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switching to mac

ok.. i've been a microsoft bashing hypocrite long enough.. im not savvy enough to actually USE linux day to day.... but i'm really worried about the proprietary format of macs...

i like to be able to open up my pc and rip parts out, plug stuff in and be able to do it. i'm worried i won't be able to go to best buy and purchase a compatable video card, etc... how does that stuff work? as long as my mac has an agp slot can i buy any mvidia/ati card i want, or do i have to buy "mac specific" stuff? same question for pci stuff (obviously the manufacturers have to supply mac drivers, but that's a given.)

also what about ram? the specs are just ddr333.. does that mean ANY compatable ram would work or, once again, do i have to go through apple? proprietary stuff scares me.

i like the idea of switching from m$ but don't want to give up upgradability.... or at least the ease of just being able to go into a non-mac specific store and upgrading.

finaly, what about monitors? will i HAVE to buy another one or will my old crt work with it?

also, anyone played around with garageband yet? that makes my mouth water.

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Last edited by humblemoon, January 13th, 2004 08:36 PM (Edited 1 times)

its all the same nowadays... Apple got rid of it's unique chipsets when the G3 came out... (meaning everything except the motherboard *type* (like atx, at, all that stuff) are standardized)

all that you have to worry about when going to buy stuff like new video cards is simply getting the MAC version (or in other words, the box with the Mac disc rather than the PC disc)

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concilio dominatus omnis humus

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sweet. good to hear. And so i REALLY don't even have to worry about getting "the box with the mac discs" as long as i can download the drivers/software.. right?

thanks for the answer.

my inquiries about the monitor and garageband still stand though.

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Last edited by humblemoon, January 14th, 2004 12:40 AM (Edited 1 times)

i dont know, ive never tried just downloading the drivers...

as for monitor, my G3 has a compaq monitor hooked up with no extensions

never heard of garageband...

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concilio dominatus omnis humus

3 superpowers in 1 to rule them all

cool... maybe i'll be getting a g4.. g5 is still a little pricey for me.

garageband is in the new iLife s/w package.. it's an audio creation program... multitrack studio anyone?

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The monitor will work based on your videocard. Simple as that.

Garageband? I'm getting iLife in March. I'll be using garageband as my practice studio (at home) for when I'm not at my band's actual studio. Should work out sweet. I'm pumped about it.

Are you getting the add-on for it as well? Looks like it'll be well worth the price.

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Bmovies are BACK!

i probably won't get the add-on because i really just want a _simple_ multitrack recorder, and my 88-key alesis keyboard (for plain piano sounds mainly.. until i can make midi not sound like midi.. that'll take practice.) i'm not into loops and whatnot.. but it'll be cool to lay down simple drum loops and have my friend record a drum take later. hopefully garage band will let you export into cross-platform friendly formats. not holding my breath for that though. that's too much for such a budget program.

post back here when you get it, tell us what you think.

perhaps i can tell them to leave out the video card so i can get one myself that'll work with my monitor... 'cuz i'm not buying another monitor! (i'm waiting for flat panels to drop in price.. if ever :P)

hell maybe i could even use the gfx card i have... should check at nvidia.com and see if they have mac drivers. surely they do...

by the way, i like the g4 case better than the g5.. but then again i'm kinda fruity, so...

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some PC graphics cards will work in macs... some won't

I doubt you'd find any drivers on nvidia.com because device support is built in / plugged into the kernel - no drivers (in the windows sense of the word) required.

either way, an off the shelf PC card won't work naturally - you have to flash the firmware if there's a patch available (has to be done in a PC and voids the card's warranty) to make it work - because of the big/little endian differences.

although in many stores you dont see a lot of mac components, there is quite a lot out there. Eg you can buy a mac Radeon 9800 (i think its a couple of dollars more) easily enough. Hard disks, ram and optical drives are all the same format that you'd find in a PC.