HylianSavior 37 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Whoa, that image came out much larger than I expected. It's the TCO that counts, plus the user experience, plus the service, etc. For example, compare system upgrades.Besides, I don't think hardware price difference is that big these days, if any. Well, it's a matter of personal opinion. I've had Macs over the years, and OSX is a nice OS, but usually end up sticking with Windows and Linux. My Mac Mini G4 is sitting in the corner running Debian still faithfully working as a home server. As for system upgrades, I would disagree. They've only been making it harder for users to get at system internals, which is a part of Apple's philosophy. The image above is a bit exaggerated since Mac Pro is crazy overpriced even compared to the other Mac lines, but I would argue that hardware price difference is still fairly large. As a rule of thumb, the base line models are probably ~$230 over what it would cost to build yourself, with upgrades beyond that costing significantly more. What you do get though, is a sexy case and hipster points from your friends. :> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rockets4kids 204 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Sorry to be the naysayer here, but I would much rather go for building my own PC than buying a Mac. You know, you can have your cake and eat it too... http://www.hackintosh.com/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 I'm not too keen on the Hackintosh. I've been there, tried that, got frustrated. This is what I ended up getting: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FC936LL/A Geekbench give it a 32bit score of 8611 which is just below a Mac Pro (Mid 2010) [which has an Intel Xeon W3530 2.8 GHz (4 cores)]. I think it will be just fine. RobG 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PentiumPC 119 Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I'm not too keen on the Hackintosh. I've been there, tried that, got frustrated. This is what I ended up getting: http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FC936LL/A Geekbench give it a 32bit score of 8611 which is just below a Mac Pro (Mid 2010) [which has an Intel Xeon W3530 2.8 GHz (4 cores)]. I think it will be just fine. Very nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 My mac mini arrived today. WOOT! :thumbup: I might need training wheels. Or better drivers for the keyboard and mouse. :crazy: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kenemon 29 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Are there clones available these days? gatImmusepete 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Nope. Steve killed them off in 1999, I believe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kenemon 29 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 My bro shared a spare ipad he had with me. I am frustrated by the lack of "control" it offers to the user, but impressed with the compact package and speed. Looking at the posts, i am a little confused: It runs on iOS correct? I also understand this is similar to MacOS X? Will the drivers for OS X work on the ipad? Can I install drivers manually? Seems like it might be easier to fashion a bluetooth or WiFi connection to the LP than get the USB working directly TIA, KB gatImmusepete 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobG 1,892 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 "It runs on iOS correct?" - Yes. "I also understand this is similar to MacOS X?" - There are a lot of shared libraries between those 2, but they are 2 different OSs. "Will the drivers for OS X work on the ipad?" - No. "Can I install drivers manually?" - No. "Seems like it might be easier to fashion a bluetooth or WiFi connection to the LP than get the USB working directly" - You are correct, implementing anything that uses USB on iPad is a pain. kenemon 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 I think wifi would be the best method to use. That's my plan. I think that bluetooth falls under apple's MFI restrictions. I hope I'm wrong though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kenemon 29 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 sounds good Zeke. May be a good place to use the TIiWiR2, i have that breakout board we designed, and the chip waiting for me to bust its cherry.... :shifty: I just got the ProFLEX1 to come to life with the Olimex programmer. Starting to fiddle with GW's method for SimpliciTI, but this is zigbee. I would like it to be able to work on everybody's wireless When I started out with this , using the Microchip module, i was discouraged by the huge size of the TCP/IP stack that they use. Hopefully it will go better with TI/LSR..... May need a SD card for the stack anyhow Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Lately, I've been researching the Lantronix Matchport wifi module. It has a built in webserver. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kenemon 29 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Cool module Zeke. looks like the DSTni chip explains the price (25-35$). It makes things a lot easier, having it all onboard. I may be in for a world of s&%$ with the TIWi. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kenemon 29 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Zeke, do you mind telling me why you want to have the web server? Is it possible to run the server on a desktop or remote machine and control/monitor the device over TCP/IP? Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobG 1,892 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 I need a web server module to build X-10 controller for example. Ether/WiFi -> web server -> MSP430 -> X-10 gatImmusepete and kenemon 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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