[IxDA Discuss] What's the best Computer for Designers?

[Todd Zaki Warfel]

On Aug 30, 2007, at 11:22 PM, Dante Murphy wrote:

> [...] Macs are expensive.

That argument hasn't been true for years. Mac minis start under $600.  
You can pick one up and use your existing mouse, keyboard, and  
monitor. That's what I've done for my parents (last Christmas). Want  
everything, iMacs start at $1199. And you can pick up Mac notebooks  
just over $1k.

Now you can try and argue "But I can get a Dell laptop for $600." Uh,  
huh. Anyone ever really done that? You start at $600 and by the time  
you add software, some ram, a decent HD, you're over $1200. It's  
happened to nearly every friend and family member I know that's  
purchased a Dell. And then 3 months in, they have to reformat the HD  
and reinstall everything.

Either way, cost is relative. Macs and PCs are typically within a  
couple hundred bucks of each other. Sometimes Macs are higher,  
sometimes PCs are higher.

> Now do I want to lay out considerably more cash to get a Mac just  
> to learn the platform?  Will I be suitably impressed such that I  
> start shelling out even more cash to buy the Mac versions of CS3,  
> Omnigraffle, etc.?  I can't say it won't happen, but there's a  
> significant ROI to consider.

OmniGraffle comes free with the MacBook Pros. CS3? Well, if you have  
the Windows version, you can install Windows on your Mac using  
Parallels ($79) or Bootcamp (free). Then install all your Windows  
software under that if you'd like. This way you'll have the best of  
both worlds. You'll get to learn and appreciate the Mac platform at  
almost no cost.

> I've never felt that the platform on which I run my tools has  
> constrained my ability to design.

And you probably won't until you experience something else. If what  
you have works for you, and works well, then there's probably no  
reason to switch. But once you experience a Mac, as Christopher said,  
you wonder what took you so long.

When people ask me what they'll regret when going to a Mac, my  
response is always the same - Just that you didn't do it sooner.


Cheers!

Todd Zaki Warfel
President, Design Researcher
Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
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