Upgrade or go Apple?

[XDroidie626]

So I have some money coming from a accident soon, and im going to allocate some of it to my PC.

So I still have a rather powerful desktop (As well as 4 laptops for their various purposes) the specs are R9 290, 16GB DDR3 RAM, G1 Sniper M3, i5 2500, 840 evo 120GB SSD.

But as I become older I am becoming less reliant on the power I need, I don't play games as much any more which is what the above system was originally designed for, but I do still use VMWare a lot.

I am also getting tired of Windows, Windows 10 for me has been the worst to date, I have had no end of crashes and other faults that slow down anything I do, so I am looking to move OS in this upgrade aswell.

I know Linux and OSX rather well but I am looking for a simpler experience which is why Apple is on the cards, as my job is fixing PCs, I cannot be arsed to come home and fix my own PCs which is something I am doing more often on my desktop with Windows 10.

So my primary purpose will be video content, I spend a lot of time viewing youtube, netflix etc, also seeing as it is summer soon the DSLR will be coming out more often so Lightroom will be used also, and I am also looking at getting a gopro for holidays, so a bit of FCP X (Will only need trial version) if I select OSX.

 

I am also a CS student, so documents and programming are of course a requirement, so far I have done fine on Windows but I have a feeling the next upgrade for my desktop will change it into a VM server more than a desktop and then remote in.

 

So what route should I go? Get a 4k screen and a Mac Mini, iMac or upgrade the desktop and run Linux?

 

Thanks

[ALwin]

My advice: it's your personal choice.

 

What I am currently using:

Desktop: custom built Windows based workstation, for the horsepower and because I didn't feel like spending $10K on the Mac Pro.

Portable:  MacBook Pro 15"

 

I use them for editing video, editing photos, with my freelance and consultancy jobs, etc. I used to be a long time Windows person, but as I'm older (no longer a student who only has to worry about school and homework while parents took care of other things) with other priorities and responsibilities, I find myself having less and less time to troubleshoot or deal with any hardware/software issues that might pop up.  I just want something that works almost immediately out of the box, not dealing with pre-installed bloatware (like what comes with Windows based laptops), so I went the route of OSX and love it.

 

People may say stuff like you get more bang for the buck with Windows than Apple.  But sometimes that savings in money might come back and bite you in the ass later in terms of time and energy wasted in trying to resolve an issue.

[ShadowCaptain]

go mac, osx is great  and the recent macs are all pretty good,plus you can still keep your PC for occasional gaming, just run a KVM switch so you can swap between

Id get a 15" retina pro, and hook it up to your monitor, then you have a nice portable system, and can use your exsting monitor, keyboard and mouse etc

Though the modern iMacs are decent too, the mac mini is..okish though not really something I recommend often

[Kirky2k15]

Can you elaborate on the problems you are having with win 10 out of interest? Most have 0 issues with it...

[ALwin]

10 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

Though the modern iMacs are decent too, the mac mini is..okish though not really something I recommend often

I definitely agree with this.  Mac Minis are OK but if I'm going to be looking for something that low powered I might as well get something like an Air or the new Macbook.

 

The 27" 5K iMac might be suitable if you plan to do a lot of video/photo editing that requires accurate color.  Apple has enabled 10-bit color support on it without the need for a workstation GPU.

 

The 15" retina is also nice.  I know I enjoy using mine.

 

But I repeat: it's your personal choice and look at what you need, what your priorities are and figure out what would best suit you.

[XDroidie626]

14 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

go mac, osx is great  and the recent macs are all pretty good,plus you can still keep your PC for occasional gaming, just run a KVM switch so you can swap between

Id get a 15" retina pro, and hook it up to your monitor, then you have a nice portable system, and can use your exsting monitor, keyboard and mouse etc

Though the modern iMacs are decent too, the mac mini is..okish though not really something I recommend often

Don't need another laptop, I have 4 haha, but I will just remote in if I need OSX.

Mac Mini was on the table because its cheap but I suppose when considering screen/kbm/specs are worth it with the 27", should be good for films

[QFA350]

Install OS X on your PC!

[XDroidie626]

Just now, Warning said:

Install OS X on your PC!

Need reliability, Hackintoshes always seem to break 

[XDroidie626]

25 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

go mac, osx is great  and the recent macs are all pretty good,plus you can still keep your PC for occasional gaming, just run a KVM switch so you can swap between

Id get a 15" retina pro, and hook it up to your monitor, then you have a nice portable system, and can use your exsting monitor, keyboard and mouse etc

Though the modern iMacs are decent too, the mac mini is..okish though not really something I recommend often

Just had a thought to your suggestion, maybe use it in dock mode?.

Problem is I have a chromebook, X220 (For work) HP Probook (For Work which will be used for remote only) an Asus X552EA (For gaming away and testing) and of course the desktop

[ShadowCaptain]

15 minutes ago, XDroidie626 said:

Just had a thought to your suggestion, maybe use it in dock mode?.

Problem is I have a chromebook, X220 (For work) HP Probook (For Work which will be used for remote only) an Asus X552EA (For gaming away and testing) and of course the desktop

 

Yeah i would use it docked, hey i have my desktop, 2x 11" laptops (one for gaming, one for linux), my 18" gaming laptop and my desktop and i still want a macbook

just means not needing to find a spare desk for an imac just hooked a 15" retina up to your existing gaming desktop etc

get rid of the chromebook.. 2 work laptops? why? a 15" retina can be used for gaming, with the dedicated GPU it would beat the Asus

[XDroidie626]

1 minute ago, ShadowCaptain said:

 

Yeah i would use it docked, hey i have my desktop, 2x 11" laptops (one for gaming, one for linux), my 18" gaming laptop and my desktop and i still want a macbook

just means not needing to find a spare desk for an imac just hooked a 15" retina up to your existing gaming desktop etc

get rid of the chromebook.. 2 work laptops? why? a 15" retina can be used for gaming, with the dedicated GPU it would beat the Asus

I use 2 work laptops due to our remote needs, its 15" and rather heavy, so I picked up a x220, going to setup teamviewer and leave the HP at home then teamviewer that then remote to our customers servers when needed (Which isn't that often) plus the x220 is better for battery.

The chromebook is an ultimate backup laptop, so I can use google remote desktop if my x220 dies (Which is its purpose now).

My girlfriend and her dad look at me weird for having so many PCs, but I always have needs for them lol.

[ShadowCaptain]

3 minutes ago, XDroidie626 said:

My girlfriend and her dad look at me weird for having so many PCs, but I always have needs for them lol.

Yeah, I have 2 servers, 3 desktops, 5 laptops and 3 tablets, and all get used  haha

but yeah imac or macbook get my vote,

 

If you really are just using it for light use, then mac mini would of course be great

[XDroidie626]

Just about to order, but I am looking at RAM, which should I get 8GB or 16GB?