Mac vs. PC Help!!!

[jonesbr20]

I'm a graphic designer by education and am having to come up with a business proposal for my bosses as to why I need a Mac. Basically, I need to give the bosses the reasons why you buy a Mac and not a PC for doing design work. For me, I just know that the Mac is the way to go for doing design work. I'm not IT savvy and therefore can't get very specific with them about the reasons.

Can someone please help out with giving me reasons for the Mac compared to the PC? I am looking at getting the 24" 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme, 2GB RAM, 500GB Serial ATA Drive. I know it's expensive, roughly $3000 but putting together a PC that has that same kind of power is coming up to be the same cost. Aside from pricing, what can I use as fuel to get the Mac?

Help would be greatly appreciated.

I am a Marketing and Sales Support Manager for an Occupation Medicine business, and design material for the company itself.

Thanks,

jonesbr20

[jbennet]

No its not. Macs are very expensive

You can get the same dell (desktop) for approx $1000

[John A]

For the purpose of research, I decided to try to configure a Dell system that was as close possible to the specs of the 24" iMac that the original poster mentioned in his/her post. They still have some notable differences, but close enough for the purposes of the comparison. (All products and their respective prices are American.)

iMac 24"

Operating system: Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.8 Ghz
RAM: 2 x 1 GB 667 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM
Hard drive: 500 GB SATA
Optical drive: 8x DVD (DL/SL) +/-RW, CD+/-RW
Keyboard: Apple Keyboard
Display: Built-in 24" widescreen glossy LCD
Video card: ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO w/ 256 MB VRAM
Modem: None
Web cam: Built-in iSight
Networking: 10/100/1000 Base-T
Wireless: 108.11g (54Mb/s)
Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth 2.0
Included software: iLife '08
Warranty / tech support: 1 year warranty, 90 days phone support

Total price: $2,229

Dell XPS 720

Operating system: Vista Business
Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.93 Ghz (factory overclocked)
RAM: 2 x 1 GB 1066 Mhz (factory overclocked)
Hard drive: 500 GB ATA
Optical drive: 16x DVD (DL/SL) +/-RW, CD+/-RW
Keyboard: Dell USB Keyboard
Display: Included 24" Dell widescreen LCD
Video card: nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS w/ 256 MB VRAM
Modem: None
Web cam: None
Networking: 10/100 Base-T
Wireless: Netgear USB wireless adapter 108.11g 54Mbps
Bluetooth: None
Included software: Trend Micro Security (15 months), Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1
Warranty / tech support: 1 year warranty, 1 year phone support

Total price: $3,402

Now, this doesn't mean at all that Apple PCs tend to be cheaper than Dell's. But in this particular instance, it does seem to be the case.

As for the original question, just do some research. This website lists some of the main differences, although it does seem to be a bit biased in some areas:
http://www.macvspc.info/

[jbennet]

oh, i thaught he meant a desktop, $3000 isnt bad for a laptop

[John A]

>oh, i thaught he meant a desktop, $3000 isnt bad for a laptop
An iMac is a desktop computer. So is the Dell XPS 720. Regardless, your claim that a Dell system (or any computer) with identical specs could be bought for $1000 is simply ludicrous. The Intel Core 2 Extreme alone retails for about $1000 in the US.

[jbennet]

i didnt see it was an extreme

i got a 1.6 core2
3gb ram
19" tft
250gb hdd
dvdr
geforce 8800

for £450 which is like $900

[iamthwee]

Apart from joeprogrammer's price comparision (he's only compared two products so it is hardly conclusive) I don't believe macs have any advantages over windows for graphic design.

If you compare them using the exact hardware configuration setup, the differences with software is hardly noticable. (As a hobbyist 3d artist I can testify for this. I've tested this both on macs and pcs. The same goes for 2d suites, photoshop ,flash etc.)

To me it sounds like you are have already decided you want a mac and you will do whatever it takes to convince your boss to buy you one.

For me, I just know that the Mac is the way to go for doing design work.

That's not a valid reason is it?

[iamthwee]

Open source operating systems aren't too bad either.

The below work was done predominatly using linux and wine... :)

http://www.indigorenderer.com/joomla/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3038

http://www.indigorenderer.com/joomla/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2997

http://www.indigorenderer.com/joomla/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1975&highlight=flare+iamthwee

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=86235&highlight=modo+maxwell

I'd I still maintain any work done in photoshop I could recreate in the Gimp :P

[ritgrad83]

I am a big Mac fan too and I would love to use a Mac at work. In your case - have you also considered buying software in your costs? Does the business already have software for the PC - in that case - you will have a very tough time convincing your bosses/clients why they should shell out the $2229 + for the 2.8Ghz Extreme and then turn around and buy software - (Adobe can cost at least $900 and up for a package) which puts the price above the comparable Dell.

You also mentioned that you are not an IT person. Well - is there an IT person that knows enough about setting up a Mac in a mixed environment and also has some Unix knowledge? If this is a small shop - then it won't matter since they probably rely on the vendor (Dell, HP Apple) for support. You may also need to consider what that will cost as well.

Sure - Macs are better than Windows for what you are doing - but don't forget - someone else is paying for it - and a lot of times they tend to be very short-sighted about costs.

Good luck!