Mossman

Hi all,

I currently have two PC's, a decent laptop for work and an ANCIENT home pc (233mhz, PII) which I never use now. I am very keen to upgrade the home pc and am very tempted by an iMAC.

I will be using it for mostly Digital pics, Internet surfing and some work - powerpoint, word, excel etc. I would also want to install a few external programs like the detailed map for my Garmin Sat Nav device.

I would really like any opinions and advice on this. I am very design orientated, hence the MAC stuff but I am a little concerned about compatibility etc and ease of use.

Hope to have a few replies soon!
Cheers,
Mossman

snowcrash

macs are excellent - i do all my video editing on em - as for compatablity they are pretty good (except for games) and as MacOS X is unix based, this means you can get a lot of apps (from linux) which have been ported over to Mac, as well as the usually available apps.

ScoobyDoo555

I have used Macs for the last 12 years - I love em!!!

Currently using a G3 300@ home for audio/midi production (see profile for more details)
Use a G4 dual processor @ work for the same thing

Macs 'tolerate' the PC compatability, but in general, they will read any pc file and write/dumb down for a PC too

For any application that is media-based, nothing touches the Mac. It is stable and reliable and bl00dy quick (recent benchmark tests stating the latest G4 1GHz Dual processor running something like 90% faster than a P4 2.5 Gig running Photoshop!!!) - that should stir up the PC lobbyists!!

Also, it's not got anything to do with Bill Gates!!

Buying wise - if you want a new un, they start around £1000-ish.
You could also look at the I-Mac, or E-Mac. G3-based, but still very quick (in comparison to a PC)

If you want used/re-conditioned, have a look at:

http://www.stacksofmacs.co.uk

http://www.madmacs.co.uk

Also, have a chat with Allan @ MacWarehouse - he's a Scoobynetter too

Email me if you want his email addy

Hope this helps,

Best of luck!

Dan

CharlesW

Mossman,

My old lady and myself have used Macs at home for years. At work we both have to use PCs. The Mac is just so much better. Currently we are running a G4 which we have had for 2 years. I bought more memory last year when it was so cheap. I have also bought a second hard drive. I did this mostly so that I could dual boot it in MacOs 9 or MacOsX. This is not so important now as MacOsX is definately the way to go, but we still had a lot of applications running in MacOs 9.

As to compatability, I network it with my PC laptop from work to exchange files. This is quite straight forward. FTP is the simplest way of doing it. My wife has to develop work for school - she teaches computing at a secondary school. So she does it on the Mac using emulation software. PC software runs OK.

I also do a lot of photography - both digital and film. I have a SCSI film scanner. This entails a SCSI card. Expansion is as easy on a G4 as any PC box. Which brings me to a question.

Why the iMac? Is it just the looks, which are great, or is it the cost? The iMac is not easily expandable. If you think there is any chance that you might want to expand anything, get the G4.

MacOsX comes with a lot extras like iPhoto, iMovies and iTunes. It is also Unix based and seems to be very stable. If an application crashes it doesn't bring everything else down with it.

Try it. I don't think you will be disappointed.

JayRaj

Does Kazaa and other file share programs work on MAC?

krankyd

use limewire. It's got a mac client.

The only problem is using GPS devices.. I believe that mac support is not very good?

gregh

I'd be interested to learn if the peripheral/add-ons are as widely available and thus very price competitive for the MAC as the PC scene.

MarkO

I really fancy a Big Mac.

damian666

I own an (old style) iMac for use with my iPod which I bought a while ago. Defiantely worth buying/using if you surf the internet or have loads of MP3s. Additionally, Photoshop and Quark seem a little more user friendly on a Mac - a certain bonus if you are a user of these packages.

However - there is some contention regarding the speed of Macs in relation to PCs. There is no doubt that a PC will be more useful for general purpose use, and will perform those tasks faster.

The G4 CPU which is employed in the Mac is notorious for having a poor FPU (floating point unit) which means for real number crunching it suffers. However, I have never noticed this as an issue - iTunes/iMovie/iDVD all perform really well.

The OS is fantastic - user friendly and well designed. The powerful tools that you may need are easily accesable too - a neat network utility with tracert and ping etc built in is extremely useful for instance.

The fact that the OS has all the software 'built in' means that it is quick, compatible, and looks good.

If you are prepared to spend a little more on a home computing solution, go with the Mac. You wont be disappointed.

If you arent prepared to spend the £1500+ for a decent Mac, then cheaper PCs will provide a more general purpose machine that can do the majority of what a Mac does.

Just my £0.02p

Damian

Mossman

Many thanks for all the replies! Very much appreciated.
Mossman

gareth

Mossman,

If you are thinking of going for an iMac just be aware that the in-built screen is too small for serious graphics use and even with an external monitor the graphics card has max 1024x768 resolution and cannot be upgraded.

If I had my time again I would go straight for a G4 (or whatever the current under-the-desk jobbie is) as the iMac is quite limiting...

Cheers,
Gareth

Rich B

I've got an iMac 15" version + iPod

The screen can be a bit small if your doing serious image editing - but if thats the case go for a powermac. The widescreen iMac looks pretty cool and lets be honest thats enough reason to buy one!

I've been a Windows MCSE/Techie type person for a while and the Mac is far nicer to use, the attention to detail in everything from external design to the OS is amazing.

Anybody ever bought any of the refurbished macs your see adverts for?

Cheers

Rich B

Mossman

Rich, do you have the new Imac with the flat screen? That's the one I am tempted by, possibly the 17"!!! Man it looks good.
Mossman

P1_BEN

I have a G4 Powerbook and iPod have already swayed two friends and my parents to switch to Mac, with Office X I have never had any cross platform issues with windows.

Only had it 6 months and already thinking about buying a dual processor G4... with 22" screen.....!!!!

AllanB

Mossman email me at work tomorrow and we can chat about what your needs are to get you the right mac. If you are not buying immediately I;ll sort you out with tickets for the Mac Expo in November if you can make it down to London and come and visit our stand and we can chat about it face to face.

I work for MacWarehouse running 2 of the sales teams selling into publishing, news, print and architecture markets.


AllanB

mkyboy

I've got a G4 Powerbook (laptop) and it is the dogs!!!
I put Virtual PC 5 on it running Windows 2000 pro and it works a treat! Just incase you want to run any PC only programs.

Get one, you'll love it.

Jake

G4 500MHZ and Macs Rule

P1_BEN

Hey AllanB,

If back from holiday on time hoping to go to the MACExpo,

Are there going to be any special deals for the show....

AllanB

Theere will be LOADS of special at the show. If anyone is in the market for a colour laser you'll be able to buy a number of QMS models from under 900 and get a FREE iPOD . Lots of other stuff.

Mossman I didn't leave my email address which is allan.bayman@eu.mwhse.com.

If anyone else wants tickets please email me during next week as we'll be sending them out then.

Hope to see some of you at the show.



AllanB

Dazzler

If you go up to a salesperson in PC World and say "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickled onion, in a sesame seed bun" you get one for free apparently.

Mossman

Hi all,

Well, I made the purchase at the weekend and to say I am plsed is an understatement!!! I got the top spec 17" Imac with superdrive etc etc and I love it! The imovie and itunes are so so easy to use. I also got the Harman Kardon Soundsticks and sub speaker and they look incredible! Thanks for everyone's advice, Allan, I may be calling you soon!!!

Mossman

AllanB

Where did you get it from in the end Mossman ?


AllanB

Mossman

PC World I'm afraid
My local Mac dealer (really nice people) were unfortunately struggling to get me one in time.
Mossman