For those who don't know me, I am a huge mac fanatic when it comes to their computers. But since a power outage blew out my computer I probably am stuck with getting a PC.

Right now the only main reason for me to get a mac would be reliability but I won't be able to get a new one for under $1199 that will fit my type of job. So I'm stuck with either a old mac like an old G5 Mac Pro Tower which seems to run around $800 or I can get a new PC for same amount.

I think I would rather get a new computer though cause used stuff can be fishy

I will need something based off this list of prefrences:

- I am a web developer / programmer so current tech is a must.
- I do not need a killer graphics card, something decent as I will not be playing games much.
- I want great power and great storage (need more power then storage since I will be getting a back up drive).
- Need a flat screen monitor as well, 20 inch minimum.

I also need software but that I wont mention that in here

Budget is around $800 - $1000 for computer itself and $200 or less for a monitor.

I you really really like Mac that much, then build a hackintosh.

I'd just recommend getting a PC instead, but that up there is a good budget alternative to a real Mac.


Oh and if your old computer was a PC then why not see if any parts are salvageable? Hell, try it if it's a Mac too, you never know.

Pretty cool link Mac is a great computer but I don't droll over their programs just their lifeline. They got the worst mouses ever and their sideways CD tray did a great job scratching CDS up

I'll try savaging all the stuff in my old mac see if any of it is useful. If none of it works, it will find a new home on ebay cause I'm sure everything on it is fried.

JigSaw: We'll definitely have to talk on MSN sometime.

I know your budget is $800-$1000 but how much do you actually have to spend? I'd be willing to borrow you a few hundred if needed, just don't take out a loan or card, that is something you'll regret.

I could probably help you find something powerful that meets all your needs for about $900 (including monitor and shipping).

Well right now I got about $100 lol. Had to blow a lot fixing my car, new battery, brakes, etc... But next payment will be around $250 so that brings me to $350. If I were to actually save up for it it would take a few months, at least 4 months unless I were to pawn stuff on ebay or take out loan. Only problem with waiting though is it would delay my schedule by a lot, meaning I would have to go that long without doing any kind of graphic work. I can still code though I'm sure, gonna try coding now and see how well that goes on here.

Yeah all you need is Notepad++ and Filezilla to develop in PHP and HTML
And those 2 things are very light weight.

If I come up with any solutions, I'll let you know. I just can't stand knowing you're on a crappy not so good of a computer.

I don't know a ton about mac monitors but do they work with PCs ? Because you could always hold off on getting a new monitor if they do and use it for a new PC until you get a better monitor.

Another idea would be to buy a semi-powerful PC and just slowly upgrade it as you get the money, that way you have something right away and will also have something very powerful in a few months.

Yeah I just got Notepad++ few hours back. Having trouble finding a good FTP but I got FileZilla downloaded. Still trying to get that working right since it shows my index empty for some odd reason.

That sounds like a good idea though, maybe I should just upgrade as I go along. I got a Compaq Presario MV400 Monitor with max res of 1024 x 768. Also I can't use my mac monitor cause its a computer build into the monitor so not sure how that would work. I'll just hold off on monitor its not as important.

So the goal now is to find a semi powerful computer with Windows 7 on it. This might be a stupid question but how easy is it to update processors and ram and all that good stuff?

Does this look decent for $380? I could probably get a computer next month if its around $300 - $400

# Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E5400
# 4GB DDR2 RAM
# 750GB Hard Drive
# SuperMulti Double Layer 16x DVD±RW Drive
# Multi-in-One Digital Media Card Reader
# NVIDIA® GeForce® 7050
# 10/100 Network
# Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

JigSaw: I've never updated a Processor so I'm not sure but it's probably a difficult job. Upgrading Ram is very simple, just have to be sure you find ram that's compatible. I've heard upgrading a graphic card is easy to, never done it though. So what I would suggest is get something that you'd plan to upgrade the RAM and graphic card on eventually.

Those specs actually look really good for $380, I'm actually surprised, that's probably a lot more powerful than the Mac you had.

Yea I think it will be 2x faster then my mac. They probably got more, I'm looking at these computers off MicroCenter, which is only a block down the street from me so I will probably get it there instead of waste $100 on shipping

Upgrading a processor is actually easy, it's just a matter of removing the CPU fan and taking out the old and putting in the new.

Anyone can do it if they try.


Edit: This is assuming you're getting a desktop, I have no idea how upgrading a laptop works.

Really? That easy to upgrade CPU? Good to know

Yeah when it comes to laptops, everything is harder to upgrade. Only thing easy to upgrade on a laptop is the ram

JigSaw: We'll have to talk on MSN tomorrow. I looked thru all my spending money that I have reserved for vizzed and I factored in a few things I still need to pay for and I figured I may be able to borrow you $300 but I would probably need for you to be able to pay me back $200 of it before May 20th so I have enough to renew the server (and than of course the other $100 the following month).

I'll talk to you tomorrow about it, thanks for the guys Should probably close this now that we got a majority of it all solved out