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While you are absolutly right about the harddrive speed making a huge difference (things like file IO speed, pageing files, and application start times). You will want the fasted HDD you can get. What do you mean by "Centrino chips out perform G4's", centrino is simmply the integrated wireless chipset (which Apple has had for years). The G4 is not brand new, but neither is a P4 they are still fast chips. Of course now that the G5 is available it has that against it but I would not discount the G4 simply because it is a few years old (it still has tripled its clock speed).
I used to use the rule of thumb of roughly doubling the clock speed of the G4 to compare it with a PC, however I doun't think that quite holds true as much as it used to.
Try and find benchmarks (which use time, not some score) of your favorite audio apps on both machines, that is really the only way to compare them. Lots of things infuence computer "speed" as percieved by the user and not all of them are hardware (read: the OS and applications can make a big difference).
In the end you will probobly be happy with either (though I here VIAOs are really bad when it comes to using proprietary hardware, like bootable external drives and such, surprisingly worse than Apple).
PS - OS X is such a joy to use over XP it is totally worth it 
I was just reading Concumer Reports and they make a good argument for Apple because of the quality tech support. Hope this is a free article...
I don't think you need to be a member to see the above article, but this one is for subscribers only... so I'll post it here
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June 2004
Computers: New considerations Workhorse computer.
WORKHORSES The computers we tested can handle demanding tasks such as basic video editing, as shown here.
For years, laptop and desktop computers could handle just about anything you could throw at them. As speed and storage capacity rose, prices fell. That trend still holds, according to our latest tests of moderately priced computers.
As we expected, these “workhorses” performed very well. Indeed, because computer performance is uniformly quite high, reliability and technical support may dominate the final choice of hardware.
Computer reliability has held steady, although repair rates are higher than for most products we track. Manufacturers’ tech support has been different. Three years ago, we saw a drop in satisfaction with tech support; it’s now one of the lowest-rated services we evaluate. Our latest survey indicates that outsourcing--moving some tech-support call centers overseas--may contribute to that low rating.
What we found. Our surveys include questions about long telephone hold times, difficulties navigating voice-messaging systems, and the like. This year, in our survey of subscribers to our Web site, we learned that technicians’ problems with English also interfered with phone support.
• Of the more than 4,900 subscribers to ConsumerReports.org who had phoned for support for their desktop computer in the prior 16 months, 28 percent had some kind of communication problem. Of these, 63 percent complained that the support staff's English was limited or difficult to understand. Other communication problems included rushed explanations and vague instructions.
• Dell was worse than average at delivering service that was free of problems with English. Overall, though, Dell was average for communication problems. And on average, Dell’s users were still fairly satisfied with the company’s support.
Communicating in understandable English is “certainly an area of concern and we’re paying attention to it,” said Jennifer Davis, a Dell spokeswoman. “The vast majority of our customers don’t have this problem.”
Dell has tech-support centers around the world. It recently brought support for some corporate customers back to the U.S. in response to those customers’ concerns.
Overall, when it comes to technical support for desktop computers, Apple rated significantly better than Dell, while Compaq and HP rated significantly worse. It’s not clear how those other companies handle support; Apple, Compaq, and HP did not comment.
Behind the offshore move. Substantial labor-cost reductions lie behind the move to send tech support abroad. So far, less than 10 percent of the support staff is in the Asia-Pacific region. According to Datamonitor, a London-based consulting firm, tech companies now have about 18,000 agents primarily in India and the Philippines, versus 242,000 in the U.S.
Technicians are instructed not to say where they are located, and they are trained in “accent neutralization” to try to Americanize their accents. But Zachary Kaiman, lead analyst at Datamonitor, said, “They’re not fooling anyone.”
David Timothy, director of training and development for Berlitz Cross-Cultural in Princeton, N.J., explained that if call-center representatives waver from the company text, they might translate their native language into a variation on British English, producing idioms, a quick cadence, colloquialisms, or even humor that may not be easily understood by an American listener.
how to choose
If you’re shopping for a computer, tech support and other brand considerations should follow two basic decisions:
Desktop or laptop? These two basic designs are equivalent in performance.
• Choose a desktop if you want a low-priced computer that’s easy to upgrade and if you don’t need something that’s portable. See our June 2004 report on desktops.
• Choose a laptop if price isn’t paramount, if you need a full-service computer that’s also portable, and if upgrades aren’t a major issue for you. See our June 2004 report on laptops.
Workhorse, budget, or high-end? Laptop and desktop computers fall into six basic types, from budget models to high-end multimedia powerhouses.
For most people, a workhorse computer--the type we tested for this
report--delivers the goods. A workhorse will have the power and hard-drive capacity for demanding tasks such as digital photography and home-video editing.
Those choices made, you can use our survey results to winnow brands that did not fare well in tech support or reliability.
Use smart tech-support strategies.
• Call before 12:30 p.m. or after 8:30 p.m. Eastern time. You’re more likely reach a U.S.-based call center.
• If you have trouble understanding the technician, politely ask for a manager or agent more fluent in American English.
• Speak slowly and avoid using slang.
• If the problem isn’t urgent, consider using e-mail support. But more than one-third of our respondents who tried e-mail said that the reply wasn’t helpful.
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Someone on Amazon had this to say about Sony Support (this was a review of a VAIO 2.8 GHz laptop)
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A big warning though - Sony is not a computer company - they are an electronics company. They are more accustomed to answering how to set the clock on your VCR than why your laptop isn't recognizing your network. Their support is almost non-existent when compared to a Dell or Gateway. If you traditionally need some assistance with your computer equipment or lack a propeller on your beanie, then you might want to steer clear of Sony computers. |
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Last edited by auujay on Nov-21-2004 at 12:02
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