iMac users? My PC PUKED and I'm thinking Mac

oeser, for the price vs. performance standpoint PC / laptops will typically be cheaper than what Apple offers.

How many years apart did you buy the PC / Mac? That comparison doesn't work unless you are comparing a brand new laptop / mac side by side for specs vs price.

The flip-side is that you won't look as cool carrying a laptop vs a macbook and the customer service (should you need it) won't compare to what Apple provides.
 
I'm thinking about the all-in-one iMac. It has a 21" screen and the HD etcare built in the monitor. Looks pretty good for $1200-1500, depeding on which HD, 500gb or 1tb!?
 
Do you download movies?

I keep movies / games / music on a separate drive, but my main hard drive for operating system is only 640 GB. I'm only using 54 GB of that and I have a few games installed. I imagine you'd be okay with a 500 GB.
 
I use the 21"imac.

I used to detest the mac culture. My uncle was irritating after he switched. Now that I have a good recipe for Crow, I can just say that the mac just works without the headaches.
 
Try linux first $0.02, its free in some cases, and can use your existing hardware in most.
 
Grimspoon said:
oeser, for the price vs. performance standpoint PC / laptops will typically be cheaper than what Apple offers.

How many years apart did you buy the PC / Mac? That comparison doesn't work unless you are comparing a brand new laptop / mac side by side for specs vs price.

The flip-side is that you won't look as cool carrying a laptop vs a macbook and the customer service (should you need it) won't compare to what Apple provides.
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The two laptops were purchased 9 months apart. I don't buy laptops to look cool. That is one reason why I don't have an iphone. I don't subscribe to the hype.

The reason I made the switch was my brother, who works for a major software development company, said his company was making that switch and then running windows on their macs when necessary. I had so many problems with my pc and, more specifically vista, that I was willing to try anything. I did it and am glad I did. I have had no problems since. Perhaps if you deal with computers for a living then a pc will work fine, but why go through all the headache when it could be so easy.

If your biggest argument is that people only buy macs to look cool, find another reason because that is not the case with me or anybody else I know that has one.

Have you ever owned a mac?
 
Highly recommend macs for sure. I absolutely love my Macbook and it is currently the only computer I own. Got it several years ago. The only problem ive had is my hard drive blew, but that is pretty common for laptops in general after a couple years. Since the change in harddrive its been at 100% :thumbup::thumbup:

I will most likely never buy another PC again. But if you do games, i think a pc is the way to go
 
oeser said:
If your biggest argument is that people only buy macs to look cool, find another reason because that is not the case with me or anybody else I know that has one.

Have you ever owned a mac?
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I've only used macs. Never owned.

My biggest argument is price. I just did a quick side-by-side between Dell and Apple:

Two similarly spec'd laptops. Dell vs. Apple:

Macbook Pro:

# 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
# 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB
# 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
# SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
# MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Antiglare Widescreen Display
# Backlit Keyboard (English) / User's Guide
# 1-year One to One membership

$3,803.00
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Dell Studio 17:

- Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
- Intel® Core™ i7-820QM Quad Core Processor 1.73GHz
- 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
- 500GB SATA HDD (7200rpm)
- 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
- 17.3” HD+ (900p) Bright LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera/Facial Recognition SW
- 1 Year Limited Warranty with 1 Year Return To Depot Service
- 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650

$2,344
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The dell has the better hardware (mobile i7 uses dynamic OC up to 3.08 Ghz) and costs a great deal less. Just saying.
 
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Whiskey River said:
Does it come with decent photo editing software? I have Photoshop now but can't afford to buy the mac version! Ouch......

I also use coreldraw.... That might not cost too much to switch.
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Coreldraw is dead on Macs and has been for a few years.

However, there is no need to purchase a new version of Photoshop. Just contact Adobe and tell them you are switching platforms.

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2007/05/cs3_switching_p.html

Q. Can I switch my product from Windows to Mac or vice-versa?
A. Yes. Just call Adobe Customer Service (800-833-6687 in the US; 020 7365 0733 in the UK; more country-by-country numbers here) for assistance. The process, as I understand it, involves signing an agreement stating that you've destroyed the product on one platform, and in return Adobe will send you the product for the other platform. According to the service folks, there may be a cost involved; verification of product is required; and restrictions apply.
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Here is the link to the form:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/153/tn_15327/attachments/lod_xgrade.pdf
 
Im not into games and dont download movies. I think an iMac might be in my future.... like tomorrow!

I'm just curious how it will work if I have the internet (cable) hooked to it.... will my wife be able to connect to the internet through the iMac's wireless?
will she be able to share the printer also? In otherwords... can an iMac and PC share things like printers and network connections? Hope they can and without being a brain surgeon to figure it out.
 
Whiskey River said:
Im not into games and dont download movies. I think an iMac might be in my future.... like tomorrow!

I'm just curious how it will work if I have the internet (cable) hooked to it.... will my wife be able to connect to the internet through the iMac's wireless?
will she be able to share the printer also? In otherwords... can an iMac and PC share things like printers and network connections? Hope they can and without being a brain surgeon to figure it out.
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Why hook the internet cable to it? It comes with wireless(802.11n standard, That's an extra with Dell) Just use a wireless router and have both computers connect wirelessly. Piece of cake. Technically, you can share the internet connection, but your ISP may not like that and the range of the built in card will not equal a dedicated router.

It is very easy to share printers between Macs and PC's. You can even share files.
 
Grimspoon said:
I've only used macs. Never owned.

My biggest argument is price. I just did a quick side-by-side between Dell and Apple:

Two similarly spec'd laptops. Dell vs. Apple:






The dell has the better hardware (mobile i7 uses dynamic OC up to 3.08 Ghz) and costs a great deal less. Just saying.
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That does not necessarily hold true across the board. I purchased a 13" macbook pro that replaced a 13" XPS. The specs of the XPS were supposedly far superior to those of the macbook, however my macbook out performs the XPS in every way. I only paid $1199 for the macbook and paid around $1600 for the XPS. For the average consumer I think the ease of use and lack of problems is worth a little more anyway. Plus no average computer user will ever need half of the hardware in those two computers.

I will agree that when you start throwing all the bells and whistles on a mac, like you have done in your comparison, the mac can get pretty pricey. That is why I made the decision I did. Mac works for me now, but I am open minded enough that if something better comes along that fills my needs better I will buy it. So far, nothing has.

I am glad to hear that Windows is working for you. I got so frustrated with vista at the end that I cringed every time I sat down to my computer. That doesn't happen any more.


Whiskey River said:
Im not into games and dont download movies. I think an iMac might be in my future.... like tomorrow!

I'm just curious how it will work if I have the internet (cable) hooked to it.... will my wife be able to connect to the internet through the iMac's wireless?
will she be able to share the printer also? In otherwords... can an iMac and PC share things like printers and network connections? Hope they can and without being a brain surgeon to figure it out.
Click to expand...


I would suggest you buy a wireless router to accomplish what you are trying to do. You can plug your printer into a wireless router and run a PC and a mac on the same network and same printer, I have done it at my home.:thumbup:
 
Whiskey River said:
Oh DAYUM!! I have hundreds of coreldraw files!!!

That will really hurt!!
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Your files may still be intact, which may allow you to retrieve them. If you have a Best Buy near you, Geeksquad might be able to recover your files and they might even be able to fix the problem with the computer. Some folks here warned me about Geeksquad, but the agent that helped me really knew his stuff. They do offer a data recovery service.

In short... Don't take a hammer to your hard drive just yet! :)
 
Whiskey River said:
Oh DAYUM!! I have hundreds of coreldraw files!!!

That will really hurt!!
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Well, you can always run Windows on the Mac using Parallels, Fusionware, or BootCamp. You will need a retail version of Windows, but that is it if you use the included Boot Camp. The other two will let you run OS X and Windows at the same time, but run about $50-100 + retail version of Windows.
 
I have a wireless router running now. So I shold be able to just log onto that with both computers and with neither hooked to it? Hmmmm I wonder how the heck I set up future login stuff to the router if its not connected to a computer? I guess I'm not as clever as i had imagined!!


oeser said:
That does not necessarily hold true across the board. I purchased a 13" macbook pro that replaced a 13" XPS. The specs of the XPS were supposedly far superior to those of the macbook, however my macbook out performs the XPS in every way. I only paid $1199 for the macbook and paid around $1600 for the XPS. For the average consumer I think the ease of use and lack of problems is worth a little more anyway. Plus no average computer user will ever need half of the hardware in those two computers.

I will agree that when you start throwing all the bells and whistles on a mac, like you have done in your comparison, the mac can get pretty pricey. That is why I made the decision I did. Mac works for me now, but I am open minded enough that if something better comes along that fills my needs better I will buy it. So far, nothing has.

I am glad to hear that Windows is working for you. I got so frustrated with vista at the end that I cringed every time I sat down to my computer. That doesn't happen any more.





I would suggest you buy a wireless router to accomplish what you are trying to do. You can plug your printer into a wireless router and run a PC and a mac on the same network and same printer, I have done it at my home.:thumbup:
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oeser, no bells and whistles. Basically everything on the mac page was left unchecked, just kept the basic hardware itself (ram, proc, etc.) at their premium option.

Though I do agree, most users wouldn't take advantage of that hardware, especially on the mac side since the gaming scene on macs is pretty dismal. In that respect it wasn't a fair comparison. It was just to illustrate the point.

For a user like Whiskey River though, I don't see any good reason not to buy a mac. Especially if trouble shooting PC hardware/software issues is overwhelming. Like I said, I concede happily that Apple has great ease of use customer care. It's just generally more expensive. You just have to gauge for yourself if the extra cost is worth while.

Edit: I also agree that Vista was a chore unless you were willing to commit serious time to tweaking for performance. I used it for years and loved it (not at first) but it took work. I've been using Windows 7 since the early beta releases and it's just about everything Vista should have been.
 
tedwca said:
Well, you can always run Windows on the Mac using Parallels, Fusionware, or BootCamp. You will need a retail version of Windows, but that is it if you use the included Boot Camp. The other two will let you run OS X and Windows at the same time, but run about $50-100 + retail version of Windows.
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I guess this might be good.... I shouldnt get those bad viruses as long as I only use windows for running things not having to do with the internet!

I have been thinking and I use: Dreamweaver for web site work, CorelDraw, Microsoft Office, Quickbooks Pro, Photoshop. Those are the main ones. I'd hate to have to buy all of them new again!! But some like photoshop may let me switch.....

Thanks for the tips guys!
 
I'm gonna have to chime in here. I'm a tech...the IT director for a credit union. I've also worked for newspaper and multimedia companies. No doubt, Macs are good at doing photo editing and layouts...but you can do all that on a PC. Macs used to make their own processors; now, they use the exact same processors that PCs use.

True that Windows can be more bloated, but imo, also very customizable. Easy to turn off/remove things you don't want/need. True that Macs have fewer viruses, but they also have fewer software titles.

Macs don't crash as often, but when they do...forget about it..good luck troubleshooting it. PCs may/may not crash more often...but they can usually (in my experience) be fixed a heck of lot quicker as well.

I'm probably gonna get flamed for this (hopefully not) but IMO, macs are good for people who don't know what they are doing. In other words, to use Apple's slogan, "they just work." They work great for people who aren't interested in changing or customizing anything different than when they bought their Mac. IMO, PCs are a lot more versatile.

And for me, I just can't justify spending twice as much for a Mac as a PC...especially since they use the same Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad Core processors. And BTW, I've removed plenty of viruses from Macs. For sure, PCs get more viruses, but Macs are not totally immune to them.

Anyway, you'll probably be very happy if you get a Mac...most people I know who have them really like them, but they're not for me.

Good luck.
 
Whiskey River said:
I guess this might be good.... I shouldnt get those bad viruses as long as I only use windows for running things not having to do with the internet!

I have been thinking and I use: Dreamweaver for web site work, CorelDraw, Microsoft Office, Quickbooks Pro, Photoshop. Those are the main ones. I'd hate to have to buy all of them new again!! But some like photoshop may let me switch.....

Thanks for the tips guys!
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Certain programs you shouldn't have to pay for at all. Use their open source alternatives.

At least for Photoshop, try Gimp. For MS Office, try Open Office. Perfectly free and legal.

Gimp probably isn't going to open your .cdr files though.
 
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