able to watch TV/streams/etc really requires nothing, that's $200. Being able to play sc2 on good quality on a big resolution will cost a little more, but you should do that on less than $400-500.
Do you want 2 computers, or do you want 2 screens from the same computer? Are you using both screens at the same time (ie gaming and watching TV at same time?), or one at a time (either gaming, or TV)? Sounds just like dual monitor set-up, which any GPU can do nowadays, basically, and you could also just mis-match 2 different GPUs to do that as well.
There are plenty of adaptors and the like out there so you can be wireless.
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Buy a Macbook Pro, been rocking one since 2008, still runs like a tank. You get what you pay for, the machine itself may not have the most extreme specs, but it's beautifully designed, quiet, and runs incredibly smoothly. My Macbook Pro (which is ~4.5 years old now) consistently runs smoother than my Windows PC at the office which is brand new.
You'll fall in love! The simplicity and power of Apple systems simply cannot be beat, I'm looking forward to buying a new MBP as soon as I pay off some of my student loan debt.
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Norway10161 Posts
The appleTV is annoying unless you can get your hands on an atv2. Basicly it is great once jailbroaken with xbmc, crap with original software.
Mac is fine for playing sc. I can play with mid settings in 2560x1440 with no lower than 40-50 fps during large battles. ('11 iMac/radeon 6970m).
I would look into another media center solution. And btw don't by Boxee. Get something that you can get xbmc on.
Generally I like my macs, and the quality of the whole thing is worth the money.
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On November 29 2012 04:16 ToKoreaWithLove wrote:
The appleTV is annoying unless you can get your hands on an atv2. Basicly it is great once jailbroaken with xbmc, crap with original software.
Mac is fine for playing sc. I can play with mid settings in 2560x1440 with no lower than 40-50 fps during large battles. ('11 iMac/radeon 6970m).
I would look into another media center solution. And btw don't by Boxee. Get something that you can get xbmc on.
Generally I like my macs, and the quality of the whole thing is worth the money.
There's a reason used i-devices, even in good condition, still resell for up to 60% of their original value; shit's just worth it!
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You can't play SC2 on a 300$ computer (laptop) yet. 300$ will get you an AMD E-series (I guess that might get you low?) Or a pentium B950ish (again low, and still skeptical). Definitely won't look good on a monitor because you'd have to reduce the resolution.
Budget doesn't seem to be an issue though since you're considering Apple. I Will say this:
From a hardware standpoint, Apple IS overpriced. You can't argue against that, it's just plain true. You can get the same hardware (minus the screen on Retina) for ~500-~1000$ less.
However, their support, build quality, and screen (on Retina) is almost unmatched. I'm not a huge fan of their chassis anymore, it just seems stale to me, but is by no means bad aesthetically. But the only thing that comes close to it build wise that I can think of is the XPS 15, and that has throttling issues sometimes.
The MBP Retina is probably the best (and one of the most expensive) computers on the market right now. You pay 1200$ for the hardware, and 800$ for the support, build quality, etc. Depending on how much you value that, it can definitely be worth it. I've never owned and don't really want a MBP, but after being a blind "too expensive lol" kind of person for a while, I at least see why people buy them.
If you want Windows, take a look at the Asus UX51. It's basically a windows MBP, at similar pricing, but imo a better chassis. But as much of an Asus fan as I am, I think it's too expensive to merit getting over a MBP.
TL;DR
You don't need a MBP, or a 2,000$ windows computer. You can do what you're asking for for less. But if you want good quality (not the best), along with best in class support, build quality, etc, MBP could be a good choice.
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People also fail to mention that OSX is much easier to navigate/use than Windows.
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On November 29 2012 04:43 renaissanceMAN wrote:
People also fail to mention that OSX is much easier to navigate/use than Windows.
That seems awfully subjective.
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On November 29 2012 05:23 sylverfyre wrote:Show nested quote +On November 29 2012 04:43 renaissanceMAN wrote:
People also fail to mention that OSX is much easier to navigate/use than Windows. That seems awfully subjective.
Why? From personal experience I can attest that OSX is much simpler than Windows. There are also many articles/essay written about the ease of use of Apple products. Here's a perfect example, you download two programs in Windows and OSX, to install it in Windows you have to select a designation for the program to end up in, choose installation settings etc... in OSX you simply drag an icon from one place to a folder in a single window and that's it!
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On November 29 2012 04:20 renaissanceMAN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 29 2012 04:16 ToKoreaWithLove wrote:
The appleTV is annoying unless you can get your hands on an atv2. Basicly it is great once jailbroaken with xbmc, crap with original software.
Mac is fine for playing sc. I can play with mid settings in 2560x1440 with no lower than 40-50 fps during large battles. ('11 iMac/radeon 6970m).
I would look into another media center solution. And btw don't by Boxee. Get something that you can get xbmc on.
Generally I like my macs, and the quality of the whole thing is worth the money. There's a reason used i-devices, even in good condition, still resell for up to 60% of their original value; shit's just worth it!
40% loss on apple crap is usually more expensive than 100% of a simple equiv pc box.
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On November 29 2012 06:40 renaissanceMAN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 29 2012 05:23 sylverfyre wrote:On November 29 2012 04:43 renaissanceMAN wrote:
People also fail to mention that OSX is much easier to navigate/use than Windows. That seems awfully subjective. Why? From personal experience I can attest that OSX is much simpler than Windows. There are also many articles/essay written about the ease of use of Apple products. Here's a perfect example, you download two programs in Windows and OSX, to install it in Windows you have to select a designation for the program to end up in, choose installation settings etc... in OSX you simply drag an icon from one place to a folder in a single window and that's it!
That's not called "ease of use", that's called "limiting user options". I wouldn't call that a good thing...
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Or you end up spending 2 hours to search for a Mac version because it's a Windows only program...
Seriously, I dont know what you have against Windows machines... I run one and it couldnt be "smoother"... Even if I plug in 3 monitors and play SC2 while watching 2 HD Streams ... and it didnt cost me $2000 ($800 IIRC) and I can upgrade whenever I want.
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On November 29 2012 06:40 renaissanceMAN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 29 2012 05:23 sylverfyre wrote:On November 29 2012 04:43 renaissanceMAN wrote:
People also fail to mention that OSX is much easier to navigate/use than Windows. That seems awfully subjective. Why? From personal experience I can attest that OSX is much simpler than Windows. There are also many articles/essay written about the ease of use of Apple products. Here's a perfect example, you download two programs in Windows and OSX, to install it in Windows you have to select a designation for the program to end up in, choose installation settings etc... in OSX you simply drag an icon from one place to a folder in a single window and that's it!
Seriously, I really cant tell wether or not you're trolling your pants off right now. You do realize that 'from personal experience' and 'subjective' is exactly the same, right? Your arguments make no sense at all, not even going to bother countering anything (done that too many times already anyways)
For the OP, just like Belial said already you probably just want a multimonitor setup, and for like 4500 SEK you can get a pc which can handle SC2 just fine (I have no clue about prices in Sweden honestly), there really is no need to spend too much money
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On November 29 2012 06:40 renaissanceMAN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 29 2012 05:23 sylverfyre wrote:On November 29 2012 04:43 renaissanceMAN wrote:
People also fail to mention that OSX is much easier to navigate/use than Windows. That seems awfully subjective. Why? From personal experience I can attest that OSX is much simpler than Windows. There are also many articles/essay written about the ease of use of Apple products. Here's a perfect example, you download two programs in Windows and OSX, to install it in Windows you have to select a designation for the program to end up in, choose installation settings etc... in OSX you simply drag an icon from one place to a folder in a single window and that's it!
Why? From personal experience I can attest that Windows is much simpler than OSX. There are also many articles/essays written about the ease of use of Windows products. Here's a perfect example, you want to write a game in Windows and OSX. To install it in Windows, you use the WIDELY used DirectX software... in OSX you have to re-write the game, and redo a lot of software, and that's it! (I know that the average user doesn't code, but due to this a lot of games in OSX aren't as optimized, which IS a consumer impact)
Yes, it's not perfect, but do you see what I'm getting at? I prefer windows to OSX. Part of it is reluctance to learn a new system, but part of it is genuine preference. I see why people like OSX more, but the reasons don't exactly sing to me. I like the taskbar/task manager more than the OSX dock, and I prefer the way that multitasking works slightly in Windows.
Oddly enough, a lot of people seem to like the "launchpad" or whatever, when the metro UI is basically the same thing, but gets a lot of flack. (Really a sidenote more than anything)
Edit: I'm not trying to sound condescending or anything, I'm just trying to show how easily you can use that exact paragraph in the opposite way.
Oh, and skydrive/google drive are both much better than the apple solution, imo.
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Lol here we go again. But if the Apple tv is the only thing that your going for mac i would consider pc laptop aswell. What i love about the OSX is its stability and lightweight running. It gives you outstanding performance from developers perspective. Whatever your into making music, or modelling etc. its a good platform.
Its still overpriced as hell though. So when i bought my laptop i tought for mac also, but did go for ASUS, because i saved almost half of the money and NO regrets.
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All aboard the Apple-hate train. CHOO-CHOO!
I honestly cringe every time I see a person take out their Apple laptop. I scolded my sister for buying one. When I compared the specs between our two laptops, mines was far more superior at half the cost. You pay for the brand, not the hardware. I'm not sure how many average people realize that. Good advertising on their part I suppose, with the revolutionary iPod and what-not.
On November 29 2012 07:03 Alryk wrote:
Part of it is reluctance to learn a new system, but part of it is genuine preference.
I was honestly confused as hell when I was trying to use my sister's macbook pro. I'm sure if I had it for a few days straight I'd be able to learn it, but in the time to learn it all I don't find it to be worth it. I was sitting there trying to figure out how to navigate for my programs, copying and pasting, ...trivial things such as that.
On November 29 2012 07:00 Watercrystal wrote:
Or you end up spending 2 hours to search for a Mac version because it's a Windows only program...
Another pain-staking experience I had the first time on a Mac. I barely fit SC2 on my flash drive, and I bring it over for my week long break last summer. I totally forgot about needing Mac versions of programs since I'm used to installing programs that always used Windows instead of Mac. I didn't have a fun break.
I'm completely in love with my iPhone, it has a lot of value in my life. Although for most of their other products I just can't see how people justify the costs for overpriced pieces of electronics. It's hard for anyone to deny that they indeed jack up the prices on their products because they know they have a solid grasp on average consumers. I guess this is perhaps why I'm so critical about this when in reality most people don't know what they're paying for really. I still have friends come up to me and ask how much RAM my laptop has in what they think is a measure of how fast a computer should be. Although what's mind-boggling is how my tech geek friends are so infatuated with Apple. They have an equal level of understanding, yet decide to buy Apple products anyways. If anyone who falls in that same category or has some insight into that, I would like to hear their answer. I'm not even being sarcastic or anything, I seriously want to know why.
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The biggest complaint I have with Apple computers is that even the most expensive ($2,500+) Mac desktops only use complete garbage "Mobile" (aka laptop) graphics cards and the vast majority also use mobile CPUs. Add to this their fancy for using extremely high resolution monitors and you have a quite embarrassing combination. The most expensive 680M mobile card available can only crank out a hilarious slide-show esque 20fps in Metro 2033. The worst part? That's only at 1080p, significantly turned down from the monitors native resolution of 2880x1800. Now not only are you going to get a blurry picture due to the imagine being stretched to fit the screen or play in a small window with large black bars, you're also going to get drastically worse performance at a higher cost, because Apple insists on using incredibly tiny cases so they look pretty... rather than performing well. As someone who is working on a degree in IT and has built systems for businesses, friends and personal pleasure; I can say with confidence the only people who buy Apple are the people who have no idea what they're buying. They're buying sub-par hardware at a price premium for a pretty case. It's really quite an incredible marketing feat, however very embarrassing to people who know what they are looking at.
TL:DR Apple products are terrible for gaming due to only using mobile graphics cards, lack of support for their native OS, lack of quality drivers for the latest GPU support, lack of drivers for peripheral support, inability to run anything but flash games in the monitors native resolution due to lack of GPU power, very overpriced for the hardware you get if you're into gaming. Mechanics don't buy Chryslers and IT professionals don't buy Apple products. I wonder why?
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On November 29 2012 06:40 renaissanceMAN wrote:Show nested quote +On November 29 2012 05:23 sylverfyre wrote:On November 29 2012 04:43 renaissanceMAN wrote:
People also fail to mention that OSX is much easier to navigate/use than Windows. That seems awfully subjective. Why? From personal experience I can attest that OSX is much simpler than Windows. There are also many articles/essay written about the ease of use of Apple products. Here's a perfect example, you download two programs in Windows and OSX, to install it in Windows you have to select a designation for the program to end up in, choose installation settings etc... in OSX you simply drag an icon from one place to a folder in a single window and that's it!
lol, I can counter this point by setting my download destination folder as Desktop... TADA! DADADERP!
Ease of use IS subjective. As somebody who grew up using Windows and never really being exposed to Apple products, I find OSX to be hard to use because of its tendency to move shit around for no particular reason and the strange wording of things. Airport mode is WiFi? But... I'm not at an airport...
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On November 29 2012 07:26 Mr. Nefarious wrote:
The biggest complaint I have with Apple computers is that even the most expensive ($2,500+) Mac desktops only use complete garbage "Mobile" (aka laptop) graphics cards. Add to this their fancy for using extremely high resolution monitors and you have a quite embarrassing combination. The most expensive 680M mobile card available can only crank out a hilarious slide-show esque 20fps in Metro 2033. The worst part? That's only at 1080p, significantly turned down from the monitors native resolution of 2880x1800. Now not only are you going to get a blurry picture due to the imagine being stretched to fit the screen or play in a small window with large black bars, you're also going to get drastically worse performance at a higher cost, because Apple insists on using incredibly tiny cases so they look pretty... rather than performing well. As someone who is working on a degree in IT and has built systems for businesses, friends and personal pleasure; I can say with confidence the only people who buy Apple are the people who have no idea what they're buying. They're buying sub-par hardware at a price premium for a pretty case. It's really quite an incredible marketing feat, however very embarrassing to people who know what they are looking at.
TL:DR Apple products are terrible for gaming due to only using mobile graphics cards, lack of support for their native OS, lack of quality drivers for the latest GPU support, lack of drivers for peripheral support, inability to run anything but flash games in the monitors native resolution due to lack of GPU power, very overpriced for the hardware you get if you're into gaming. Mechanics don't buy Chryslers and IT professionals don't buy Apple products. I wonder why?
Fwiw, it's unfair to say that the Mac desktops use mobile graphics cards. You're referring to the iMac, an all-in-one that uses a 650M-680M. Other all-in-ones usually have not much better than a 640M, and I don't know of one that sells with a desktop card (it wouldn't fit in the monitor/base, and would be impossible to cool).
The Mac Pro (albeit unupgraded for like 3 years) ships with a desktop GPU. Not sure why a gamer would buy one, and it doesn't seem like it's what the OP needs, but it's true.
"People have no idea what they're buying" isn't true. The problem with the polarizing opinions on MBP and other Apple products is how much you value the support. Some people couldn't care less about support and build quality. Those kinds of people are why HP is still outselling a company like Asus - lots of hardware in a shitty chassis. To others, support, build quality, and screen quality really do matter, and that's why Apple is successful with them. That's what you're paying for - it's not just the brand name. The MPB w/ RD really does have a better screen, build, and customer service than any other computer out there. You can't tell somebody it's not worth the extra money because you don't know how much those services are worth to them. You can't put a pricetag on subjective things like that, and for objective things like Screen and build quality, where performance isn't measured in fps, you again, can't decide for them how much it's worth to them.
It's the same reason why people buy 500$ iPads over 300$ notebooks. The form factor, build quality, screen quality, and customer support are all 100% objectively better. Even though a Pentium B960 is WAY better than an A5X chip (or A6X), people put more value on the things that the iPad wins in.
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Norway10161 Posts
On November 29 2012 07:21 Sovano wrote:All aboard the Apple-hate train. CHOO-CHOO! I honestly cringe every time I see a person take out their Apple laptop. I scolded my sister for buying one. When I compared the specs between our two laptops, mines was far more superior at half the cost. You pay for the brand, not the hardware. I'm not sure how many average people realize that. Good advertising on their part I suppose, with the revolutionary iPod and what-not. Show nested quote +On November 29 2012 07:03 Alryk wrote:
Part of it is reluctance to learn a new system, but part of it is genuine preference. I was honestly confused as hell when I was trying to use my sister's macbook pro. I'm sure if I had it for a few days straight I'd be able to learn it, but in the time to learn it all I don't find it to be worth it. I was sitting there trying to figure out how to navigate for my programs, copying and pasting, ...trivial things such as that. Show nested quote +On November 29 2012 07:00 Watercrystal wrote:
Or you end up spending 2 hours to search for a Mac version because it's a Windows only program...
Another pain-staking experience I had the first time on a Mac. I barely fit SC2 on my flash drive, and I bring it over for my week long break last summer. I totally forgot about needing Mac versions of programs since I'm used to installing programs that always used Windows instead of Mac. I didn't have a fun break. I'm completely in love with my iPhone, it has a lot of value in my life. Although for most of their other products I just can't see how people justify the costs for overpriced pieces of electronics. It's hard for anyone to deny that they indeed jack up the prices on their products because they know they have a solid grasp on average consumers. I guess this is perhaps why I'm so critical about this when in reality most people don't know what they're paying for really. I still have friends come up to me and ask how much RAM my laptop has in what they think is a measure of how fast a computer should be. Although what's mind-boggling is how my tech geek friends are so infatuated with Apple. They have an equal level of understanding, yet decide to buy Apple products anyways. If anyone who falls in that same category or has some insight into that, I would like to hear their answer. I'm not even being sarcastic or anything, I seriously want to know why.
I probably fit in that category. I know quite a bit about computers, to the point where I've built several, can code a bit, have set up and ran several linux-based servers, used linux as desktop os for about 3 years, used windows for a few years and now having used osx since '08.
There are 4 reasons I went with Apple.
1. I was bored of the upkeep involved in running a linux desktop.
2. I wanted a nice computer, and I wanted to try OSX.
3. I was tired of massive noisy mid towers and cheap monitors.
4. I was about done with gaming, so I was done chasing ultimate performance per dollar.
I am generally very happy with my iMac, not so much with Mountain Lion.
From personal experience I've come to the following conclusions:
- I don't really mind what os I'm running. They all have their good and bad. If I were to recommend one to a general user I would say windows 7.
- I think a mac is worth it, _if_ you are not after the highest possible performance. With a mac you invest in a high quality display and design.
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