PC Media Players

[Ashley James]

One of the things that's pissed me off with PC's is that after about eighteen months, they slow down and throw a series of irritating faults. I used to pay and IT consultant to get me a 3 week reprieve followed by worse problems until I buy a new one.

Mart has an Asus Eee and he removed Linux from it and put a stripped down XP in it. The battery lasted a quarter as long and it was horrid to use by comparison with the Linux program it came with.

I know Windows has devotees but I detest everything about it.

All I have to do is demonstrate my iMac at work and people are amazed at the difference and they love the look of it. Nuff said - thanks Filterlab

Bigoted Ash xx

[sastusbulbas]

Ahh, you're the one who has the PC that works without fault.

You're a lucky guy Steve.

LOL,

Well it is rather easy as long as your not an idiot. This thing is as simple as chips.

Most PC hardware goes together like Lego, and as long as you use proper software and keeps things simple you rarely get problems.

Like I said its OS limitations and freeware, software compatibility which causes many problems, being careful, protecting the OS and using verified and tested drivers and such usually leaves things smooth.
PC's have more of these issues due to popularity, and their OS is rather naked at times to corruption.
Not to mention users who dive in willy nilly with any old downloads and software...

As for ten minutes to work out a MAC, well I have been working around them for 10 years, and trained some new starts the basic workings of ours, and some cannot even operate an old system like 4D, never mind iTunes or Safari on the iMac's after a month. (though I doubt they would show any more intuition with a PC)

Thing is some are more comfortable with one or the other, both MAC and PC are pretty basic items when you open the case and understand what you can and cannot use, but I know my way around the insides and OS of a PC reasonably well enough, and can get certain things done with PC that a MAC cannot, so far.

PC's are simple to build repair and run. And tinkering is fun LOL

[Ashley James]

It might be for you, but most people ate all that and hate the look of them even more although for the addicted try www.tranquilpc.com

Ash

Front Row is the program to use with an Apple IR handset

[nat8808]

It might be for you, but most people ate all that ....

They must have been hungry!

What's with the Mac evangelism that many Mac users have? Shall we call them Bondi Blue-earthers? I don't understand it, especially now that the internals of a Mac are yet another Intel-based product just like all the rest! It's a bit like when a hi-fi manufacturer makes a fancy product that sells at a high price only for people to later find that the internals are say a Pioneer DVD machine in a fancy box!

Of course, the OS is the difference but I personally wouldn't spend hundreds of pounds extra for the OS interface alone, especially when I don't spend so much time using the OS on its own - I use software made by completely different companies, e.g. Adobe, and even across the platforms THEIR user interfaces are essentially the same.

If you are a fan of Apple SOFTWARE then it makes sense that you would want to use Mac hardware - I would liken this to being say a Naim fan and buying an all Naim system, many people would tell you that you could get a better sound by mix and matching other stuff and at a better price but I doubt you would listen as it wouldn't take into account your passion for all things Naim!

Computers clogging up, becoming unstable etc are down to the user basically (by use behaviour, not necessarily BAD users). You will always find that some people's PCs always slow down over the year and others stay just as sharp as the day they first got them. My dad's is a case in point.. sort out his work PC with a new OS install, give it say 6 months and you will find it now takes 10 minutes to boot! There is always a load of new trial software on there loading on start-up and a new suit of security software picked-up cheap on a magazine or from the bargain bin at Tescos that is incompatible with something else.

My girlfriend's new iMac has started to slow after 6 months of standard use with no software added since new whereas my lower spec'd laptop is still the same as it was. My laptop was originally a corporate machine but I didnt bother reinstalling the OS, I just stripped out the cheap, me-too media software that came with it and installed reliable basics like photoshop, Zone Alram and NO VIRUS SOFTWARE! (Virus software always causes so many problems!). This to me says that Windows isn't necessarily the problem either.

If you look at most Mac user's computer habits, you will most likely find that they don't install software willy-nilly and tend to leave it as it was first set-up. They don't install free or cheap software off magazines because they are not tinkerers and anyway there's not so much free software around for the Mac. They also don't install firewalls or virus software because, a) they are not that way inclined and b) Macs are saved from these things due to it generally not being worth a hacker's trouble to write for a minority, non-corporate platform.

It's a misconception to say that Macs are exclusively used for Studios. There is some truth that musicians choose Macs but again I'd put this down to their image of being easier to use, being more reliable with many musicians not being technically minded - the myriad of different specs and different manufacturers of PCs really make the Apple brand [of PC] stand out as something simple, a brand they have heard of and feel safe with!

Studios use both Mac and PCs depending on what software they want to use! Yes, Digidesign's Pro-tools uses a Mac as the front-end but it is a HARDWARE system and as such doesn't rely on the computer much. There are other PC based systems in the audio and video world such as Sadie, Waveframe, Avid is for both PC and Mac and Pyramix is a PC only system now slowly gaining ground on Pro Tools. Carillon has been producing silent studio Widows-based PCs for years selling to studios all over the world, systems that remain reliable for years and years because they are left set-up as they were designed with specially selected hardware (as Macs are). Hans Zimmer has 12 odd Windows servers synced up running Gigastudio, a software-based sampler, to play his orchestral compositions - can't get anything on the Mac to do that. Nuendo, Cubase, Sonar, Reason are all PC-only music software packages and have massive followings. Emagic Logic used to be cross-platform with a massive following on both PC and Mac until Apple bought the company to make a grab for market share of the home-studio market FORCING all those who wished to use the latest versions to buy Macs! Digital Performer is only Mac based and has its following too like others..

Anyway, I have to say I'm bored writing this as you may be reading it...

To finish, I like Macs - it's refreshing to have the technical side of a PC hidden from view, and my nerdy side likes the idea of using a RISC based G4 or G5 for music - but they are now nothing special unless you are looking for a well styled lifestyle product and willing to deal out cash for such things. I'm not that kind of person, use PCs and buy old secondhand hi-fi (but have a blue/white G3 as a design object, sitting around unused).

Use Linux and I bet you will find a reliable, well designed piece of software to play your music with cover art, creating a music server out of a PC thown out on the street (probably giving the Linn server a run for it's money - bet that is running Linux too)!

[sastusbulbas]

I still play around with Apple, Windows and Linux OS's.

I still prefer the sound from a CD player/transport/dac.

I am again only using computer audio for convenience and not critical listening.