Gaming Need help choosing a Desktop.

[UnseenHero]

Ok well my father decided that he would get me a desktop for my video purposes. If you are asking what do you mean. I mean that i will be getting a desktop for making videos. And since i am only 13 my father said that he will buy me one maybe. He offered me this one
http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB418LL/A?mco=Nzk2MDgzNQ
with wireless mouse and 1TB of hard drive space.

I will be planning to install. Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, My camcorders needed software (Cannon Mini DV ZR 500), A capture software (for my future dazzle also known as capture card.) and prob like 5more softwares. Also ill need the one TB of memory because each Mini DV tape takes from 13-30GB of space.

So i was wondering is there anything better for making videos thats like this but cheaper or same price. Also easier to hack stuff (pirate Adobe products etc...) If so any ideas.

If not do you think this mac is the right choice?

EDIT: I decided to buy pieces for a pc seperatly and see what cost would be so far i have
Monitor: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16824254026
Memory: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...=OCZ%20obsidian
HDD: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...2-119-_-Product
Speakers: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...ogitech%20X-540
CD/Dvd Burner: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...8-030-_-Product
KeyBoard: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...gitech%20967740
Mouse: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...%20Nano%20Black
Firewire: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...0Disk%20Extreme
Cd/DVD Drive: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...6-274-_-Product

I have all these things on my list so far. I am missing
-A case that can support all i need
-Power Supply
-Mother Board that goes with everything i need
-processor best one preferably
-heat sink
video card
-sound card?
-heatsink

I dont know what i need or what is best so i need your guys help on the rest. So tahnks in advance

 

[Synchromatic]

Are you set in stone of buying a brand computer? You could build a PC with the same specs for a lot less, or you could build a totally decked out computer for the same price.

 

[UnseenHero]

Example Please? I am still new to computers and all about them. So have an example of a pc with same specs as one shown for lower price???? also can you show me a completely decked out computer and tell me what that means :S

All i know my computer im using now sucks

 

[Law]

lol, overpriced mac.

Capture cards? Since when did Macs get PCI slots?

Hit up newegg.ca, find some parts, build a machine, you'll probably shave $1000 off the pricetag and it'll still be just as good, if not better specced than that Mac.

 

[UnseenHero]

Wha???

EDIT: Ok well i dont know how to buy these pieces seperatly or anything so do you have any advice. I found pieces that seem ok but i dont think im doing this porepoerly so far i found
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...2-173-_-Product
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16824254026
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16820145220
ttp://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188049

 

[TheWingless]

They're saying that you can build your own computer by putting the parts together yourself since it's cheaper and will probably be more powerful, and as to the TV Capture card, you need a certain slot to use it in a computer, which a Mac doesn't have. If you haven't seen the inside of your computer before, it's just a bunch of parts you can put together.

Though I doubt you could probably build your own computer because you said this "Also ill need the one TB of memory". Memory =/= HDD space. There are PLENTY of guides online to watch or read if you really want to learn how to put a computer together, so don't completely rule out the option.

Someone should REALLY give a better example like a wishlist on www.Newegg.ca containing all of the parts that prove that they will be cheaper and more powerful than the mac above. I'm not exactly the best at picking out the parts. You must have quite the budget to buy a mac with all of that software though.

Edit: Decided to look around and this is the total you'd get, though I'm not sure on A LOT of it. I just picked random stuff out, it's only an estimate if you want something ABOUT as powerful as the mac you posted above. I ALSO do not know which model Core 2 Duo the mac has so I just picked the weakest and cheapest one. I totally do not recommend using this build. Also, the total is in USD since I used newegg.com (About 550 USD), but it was about 1000 USD cheaper than the Mac which was 1500 USD. http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWi...Number=15169148

Edit 2: Didn't add on a monitor/speakers, forgot about them.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...2-173-_-Product
That HDD is only 5400 RPM, meaning it's slower than the usual 7200 RPM drives. 5400RPM HDDs are usually in Laptops.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16824254026
That's a 28" monitor, are you sure about that size? Also, I'd recommend a brand like Samsung or Acer if you're fine with the latter of the two. I'd pick Samsung though.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16820145220
Triple channel memory DDR3 would mean you're getting an Intel Core i7? Which would mean you're not going for a Core 2 Duo like in the mac? It's more powerful than a Core 2 though.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16813188049
Don't know if it's compatible with the RAM you chose. But it's compatible with DDR3 at least.

There are plenty of computer experts here. Better than me I'm pretty sure. Though I of course don't know where they are.

 

[UnseenHero]

ok thanks but my father told me why a mac is better for the purposes im gonna use it for. HHe sais because a mac is more mulitmedia and is what i need it for. Also im not getting a TV capture card im getting a dazzle which captures wtv is showing on the TV but it uses a usb port. Lol google dazzleL

so any good mulitemedia pc with same or better specs than this mac for cheraper and runs as smotthly for editing and things liek that?

 

[TheWingless]

Well I've used Windows 7 for a while now, Vista before, and I was fine with those, but I'm not exactly a multimedia editor or anything like that. Windows 7 is way more stable than when I used Vista at least.

You COULD use Adobe Premiere Pro on Windows and it has BETTER integration with Photoshop and Adobe After Effects, but other than that, I don't really know about the comparisons and which is better compared to Final Cut Pro. However, I DON'T know why Macs/OSX are the choice and "advantage" to multimedia production over Windows(Maybe stability?). Windows has already had multimedia editing programs anyways. It seems to be that a lot of people use both Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, but only the former of the two is supported in both Mac/OSX and Windows. Stability is probably the concern of most users, as Windows could possibly crash(though Macs/OSX could Kernal Panic). With Windows 7 at least, it's been really nice in terms of stability for me. I guess the fact that FCP is only on MAC is another reason.

so any good mulitemedia pc with same or better specs than this mac for cheraper and runs as smotthly for editing and things liek that?

My post above has the link to a wish list, though it does not contain speakers or a monitor. Add in about 200-300 USD for those, BUT, don't forget that I said USD. You'll have you use a currency converter for CAD or something. It's really dependent on what type of monitor and speaker set you want. The link above is only an example of the price and the hardware is mostly on par or better than what you get with that Mac... I think. I'm not totally confident in shopping for other people.

 

[Bloodgod]

If you're gonna get the mac, just get the minimum (memory and HDD). both of those can be purchased much cheaper from newegg.

Who srsly pays 1k for 8GB RAM? Take the 640GB they're offering you. Cause with that $100 apple's charging for the 1TB. you could get an extra external HDD for that much. So you'll end up with 1.6TB

 

[TheWingless]

Who srsly pays 1k for 8GB RAM? Take the 640GB they're offering you. Cause with that $100 apple's charging for the 1TB. you could get an extra external HDD for that much. So you'll end up with 1.6TB

It actually almost costs that much because it's 2 sticks of 4 GB of DDR3 ram on Newegg.com at about 730USD(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226015). Though that's still quite a bit of money. Though I still agree with getting the minimal, unless you REALLY don't want to open the inside guts, as it's a mac you're opening, not the usual ATX case.

He's probably not buying the "extra" RAM though... I hope...

 

[Bloodgod]

IIRC correctly Mac can use any RAM. It doesn't need to be apple centric.

http://guides.macrumors.com/Buying_RAM

 

[Raki]

IIRC correctly Mac can use any RAM. It doesn't need to be apple centric.

http://guides.macrumors.com/Buying_RAM

Well SO-DIMMs DDR3 with 4GB per DIMM are still expensive...

 

[UnseenHero]

So your saying that a PC runs as well as a Mac PC wise? (with the proper software) if so i am sitll noly 13 and dont know how to make or what is needed in a computer can anyone show me a computer thats same price of that mac or lower with same specs or better?

 

[UnseenHero]

bump?

 

[PettingZoo]

You could go either way really, having a Mac or PC. Though building your PC has the potential to be upgraded further than a Mac and could be cheaper. Though if you prefer a Mac and are satisfied with the specs and don't mind the price tag you could get that and also run a Windows partition with Boot Camp. There are many ways you could go about this.

 

[UnseenHero]

Well i wanna see what i could get for same price so can you help me so far i have found those pieces in my first post and posted what im missing in my first post

 

[UnseenHero]

bump?
last bump