No, this is a university research department, we crunch huge numbers and produce a lot of product and anybody can use whatever hardware and software he finds effective, customize as he pleases, and load it to the gills, but we have to justify it and then produce. Nobody is tenured here and it's "get grants and publish" or perish. The machines are challenged to the max and turned over frequently (nobody is running obsolete equipment) and we upgrade at every opportunity (which are few this year with budget cuts). But it's important to recognize that powerful and cool are not mutually exclusive. I have an iMac at home because its very cool and powerful enough. I have loaded Mac Pros at work because they are very powerful and cool enough. See? :wink:
18k, that seems like server prices. Yep went to the site, that is a server. So you use a server as a PC? Thats hilarious Red. If I remember tonight, going to configure a dell server with the same specs and see what the price is, and then a self built system. Have to get back to work so can't do it now.
I already said that it was a loaded MAc Pro, not a server--our servers are rack mounted UNIX machines. Its got 8 processors, 32 gigs of ram, and four terrabyte internal drives, two big graphics cards and two 30" monitors. RAM, hard drives, and big monitors have all come down, so I might get it for about $15K today. Hey, its not my money, I need it for work! It's not LSU's money either, it was paid for from contract work. I have a $2400 iMac at home where I don't need the horsepower. It's still overkill at home, but I like overkill.
macs are for people. pcs are for people that understand computers. for me, macs are just easier. easier to find things, easier to organize things, easier to connect to things. ive never had to worry about viruses, etc. my macs never lock up. the only problems ive had are software compatibility, but thats a rarity these days. or maybe it just comes down to gaming. dorks.
Based on your analogy, you are comparing a $200 Dell ("lollipop") laptop that you saw on TV to the equivalent of an enterprise server in your office. It's not the same. Just because you use a Mac and it's awesome doesn't mean an equally equipped Windows machine couldn't handle the load as well. If you are serious about getting a PC you are going to build it yourself anyway. I know if I had $18k to burn I could do it, probably pretty easily. Any comments about performance or stability is speculative at best since it sounds like you haven't used a Windows box in quite some time anyway. Unrelated: Also, anyone who uses "Mac's don't get viruses" as a reason why they are better or as justification to buy one is a moron.
It doesn't have 8 processors, it has 8 cores or 2 quad cores processors I am sure. I don't know anyone who would spend 18k for a personal computer for home use. I got the Mac Pro in your ball park at 15.5k, probably have to add on a few thousand more for the software and extras. The Dell is in the same ball park as far as prices but has much better specs, and many many more options than the Mac pro. I can't stress enough how much more options you have to go with with the Dell. I did build a Dell as close as I could to the Mac Pro for 14.8k. Specs are a bit better, 48GB of ram, 3.33 Processor. However the monitors are smaller, at only 25". And you would probably have to throw in a few thousand more on extras as well... Man I wish I could get my hands on those two machines and do some bench marking. Of course I wouldn't go with the Dell, I would go with self built, so I can overclock and do water cooling. There is no point in having a machine that powerful though for personal use, whether its mac or pc.
Absurd. I've understood computers since before your birth. Yes campus is full of ditzy bimbos with macs who know nothing of what is inside. What I've been trying to explain is that there are serious power computer users using Mac in serious applications. You haven't paid attention. I've got a half-dozen shiny new ones in my lab across the hall. I haven't been putting down PC's here and I'm not speaking from ignorance. I've been working with them for 25 years alongside other platforms. I'm quite aware of their strengths and weaknesses and they do have them. Not so much the platforms as WIndows, which is wretched. A lot of the Grad students use Linux instead. I'm just defending Macs against a dwindling number of people (mostly gamers) who haven't had any experience with them and regard them as "toys" or "not worth the price". It's all relative. To me its a tool and worth every penny.
