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I agree with the fact that mac's generally have very nice screen's but a screen can always be purchases separately for desktops and there are laptops with nice screen's out there. PC's get a bad rep because of the average consumer who spends $600 or less, or users who just buy hp or dell/retail even if they spend $1000. Hardcore PC users know what they are doing and either build or know where to look when buying.
I have a Xbox 360/PSP/PS1/Gamecube/GBA in addition to my PC, but in my opinion consoles are killing the gaming industry. They were essential to getting gaming on it's feet and keeping it there, but consoles are holding PC's back. Now that everyone has one it's more about releasing games as fast as possible for maximum profit. I've even lost faith in Nintendo. The whole motion controller and touchscreen interfaces are innovative, but not ideal for gaming.
If your worried about not being able to run a game on PC or upgrading; as long as your PC has a decent GPU you should be fine and I'm not talking a million dollars here either. You could get by with a $50 GPU for low/medium settings but you can spend as little as $100 (ATI 4850) and max most games for the next few years since the current gen of consoles will be around at least till 2012. I Imagine in 2012, games will experience a massive leap in scale and graphical appearance. Not any better just shinier so I imagine the average Mac/PC user will think it's better and the Linux guys will just laugh at them both as they boot linux on the consoles for use as a decently spec'd cheap computer. All the console gamers will be bragging it looks better than PC. No; a console will never look better than a high end gaming rig since consoles basically use modified versions of older GPU's (sony/nintendo/microsoft are probably designing their cards right now so when it comes out it will be old tech and ancient by the time the following generation comes out).
I definitely agree that Windows PCs get a bad rap because of the cheap, bad examples out there. They generally don't lead to user satisfaction. I really wish the garbage, loss-leader mentality to product design needs to die. I'm not singling out computers either. That applies to nearly everything. You get what you pay for.
When talking to many enthusiast PC users (where enthusiast means someone who enjoys being up on the latest gear, enjoys building and upgrading computers, and gets satisfaction out of maxing performance) I often get the sense that their way is the "right" way. It obviously doesn't fit everyone. I definitely understand their frustration with Apple's product line, because it leaves several markets underserved. Apple can't do everything, nor should they. As far as I can tell, the enthusiast market is being served very well by so many other companies.
I find the iPad fascinating because it's so divisive. The device is very Apple. A lot of enthusiasts flat out hate it. It deviates so far from traditional computers, and it has severe technical limitations. But it does offer a very compelling user experience that a lot of everyday people enjoy using, and find easy to use. I personally get excited when technology gets "regular" people excited, and Apple has been doing a lot of that lately. I feel we should embrace that. And that leads me nicely into gaming.
I've played computer games longer than console games. (This is the time I'll share my dark secret: When other families got an Apple II or a Commodore 64, we got an Atari 800. When others got an Amiga, we got an Atari ST. We did get Macs though.) And I had some great times. My first official console was an NES. I'm still a gamer to this day. My wife was never really a gamer, but she appreciates what they can offer. She is blown away by some of the games I've played (Metal Gear Solid, Half Life 2, the Mass Effects, GTA IV, and lately Red Dead Redemption), but she's frustrated because the barriers to entry are so high for her. The controls, even in console games, can be quite complex. She hasn't developed the habits or learned the gaming vernacular we take for granted. Traditional games frustrate her. What does she keep going back to? Rock Band. Wii Sports Resort. She can play those. She has a blast. More importantly, she's psyched she can engage in one of my favorite pastimes
with me.
I know a lot of traditional gamers scoff at motion control. "It's a fad." Maybe it will be, but my hope is that it does get new people to get into gaming. We got my in-laws a Wii for Christmas and they love it. Years ago, I could not imagine ever gaming with them. I don't want gaming to be so insular. I want new people to enjoy what I've enjoyed for so long, and hopefully get why gaming has shaped my perception and tastes. Forget motion. Consoles in general have brought tons of people into gaming, and there's a wide variety of software for almost any taste. I don't think consoles are killing PC gaming, and I don't think they will. Gaming is changing and evolving though; there's no doubt about that. (As an aside, one point you made is that consoles helped establish gaming, sort of implying a possible shift back to general use computers. I could sort of see that as a possibility, with the Xbox 360 and especially the PS3 showing a sort of blending of the two sides. I sort of have a love/hate relationship with my PS3 for that reason, but that's because the frosted side of me prefers a console that behaves more like a console, not less.)
I think you said earlier something along the lines of 'Jobs should bend to the will of the users.' There are two perspectives to that. First, there's the enthusiast perspective, in which case Apple's proprietary, integrated systems are frustrating and limiting (I'd again argue that Apple can choose to ignore this market for longer still, as enthusiasts are pretty well covered). Then there's the "average Joe" perspective, who don't want to change to be better computer users. They'd prefer to have more intuitive human/computer interactions from technology that has been designed to adapt to them.
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Anyone who buys a Mac Mini is making a mistake. The hardware is laughable. Honestly you'd be better off getting a macbook than a mac mini. The new model costs a $1000 and has laughable specs even by mac standards.
This build would be $550 for the hardware and $150 for the chassis (carbon fiber layered on steel (or other metal with better heat properties)). This render is 8.25 x 6.95 x 3.04 in. The power supply is external but small (laptop charger). This was designed with a NVIDIA 9600 gt. I could use MXM and a riser to decrease thickness and make it the same height as the mac mini but that's not the point. There's still room to spare, but I'd rather not get into MXM's unless I decide to go with this build. Right now a linux laptop cloud gaming from my own gaming rig seems cooler. Furthermore I could mount a quad core with a 5670, but I used an i3 530, 2 gb ddr3 1333, and a 250 gb 7200 rpm hdd with a slot loading drive to keep power consumption down.
Let me know what you think. Right now my latest fascination is too put Linux on an eSATA flash drive and boot games from it using WINE or Cedega. That and rebuilding a chassis for my Pioneer HDJ-1000's.
Just a quick correction that the Mac mini is not $1000. The $1000 gets you a small workgroup server with dual hard drives and a full version of Snow Leopard Server. The standard mini did go up in price to $700, which I feel is too much. I still want a low end model at $500. I'll be keeping my current mini, thanks.
Is your SFF build a definite go? You'll have to start a new thread detailing the project. It will be fun to follow. Or if you're in one of the case mod forums, send us a link.
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I agree with the fact that mac's generally have very nice screen's but a screen can always be purchases separately for desktops and there are laptops with nice screen's out there. PC's get a bad rep because of the average consumer who spends $600 or less, or users who just buy hp or dell/retail even if they spend $1000. Hardcore PC users know what they are doing and either build or know where to look when buying.
I have a Xbox 360/PSP/PS1/Gamecube/GBA in addition to my PC, but in my opinion consoles are killing the gaming industry. They were essential to getting gaming on it's feet and keeping it there, but consoles are holding PC's back. Now that everyone has one it's more about releasing games as fast as possible for maximum profit. I've even lost faith in Nintendo. The whole motion controller and touchscreen interfaces are innovative, but not ideal for gaming.
If your worried about not being able to run a game on PC or upgrading; as long as your PC has a decent GPU you should be fine and I'm not talking a million dollars here either. You could get by with a $50 GPU for low/medium settings but you can spend as little as $100 (ATI 4850) and max most games for the next few years since the current gen of consoles will be around at least till 2012. I Imagine in 2012, games will experience a massive leap in scale and graphical appearance. Not any better just shinier so I imagine the average Mac/PC user will think it's better and the Linux guys will just laugh at them both as they boot linux on the consoles for use as a decently spec'd cheap computer. All the console gamers will be bragging it looks better than PC. No; a console will never look better than a high end gaming rig since consoles basically use modified versions of older GPU's (sony/nintendo/microsoft are probably designing their cards right now so when it comes out it will be old tech and ancient by the time the following generation comes out).
I think the Xbox and PS3 shouldn't be trying to go for motion capture like Nintendo. I believe that even though the gaming industry is booming that gaming is dying. I consider myself among the last few true PC gamers. I still play DOS games from time to time and lot of modern games (last decade to today), but COD6 is bad and BFBC2 has nothing on BF2142. Yes I own both, own most games on the market actually. Some on multiple platforms.
Anyone who buys a Mac Mini is making a mistake. The hardware is laughable. Honestly you'd be better off getting a macbook than a mac mini. The new model costs a $1000 and has laughable specs even by mac standards.
This build would be $550 for the hardware and $150 for the chassis (carbon fiber layered on steel (or other metal with better heat properties)). This render is 8.25 x 6.95 x 3.04 in. The power supply is external but small (laptop charger). This was designed with a NVIDIA 9600 gt. I could use MXM and a riser to decrease thickness and make it the same height as the mac mini but that's not the point. There's still room to spare, but I'd rather not get into MXM's unless I decide to go with this build. Right now a linux laptop cloud gaming from my own gaming rig seems cooler. Furthermore I could mount a quad core with a 5670, but I used an i3 530, 2 gb ddr3 1333, and a 250 gb 7200 rpm hdd with a slot loading drive to keep power consumption down.
Let me know what you think. Right now my latest fascination is too put Linux on an eSATA flash drive and boot games from it using WINE or Cedega. That and rebuilding a chassis for my Pioneer HDJ-1000's.
Quote:
I agree with the fact that mac's generally have very nice screen's but a screen can always be purchases separately for desktops and there are laptops with nice screen's out there. PC's get a bad rep because of the average consumer who spends $600 or less, or users who just buy hp or dell/retail even if they spend $1000. Hardcore PC users know what they are doing and either build or know where to look when buying.
I have a Xbox 360/PSP/PS1/Gamecube/GBA in addition to my PC, but in my opinion consoles are killing the gaming industry. They were essential to getting gaming on it's feet and keeping it there, but consoles are holding PC's back. Now that everyone has one it's more about releasing games as fast as possible for maximum profit. I've even lost faith in Nintendo. The whole motion controller and touchscreen interfaces are innovative, but not ideal for gaming.
If your worried about not being able to run a game on PC or upgrading; as long as your PC has a decent GPU you should be fine and I'm not talking a million dollars here either. You could get by with a $50 GPU for low/medium settings but you can spend as little as $100 (ATI 4850) and max most games for the next few years since the current gen of consoles will be around at least till 2012. I Imagine in 2012, games will experience a massive leap in scale and graphical appearance. Not any better just shinier so I imagine the average Mac/PC user will think it's better and the Linux guys will just laugh at them both as they boot linux on the consoles for use as a decently spec'd cheap computer. All the console gamers will be bragging it looks better than PC. No; a console will never look better than a high end gaming rig since consoles basically use modified versions of older GPU's (sony/nintendo/microsoft are probably designing their cards right now so when it comes out it will be old tech and ancient by the time the following generation comes out).
I think the Xbox and PS3 shouldn't be trying to go for motion capture like Nintendo. I believe that even though the gaming industry is booming that gaming is dying. I consider myself among the last few true PC gamers. I still play DOS games from time to time and lot of modern games (last decade to today), but COD6 is bad and BFBC2 has nothing on BF2142. Yes I own both, own most games on the market actually. Some on multiple platforms.
Anyone who buys a Mac Mini is making a mistake. The hardware is laughable. Honestly you'd be better off getting a macbook than a mac mini. The new model costs a $1000 and has laughable specs even by mac standards.
This build would be $550 for the hardware and $150 for the chassis (carbon fiber layered on steel (or other metal with better heat properties)). This render is 8.25 x 6.95 x 3.04 in. The power supply is external but small (laptop charger). This was designed with a NVIDIA 9600 gt. I could use MXM and a riser to decrease thickness and make it the same height as the mac mini but that's not the point. There's still room to spare, but I'd rather not get into MXM's unless I decide to go with this build. Right now a linux laptop cloud gaming from my own gaming rig seems cooler. Furthermore I could mount a quad core with a 5670, but I used an i3 530, 2 gb ddr3 1333, and a 250 gb 7200 rpm hdd with a slot loading drive to keep power consumption down.
Let me know what you think. Right now my latest fascination is too put Linux on an eSATA flash drive and boot games from it using WINE or Cedega. That and rebuilding a chassis for my Pioneer HDJ-1000's.
