Im running windows xp pro, I have a pentium 4 2.8 ghz with 1 gig of RAM

Any ideas on what is comparable to this with the mac setups. I know the macbooks have the dual core processors, but the numbers dont mean much to me. . My computer is plenty fast now so I just don't want to downgrade.

The number is clock speed. It can sometimes be used as an indication of performance, but is really not too reliable because many other factors determine the performance of a computer including RAM, number of cores, size of cache, and general architecture.

The new Core 2 and Core 2 Duo processors that you'll find on the mac and most new computers, while having much lower clock speeds, is MUCH faster overall.

By the way, why are you interested in a mac? What do you generally use your computer for?

i dont know anything about macs
but if ur looking for an upgrade.
get a computer with a core 2 duo.
my processor is an e8400 (3.0) which is hella fast compared to my 6 year old piece of ****.
i'd suggest either that or a q6600, which is 2.44, but it's quad core, and it'll be more useful in the future. both costs about the same.
also, 1 gig of RAM is usually not enough, get at least 2.
if ur playing games and stuff, get a graphics card like the 8500gt or 8600gt.
they're very affordable and can run most games on high.

don't really know wut ur looking for, but those are some things that can make ur computer faster.
u can also put ur 2 hard drives in raid-0, but that fvcks ur system up if you ever have problems, so i don't suggest it.

oh btw, i just found something crazy today.
a QUAD core extreme that the factory overclocked to 4.0 mhz
it's basically a 3.2 quad extreme, but they overclocked it for you.
4 fvcking point 0 mhz
fvcking insane.
to me, 3.0 duo was insane, i can't even begin to imagine how fvcking fast that would be.
i'd like to see what kinda cpu fan they use for that beast.

The other thing to consider is that these days processing power is often not the limiting factor in overall performance. Unless you're doing some very specific processing intensive tasks, it will be other things slowing you down, like amount of RAM and the speed of your harddrive.

In conclusion, Core 2 Duo will be more than fast enough for you unless you feel the need to virus scan, encode videos, unzip 5 gb rar files, play video games and watch movies at the same time on a regular basis.

I don't do anything really intense. Mainly just internet, music, school stuff (excel and word), basic stuff. The only games I play are web games and sometimes Civilization.

And why I want a mac. I want a laptop, a lot of my friends have macs and they all seem to like them, my girlfriend has one and I like a lot of things about it. I figured I'd give a mac a try anyway.

Macs are too yuppie IMO, and often the users are too stupid to handle technology properly, thus using the apple brand.

Asus makes much better systems, and they're available at Costco if I recall correctly. Are you looking at the Macbook or the Pro?

if it's just basic stuff, then almost any mac laptop will do.
our school gives us these crappy ibooks, and they still do all the things we need to.
but they're upgrading to macbooks next year, i'm excited

kabatura said:

I don't do anything really intense. Mainly just internet, music, school stuff (excel and word), basic stuff. The only games I play are web games and sometimes Civilization.

And why I want a mac. I want a laptop, a lot of my friends have macs and they all seem to like them, my girlfriend has one and I like a lot of things about it. I figured I'd give a mac a try anyway.

Click to expand...

get the white macbook that's upgraded with the DVD drive + dvd burner if you need that. Then add extra RAM to 4GB ram (Max, it comes with 2GB)

If you just play music, word, excel, internet, which is basically what I do, then the cheapest 1000$ macbook will probably do.

I have a 3 yr old G4 ibook (not even made anymore) and it is working beautifully with the simple stuff I do + some basic image editing here and there.

I also play a lot of movies and vids like dvds, so it works great for that too.

The only thing I regret is not getting a dvd burner built in because I needed that a few times for burning movies I made for school, but i just used an external one. At the time the dvd burner was only avaiable for $2000 powerbooks and I didn't wanna shell out the cash.

Anyways, whoever said macs are for people who can't use computers that's true because windows is very difficult to use once you go to a mac. Everything is so streamlined, if you want ot waste time fixing crashes and letting paranoia drive you to backup everyday, well go ahead get a windows pc.

I swtiched to mac about 6 yrs ago and I still love it. I will never go back to a pc unless my job requires me to, but everything is compatible nowadays.

in any case, for the most basic stuff like you wrote about, i'd recommend the most basic macbook. upgrade your RAM to 4GB if you paln on using photoshop or video editting and also get a better graphics card. otherwise you're set.

EDIT: macs are not good with games...so sh1tt with games, which is another reason i got one so i could focus on school. But I think AOE and Civ games still work on mac, as well as starcraft, rise of nations, WoW, etc. Spore is also coming out soon which will be for mac and pc, so that's awesome as well. I'd still prefer a PC to play games on though, that's one thing to consider.

Rhoto said:

Macs are too yuppie IMO, and often the users are too stupid to handle technology properly, thus using the apple brand.

Click to expand...

So basically your "reasons" are:

1) too yuppie - not a reason
2) users too stupid? - is there a switch that makes you stupid once you buy a mac?

Macbook Pro is overkill for you man...don't be tempted by the shiny aluminum.

Desert Fox said:

So basically your "reasons" are:

1) too yuppie - not a reason
2) users too stupid? - is there a switch that makes you stupid once you buy a mac?

Macbook Pro is overkill for you man...don't be tempted by the shiny aluminum.

Click to expand...

1) Of course yuppie support is a reason...if you can't see it, you got some work to do mate.

The entire company is built around the fact that their users don't know how to operate a PC, so they buy a Mac, because "it just works." Yet they forget, macs use sh1t quality components, (I've owned 4 iPods, none lasted a year with out breaking and 2 Laptops, both of which were unable to receive a charge after 4 months) and the owners are so high on themselves it makes you want to kill them.

To illustrate

Video 1
Video 2

Anybody know how to change the resolution on a mac. The smaller macs are cheaper but the stuff is so tiny sometimes it's hard for me to see.

And about mac users being stupid compared to pc users. I think the same could be said on pc versus linux users or something. As long as in the future to use a computer you don't need to know how to program one I am totally fine with just knowing how to work whatever I have.

Rhoto said:

1) Of course yuppie support is a reason...if you can't see it, you got some work to do mate.

The entire company is built around the fact that their users don't know how to operate a PC, so they buy a Mac, because "it just works." Yet they forget, macs use sh1t quality components, (I've owned 4 iPods, none lasted a year with out breaking and 2 Laptops, both of which were unable to receive a charge after 4 months) and the owners are so high on themselves it makes you want to kill them.

To illustrate

Video 1
Video 2

Click to expand...

that just shows you're an idiot who bought ipod after ipod even when it broke down repeatedly. why? because it's the best? that's right let's hear you say it.

2 laptops? that's a battery problem fool. there was an apple recall and if you were smart, you woulda gotten free replacement batteries like i did for my ibook hahahahaha

and did you seriously try to cite maddox as a relevant source for....anything? hahahahaha dude, look at yourself

kabatura said:

Anybody know how to change the resolution on a mac. The smaller macs are cheaper but the stuff is so tiny sometimes it's hard for me to see.

Click to expand...

On the top right corner next to the time you should be able to see a TV shaped thing. Click on that.

kabatura said:

Anybody know how to change the resolution on a mac. The smaller macs are cheaper but the stuff is so tiny sometimes it's hard for me to see.

And about mac users being stupid compared to pc users. I think the same could be said on pc versus linux users or something. As long as in the future to use a computer you don't need to know how to program one I am totally fine with just knowing how to work whatever I have.

Click to expand...

1. Click the Apple at the top left of your menu bar.
2. click system preferences
3. click displays
4. change your resolution

Haha I'm very disappointed, that takes as many steps as it does in Vista. And besides why is he asking how to do it, it should have been blatantly obvious and intuitive.

Desert Fox said:

that just shows you're an idiot who bought ipod after ipod even when it broke down repeatedly. why? because it's the best? that's right let's hear you say it.

Click to expand...

Lol, sure sweet heart. I own a Zune, 0 problems, wireless sync, touch screen, better interface for the home, car and personal use.

desert fox said:

2 laptops? that's a battery problem fool. there was an apple recall and if you were smart, you woulda gotten free replacement batteries like i did for my ibook hahahahaha

Click to expand...

I actually took both into the their HQ, and they had no clue what was wrong. I've been through 4 batteries, over $500 worth of repair work (de gratis), no avail. I'm curious, are you an engineer? Exactly.

And guess what, I got all $4,032.56 back. So...who is the smart one?

and did you seriously try to cite maddox as a relevant source for....anything? hahahahaha dude, look at yourself

Click to expand...

So you are an idiot who can't actually defend their point.

Thanks for playing cupcake.

Rhoto said:

blah blah blah

Click to expand...

I'm still laughing at you trying to use humorous biased youtube vids to try to make a point. On top of that you bought 4 items that repeatedly didn't work for you and finally learned haha wow. Do you cut yourself 4 times before realizing "hmm this hurts." Hell I'm surprised you can even read what I'm typing, but regardless great job dude, you've overcome so many mental handicaps in your life. I shouldn't challenge you so much with logical arguments this early.

oh and remember (1) e-thugging isn't cool and (2) only to hit on women "cupcake" :crackup:

I hate the new intel based macs.. may as well be a damn PC.. thank god i have my dual core G5 motorola..