Switching to the dark side?!

[MissGuardian]

I´d rather pay more for something that WORKS, than money that is still a lot for a useless computer that can barely print a page and takes 10 min to start up when it´s NEW..

You've obviously had a really bad experience, but did you ever find out why you were having these issues? Did your PC have enough memory to adequately run the OS, for example?

Yep.. It should have had more than enough memory.. Every windows computer I´ve ever touched has been slow, lagging, programs shut down etc etc.. Even when brand new..

Lack of memory is only one possible explanation. People sometimes think they can get away with having only the minimum required memory in their computers, but they soon discover that their PC's are extremely sluggish and unreliable. My sister's laptop came with Windows Vista and only 1GB of RAM. I think we waited about a week for that thing to boot up each time we had to restart it! :wink:

Mine had 4gb ram and full hdd

 

[KMG365]

I´d rather pay more for something that WORKS, than money that is still a lot for a useless computer that can barely print a page and takes 10 min to start up when it´s NEW..

You've obviously had a really bad experience, but did you ever find out why you were having these issues? Did your PC have enough memory to adequately run the OS, for example?

Yep.. It should have had more than enough memory.. Every windows computer I´ve ever touched has been slow, lagging, programs shut down etc etc.. Even when brand new..

Lack of memory is only one possible explanation. People sometimes think they can get away with having only the minimum required memory in their computers, but they soon discover that their PC's are extremely sluggish and unreliable. My sister's laptop came with Windows Vista and only 1GB of RAM. I think we waited about a week for that thing to boot up each time we had to restart it! :wink:

Mine had 4gb ram and full hdd

My computer ran Vista and now runs Windows 7 flawlessly with 4GB of RAM. So, perhaps there was some other hardware issue with your computer that caused the problems you experienced.

 

[crumbilina]

What IS the minimum amount of RAM required to run a 32bit Windows Vista/7?

Perhaps knowing that would help with understanding >.<

I have to admit, I was really agains Mac's but compared with every computer I have had in the recent past (these had LOTS of RAM - never below 4GB) it runs like a dream

 

[Moon]

What I paid for my iMac was comparable to a good quality PC. My son paid twice as much as I did for his Alienware PC.

If you are heavily into gaming, you don't buy a Mac. They are improving on that front, but it's kind of like saying "I paid less for my very nice, high quality sedan than my son did for his supercar". Sure, they are both cars and both drive but you're not going to take your Mercedes Benz around the track for 500 laps at 100+ mph. Yeah, the Benz goes fast and will need less maintenance in the long run, but it wont begin to compete at Nascar. If you buy a Benz racecar.. that's a different story. And you aren't going to buy a Mini Cooper if you are going to go off-roading or to tow your boat. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

And yes, you can get macs to run at gaming spec, but then you're talking about a Mac Pro, the pricing of which seems pretty comparable to alienware, or more depending on your machine.

Don't get me wrong, I totally want to get a Mac one day and go all iProduct zombie. I've always wanted one. But for now I shall wait and sigh from afar, LOL

 

[MissGuardian]

Mine had 4gb ram and full hdd

My computer ran Vista and now runs Windows 7 flawlessly with 4GB of RAM. So, perhaps there was some other hardware issue with your computer that caused the problems you experienced.

I and my closest family have had several computers of different brands, all with the same problems..
I´ll never voluntarily touch a Windows machine again :giggle: (just in case you haven´t already figured that out :giggle: )

 

[KMG365]

What IS the minimum amount of RAM required to run a 32bit Windows Vista/7?

As far as Windows Vista is concerned, I heard that you COULD install it on a machine with 512MB RAM, but the computer would then be about as fast as molasses going uphill. I believe the recommended minimum for Vista is 1 GB, but that's really not enough RAM to avoid significant performance issues. I'd say the more RAM the better - with about 2 GB being a more realistic minimum for Windows Vista.

 

[crumbilina]

What IS the minimum amount of RAM required to run a 32bit Windows Vista/7?

As far as Windows Vista is concerned, I heard that you COULD install it on a machine with 512MB RAM, but the computer would then be about as fast as molasses going uphill. I believe the recommended minimum for Vista is 1 GB, but that's really not enough RAM to avoid significant performance issues. I'd say the more RAM the better - with about 2 GB being a more realistic minimum for Windows Vista.

And windows 7 would be about the same?
Does the GHz of the processor come into play here too?

And I have to say... Apple customer service I am sooooo pleased with ^_^
I had a minor billing problem in iTunes the other day AND it was resolved and refunded within 24 hours! That really impressed me I has been a while since I received that kind of customer service (haha phone and internet service providers included)
I am pretty impressed... Never EVER thought that I would EVER say that about Apple >.< lol!

 

[KMG365]

What IS the minimum amount of RAM required to run a 32bit Windows Vista/7?

As far as Windows Vista is concerned, I heard that you COULD install it on a machine with 512MB RAM, but the computer would then be about as fast as molasses going uphill. I believe the recommended minimum for Vista is 1 GB, but that's really not enough RAM to avoid significant performance issues. I'd say the more RAM the better - with about 2 GB being a more realistic minimum for Windows Vista.

And windows 7 would be about the same?
Does the GHz of the processor come into play here too?

The processor speed definitely is important. I forgot to mention that earlier.

These are the minimum system requirements for Windows Vista (from the MS Windows website):

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• 1 gigabyte (GB) of system memory (512 megabytes (MB) for Home Basic)
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space (20 GB for Home Basic)
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• Support for DirectX 9 graphics with WDDM and 128 MB of graphics memory (32 MB for Home Basic)
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• DVD-ROM drive
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• Audio Output
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• Internet access (fees may apply)[/*:m:g2bnz37y]

These are the minimum system requirements for Windows 7 (from the MS Windows website):

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
  [/*:m:g2bnz37y]
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver[/*:m:g2bnz37y]

As you can see from the lists above, Windows 7 uses a bit less resources than Windows Vista.

 

[sketchi]

I own both macs and PCs, and have used them both extensively. PC is much more mainstream, so it's easier to find plugins and program updates. also, it runs any graphics-intensive game MUCH better than a mac. and renders 3D things faster. etc.

however, for the casual user, mac and PC should be about the same. mac might even be a smoother experience, since there's very little chance of getting a virus/accidentally deleting important system files. mac is a more packaged thing, not much it allows you to tinker with. myself, I prefer PC because I love customizing! I always customize my pointers/start button/etc, and mac just won't let you do that (EVERY mac user has to use a black cursor outlined in white. so boring, imo!). but, if you never customize your stuff anyway, I guess you wouldn't notice. with less things to customize, there's also less room for error.

mac = casual users who just want their computer to do the regular things, perfectly and prettily
PC = people who play games/like to tinker/use dedicated 3D software

 

[jorats]

So I got charged the OS X Lion so I contacted Apple...wow. Super nice people. I got refunded due to the fact I just bought my iMac. It was quick and easy. Love it!

 

[crumbilina]

So I got charged the OS X Lion so I contacted Apple...wow. Super nice people. I got refunded due to the fact I just bought my iMac. It was quick and easy. Love it!

I did the same thing! That was my post above about the minor issue in iTunes. I had the refund in less then 24 hours!

The customer service is wonderful!

 

[hprats]

[quote="MissGuardian":3vlhtir2]I´d rather pay more for something that WORKS, than money that is still a lot for a useless computer that can barely print a page and takes 10 min to start up when it´s NEW..

You've obviously had a really bad experience, but did you ever find out why you were having these issues? Did your PC have enough memory to adequately run the OS, for example?

Yep.. It should have had more than enough memory.. Every windows computer I´ve ever touched has been slow, lagging, programs shut down etc etc.. Even when brand new..

Lack of memory is only one possible explanation. People sometimes think they can get away with having only the minimum required memory in their computers, but they soon discover that their PC's are extremely sluggish and unreliable. My sister's laptop came with Windows Vista and only 1GB of RAM. I think we waited about a week for that thing to boot up each time we had to restart it! :wink:

Mine had 4gb ram and full hdd

My computer ran Vista and now runs Windows 7 flawlessly with 4GB of RAM. So, perhaps there was some other hardware issue with your computer that caused the problems you experienced.[/quote:3vlhtir2]

Yeah, I only have 3GB of RAM and have run Vista and 7 without any problems. And really, I have no patience for lag. It's not all about RAM, and the 1GHz processor minimum is way too low. Also, the video card matters a lot with the later versions of Windows, and it doesn't get much attention. There's also the hard drive speed. It's one of those things where your computer will only be as fast as your slowest component (not strictly true, but a good way to understand it), so adding more RAM really doesn't always help.