**imac vs. Dell XPS 720 or new 630--Help!!

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Level 1

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**imac vs. Dell XPS 720 or new 630--Help!!

Hi,

I have been using windows and pc products for over 16 years. I am looking at getting the new imac 20" 2.4GHZ but, I am also looking at the Dell xps 720 and new 630. I am video editing quite a bit. I always use Vegas 8.0 Pro which is fantastic!(windows only) Now, I am aware of bootcamp and love that but, my concerns are a few things.
1. The Dell xps 630 has a Nvidia 8800 GT video card vs the imacs ATI radeon hd 2600 pro. My question is will the 2600 hd keep up with higher end editing with an "imac 4gb configuration and 750 hard drive?"
2. BootCamp question: I am aware that if I dedicate more than 32gb of space of the imac hard drive to windows, it will be ntfs and "not" writeable only readable. My question is, when I record some files onto the drive while using windows through bootcamp, can I record them direct to the "apple side" of the drive so I don't have to dedicate too much drive space to windows to begin with. I only want to use just a little of the drive to have my windows programs on it. So basically I'm saying, can I be working in windows and saving direct to apple side of the partition. And if I can, will that allow me access them using windows if they are saved on the mac part of the drive?
3. Last question, if Dell xps has a far superior graphics card, why go with the imac? I really do LOVE that imac! I just want to know, with what my situation is, would it be wise to get the imac? Thank you all so much!!
-Riff

Dell, Windows XP Pro

Posted on Mar 7, 2008 4:33 PM

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Answer 1

Sagesse

Level 5

6,685 points

Mar 7, 2008 8:39 PM in response to riff4me

Welcome to Apple Discussions, riff4me!

I like Macs a lot but if you are familiar with PCs and need to use a PC only program, I'm hard pressed to give you a great reason to not buy the Dell. If you can find an acceptible substitute for Vegas Pro that runs natively on the Mac, then maybe I can be more convincing.

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Answer 2

Mar 7, 2008 8:49 PM in response to riff4me

Last question, if Dell xps has a far superior graphics card, why go with the imac?

So you don't have to deal with Windows.

However, if you are going to be getting a Mac and still dealing with Windows, I can't think of a good reason, except that you can reboot to Mac OS X whenever you are not doing video editing.

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Answer 3

Mar 8, 2008 12:34 AM in response to riff4me

1. 8800GT is by far a superior GPU than the ATI 2600. However the MacBook Pro just got an upgrade and is now running the 8600GT 512MB GPU and I am expecting to see the iMac upgraded with the same or better in the near future.

2. Windows does not recognize the Mac partition. You could use an external drive.

3. Depending on how good your current computer is, I would wait for the next iMac revision and see if they upgrade the GPU. Otherwise you are probably better off going with the Dell.

George

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Answer 4

Mar 8, 2008 4:36 AM in response to riff4me

I was faced with the same choice just a few months ago, so let me give you my perspective.
I have been a pc user for quite a number of years when it finally occurred to me that I was paying a premium price to help Microsoft debug the Windows os. The massive amount of bloatware that was included with EVERY manufacturer installed version of Windows started to get on my nerves. Plus the fact that daily virus updates were not an option, but a necessity.
If you wanted "safe" browsing, your firewall would block most sites, but you were foolish to turn it off.
Windows updates were just as bad. Your system would update willy-nilly without you having any idea what was being updated.
In short, it got to be a pain in the * just to go online.

With my iMac (20" 2.4 w/750gig hd) work is a pleasure. I have no fear of a virus attack on email or from any sites that I visit. Updates are a dream. I now check sortware updates once a week and there is usually nothing to update. My boot times are less than 20 seconds where on my pc it would usually take from 3 to 4 minutes.

If you get your iMac DO NOT get your memory from Apple, unless you prefer to be ripped a new one. I got my memory (4 Gig Ram) from OWC for less than $100.00 total, but there are many others out there.

hope this helps.

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Answer 5

Mar 8, 2008 4:38 AM in response to George Peters

Hi,

I was going to ask a similar question because I have been looking at the market ie- pc and mac to compare products ,specs etc.
The pc/dell's market have a far superior/strong spec against the mac (even the extreme) as I have been looking at both the XPS 420 ,630 and 720.

Personally i'n unsure of what to do myself as I have been using macs since 1999.
I'm unsure whether to switch or stay with the mac.

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Answer 6

Mar 8, 2008 4:51 AM in response to macbookair

To me, the Dell comes with Windows Vista. Macs come with Mac OS X Leopard. You can run Windows on Macs (in various ways) if you want. You're suck with Windows on the Dell (unless you count Linux as a viable option). The comparison ends right there...

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Answer 7

Mar 8, 2008 5:01 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Hi,

I agree and MAC OSX is far superior to the Vista OS.I'm just looking at the pc market in general and there's some very strong specs for the same money.

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Answer 8

Mar 8, 2008 5:05 AM in response to macbookair

Hi,
After researching i'm going for the iMac 20" 2.4.

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Answer 9

Mar 8, 2008 5:11 AM in response to macbookair

Looks like you already have a 24" iMac at 2.4 GHz...

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Answer 10

Mar 8, 2008 5:47 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Hi,

yes it does but no because I sold it last week.I'm going to go for another iMac because I love them and the pure ease of use ,OS and software make it a dream.

I'm using windows vista at the moment and I have to say that the longer I use it the more irritating it's getting.

What are your thoughts kenichi on the revisions for the imac?

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Answer 11

Mar 8, 2008 5:58 AM in response to macbookair

The current model is more than 7 months old, the MacBooks just go the new Penryn chip, and the school shopping season is coming up. We're not suppose to "speculate" in the forum so I'll leave it there...

I recently bought a previous gen white 17-inch iMac 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo on the Apple refurb page. I think it's awesome. I have a bigger display, so the iMac is actually off to the side as the "second" display, extending my desktop. For me, the smaller size is an advantage. Not bad for $849 + tax.

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Answer 12

Mar 8, 2008 6:07 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

hi kenichi,
Hey I understand and it is speculation but i'm thinking of holding now just incase there is a penryn refresh on the cpu and gpu which would be great.

you got a good deal at the refurb store and it's a handy 2nd display ,the uk store is very ltd to what it offers but at the moment it has 2x alu imac's on offer.

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Answer 13

Mar 8, 2008 3:07 PM in response to riff4me

Have a look at here before buying.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/27/appleimac_display_problemsreported/page2.html

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Answer 14

bbolin

Level 3

524 points

Mar 8, 2008 7:42 PM in response to Quiet Life

You can safely ignore Quiet Life, who has an axe to grind and a post history that only consist of negative statements about the iMac. Quiet Life is part of a small group who are convinced there is a vast conspiracy at Apple to sell only defective products because their iMac had issues. The 20" iMac is a great machine and has been trouble free for me since I bought in in Decemeber.

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Answer 15

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Mar 9, 2008 7:13 AM in response to riff4me

Your post strongly suggests that you intend to continue using WIndows for an essential part of your computing experience. If this is the case, unless you have some *strong compelling* reason to switch to Apple hardware, don't. I'm a long time Mac evangelist and experienced with Windows, *nix, and the MacOS so I have no axe to grind with my advice. BootCamp and virtualization are great for a user who is switching to the Mac and needs to wean his/her way off Windows as new software is being purchased and Mac experience is being gained. It is also great for people like me, who have a couple Windows programs that must be run but who otherwise use the Mac. Neither of these two descriptions sound like you - you sound committed to a Windows only program where Mac solutions exist. This being the case, don't switch.

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