Selling slightly used computers? Or trading?

[Mysticfyre]

My issue is that I have way too many computers right now. And they're all PCs. I'd love to get rid of a few and pick up for a Mac for my graphic design stuff. How should I go about doing this?

For example, the one I'm on now I barely turn on. It's built by me, has a 3.2 P4, 2gigs of ram, 260 gig HDD, running Windows 7, nice video and sound cards, wireless mouse and keyboard, cool case. I used to use it for gaming, but I only play PS3 now. What should I ask for it? Where should I post it for sale/trade?

[Jeremy C]

Depending on the vid card, you're not going to get much for it. It's a two generation old pc. Even with Win 7, I wouldn't pay more than $75-100 for it. For simplicity I would Craigslist it.

Also, why go mac if you're doing graphic design? For the cost, you can get a pc that will be better since the newest macs out use last gen video cards. There is nothing different hardware wise between a mac and a windows pc, and if the performance in video games (OpenGL) is an indicator, the OSX software lags severely behind an equally equipped windows machine for 3s rendering.

[reallyxxxxxxloud]

I buy sell on ebay.... Im usually making $200-400 a pop. But thats refurbished laptops mostly.

[Mysticfyre]

Wow, I thought 3.2 was really fast still? What's the difference- is it the P4 versus what's out now?

$75-100 is nothing. I paid more for just Windows 7. Guess I'll just hold onto it.

[Jeremy C]

The p4 was a very slow processor when matched with any processor of similar frequency. A Core2Duo 1.86GHz will beat that 3.2 p4 in almost everything you do.

Comparison of the Q6600 (2.4GHz X 4 cores), E6300 (1.86GHz X 2 cores), and the Prescott 3.2GHz p4

The C2D is long dead, Core2 Quads are starting to look out dated (more poor C2Q@ 3.0 is starting to feel old...), and the current i3/i5/i7 chips are slated for replacement starting early next year. The only people that are still buying p4 based systems are people looking for cheap computers.

[Alan92RTTT]

3.2 is slow by current standards. It might actually run better with XP but I am not sure.

If you take the money you woiuld have spent on a mac you will end up with a faster/better system in the long run if you stay PC.

[DrGonzo]

Depending on the Mac you look at. Some of their graphic designers series come with top end Quatro cards which granted are not good for gaming but they are great for graphic design. Now if you were doing 3D design work they stay away form Quatro cards as you will need the higher end OpenGL supported cards. I'm currently running 3 9800gtx cards SLI's together just to run my Maya 3D software. I also have two other separate machines linked as a cloud just to render out the designs.

[Jeremy C]

If you want anything better than a 5670, you have to get a mac pro. Just checking their site, there are no quadro cards offered on any mac pro, with the highest option being a 5870 (which is a good card, but not worth having to buy a $2,900 pc without a monitor).

Seriously - When macs actually were different than their windows counterparts, there was a valid argument that they were "different." With them being shiny pc's built by slave labor in China right next to the retail parts for general computers, there is no reason to buy a mac anymore. ONLY thing I can think of is that you prefer their OS, which is a valid decision. Beyond that, the priceerformance crown is indisputably in the Windows camp.

[GTOJOE]

P4 was replaced by the P4D which was replaced by the core duo which was replaced by the core 2 duo which has been replaced by the icore series. i3, i5 and i7

[Mysticfyre]

I was actually looking at an iMac. Some of the refurbs aren't so bad. Unfortunately it's completely unaffordable if I can't knock a few hundred off or so by selling other things. I do think they're neat because you can run the Mac and the PC OSes on them too. Maybe it's just the fun of having another OS to play with too. There's totally nothing wrong with the computers I have now though- can't complain at all about the speeds.

Thanks for the explanations of the processor speeds. I really had no idea. I just sort of thought all 3.2s were equal. So I guess my laptop is technically faster because it has a Core 2 Duo!