If you are looking for a new PC my recommendation would be to buy a Mac. I have been looking for a good computer to run virtual machines on. While I like the VMWare Fusion software I use on my Mac, it does a horrible job at really testing computer operating systems and network environments. VMware still hasn’t brought their Mac platform up to where their PC software is at. VMware Fusion is great for running Windows on a Mac just for when you need to access a PC program. The product for Windows is called VMware Desktop, and it has much more support and many more options which are useful for testing operating system network configurations. So I need a PC with VMware Desktop to do work on.
This leads me back to my recommendation for a PC. I’ve been looking at everything from cheap PCs to monster boxes which would definitely be overkill for my needs. I need something with at least 4GB of ram and a fairly large hard drive to hold all of the virtual machines. I would also like a large monitor to be able to run VMs side-by-side if needed. I priced out a Dell Optiplex at their online store. The total came to $1384 with a lesser video card than the base model iMac which runs $1199. So it looks like the iMac may be a great deal, but Macs come with OS X and I need a PC.
I do have an old license of Windows XP though and the upgrade to Windows 7 is $185 through NewEgg at this writing. That brings me to … $1384! So for the same price as the PC I get a computer that can run OS X and Windows 7 all in a very attractive box. Even better those same iMacs run $1000 on Apple’s refurb site.
Dude, I’m getting a Mac!