Mac or PC

[Senmet]

i need help i'm looking to get a new camp for my arcade. i need it to run all the Emulators form NES to Sega Genesis and looking for some thing that can play some the new pc games,  play ogm and mkv and be a DRV for Diretv with a remote. can some one help me

[ahofle]

looking for some thing that can play some the new pc games

You want to play PC games but you're not sure if you should get a Mac or PC? 

[Guaranos]

I have no idea what this part means:

play ogm and mkv and be a DRV for Diretv with a remote.

But other than that, the new Macs can have Windows installed on them, either to run in a virtual machine or in a dual boot setup, which means they can run anything a regular Windows PC can, plus anything a Mac can. 

If it's going to be your main machine that you have to look at everyday, I'd get the Mac.  The hardware looks better, the OS is much nicer, and the flexibility is there.  However, if you're just looking for a secondary PC to play a few games on, the Mac is probably overkill.

I bought a Mac Mini a couple years back to be my regular desktop machine.  I like it because it's tiny, practically silent, and of course runs OS X.  As a bonus, I'll never have to "upgrade" to Vista, I never have weird driver issues like my old XP machine, and I don't have to reinstall the OS yearly to maintain performance. 

It's not all roses though.  Page Up/Page Down and Home/End are kind of funky on the Mac compared to Windows.  That still annoys me even after two years.

[Level42]

100% agreed.

I bought a Mac Mini when I was on holiday in the US last september. Little did I know I would fall in love with it SO much. It's a great machine, but you do need to upgrade the memory, I think 1GB is a must, I recently went from 512 MB to 2 GB and the speed difference is incredible ! (two 1GB banks just cost me €70,-)

My main PC has since only been on VERY occasionally just to get a file or picture that I needed....nothing else makes me ever want to go back....and yes there are some things to get used to, but it's mainly UNlearning stupid Windows habits.

For a Mame cab, I'd still get PC components. But you could use an old mac for it as well I guess....

[Havok]

If you want maximum flexibility and hardware compatibility, along with saving a serious amount of money - go pc.

I always get a chuckle out of these boneheads who say they have to reload the OS on a regular basis to keep it running good. Yeah - these guys need a Mac...

My main system which has more crap on it than I will ever admit, including various "tools" has been the same OS load since 2004. My wife's XP system has been the same OS load since 2002.

However, I do still use a Mac - as a door stop on our inventory room when we are loading equipment!

 

[Ed_McCarron]

Shouldn't this thread be moved to the P-n-R section?

Mac vs PC is as close to a religious debate as you can get.

That said... Anyone done a MAME cab with a Mac?  The majority seem to be PC's.

[gonzo90017]

Go Pc. To play ogm and mkv all you have to do is install mplayer. It comes with most codecs already installed http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/dload.html Its command line so just dowload one of the gui's at the bottom. For newer pc games pc is a must.

[ahofle]

Also the majority of emulation development is done for Windows.  Seems silly to spend the extra on a Mac only to dual boot into Windows on it 99% of the time.

[amadama]

If you have a spare Mac lying around use it. If you are starting from scratch get commodity PC hardware. 95% of the info you will find on this site and others is all PC based (mostly Windows, but some Linux too).
Good luck

[Havok]

Also, if you want to play Visual Pinball, that's windows only...

[dcsipe]

If you want maximum flexibility and hardware compatibility, along with saving a serious amount of money - go pc.

"Maximum hardware compatibility"?

Tell that to the users on Vista....

[Guaranos]

I always get a chuckle out of these boneheads who say they have to reload the OS on a regular basis to keep it running good. Yeah - these guys need a Mac...

No need to start name calling.  It's only an OS.

And by the way, I don't "need" a Mac.  I was a DOS and eventually Windows developer before you were out of diapers. 

Quite frankly, it depends on what you're doing on the machine as to how often you need to reload Windows.  Lots of installs and uninstalls and you start to gunk up your system.  It'll still run, but it'll run slower.  There's no disputing that.  Take a freshly loaded XP machine and place it next to one that has been running for a couple of years.  The fresh machine will run markedly faster.  Now, take a Mac and do the same thing.  There's virtually no difference on the Mac side.  That alone can make video editing, rendering, and even just everyday tasks a much more pleasant experience..

[AtomSmasher]

I always get a chuckle out of these boneheads who say they have to reload the OS on a regular basis to keep it running good. Yeah - these guys need a Mac...

No need to start name calling.  It's only an OS.

And by the way, I don't "need" a Mac.  I was a DOS and eventually Windows developer before you were out of diapers. 

Quite frankly, it depends on what you're doing on the machine as to how often you need to reload Windows.  Lots of installs and uninstalls and you start to gunk up your system.  It'll still run, but it'll run slower.  There's no disputing that.  Take a freshly loaded XP machine and place it next to one that has been running for a couple of years.  The fresh machine will run markedly faster.  Now, take a Mac and do the same thing.  There's virtually no difference on the Mac side.  That alone can make video editing, rendering, and even just everyday tasks a much more pleasant experience..

While I agree that was the case with windows 98 and earlier, I don't find it to be the case with windows xp, at least not if your using ntfs (FAT32 file system is largely where the problem lies).  Yes, after a few years it does boot up and shut down quite a bit slower because it can have a lot of extra/unneeded processes to start/shutdown, but once its running its just as fast as the new install.  And if you know what your doing, you can clean up the startup config and speed that up as well.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I refuse to do work with a PC, but I have one that I play games on--when it stays running.

I've got 3 PC's in my house.
One just had the hard drive go out (with all my games on it), the other won't go on the internet for whatever reason, and the third had a hard drive crash a year ago, and I haven't got around to fixing it.

I have five Macs in my house.
I do all my graphics/layout work on my iMac now because I swapped the monitor in my cabinet to vertical only.
I have an old Powerbook that I use for mobile gaming, and two older Macs that I don't use for anything--but they still work.
All my Macs are years older than any of the PCs I have, and are still running full speed.

That said, if I were buying a computer strictly for gaming, I'd still get a PC.
If I had to do anything else with it, I'd get the Mac.

[Ed_McCarron]

Take a freshly loaded XP machine and place it next to one that has been running for a couple of years.  The fresh machine will run markedly faster.  Now, take a Mac and do the same thing.  There's virtually no difference on the Mac side.

Sure.  The loading of the 7 good programs available for the Mac wouldn't make much of a difference.   

(I kid, I kid...  I pick on Macs purely as humor...  Ouch... Stop with the stones...)

[leapinlew]

If you want maximum flexibility and hardware compatibility, along with saving a serious amount of money - go pc.

"Maximum hardware compatibility"?

Tell that to the users on Vista....

Shoot... everytime Apple decides to "upgrade" their system line - everything before it becomes incompatible. We aren't running Vista just for this reason. A big part of the reason we don't run Apple machines is for the same reason. Apple has been doing it longer. I believe their machines have the appearance of running better because Apple refuses to deal with backward compatability.

[psychotech]

Shoot... everytime Apple decides to "upgrade" their system line - everything before it becomes incompatible. We aren't running Vista just for this reason. A big part of the reason we don't run Apple machines is for the same reason. Apple has been doing it longer. I believe their machines have the appearance of running better because Apple refuses to deal with backward compatability.

Amen to that. 

Apple arcade, why? And why would you actually "need" even Vista for an arcade cabinet? Because ..?

[Guaranos]

While I agree that was the case with windows 98 and earlier, I don't find it to be the case with windows xp, at least not if your using ntfs (FAT32 file system is largely where the problem lies).  Yes, after a few years it does boot up and shut down quite a bit slower because it can have a lot of extra/unneeded processes to start/shutdown, but once its running its just as fast as the new install.  And if you know what your doing, you can clean up the startup config and speed that up as well.

Oh yeah, it was definitely a lot worse with FAT32 (and infinitely worse with FAT16). 

You also touched on another reason why I switched to the Mac.  You said, "And if you know what your doing, you can clean up the startup config and speed that up as well."  I know what I'm doing, but you know what?  I'm sick of doing it.  Cliche as it is, I want a system that just works. 

I spend all day working with Windows machines, and the last thing I want to do when I get home is work on one.  It's kind of like how people that work at McDonald's don't want to eat at McDonald's. 

I like computers and technology, or I wouldn't be working in it, but I don't want a home system administration kit.  When I use the computer at home, I want to program fun little apps (like games and such), browse the web, edit videos, draw things in Photoshop, listen to music, and basically just goof around.  I don't want to tweak my registry settings,  figure out why that new driver doesn't work, etc.  Some people like that stuff.  I did at one point, but not anymore. 

I take the same approach with my arcade cabinets.  I want them to just work once I've finished building them.  I set them up the way I want them the first time, and don't mess with the configs ever again.  Some people love tweaking their front-ends, upgrading the MAME versions, and all that.  Both approaches are equally valid.

[AtomSmasher]

While I agree that was the case with windows 98 and earlier, I don't find it to be the case with windows xp, at least not if your using ntfs (FAT32 file system is largely where the problem lies).  Yes, after a few years it does boot up and shut down quite a bit slower because it can have a lot of extra/unneeded processes to start/shutdown, but once its running its just as fast as the new install.  And if you know what your doing, you can clean up the startup config and speed that up as well.

Oh yeah, it was definitely a lot worse with FAT32 (and infinitely worse with FAT16). 

You also touched on another reason why I switched to the Mac.  You said, "And if you know what your doing, you can clean up the startup config and speed that up as well."  I know what I'm doing, but you know what?  I'm sick of doing it.  Cliche as it is, I want a system that just works. 

I spend all day working with Windows machines, and the last thing I want to do when I get home is work on one.  It's kind of like how people that work at McDonald's don't want to eat at McDonald's. 

I like computers and technology, or I wouldn't be working in it, but I don't want a home system administration kit.  When I use the computer at home, I want to program fun little apps (like games and such), browse the web, edit videos, draw things in Photoshop, listen to music, and basically just goof around.  I don't want to tweak my registry settings,  figure out why that new driver doesn't work, etc.  Some people like that stuff.  I did at one point, but not anymore. 

I take the same approach with my arcade cabinets.  I want them to just work once I've finished building them.  I set them up the way I want them the first time, and don't mess with the configs ever again.  Some people love tweaking their front-ends, upgrading the MAME versions, and all that.  Both approaches are equally valid.

Well, as I said, you only really need to tweak it if you want to improve the speedup or shutdown times.  I currently have 2 regularly used XP machines, one of which was installed over 4 years ago and the other over 2 years ago.  I never really tweaked anything on them since I installed the OS's, I just let windows update do its thing, and I run disk defrag every couple of months.  Both of them still run great, but they take almost 2 minutes to fully boot up and start all of their processes, which doesn't bother me.

I also used to tweak everything and overclock everything I could, but now I've just lost interest in doing that kind of stuff.

[cowguy]

If your getting a new computer as your main computer then get a mac.  They're amazing.  They run faster then windows and can do everything else a windows computer can do and more.  A mac is like a work of art , depending on what type you get the lcd in the mac mini's macbook and macbook pro's look fantastic.  But one con is there kinda expensive. <3ILOVEMYMACBOOKPRO<3 If your looking to save some money and just for arcade games to stick in a cab then you could pick up a cheap pc.

[sc1103]

i need help i'm looking to get a new camp for my arcade. i need it to run all the Emulators form NES to Sega Genesis and looking for some thing that can play some the new pc games,  play ogm and mkv and be a DRV for Diretv with a remote. can some one help me

Wow it's been a while since I've posted.  For what you're asking, I'd recommend going with a PC (shock!).  Pricewise, if you build it, you'll probably save a bit of money, particularly if you're looking for more power than a mac mini, since APple doesn't offer a mid-spec mac (well the iMac is probably the equivalent, I'm assuming you dont need a monitor and since it's an arcade you'll probably have either a spare CRT or arcade monitor to use).  All of the emulators are easily available, though most, if not all, should be available on mac as well.  For ogm and mkv, just grab ffdshow and haali's splitter, both of which are part of the Community Codec Pack, which is great for use in the 3rd part you mentioned--the dvr. 

The one thing nobody has really brought up is to be a DVR for directv.  I'm not 100% sure, but you're basically going to need a PC for this.  The majority of the cards I looked at when building my DVR are PC only, though eyeTV did exist for Macs and apparently integrates nicely with Front Row.  A QAM/Analog card or two with either Windows Media Center or something like SageTV/BeyondTV could easily handle what you're trying to do, wiht some of the IR/serial blasters to handle the DirecTV box.

[Ed_McCarron]

If your getting a new computer as your main computer then get a mac.  They're amazing.  They run faster then windows and can do everything else a windows computer can do and more.  A mac is like a work of art , depending on what type you get the lcd in the mac mini's macbook and macbook pro's look fantastic.  But one con is there kinda expensive. <3ILOVEMYMACBOOKPRO<3 If your looking to save some money and just for arcade games to stick in a cab then you could pick up a cheap pc.

Shame they don't have an 'enter' key to insert the occasional new line.

[patrickl]

The "truth" About Apple users

[dcsipe]

Shoot... everytime Apple decides to "upgrade" their system line - everything before it becomes incompatible. We aren't running Vista just for this reason. A big part of the reason we don't run Apple machines is for the same reason. Apple has been doing it longer. I believe their machines have the appearance of running better because Apple refuses to deal with backward compatability.

That's right...the new Intel Macs have the Rosetta software on them so they AREN'T backwards compatible with PowerPC apps.

Let's see...when I upgraded from my Powerbook G4 (Power PC Processor) to a MacBook Pro (Intel Core Duo Processor), all of my apps except for maybe 1 or two worked...no problems hooking my printer, scanner, etc. up.  Everything worked just fine.

When my dad upgraded from XP to Vista...Printer didn't work, scanner didn't work, quite a few apps had issues.

I'm not trying to say that Mac's are better for gaming PC's, because frankly they're not.  I've been supporting Windows Servers and Windows PC's for many years.  A Mac is going to outperform a PC under "normal" use (ie, the average person) after a few years.  Yeah you can run "tweaks" and "mods" and whatnot to keep your PC running smoothly, but how many normal people are going to even know how to do that?

I spent more time trying to find tweaks and hacks to keep my PC running smoothly than I do with my Mac.  The fact of it all is that Windows is a more exploited OS than the Mac OS is.  Microsoft has the majority of the market, so the losers with nothing better to do are going to spend their time exploiting Windows and IE to maximize their annoyance.

[Malenko]

I don't understand the point of saying Mac is better because Vista sucks.
I have a PC and I don't use Vista, I use XP; same thing goes for my MAME cab.

Im sure MACs are just splendid, in fact Best Buy just got rid of 2 rows of PC hardware and jammed it all together on the back wall of the store to make room for the snazzy new MAC display.

back to the subject at hand, MAME under XP runs freeekin sweet on my $185 Dell Optiplex ; can a MAC run NHL Open Ice, Killer Instinct 2, Race Drivin' full speed for less then $200?


if you wanna be trendy get a mac, if you an inexpensive hardware option thats pretty well known by all, get a PC

[Green Giant]

I've got 3 PC's in my house.
One just had the hard drive go out (with all my games on it), the other won't go on the internet for whatever reason, and the third had a hard drive crash a year ago, and I haven't got around to fixing it.

Every one of those things would be called hardware problems.  Windows is software.

Plus I can get a very fast XP machine with all the software for $300.  I have never heard of anyone doing this with Mac, including the software.

Now for a true cab gaming comp, get a pc.  Everything stated on here about Macs would not matter.  A frontend should hide all appearances of either OS.

[quarterback]

somebody move this to P&R before it gets really ugly

[AtomSmasher]

When my dad upgraded from XP to Vista...Printer didn't work, scanner didn't work, quite a few apps had issues.

Just curious, but did your dad upgrade shortly after Vista was released?  They rushed the release which caused a shortage of drivers, but as time goes on, more and more hardware is supported.  I remember when I ran a compatibility check when Vista first came out my printer, scanner, and a couple other things didn't have drivers yet, but when I upgraded last month, drivers for all of my hardware was available and everything worked perfectly.  I'm also only having an issue with one app, but they're releasing the 2008 version of the app next month (which I would have to upgrade to regardless) and I'm sure it will be vista compatible.  Overall I've been very happy with Vista and I was expecting to hate it since it has such a bad reputation.  Of course I also had no issues with windows ME back in the day, so maybe I'm just lucky.

[dcsipe]

I don't understand the point of saying Mac is better because Vista sucks.
I have a PC and I don't use Vista, I use XP; same thing goes for my MAME cab.

Yeah, you definitely didn't get my point then.  I wasn't saying Mac is better because Vista sucks.  I was commenting on the fact that he said when Apple updates their system, everything before becomes incompatible. 

[Senmet]

... wow i do not think i would start some thing like this 

this is what i was looking to do
i would like to i have a DVR that i can rec on directv and then backup on DVD or ipod( what i was liking at was a tivo with tivo to go)
a DVD player (ps3)
playing all my Mame,nes ,snes est games
like at my ebook
like at my comics (.cbz)
which my 2TB of ogm and mkv videos
i have a gamecube i will upgraded to wii
i have a xbox
i have DC
i have a pS2 will upgraded to ps3
i was looking at getting LCD TopGun ( but i would like to know will work with my Emulators)
to have a font end that can like me do all of this with a remote (looking at game ex but will not like me look at ogm or my comic)

PS dose some know of a 6 AV Switch  that have power, networking w/ 2 HDMI

[rovingmind]

go PC

Check out OSX86 (aka insanelymac) and look at the hardware compatibility, get a duo core intel chip and motherboard thats been tested and triple boot,

then you can go xp / osX / AND Ubuntu linux

[Guaranos]

go PC

Check out OSX86 (aka insanelymac) and look at the hardware compatibility, get a duo core intel chip and motherboard thats been tested and triple boot,

then you can go xp / osX / AND Ubuntu linux

That is a violation of Apple's EULA, and it doesn't even work that well.  If you want to run all three, do it right and legally and run them on a Mac.  If you actually look at the prices, Macs aren't as expensive as people make them out to be.

[FrizzleFried]

I NEVER have less than 2 Macs running 24 hours a day 7 days a week in my home.  During business days I am running 5 Macs in the house.  I use them for my business and the amount of hatred I hold for these pieces of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- can't be expressed accurately.  I've been forced to work with Macs for the last 16 years of my career (publishing) and I have detested every last minute of it.  The Apple Macintosh is the biggest piece of over-hyped ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- I've ever set hands to.

Now...the one caveat is that these machines I am chained to are OLD OLD OLD piece of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- OS9 systems.  That is right!  My "forward thinking" company has left me to deal with old piece of crap G4's with OS9 installed!!!!!!!

From the limited time I have used OSX (maximum a dozen  hours or so),  I was not impressed.  It is CERTAINLY better than this laughable OS9 software,  but a far cry from the "cat's meow" if you know what I mean.

Go with a PC with XP.  Screw VISTA as well...

[rovingmind]

That is a violation of Apple's EULA,

that just strikes me as amusing here

and yes i would pay for the OSX discs

My vote is still for PC Hardware, if your worried about apples EULA then there is still xp and ubuntu.

[tommy]

They still making those mac things? I can't imagine why. 

[Jouster]

For a gaming platform...PC w/ XP...or TinyXP for MAME.

Vista is too new, don't bother.  Why anyone...and I mean anyone would buy a new OS before the first service pack comes out is beyond me.  History on both major platforms should be enough to discourage that.  I have ZERO sympathy for someone that buys a new OS in that time frame...you were asking for it in my opinion.

The security of a MAME machine is pretty much irrelevant also...how many people leave their arcade plugged into their network?  The guts are usually hidden and/or locked away, and the civilians don't know how to control them (even with instruction cards posted)...so security flaws, holes or viruses and such play no part in a MAME machine's consideration.

I think most people here are trying to maximize their playing experience while minimizing the pain felt in their wallet.  In that case...go PC.  I just did a quick search on eBay...I paid $60 for 2 systems (733MHz, 128 MB Ram, 10GB HD) while the closest thing I just saw for a Mac, spec-wise, is going for $180 for 1 machine.

You're also more likely to find lots more info on PC and Windows fixes here than Mac...not that you can't get help with them...but most people seem to run some form of MS OS for their MAME creation.

Hope that helps,
Jouster

[rovingmind]

They still making those mac things? I can't imagine why. 

People like my b-in-law by them, He's an A/P photographer and needs an extremely stable picture editing laptop.

[DaveMMR]

I don't know why there's all this Mac vs. PC debate in the thread.  Based solely on the original post, the answer is simple: get a PC.   There's more emulation software choices available for the PC and the box is cheaper (maybe even free if you know a tech who wants to get rid of old hardware).   

[cowguy]

I like macs a lot but get a PC for what your doing.

[Guaranos]

and yes i would pay for the OSX discs

You can't buy the current version of OS X for Intel processors separately.  It only comes with an Intel Mac.  That will probably change when Leopard comes out, since there will need to be a way for current Intel Mac owners to upgrade.