Mac Daniel's Advice

It's the Output That Counts

Manuel Mejia Jr - 2002.05.09

Back on April 1, 2002, Low End Mac issued its annual April Fool's page. This page espoused the great virtues of several pre-PPC Macs. Based on my experience and my reading of the April Fool's articles, I came to a very basic conclusion. When purchasing a computer, the buyer needs to make an assessment of what the output will be.

What is the definition of output? Output is the end product of your work. Output can be a printed essay, a spreadsheet, a letter, or a brochure. Brochure types of output can be further subdivided into a black and white drawing, a grayscale drawing, a color graphic, or a photographic image. Output can also be a sent of CD-ROMs containing music, pictures, video clip movies, or other software that was downloaded from the Internet. Output can even be the adrenaline rush from playing a video game.

If you are just into fun and games, go get an Xbox or equivalent machine. Those machines are dedicated to the task.

If the output is more practical, then the decision becomes more complex. To ease the decision making process, figure out what are the peripherals that needed in addition to the computer. These peripherals often determine what type of computer you purchase.

If a user buys just a standard black toner laser printer, color printing is probably not an issue. The user is interested in mostly text printouts. For text only printouts, Mac Plusthe end user can use a very low-end Mac. A $17 Mac Plus connected to a refurbished LaserWriter II can print out the most professional of documents and even line drawings. There is no need to buy an iMac for this type of output.

In contrast, any type of graphical or audio work requires a state-of-the-art Mac. Given the advent of megabyte sized downloads and complex software and files, a low-end Mac can have a hard time generating that class of output. For example, many people who want to do video clips or download MP3s are going to be fortunate if they can find software that is compatible to a lower end Mac. Assuming this is not a problem, a slow processor will often negate any benefit of using a old Mac. Some end users may want their output in a few minutes rather than several hours.

In conclusion, choosing a Mac, be it is a Quadra or a flat panel iMac, depends more on output than on things like looks, the sales pitch, or the number of Ben Franklins that are being allocated for purchase.

And if the Mac selected is a low-end one, the Chinese environmental movement may even thank you.

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