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The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

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Re: The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

#41

Post by rman666 »

jsz0 wrote: post #29
jrockway wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but OS X does not work for me. It powers a computer under my TV that I use for watching movies, but it doesn't even do well for that task. (OSX's VLC often crashes, NicePlayer can't play partial AVI files, the built-in DVD player doesn't let you skip the ads at the beginning, etc.) For development, I could never use OS X. I rarely use the mouse, and I need a package manager for installing random libraries. I trie…

I sympathize with your point even though everyone wants you to switch to OSX for some reason. I run Linux in a VM -- rarely touch MacPorts or DarwinPorts or whatever is popular these days. They've never met my expectations. Packages out of date or simply don't build correctly. Just seems easier to me to go the VM route or run Linux natively if that's your thing. One big advantage for VMs to me is being able to snapsh…

One good reason to run OS X is that there are several decent outliners (OmniOutliner, etc.). There are no good outliners for Windows, and I know of none for Linux either. There's the cross-platform JOE (Java Outline Editor), but it's not as good as OmniOutliner or the old Mac OS outliners (MORE, ThinkTank, Acta, INControl, etc.).

Re: The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

#42

Post by pmjordan »

jbellis wrote: post #38

Great, a new resolution with even _less_ vertical pixels. I still miss 4:3. Much better for programming.

I use a 2-column layout on a 30" Apple Cinema display. Each of the columns has a 4:5 (8:10) aspect ratio, which is actually excellent for programming. If you did this on the new iMac, you'd get 2x 8:9, which is still pretty good. You soon don't want to miss the high number of vertical pixels.

What puts me off is the reflective finish. I can live with it on a 13" MacBook, but I'd find it impossible on that sort of size, where you're practically guaranteed to get a light source into view. Oh, and the fact that the HDD isn't user serviceable. Two hard drive bays would be nice, too, considering there's no eSATA or ExpressCard.

Re: The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

#43

Post by randallsquared »

scotty79 wrote: post #33
jawngee wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would your eyebrow raise a bit when you hear a developer say they use any particular OS? What do you gain by having such rigors? Why do you assume your opinion is absolute? (Which is must be for you to cock an eyebrow in what I'm assuming is disgust or mistrust). What do you do when someone tells you they develop on Windows? I'm imagining a groin pull, or something of that magnitude.

Maybe it's just involuntary reflex. I met someone who said he works as admin and complained he can't find a job in the town he lives (he commutes more than 4 hours a day). I couldn't understand that, but later in conversation I learned that he's a windows admin. Then I had the eyebrow rising involuntary reflex and everything became clear to me. Windows admin skills are kinda useless in town where most companies can't…

Small-town businesses usually do use Windows, except where they're hoping their ancient DOS solution doesn't die.

Re: The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

#44

Post by Tichy »

barrkel wrote: post #27

The Dell monitor pricing he quotes - $1200 for LCD - is pretty gougey too. Dell hardware is generally bad value unless it's on special offer, a bare-bones system (in which case it'll lack extensibility), or part of a corporate purchase.

My 24'' monitor from Dell is great, it was not very expensive, and it has served me well for years now. I think you generalize too much (also, never buy from the consumer section). My X1 from Dell is also great, I love it much more than my generic MacBook.

Re: The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

#46

Post by Tichy »

I would guess the real reason is mentioned at the end: there really is not much of a point in buying a desktop PC anymore (unless you are a hardcore gamer). It makes much more sense to buy a notebook and attach it to an external monitor when working at home.

Also prices for flatscreens are dropping all the time. If the Dell 30'' also has the special panel, and only is lacking in some other specs, maybe enhancing those other specs is not as expensive as adding the better panel type (whether they are important or not is another matter - if you WANT to spend a lot of money, you can always find a reason, like "this audio system does not have gold coated cables" or whatever).

In any case this makes me hope for a price drop of the 30'' Dell displays...

Re: The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

#47

Post by Retric »

Tichy wrote: post #46

I would guess the real reason is mentioned at the end: there really is not much of a point in buying a desktop PC anymore (unless you are a hardcore gamer). It makes much more sense to buy a notebook and attach it to an external monitor when working at home. Also prices for flatscreens are dropping all the time. If the Dell 30'' also has the special panel, and only is lacking in some other specs, maybe enhancing thos…

I have a laptop from work that can I take with me on trips.

I also have an iPhone for internet access on the go. So I don't see the need to buy another portable computer.

Re: The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

#48

Post by vetinari »

eru wrote: post #30
jrockway wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you use OS X for the nice UI and yet you are willing to use Emacs with an inferior UI? No thanks. I will stick to Linux.

There's also Aquamacs. Seems to work quite fine.

My memories of Aquamacs are full of fighting with the thing to do what I wanted. It was overriding everything I customized in my .emacs.

About the only positive thing I found about it was the ability to run in full-screen mode (something that ntemacs is still unable to do).

Re: The curious pricing of the 27" iMac

#50

Post by eli »

brunoc wrote: post #49
jbellis wrote: post #38

Great, a new resolution with even _less_ vertical pixels. I still miss 4:3. Much better for programming.

I flipped both my 4:3 monitors (19") to display vertically. They are 1024x1080. I don't think I'll ever go back to horizontal.

I've been thinking of doing that. Was it a pain to reattach the mount?
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