tempted to buy an Apple...

[mk99]

I am way overdue for a new PC and am seriously looking at an I-Mac. (maybe a G5?)

I know nothing about Apples & know only one person who had one. (10 years ago... she said stick with the IBM PC)

Apple is also considerably more expensive... but I am very very tempted.

Suggestions?

[Wise Young]

Mike,

I have been a Mac user for nearly 20 years. The current crop of Macs and the OSX system are really superb. The G-5 dual processor is very fast and should be shipping soon. Apparently, Apple has already 10,000 of them on order.

Most of the main software that is available for Windows (particularly Microsoft Office) is as good or better on the Mac. One main benefit of the Mac which is seldom mentioned is the low level of viral infections and higher security afforded by a brand new operating system with few backdoors.

Wise.
Wise.

[~Patrick~]

Yes a G5 would be great!! www.apple.com/powermac (http://www.apple.com/powermac)

http://www.spamhate.com/usa.gif

[SCI-Nurse]

I have been looking at the G4 iMac (love that flat screen and small footprint) to replace my old G3 iMac. Should I be waiting until the Panther OS is out (replacing Jaguar soon). Will the iMac be available in G5 or only the Power Mac?

How hard was it for you "old" Mac users to learn OS X? Were you able to continue to use any of your old peripherals (scanner, printer, etc.) or did you have to purchase all new? What process did you use for converting documents, etc. that you did not have on removable media to your new computer? The last time I got a new computer everyone was using floppies, so this was easy. Now with no floppy drive (and no current CD-ROM writer) I am confused on what to do.

I have been to the Apple store nearby several times, but never can get anyone to talk to me...they are always way too busy.

(KLD)

[Steven Edwards]

For the Mac people... will Panther be a 64-bit capable OS?

-Steven

[Brad_D]

KLD,
Panther will run on a G4 iMac. When it comes out it will probably be an upgrade. I don't know exactly when it will be available and preloaded on new Macs, but it will be a while. Only the PowerMac will have a G5 for the near future.

If you use OS 8 or 9, OSX should be pretty easy to figure out. Most of your peripherals should work fine. You may need to download new drivers for X. Documents like word, jpg's, mp3's etc, will work just fine with no need to convert. You can transfer files from one Mac to another using a special Ethernet crossover cable or network a simple hub between the two machines. All G3 and later models have built in network ports.

What Apple store do you go to? The one down here in Wellington, Fl is not busy at all.

[This message was edited by Brad_D on 08-27-03 at 06:38 PM.]

[Brad_D]

Originally posted by Steven Edwards:

For the Mac people... will Panther be a 64-bit capable OS?

-Steven

Nope...not yet. It's an upgrade of "Jaguar" which is still 32 bit. I believe that many Apps. will be 64 bit like Photoshop. OS X will be 64 bit sometime down the road. That's a whole new OS rebuild...It will take some time.

[Steven Edwards]

Thanks Brad. I was asking because the Athlon64's are coming out soon [September 23rd] and a 64-bit capable version of Windows will follow shortly after. Having such an OS/chip combination should prove to be quite a competitive advantage against the G5's. Especially since the AMD 2000+ XP [32-bit chip] recently performed very well against a single processor G5 (http://www.theandyzone.com/Computer/shootout.html).

If mk is looking from a performance perspective, I would suggest for him to wait until the Athlon64's come out so we can see how they compete.

-Steven

[-scott-]

my $0.02:

Apple isn't all that expensive when you compare specs. OS X is one of the most stable & efficient OSs that I've ever seen, & it's built very well... very intuitive.

re: the 64-bit issue. Honestly, I'm not sure the end-user's needs are going to catch up anytime soon to the hardware's capabilities. I use Photoshop 7 heavily @ work, on a dual 1.25ghz G4 w/ 2GB of RAM ...& the machine flies. It rips through 300-500mb composited .psd files frequently without any problem.

I think, for some time at least, the new 64-bit age is going to be primarily for bragging rights (it's ok, you can admit it... I would). I can see Pixar & other similar companies having the need. The normal everyday user? Not so much.. even for gaming. Would you see a performance boost (from 64 vs. 32 bit, not processor/bus speed)? Maybe, maybe not. The software isn't there... yet.

I'd still love a new G5 though.. but for the tasks at hand, I doubt it'd make a huge preformance/time difference. We'll see about the future though. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif

~ scott

[Steven Edwards]

"I think, for some time at least, the new 64-bit age is going to be primarily for bragging rights (it's ok, you can admit it... I would)."

Don't worry, that's the next computer that I'm going to get. Bragging rights? Sure, but I love having the best hardware for math stuff. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif Imagine, an Athlon64 with an SATA hard drive interface; I think DDR400 will be the early Athlon64 memory standard. Yummy! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

The 64-bit software will be coming soon. I can't wait to see 32-bit Photoshop vs 64-bit Photoshop benchmarks, or pretty much any similar comparisons.

-Steven

[krstofer]

I've got a powerbook and several wintel machines.
The apple OS was a little weird at first, specificly learning where applications are and that sort of thing, but I like it.
One thing I would do is get the 3 year applecare plan, as several things have broken on this thing, mostly from me dropping it onto something hard, but apple has fixed all of them under applecare, free.

http://krstofer.org

[Brad_D]

Originally posted by krstofer:

...several things have broken on this thing, mostly from me dropping it onto something hard, but apple has fixed all of them under applecare, free.

http://krstofer.org

Make sure that next time you don't tell them that you dropped it! That probably isn't going to be covered under applecare. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif But you probably figured that out by now. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif

I've had 8 Macs in 10+ years and I have never had any defect or major problem with any of them. I think Apple puts better quality into their machines than most PC's do.

[Wise Young]

I dropped my powerbook once and it dented the case. But it was still working. Several months later, my powerbook was not charging properly and I thought that this might be due to the dent bending the case so that the battery was not seating properly. When I took it to Tekserve (the best Apple repair place in New York), they told me that it may be due to the fall and that I should be prepared to pay for the repair. They sent it to Apple (I have Applecare and it was also within the warranty period) and they replaced the battery, replaced the motherboard, did not repair the dent, and did not charge me for the repair. It took about a week and I rented an ibook during the week. Apple also has a service where they will back up your hard disk before repairing the computer for a fee.

I do strongly recommend that people get Applecare if they purchase a Mac. Over the 20 years that I have owned Apples, I can say from experience that it is really worthwhile. You never know when your computer may break and the cost of repair can be considerable if the mother board, disk, or screen has to be replaced. All it takes is one repair to more than cover the cost of a 3-year service Applecare contract. As the above example suggests, Apple is also very good about the coverage. They do not attempt to cheat you. Also, when I took it to be repaired, I did not have my Applecare contract number. However, when you purchase the Applecare contract, the Applecare contract status is assigned to the serial number of your computer. They just looked up the serial number and determined whether or not it is covered. It was.

Wise.

[PN]

I think there will come a time when I own one Mac and one PC.

PN

[Wise Young]

One other excellent reason for getting OSX is the iTunes program. I am not much of a music listener (being a news addict and have the radio on most of the time while I work) but this program converted me. This program automatically connects up to the new Apple music site which allows you to buy albums or individual songs (99¢ each) and download them directly into the iTunes library. You can set up your play lists and play any combination of songs that you want. In addition, it will also automatically convert any CD of songs, convert them to MP3, and put them in the library.

In a last couple of weeks, I have put dozens of hours of music into the database that I can listen to while working. Playing the music doesn't seem to have any perceptible impact on the computer's speed and response to the keyboard. I have even bought an iPod so that I can listen to the music without having to be attached to the computer. All you do is put the ipod in its stand and iTunes automatically updates the music in the iPod to match what you have on the computer. No fuss.

Wise.

[rbyrd49100]

Has anyone heard anything about the Apple G5?
Steve is wanting one to start editing programs and to transfer his work to DVD.

Russ Byrd

[krstofer]

I currently own (since it came up) 1 powerbook, 1 sony vaio laptop (athalon based) 2 IBM intellistations (dual xeon's) 2 peesee desksides, 1 compaq server (dual P Pro) 1 SGI Indigo2, 1 DEC AlphaServer, and one Micron server.
I use them all for different things, and yes, they're all connected to the net right now, running < shameless plug > Folding@Home (http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/), unless I need them for something else. (team # 12423, should you like to join me.) < /shameless plug >

I currently use the powerbook the most, out of everyone.

http://krstofer.org

[duncan]

I run a multimedia software business and we have both Macs and PCs since much of our stuff is destined for the corporate world and must run on several versions of Windows. However virtually all our development work is done on the Macs. These days we just use the PCs to test the products.

The Macs are more stable and compatibility between applications is much greater. Apart from the Macs being beautifully made and easy to use, it boils down to a cost of ownership... the Macs are quicker to install, easier to trouble shoot and more 'plug-and-play' than the 'plug-and-pray' PCs. Macs are just less hassle.

And I'm with Wise on iTunes... mine's blasting out some Angelique Kidjo as I type... through a set of cheap but great sounding logitech speakers.

Buy a Mac... you won't regret it!
Duncan