[986SChris]

I need to upgrade my desktop. I don't think I will use it for gameplay, I have Xbox360. Mostly email, pictures and eventually video. Pros and Cons from those in the know would be great.

Thanks!

[Lupin..the..3rd]

1 vote for Mac. Stuff just works, you don't have to worry about viruses or drivers or blue-screens, or any of the other PITA Windows crap. Stuff just works. Especially when it comes to photos and audio/video, printers, scanners, cameras.

Much higher resale value when it comes time to replace it too. On ebay, 2 year-old Powerbooks and MacBook Pro's sell for $1000. 2 year-old PC's can't give em away.

[realroadrage]

For your intentions (Mostly email, pictures and eventually video), iMac hands down. I'd get the base 24" model and add my own RAM. As other threads have mentioned, if you must, you may run Windows programs on your Mac using Boot Camp or Parallels, but you can't run Mac programs on Windows. Best of both worlds.

[edevinney]

The mac will make a better appliance than the PC for what you're doing. The built-in apps for mail, video and music are quite good and the OS isn't nearly as fragile as Windows. A caveat - if you use MS Office you'll need to buy that, it's not bundled like it often is with PCs.

Another vote to add your own RAM - Apple charges stupid money for it and it's super easy to do.

[markwemple]

I vote mac here too if for no other reason than reliability. My next computer will be a Mac.

[vascott99]

Having a Microcrap system since Windows for Work groups...Go MAC...For what you are using the PC for... MAC hands down.

Stable, ease of use, reliable, more secure than Windows etc..

[BlackTalon]

I'm a Windows guy. Sort of goes hand-in-hand with the DIY stuff. I keep our workstations and server going here at work, so over the last 10+ years I've learned how to keep them running pretty well, and how to solve problems that might arise (including hardware issues).

To me, having an iMac is like driving a tiptronic 997 GT3 -- you'll miss out on the real hands-on part of the experience!

[smdubovsky]

I'd vote PC just because its much cheaper. Simple applications will run the same on either. A $500 dell will never have problems, Win XP is rock solid (for the 20+ machines we have here - Id avoid vista), and OpenOffice works great and is free. Stick w/ brand name hardware and there are no problems.

[Jazzbass]

I know PC/MS bashing is de rigueur, but I think a lot of PC issues come from all the crap software pre-installed by vendors and then more by owners later rather than an inherent weakness in the software/hardware. Esp if you run Windows XP.

My computer is my livelihood, so I don't have time for it to crash or not work. And it doesn't - ever. I have a few simple rules that make this happen:

1. Buy a good machine from a good mfr. I like the higher end Dells. It's always made me laugh at how someone will buy a $600 PC and in three months hate it because "PCs are absolute garbage! I'm buying a Mac". They then go drop $1600 on a Mac and tell everyone how much better it is. The $1000 price difference probably had nothing to do with that, though.

2. Run Windows XP. It's the most stable Windows I've ever run and never crashes on me. Vista is teh suck.

3. Completely delete everything on the hard drive when you get it and install a clean copy of the OS. All the preloaded stuff the mfrs put on these things just slow everything down. Believe it or not, MS spends a lot of time writing drivers for stuff and testing compatibility. Why Dell and HP and everyone else has to write a monitoring application for every minute piece of hardware in your system is beyond me. It's all of these little third party apps that typically make your OS unstable, not anything MS did.

That's not to say Macs aren't nice, because they are. And both of those programs that they run are great. You don't have to worry about going back a version in the OS. And the last point is really the nice part about the Macs - because it's a closed system, they don't have 1000 different manufacturers screwing up drivers and hardware monitoring apps for it. But the idea that a PC can't be as stable as a Mac is a myth. With a little due diligence a PC can be just as stable.

[Purist]

Get the iMac...not only is it cool as &%$#, but it can run Windows too!

The iMac has everything integrated with a beautiful display, the photo/DVD/editing software puts anything you get on Windows TO SHAME and it's all free with OSX. As far as cost, it may be a bit more than a cheap-O Windows system...but for a COMPARABLE Windows system it's competetively priced for sure.

I have a MacBook Pro and I run Windows on it MOST of the time...it will run Windows natively and it's super fast...also has a great video card so you can game to your heart's conent. The hardware is bulletproof. The same can be said for the iMac.

I've been thinking of getting an iMac (that I really don't need) to develop iPhone applications...I could just use my MacBook Pro...man...the urges are back! lol...