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Should I get an iMac?

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DaDude:
Remember AGES ago I asked what PC you reccommended? Well, now my Comm. Tech teacher says I should really consider an iMac over PC, especially for creating music. I'm just wondering, is it worth it? I mean, I've only been on iMacs for a few days every week in class, if that. I've always been a Windows user. I am extremly intrigued though, and believe I might start to grow on to it after a while.

Do you think I should get an iMac? Or just stick with Windows? Some of the iMacs look amazing, especially the Pro version. I mean, 16 GB Ram? I didn't even dream of that much for this generation when thinking of getting a Windows. Heck, it's almost overkill. The iMacs do cost a lot though (at least $3000).

If I am to get one, is there any you reccommend? I don't want to overkill my system here, as I'm just starting with iMac. I'm also wondering if I'd be able to run Windows (well) if I dislike iMac.

And finally... is it able to run Source games? XD

Thanks in advance.

Possible Combinations for iMac:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/canadastore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B723661&node=home/shop_mac/family/imac

Possible Combinations for Pro:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/canadastore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B723664&node=home/shop_mac/family/mac_pro

Here is what I think is a good setup:

iMac:
Ram: 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB
Hard Drive: 500 GB Serial ATA Drive
Apple Mouse: Apple Mighty Mouse
Keyboard: English
iWork 08: No
Aperture: No
Logic Express: Yes
.Mac: 1 Year Basic Membership
Modem: No
APP: Yes

Subtotal: $3,696.00

Ram: 4 GB was what I originally planned. Too much?
Hard Drive: 500 GB Serial ATA Drive. Already filled up my previous hard drive, after 2 years! (with 200 GB). Shame I can?t have a backup hard drive with this setup.
Apple Mouse: I really don?t care for wireless if the cable is long enough, to be honest. I never take my mouse/keyboard around much anyway.
Keyboard: I really don?t care for wireless if the cable is long enough, to be honest. I never take my mouse/keyboard around much anyway.
iWork 08: Would OpenOffice do? It?s free, but a bit glitchy. Any huge benefits?
Aperture: Needed? Use Photoshop Instead?
Logic Express: Yes? It?s audio, so? *Need assistance in more audio programs, etc*
.Mac: 1 Year Basic Membership. To publish work?
Modem: Is it really needed? Doubt it.
APP: Yes, I presume. I seem to always have at least one (not usually major) thing happen to my computers. First one had faulty hard disk, second PC had a Motherboard meltdown (ironically due to a teacher knocking it ? I never told her, as there?s nothing she could do, and everything is fine in the end).

Pro:
CPU: Two 2.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Ram: 4GB (4 x 1GB)
RAID Card: No
Hard Drive 1: 500 GB
Hard Drive 2: 500 GB
Hard Drive 3: None
Hard Drive 4: None
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)
Display: Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
Second Display: None
Optical Drive: One 16x SuperDrives
Wireless Options: None
Fibre Channel Card: None
Modem: None
Keyboard & Mouse: Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
Mac OS X Language: U.S. English
Mac OS X Server v10.5: None
iWork 08: No
Aperture: No
Logic Express: Yes
.Mac: 1 Year Basic Membership
APP: Yes

Subtotal: $6,804.00

CPU: Not sure on what to get. At all.
Ram: 4 GB was what I originally planned. Will this be enough?
RAID Card: What does this do? Don't understand their description.
Hard Drive: I would like 500 GB if possible. I want two, one as back up. The third one would be a luxury, not needed. Definitely don?t need four.
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI). This was a video card I was recommended a few months ago for PC. Is it good for iMac? On a side note
Display: Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel). Larger the better.
Second Display: Not sure if needed.
Optical Drive: I don?t burn disks much. Not needed?
Wireless Options: I might be able to use BlueTooth in future, but not sure. WiFi needed?
Fibre Channel Card: Not sure what this does.
Modem: Is it really needed? Doubt it.
Keyboard & Mouse: Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English. I really don?t care for wireless if the cable is long enough, to be honest. I never take my mouse/keyboard around much anyway.
Mac OS X Language: U.S. English
Mac OS X Server v10.5: Not needed, I presume. It'll likely be just me on this iMac.
iWork 08: Would OpenOffice do? It?s free, but a bit glitchy. Any huge benefits?
Aperture: Needed? Photoshop?
Logic Express: Yes? It?s audio, so? *Need assistance in more audio programs, etc*
.Mac: 1 Year Basic Membership. To publish work?
APP: Yes, I presume. I seem to always have at least one (not usually major) thing happen to my computers. First one had faulty hard disk, second PC had a Motherboard meltdown (ironically due to a teacher knocking it ? I never told her, as there?s nothing she could do, and everything is fine in the end).
Sound Card?


I'll come here tomorrow, once I talk to the teacher again. Thanks in advance.   ;D

Jeron [SharpSh00tah]:
you really are going to dish seven grand for a computer? shit if you are get the ALX SLI liquid cooled

Loafie, Hero of Dreams:
Well that really depends on the situation in which you're going to be making music, such as a studio or production group. Alot of programs run just as well on both platforms, and you're files are equally transferable so if the situation doesn't matter than the OS is more a personal choice. OSX is obviously a much more stable platform and less susceptible to virii, making your compositions much more secure, and now you can dual boot windows of a separate partition or even a separate hdd, so you can play source games just as easily. I don't think I need to say anything about Vista.

If you're willing to throw down $7k for a rig however, I'd either go for a souped up MacPro (which has greater avenues for expandability) and some professional quality headphones, or build a cheaper windows rig from scratch use the extra cash on an awesome monitor system and some sound isolation stuff. If you go mac, buy the ram from a secondary source like OtherWorldComputing which is certified but much more inexpensive. It's already been proven that you can drop in new intel cpus and they work, so now macpro users have a fairly promising upgrade path.

Really the only hardware advantage a windows machine has is easy access to gpu upgrades and SLI, everything else is just as easily configurable on a mac.

Also, the 30" screen is overkill and twice the cost of the 23" screen, which you can double up for the same price and works much better in a pipeline setup. An even better idea would be to pick up some 24" screens from newegg for about $600 each. Get HDDs from newegg too, as right now you can get a terabyte hdd for $300.

For Audio out, you can get a firewire or usb outs for production, while the onboard card is fine for something like games and films.

And if you're going to spend this much money on a rig, get a better software package then Logic Express, like Logic Studio (great deal for $500), Reason 4, ProTools or a professional Cakewalk Sonar suite. Or really go deep and get some hardware like a mixer and midi input keyboard. This is really Bass's area, so hopefully he'll comment on that.

And always always always get the protection plan.

Also everybody keep in mind these figures are in canadian dollars, so the figure will usually seem high for americans.

Shaken not Stirred:
iMac is for the casual audience. It may excel in ease, but when push comes to shove, PC is going to suffice.

Loafie, Hero of Dreams:
What's "push comes to shove"?

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