I have what MAY be a failing hard drive in our late-2006 Apple iMac. I'm not sure what the problem is, but Time Machine backups started failing last weekend. The TM logs report I/O errors, but it doesn't say whether it's read or write. Disk Utility reports both disks are fine (internal HDD and external HDD). So I give.
At the same time, we have never really "felt" OS X. We bought this iMac a year or so ago from my brother, to try something different from Windows. I liked some parts of OS X better, and I liked some parts of Windows better. My wife prefers Windows, and honestly, using Windows all day at work, I just never got proficient with OS X either. And the limitations of the all-in-one architecture have me feeling trapped by the hardware. I can't upgrade anything to realize the benefits of newer operating systems (things like AirPlay and AirDrop).
So...I bought a Dell. After looking at SFF computers for my in-laws, and recommending an Inspiron 660s for their desk, I bought one myself. $299 from Best Buy (on sale; back to $319 today). It has an Intel G2030 processor with B75 chipset. Basic, but pretty current (Ivy Bridge). I went back and forth on the G2030 or an i3. For what we do, the G2030 seems to be working well. I can stream Top Gear across Netflix in all of its British glory a-okay. And Office 2013 screams on this computer. 4GB of DDR3, expandable to 8 GB. It's a mini-ITX case, so I could gut it years down the road and start over. Only drawback for me is I can't put an additional internal HDD in it, but our backups are to an external GoFlex drive anyway. A 500 GB internal drive is way more than we are using at the moment (about 120-150 GB). The i3 was about $100 more, or 25%. I didn't feel that it offered a compelling cost/benefit ratio. Reviews of the G2030 on Newegg consistently praise the performance. So I tried it, and I'm happy so far.
I wanted to build one. I went on Newegg and identified an HTPC case, components, etc. I even have a WDD 1 TB HDD at home that's not being used that I could have used. But I don't have a Windows license and I really wanted to try 8. So with that, building just wasn't cost-competitive. An early critic of Windows 8, I love using it with the Start8 and ModernMix add-ons from Stardock. Granted, I feel that one shouldn't have to add stuff to a UI to make it functional, but doing so turns 8 into a familiar tool (to me, a Windows 7 user at work). And it just flies (the OS does).
But what really brought me around to Microsoft is what they've done with Office and the cloud. I was never a fan of Apple's iCloud (and have said that repeatedly). You have to use iCloud enabled applications to be able to take advantage of it, and it's silly to me. You can't drag-and-drop files like you can with Microsoft's SkyDrive or with Google's Drive. I've used both SkyDrive and Drive for a long time now, but only recently with Windows 8.1 and Office 2013 has one of them really come to the forefront with me. I love that SkyDrive is native to the OS in 8.1. There is no longer a separate application you have to install; it's built in. Office 2013 apps can open files from your local computer obviously, or right from SkyDrive if you prefer. I even opened an Outlook.com email account to see how that works, and right now have my personal Gmail account forwarding mail to it, just to try it.
Outlook 2013 lets you add an Exchange ActiveSync account to it just as if it were a full corporate Exchange account, so I've got my personal calendars and contacts sync'd on our Dell at home, and my iPhone in my pocket, or on any computer with internet access at Outlook.com.
It used to be that Apple's integration of devices was hard to beat (desktop, mobile, etc), but Microsoft has really impressed me with how far they've come in just the last few years.
Who knows...maybe I'll sell our iPad and get a Surface 2 one of these days...
At the same time, we have never really "felt" OS X. We bought this iMac a year or so ago from my brother, to try something different from Windows. I liked some parts of OS X better, and I liked some parts of Windows better. My wife prefers Windows, and honestly, using Windows all day at work, I just never got proficient with OS X either. And the limitations of the all-in-one architecture have me feeling trapped by the hardware. I can't upgrade anything to realize the benefits of newer operating systems (things like AirPlay and AirDrop).
So...I bought a Dell. After looking at SFF computers for my in-laws, and recommending an Inspiron 660s for their desk, I bought one myself. $299 from Best Buy (on sale; back to $319 today). It has an Intel G2030 processor with B75 chipset. Basic, but pretty current (Ivy Bridge). I went back and forth on the G2030 or an i3. For what we do, the G2030 seems to be working well. I can stream Top Gear across Netflix in all of its British glory a-okay. And Office 2013 screams on this computer. 4GB of DDR3, expandable to 8 GB. It's a mini-ITX case, so I could gut it years down the road and start over. Only drawback for me is I can't put an additional internal HDD in it, but our backups are to an external GoFlex drive anyway. A 500 GB internal drive is way more than we are using at the moment (about 120-150 GB). The i3 was about $100 more, or 25%. I didn't feel that it offered a compelling cost/benefit ratio. Reviews of the G2030 on Newegg consistently praise the performance. So I tried it, and I'm happy so far.
I wanted to build one. I went on Newegg and identified an HTPC case, components, etc. I even have a WDD 1 TB HDD at home that's not being used that I could have used. But I don't have a Windows license and I really wanted to try 8. So with that, building just wasn't cost-competitive. An early critic of Windows 8, I love using it with the Start8 and ModernMix add-ons from Stardock. Granted, I feel that one shouldn't have to add stuff to a UI to make it functional, but doing so turns 8 into a familiar tool (to me, a Windows 7 user at work). And it just flies (the OS does).
But what really brought me around to Microsoft is what they've done with Office and the cloud. I was never a fan of Apple's iCloud (and have said that repeatedly). You have to use iCloud enabled applications to be able to take advantage of it, and it's silly to me. You can't drag-and-drop files like you can with Microsoft's SkyDrive or with Google's Drive. I've used both SkyDrive and Drive for a long time now, but only recently with Windows 8.1 and Office 2013 has one of them really come to the forefront with me. I love that SkyDrive is native to the OS in 8.1. There is no longer a separate application you have to install; it's built in. Office 2013 apps can open files from your local computer obviously, or right from SkyDrive if you prefer. I even opened an Outlook.com email account to see how that works, and right now have my personal Gmail account forwarding mail to it, just to try it.
Outlook 2013 lets you add an Exchange ActiveSync account to it just as if it were a full corporate Exchange account, so I've got my personal calendars and contacts sync'd on our Dell at home, and my iPhone in my pocket, or on any computer with internet access at Outlook.com.
It used to be that Apple's integration of devices was hard to beat (desktop, mobile, etc), but Microsoft has really impressed me with how far they've come in just the last few years.
Who knows...maybe I'll sell our iPad and get a Surface 2 one of these days...
