to MAC or to PC??? that is the question!

hi there everyone. i am needing someone genuine advice here! i am about to purchase a system for home business use, (business being graphic design and below the line advertising) using mainly, freehand, photoshop, illustrator and quark. i have been working on mac for the past 7 years now, digging it,

but i can now AFFORD to purchase a

p4 2,8 Ghz -, 13u 800Mhz FSB, 512K L2 cache - hyperthreading
jet J-865 G - hyperthreading - socket 478, intel 865G chipset, audio AC97 + VIDEO + Giga LAN + Firewire + RAID, 6 x PCI, 1 X AGP 8X, USB 2.0, 4 x DDR400 DC, SPDIF, SATA/ATA-133, 800MHZ FSB, ATX

or an e-mac

what do i do?

If you switch to a PC you'll need to buy all that software again. The PC versions of the software are going to be rather rich $$$. I've always found "artsy" stuff easier to do on a MAC. If you can afford to buy the PC and the software to replace the software you are using on the MAC, I suggest you buy a G5 and continue to use the software you are familiar with. Not enough power in an eMac for me, however.

Before this turns into a flaming contest: I use a PC.


data4t

Both platforms have their good and bad qualities. I own 5 Intel based PC's running WinXp and one older 400 Mhz G4 Mac with OSX 10.2. All these computers work and perform as they should. I have friends in the graphics/ad biz and they mostly use Mac based platforms. Mix of G4 and G5's

The big question is do your already have the Mac software for Os X or do you have to purchase it new? Is the software supplied by your company?

If you have to buy the software then research what platform and file formats your customers use this makes an impact on the computer and software that you must purchase. What ever formats your customers and print house is using then this is really what dictates your purchase.

In the end both platforms are PC's...personal computers what works for one person doesn't mean it works for another.

Chris

I am a designer working at more than one company. At home and at one of my jobs I use a mac (OSX PANTHER at home and OS9at work) At my other job I use a windows PC running XP.

I'll cut to the chase. In my experience the mac will be better for your situation but if you are doing a lot of 3D then the pc is worth considering as you will get a faster graphics card for less cash. If you aren't used to windows it will take a lot of heartache to get used to all of the really irritating aspects of the operating system and being part of the windows community on the web can be a real headache with pop up ads and viruses driving you nuts when you have an urgent job to finish!