New All-In-One Desktop: Windows Or Mac ?

[Rianne]

I'm on my 2nd iMac. I've had this one since 2017, the one before, I think 7 or 8 years. iPhone, iPad, and iMac sync so nicely. Calendars, texts, pictures, contacts, all update each other beautifully. I can make phone calls on my iMac, FaceTime. The second I take a pic or schedule something on my calendar, it's immediately updated.

Applecare, what would I do without them? Any issue because of my ignorance, they are there. It can take 5 minutes or an hour to solve my problem (trust me, it's because I'm computer illiterate). They are always polite, always ask if I have any more questions.

 

[Chuckanut]

I found I get more useful life use from my Macs. They just last longer than Windows machines I have owned. I now replace them about every 7 -8 years. The MacBook I am writing this on is just starting to show its age, it's at 7 years. But, overall, it still works well. I do have to reboot it 2-3 times a week. That's not too bad.

 

[Jerry1]

Longevity is probably very dependent on the original equipment and the user. Laptops that get moved around a lot are also probably more prone to going bad sooner. I have a Windows machine that I bought in 2012 - so coming up on 10 years and it literally works as it did on the day I bought it. I did upgrade the SSD because I outgrew the 120GB that it came with (there’s a 1T for data). Though, the computer cost more at the time, I think around $2K, so it’s not comparable to a discount machine. Of course, Mac’s are not discount machines either.

 

[pacergal]

I have a MacBook Pro 2015. Never have had any problems with it.

 

[ownyourfuture]

From the OP.
Thanks for all the replies.

To complicate matters (in a good way I suppose) I haven't had a problem with my iMac since I started this thread about 3 days ago.

Several posts on the thread related to this issue @ Mac Forums, suggested different settings in the energy saver area in System Preferences.

Approximately 3 months ago I changed the settings to this.

Up until 3 days ago, whether I'd be away for 2 hours, or 12 hours, I wouldn't shut it down. 8 times out of 10, it would be off when I returned. When I restarted, (many times it would take several tries) it would say the computer shut down because of a problem.

Here's a few examples:

3 days ago, I started to use a shortcut to turn off the monitor when I was going to be away. Control + Shift + Eject

It's probably just a fluke, but it's worked perfectly.
When I want to use it again, all I have to do is touch the mouse, & the login screen appears.

I'm no computer engineer, but with the settings shown above, doesn't this mean that the computer never really goes to sleep ?

Could this be harmful in anyway ?

 

[target2019]

From the OP.
Thanks for all the replies.

To complicate matters (in a good way I suppose) I haven't had a problem with my iMac since I started this thread about 3 days ago.

Several posts on the thread related to this issue @ Mac Forums, suggested different settings in the energy saver area in System Preferences.

Approximately 3 months ago I changed the settings to this.

Up until 3 days ago, whether I'd be away for 2 hours, or 12 hours, I wouldn't shut it down. 8 times out of 10, it would be off when I returned. When I restarted, (many times it would take several tries) it would say the computer shut down because of a problem.

Here's a few examples:

3 days ago, I started to use a shortcut to turn off the monitor when I was going to be away. Control + Shift + Eject

It's probably just a fluke, but it's worked perfectly.
When I want to use it again, all I have to do is touch the mouse, & the login screen appears.

I'm no computer engineer, but with the settings shown above, doesn't this mean that the computer never really goes to sleep ?

Could this be harmful in anyway ?

I let the monitor sleep, but not the drives or network adapter. If OS starts receiving updates, etc., I want it to complete that process. Too messy when things go wrong.

 

[SnowballCamper]

My Mac mini (late 2012) is still going strong. I switched to Mac around 2008 when they adopted intel chips, and I could run windows as a virtual machine for work software. For the first decade or so I was very satisfied with my decision to switch. My impression is that Windows stability has improved much from what it used to be.

I was initially impressed with the customer service that I could get from the Mac Store, but for the last few years it has been consistently bad.

I stick with Mac for the integration across devices in terms of password management, calendar sharing, data backups, family app management, etc. I'm sure there are ways to do all that with android, but it's pretty seamless with Mac.

 

[Rianne]

I let the monitor sleep, but not the drives or network adapter. If OS starts receiving updates, etc., I want it to complete that process. Too messy when things go wrong.

Please expand on this. When I do long updates, they used to stop in the middle because I had the drives on sleep. So frustrating and I couldn't figure it out (but finally did). Does keeping the drives or network adapter open create a security risk? Yes, things get messy when an update does not complete. I just updated to Monterey and that happened.

 

[target2019]

I let the monitor sleep, but not the drives or network adapter. If OS starts receiving updates, etc., I want it to complete that process. Too messy when things go wrong.

Please expand on this. When I do long updates, they used to stop in the middle because I had the drives on sleep. So frustrating and I couldn't figure it out (but finally did). Does keeping the drives or network adapter open create a security risk? Yes, things get messy when an update does not complete. I just updated to Monterey and that happened.

Your first comment is why I disable energy saving for the drives and network adapter.

What I'm doing is allowing the monitor to sleep, and that doesn't create additional security risk.

 

[frayne]

Replace a mac every 3-5 years, you gots to be kidding ! I could understand the statement if it were referring to a cheap windows computer but a Mac, no way.

 

[Midpack]

Replace a mac every 3-5 years, you gots to be kidding ! I could understand the statement if it were referring to a cheap windows computer but a Mac, no way.

We replaced our PCs every 4-7 years. We’re both on our first iMac and MacBook looking forward to seeing how long they serve. In all fairness our computing needs aren’t what they used to be, so could be a long while - or never, we may be able to get by with nothing but iPads one day!

 

[Hermit]

Bought my HP PC desktop in 2008. I thought it was on its way out last month. Finally figured out the Brave web browser was crashing the system. It is working great again sans Brave web browser. I have satellite internet so things are always going to be a bit slow. When Starlink comes my way I will probably upgrade the desktop, but for now, I'm fine.

 

[I am He]

I watched a YouTube video or two and took my 2012 mini apart and put in a SSD and it is quite awesome (after the first couple of days where the thing worked endlessly encoding some stuff to the new software).

It is astonishing what a decent amount of RAM and an SSD does to performance.

 

[ddoorn]

iMac 2021 model ROCKS!

I recently upgraded my 2012 iMac to the 2021 model and have had none of these issues or problems.

I am such a fan of this pc and the connections via iOSphere to my iPhone and iPad.

 

[breger1]

2020 iMAC 27

I have a 2020 iMAC 27 inch. Been very pleased with it. I upgraded the internal RAM to 72 GB myself but only have 500 GB of SSD (shud have upgraded to 1 TB when I purchased it). Drives external monitors as well. (Yea I like lots of windows open.) My daughter runs Illustrator and Photoshop on it for school and I use Microsoft Office 2019. This is my first move to Mac from Windows. I have had no issues so far.

 

[Exchme]

I have a 2016 IMAC 27 inch. Worked perfectly until the hard drive died last year. I put a small SSD in to replace the original hybrid drive (I put anything I want to keep on the cloud). Anyway with the new solid state drive, I hope to get several more years of use. I mostly browse the web and do some spreadsheets, so speed is not a concern and I like the nice big screen.

 

[Deuce]

Chrome books are made by Google where you’ll have to deal with their mining all your information. I would stick with the Apple products I’ve been a fan for 30 years I have no reason to change.

 

[joemeyer905]

I am an IT guy and work with both. For home, I use a MAC and would never get a PC again. I have an iPhone and and iPad and the built in integration between everything is great. I did have a imac, but recently upgraded last year to a mac mini with the m1 processor. I prefer the mac mini because the iMacs are harder to work on if there are issues. I also like being able to use my own monitor, which happens to be a 48" tv mounted to the wall in my den. It super fast and very reliable. If you are familiar with a mac, I would stay in that family. Takes far less effort to manage. for your current mac, if you have a lot of 3rd party installed on it, I would start uninstalling what you dont use. Try to stick with the built in mac software if you can.

 

[target2019]

I evolved to Windows.and ChromeOS for additional features. I made money from supporting all of the platforms for a very long time. People have beliefs.

 

[Ronstar]

I have a 2013 Imac (in storage) and a 2018 MacBook Pro. I use the MacBook Pro mainly for surfing online, spreadsheets, and photo editing/ organizing using the Adobe Lightroom/photoshop subscription.

Photos are now at a much higher resolution and at a much bigger file size. My exported photo jpg file sizes can now be more than 150 mb. Exporting can take as long as 45 minutes per photo. Importing the larger raw files takes a long time also. I've seen lots of articles that claim this lethargy is due to the Adobe software and not the Mac.

However, I think it's time for a new Mac. I'm going to get the newly released Mac studio and keep my 32" dell monitor. I'll also keep the MacBook Pro just in case some of my current software doesn't work with the new m1 chip.

ETA - Just ordered and will pick up today.

 

[eytonxav]

However, I think it's time for a new Mac. I'm going to get the newly released Mac studio and keep my 32" dell monitor. I'll also keep the MacBook Pro just in case some of my current software doesn't work with the new m1 chip.

ETA - Just ordered and will pick up today.

I am waiting for delivery of a lower end Mac Studio and display. Seems like it is hung up in Shanghai, but UPS says delivery on Monday, Apple says Wednesday. The display still has not shipped at all, although I thought it would be delivered first. Debating whether to opt for one of the higher speed SSHD for backup or just stay with the much cheaper lower speed units. Looking to get back into photography from my SLR days.

 

[Ronstar]

I am waiting for delivery of a lower end Mac Studio and display. Seems like it is hung up in Shanghai, but UPS says delivery on Monday, Apple says Wednesday. The display still has not shipped at all, although I thought it would be delivered first. Debating whether to opt for one of the higher speed SSHD for backup or just stay with the much cheaper lower speed units. Looking to get back into photography from my SLR days.

I'm just getting base model w/o display - thats why I can get it today. I saw that the monitor delivery dates were out there a ways.

I've got 3 external drives now and I'll keep at least 2 of them working on the new system for a while.

This should be a good computer for photography based on the reviews I'm reading.

 

[ychuck46]

Some thoughts

Out of the big three Windows PC providers I have had the best luck over the years with Lenovo and Dell (it pains me to say the first one since they are Chinese but they make a good product). I am also one of those people who have had good fortune buying reconditioned/recertified units. They allow me to have more power and features at a price oftentimes 50% of original list, and they last just as long as my new ones. I currently have both a laptop that we use on travel and a desktop for my everyday needs. Both are reconditioned and work like a charm.

A few thoughts:
1. Unless you truly need a laptop go with one of the newer desktop units that have a small form factor. They still cram a lot of features into those offerings.
2. Definitely go for an SSD drive versus a regular hard drive. Bootup is amazingly fast compared to the old days, and the energy usage of such machines is very low.
3. With changes in today's software and customer uses, most PCs only last 3 years or so before they are painfully obsolete. Hence the reason to hold down costs since trading out more often is not as financially draining.

 

[mpeirce]

3. With changes in today's software and customer uses, most PCs only last 3 years or so before they are painfully obsolete.

Really? This is truly sad especially since Intel processor evolution has slowed so much. I’d think that if you buy a mid-grade PC with reasonable amounts of memory and SSD it should last for a pretty long time.

What is it with "today's software and customer uses” that has so drastically changed recently that PCs are going obsolete?

 

[WestUniversity]

Never thought I would be an Apple guy but I gave up on PCs about ten years ago. My 10 year old MacBook Pro is a tank. I have upgraded the RAM and installed a SSD. Runs like new. When it’s time to replace I will definitely get another Mac.

My last several PCs ended up being junk and Windows 7 was awful. Was really tired of Microsoft and their always “beta version” bloatware…