Buying a Mac
 

Hello

My wife wants a 'purple Mac', even though I much prefer PC's (and it wasn't a euphemism on her part :) )

Any suggestions on what specification and where from?

Thanks for your help,

Steve

mate
you cant get purple macs any longer .They were the original imacs and are no longer, except in museums !!

if you want advice on what to get, just ask me or markus and we can help you out. An imac would be perfect

As ST says, the "flavor" range of iMacs were phased out many years ago. Even if you could get one it would be woefully slow compared to today's machines, it would also have at most a 40GB hard drive, and 256MB RAM. It may well run Tiger (10.4) but certainly will not run Leopard (10.5) due to it having a powerPC processor.

You are far better off going for a new iMac, which, as it's intel based, can be configured as a dual boot machine so you can use OS X and Windows (XP or Vista) simply by rebooting, or if you purchase VM software such as Parallels Desktop for Mac, or VMWare Fusion, then you can run XP/Vista whilst booted into OS X. Both products have free trials so it's well worth downloading both and seeing which one is preferred.

One thing I would recommend is more memory for the new machine, but do NOT spec it up directly from Apple, their memory prices are beyond extortionate. You will be far better off going to the Crucial website and finding out the spec of RAM you need for the machine via their config utility, then you can decide where to purchase the RAM.

Any other questions, just fire away :)

Okay ..... so the 20", 2.4ghz one?

Apple Store - U.K.

Seems expensive at £950.

Steve

Or look for a Mac mini if you already have a TFT and a USB keyboard/mouse.
£400 ish

yes and no.

You get a high spec Mac that will last for years - longer than a windows PC will IMO.

Also, you get high re-sale values too ;)

If you need help let me know I work for MacWarehouse. If its available you can have it next day too unlike the Apple store.

Also if you are building a machine now with Apple expect some delays as the manufacturing plant in Cork winds down delaying orders further.

I'm offline in a few days for quite some time so drop me a PM if you want help or advice.

I'd firstly ask what you want to use it for but also do you know what Mac are able to do out of the boxc. Reason I ask is some people buy one for surfing the web and then find out how easy it is to do video and music work and then want to do more of this so the spec of the machine may not be quite high enough.

The Mac mini is a good starting machine but bear in mind the memory must be installed by an authorised Apple technician or you invalidate your warranty so max the memory at the point of purchase.

Plenty of people to buy from but I am biased but MacWarehouse and Jigsaw have very good reputations. Computer Warehouse are OK but be careful buying anything like their warranties not so sure how they will last out competing with Apple as they are mainly a consumer focussed reseller.

Cancom do some good refurbs but read thier terms and conditions fully. You may not like some of them as some customer have found if something goes wrong.



AllanB

Quick hijack for AllanB if I may......


What are supplies of Mac Mini like? - I want one for a media centre - was going to buy just after Christmas......but don't want to miss out if Apple announce some AppleTV 2 or something (unless it's better than a mini!)

I'm with jowl, need to know before I dip :rolleyes:

Entry level one had just sold out on Monday with no stock planned for the UK before Xmas but the higher spec one had some stock left.

24" iMac the main problem at the moment with Apple promising people stock when there is none and some quite angry customers as a result.

To be honest we do not know about announcements. Its not like the old days where we got tipped off if that happens the Apple employee gets the boot. At best we may get asked to place and order for Box a, b or C. Even then we'll be under a non disclosure agreement though.

The Apple TV Mac mini hybrid has been talked about for ages but certianly not aware of any immediate release on this.

I do expect to see new Mac Pros in the next few months though


AllanB

Thank you for the replies.

I have a couple of questions:

1/ How well does it integrate with a windows network? I have a printer attached to a Vista machine that I would want to share.

2/ If I buy this: Apple iMac 20" Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz/1GB/320GB/SuperDrive/2600 pro from MacWarehouse, how many memory slots does it have? (i.e. if I want 4gb I can just buy 3 * 1gb Crucial memory?)

3/ Software: some software I buy (Office, Dreamweaver), some I, erm, don't. Are there any sites for MAC Torrents? The (private) trackers that I use have about 2 pieces of MAC software.

3.5/ Are there the equivelant of ISO mounters for MAC?

Thanks!

Steve

Thanks. It would be the top end Mac Mini I need.

I'm not sure I expect an AppleTV/mini yet.....and there's the chance that there would be some deals on mini's if the discontinue it. The the Mini is almost perfect for what I need at the moment.

It should be able to see the printer. Have a read of the various pages here and see what is said. I'm sure others out there are connecting to Vista printers from a Mac. If you can't find anything conclusive there, have a look on macfixtit.com and macosxhints.com and/or ask on the forums there and they should have an answer.



iMac has 2 slots, unless they changed the internal design from the one I have (early 2006 Intel iMac) and I'm pretty sure they have not. Thus For 4GB you rip out the 512k chip it comes with and slam in 2 * 2GB chips. Yes, you do have the 512 lying around which is a bit wasteful I know.


I'll send you a PM about this ;)


You mean like PowerISO? As in an app that allows for a virtual CD/DVD drive so you can mount and ISO file and install software from it? If so then you don't need them as the OS/DiskUtility will mount ISO files on the desktop for you when you double-click on them. If that does not mount it then a copy of Toast should mount it on the desktop allowing install, but I've had no problem with the OS doing it.
The only caveat, bar the usual checking wether it's running from a real disk thing, which I've not encountered for many years on the Mac, is for software that would need to boot from the media to install. This obviously will not work. I think the only thing I've come across which does this is the OS itself, and one could always restore the image to a partitioned drive and then boot from that partition to install.

Just bought a 2.4 20" iMac a couple of weeks ago, very pleased with it. Always been a Windows use previous but loving OSX. Have VM Fusion installed for when I need to go PC and works very well. Also kept my old 20" Dell monitor for some dual monitor action...Works very well with "Spaces" and Aperture.

Very pleased I switched from PC's.

Marcus is right. The iMac does have two slots one being populated with the base RAM. Occasionally Apple change the configuration of the RAM and fill both slots with smaller chips but this hasn't happened for a few months since RAM prices dropped. We can update the RAM for you generally far cheaper than the Apple store and you can get the delivery normally next day. We carry Crucial memory along side Kingston, prices are dirt cheap at the moment so good time to buy.

What software are you looking for ?. Of course I would condone anything other than buying legitimate copies but if you own a copy but had just mislaid the installation CD you'll find stacks of stuff on Limewire but also loads of very good shareware on places like version tracker. I've not really got stumped for anything I've wanted yet.


AllanB

Thank you all for your help.

I am going to wait until after Christmas in the hope that they will reduce the price slightly. I don't think they will, but we don't need it this week.

Steve

Top advice :thumb:

iSerial Surfer & Serial Box
[cracked] eSellerate Engine
Little Snitch
Limewire

Everything you'll need to get anything you'll need :lol1:

Certainly wait until at least Jan 18th, as that's when the Mac Expo starts and if there are any new products, then that will be when they are announced.