I might end up buying one, but only if I decide to get into iPad app development.
For general use, my iPod Touch and my netbook cover all the portable bases that the iPad would cover. To me the iPad seems a very useful device if you've got the need for a digital clipboard, but that's simply not functionality I need. All I'd use it for is surfing the 'net away from the desk, and it needs to be cheaper for me to buy it for that.
iPad2
It's more then 500$.
I'm aware of the Mac Mini. They start at 749.99$ here (with pathetic specs compare to a PC of similar price). Even the 1000$ model is laughable. But it's just a box. I need a monitor for it +200$. I'm not going to be taking apart my PC and hooking the mac into it every time I want to switch. Especially since my asset pipeline of Photoshop and Blender runs on my windows PC. Another PSE license for the Mac would run me ~100$ extra, and I wouldn't run Blender on that 320M GPU.
Then the IPAD itself is 512$ in it's cheapest configuration.
We are already past way 1200$, or 1400$ with a monitor.
That's before the huge sales tax and environmental fees we have to pay here.
Apple Developer fee 100$
Unity Pro 1500$ is required for Unity IOS Pro 1500$.
And once again, as per the previous post, I'm talking about MY usage scenario, and prices are set to my region. YMMV.
The Motorola XOOM seems like a much more realistic option. 599$ and that's it. + the 25$ developer fee. But Android dev isn't the same. All the machines are different. Even with the tablets that have come out in the last 2 months, the specs are varying wildly. Comparing the XOOM to the other brand seems like comparing a Pentium 4 with a geforce 3 to a 386sx with a crappy ibm on board video card. And there are even more tablets coming soon with their own specs.
I'm aware of the Mac Mini. They start at 749.99$ here (with pathetic specs compare to a PC of similar price). Even the 1000$ model is laughable. But it's just a box. I need a monitor for it +200$. I'm not going to be taking apart my PC and hooking the mac into it every time I want to switch. Especially since my asset pipeline of Photoshop and Blender runs on my windows PC. Another PSE license for the Mac would run me ~100$ extra, and I wouldn't run Blender on that 320M GPU.
Then the IPAD itself is 512$ in it's cheapest configuration.
We are already past way 1200$, or 1400$ with a monitor.
That's before the huge sales tax and environmental fees we have to pay here.
Apple Developer fee 100$
Unity Pro 1500$ is required for Unity IOS Pro 1500$.
And once again, as per the previous post, I'm talking about MY usage scenario, and prices are set to my region. YMMV.
The Motorola XOOM seems like a much more realistic option. 599$ and that's it. + the 25$ developer fee. But Android dev isn't the same. All the machines are different. Even with the tablets that have come out in the last 2 months, the specs are varying wildly. Comparing the XOOM to the other brand seems like comparing a Pentium 4 with a geforce 3 to a 386sx with a crappy ibm on board video card. And there are even more tablets coming soon with their own specs.
It's more then 500$.
I'm aware of the Mac Mini. They start at 749.99$ here (with pathetic specs compare to a PC of similar price). Even the 1000$ model is laughable. But it's just a box. I need a monitor for it +200$. I'm not going to be taking apart my PC and hooking the mac into it every time I want to switch. Especially since my asset pipeline of Photoshop and Blender runs on my windows PC. Another PSE license for the Mac would run me ~100$ extra, and I wouldn't run Blender on that 320M GPU.
Then the IPAD itself is 512$ in it's cheapest configuration.
We are already past way 1200$, or 1400$ with a monitor.
That's before the huge sales tax and environmental fees we have to pay here.
Apple Developer fee 100$
Unity Pro 1500$ is required for Unity IOS Pro 1500$.
And once again, as per the previous post, I'm talking about MY usage scenario, and prices are set to my region. YMMV.
The Motorola XOOM seems like a much more realistic option. 599$ and that's it. + the 25$ developer fee. But Android dev isn't the same. All the machines are different. Even with the tablets that have come out in the last 2 months, the specs are varying wildly. Comparing the XOOM to the other brand seems like comparing a Pentium 4 with a geforce 3 to a 386sx with a crappy ibm on board video card. And there are even more tablets coming soon with their own specs.
You could use the new flash packager and flash/air for android. You can do all your development on the PC and submit to all mobile devices i believe. Not sure how air applications are handled on android monetarily. I only know that android tablets should support it. And I only heard about this flash business 2ish days ago, so I might not have all the details right.
If it is right though, unity will probably follow suit with allowing iphone development on PC.
If it is right though, unity will probably follow suit with allowing iphone development on PC.[/quote]You can use the UDK to target the iPhone with just a Apple developer subscription. But it seems contrary to the EULA when signing up for that account.
It's more then 500$.
I'm aware of the Mac Mini. They start at 749.99$ here (with pathetic specs compare to a PC of similar price). Even the 1000$ model is laughable. But it's just a box. I need a monitor for it +200$. I'm not going to be taking apart my PC and hooking the mac into it every time I want to switch. Especially since my asset pipeline of Photoshop and Blender runs on my windows PC. Another PSE license for the Mac would run me ~100$ extra, and I wouldn't run Blender on that 320M GPU.
Then the IPAD itself is 512$ in it's cheapest configuration.
We are already past way 1200$, or 1400$ with a monitor.
That's before the huge sales tax and environmental fees we have to pay here.
Apple Developer fee 100$
Unity Pro 1500$ is required for Unity IOS Pro 1500$.
And once again, as per the previous post, I'm talking about MY usage scenario, and prices are set to my region. YMMV.
The Motorola XOOM seems like a much more realistic option. 599$ and that's it. + the 25$ developer fee. But Android dev isn't the same. All the machines are different. Even with the tablets that have come out in the last 2 months, the specs are varying wildly. Comparing the XOOM to the other brand seems like comparing a Pentium 4 with a geforce 3 to a 386sx with a crappy ibm on board video card. And there are even more tablets coming soon with their own specs.
You do seem to be adding fees in to try and prove your point how much more 'expensive' it is to develop for iOS. A KVM switch takes care of not having to buy another monitor. The 'crappy' Mac mini easily pushes my 23" monitor at 1920x1080. OSX will default the Win key to the Apple key automatically so a PC keyboard is just fine. You don't have to buy the pro licenses of Unity. You do have to buy the $400 indie iPhone version though. So unless you really need real time shadows then showing the Unity logo while your game loads isn't that big of a deal. Depending on how much you care about licenses you can use Boot Camp and install any Windows apps you are used to working with on a Mac. So in reality you can be doing iOS development for ~$1100. While that would be a serious investment for somebody just to play around with but if you are serious about making money doing indie games you have to expect to drop some money.
I just recently finished up doing an freelance iPhone game with Unity. My employer paid for my Unity and Apple developer licenses. And since I already have a full time job some of the money I made went into buying my Mac mini. If you play your cards right or just get plain lucky like I did you can get yourself setup pretty cheaply.
...There was nothing misleading in my post. I posted my own scenario and my own needs, and I made sure to mention that in each post. I did nothing to run up the cost.
A monitor switch wouldn't work well in my scenario with my workflow. I do see some nice LG monitors that have dual HDMI inputs and a switch to toggle between them however. That's not ideal, but it could be a compromise.
I don't work in IT, and never will. So I don't have a boss to buy me things. I'm a hobbyist and I have to fund my own purchases.
Lack of Unity Pro is hurting me as I type this. There are several features I could use to improve what I'm working on. I definitely need to buy it in the future.
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