[jrah]

I switched from PC to Mac in November and would never go back to a PC. A Mac is a BMW of the computing world

[Mud]

Something else sickbase failed to think about is that macs hold their value very well, you could have a £1000 mac laptop and sell it in a year for £800, try doing that with a pc!

[snipersix]

apple will not have problem with drivers. Its literally just plug and play, and the mac will find the necessary drivers for you. It is pretty straight forward on transfering files, its drag and drop. And for microsoft office, you can always get the microsoft office version for mac. Or you can go with the other 2 alternative. One is Open Office, it is Open Source,which means its free. It works exactly like microsoft office, and is compatible with its files as well. Or you can go with iWork, which is the office software for mac. It is comaptible with microsoft office as well. Like opening and saving .doc, and .docx formats. However, I like iWork better than microsoft office, because of keynote, it is basically the powerpoint version of mac but only better. hope thats helps

[snipersix]

Another thing I want to point out. Mac has its strengths and weaknesses. Mac is good with Multimedia stuff, like if you were to do Creative stuff like Photoshop, Video editing and stuff, Id go with Mac. But if your intending to game, program software, id suggest you go with PC.

But if you are going to be doing just plain word processing, surfing mac is good for that, cause its really simple to use. Now, that being said if you want to play games occationally, and the best of both worlds, that being PC and Mac. You can do that through a software included with OSX called BootCamp. It enables you to partition your harddrive, to run both MacOSX and Windows. Its kinda like dual boot in a pc environment. And you can run windows through Vmware or through booting directly to windows. And it will run just like a pc. hope this helps

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by Mud

Something else sickbase failed to think about is that macs hold their value very well, you could have a £1000 mac laptop and sell it in a year for £800, try doing that with a pc!

Wait a minute, it seems I'm the only one who debates the Apple, being singled out here is not something I want!!!

Don't get me wrong I don't detest them and am not saying I'd never ever consider an Apple product but for me they're overpriced FWIW in so far as what I need atm. They probably are a quality product etc etc and all the rest of it. I'm sure the resale value of an Apple is not top of the list when people buy one...I mean come on that's clutching at straws a bit Mr Mud

[peterg1965]

Some really good stuff here and very useful feedback. I think my son has slightly toned down his aspiration and will probably go for the 21.5" screen version which is just over £900. Hopefully there is a decent discount to be had when I call tomorrow. I think they have the latest OS - Snow Leopard? And I like the sound of iWork, particularly if my son can keep all his old word/powerpoint files.

He is a bit of a gadget boy and also has an iPhone and I believe it will be easy to interchange stuff with that too.

[snipersix]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

Some really good stuff here and very useful feedback. I think my son has slightly toned down his aspiration and will probably go for the 21.5" screen version which is just over £900. Hopefully there is a decent discount to be had when I call tomorrow. I think they have the latest OS - Snow Leopard? And I like the sound of iWork, particularly if my son can keep all his old word/powerpoint files.

He is a bit of a gadget boy and also has an iPhone and I believe it will be easy to interchange stuff with that too.

yes snow leopard is the newest OS. I believe all the new macs are shipped out with that OS included.

[Mud]

Originally Posted by SiKkBaSs

I'm sure the resale value of an Apple is not top of the list when people buy one...I mean come on that's clutching at straws a bit Mr Mud

It might not be top of the list, but it negates that whole its too expensive tripe.

I made a £100 loss after one years ownership on the old macbook, in comparison I lost £400 after 8 months on the Dell Studio XPS laptop.

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by Mud

It might not be top of the list, but it negates that whole its too expensive tripe.

How does it? When people buy a desktop they don't expect to change it after less than a year do they!?

I dont think most people re-sell their computers anyway, so who cares how long they hold their value? Who buys used computers these days?? With a car fair enough price retention is applicable but with a desktop t

The fact that the Apple product may be 100% better than the Windows equivalent should be a fairer justification for the higher price.

[Halpin13]

moved over to mac 5 years ago and havnt/wouldnt move back. imac iphone ipod and soon to be ipad

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by Halpin13

moved over to mac 5 years ago and havnt/wouldnt move back. imac iphone ipod and soon to be ipad

Do you live in an iHouse and drive an iBeemer too

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

Do you live in an iHouse and drive an iBeemer too

Dunno but he's got iBrows on his car
























(I'll get me coat)

[Gibbo]

Peter, sounds like an expensive weekend of cars and computers. I'll have an I pod touch if you are splashing the cash.

[Mud]

Originally Posted by SiKkBaSs

How does it? When people buy a desktop they don't expect to change it after less than a year do they!?

I dont think most people re-sell their computers anyway, so who cares how long they hold their value? Who buys used computers these days?? With a car fair enough price retention is applicable but with a desktop t

The fact that the Apple product may be 100% better than the Windows equivalent should be a fairer justification for the higher price.

There are a plethora of trade forums selling used computers as well as the likes of ebay.

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by Mud

There are a plethora of trade forums selling used computers as well as the likes of ebay.

I dunno about you but I wouldn't buy a used computer...I'm sure a lot of people on this forum wouldn't, moreso if it were a year old. Weak argument for the justification of the price.

[Wingco]

Moved to Mac in Nov '09, not doing too much heavyweight at present, bit of email, web-surfing and iTunes, but plan to get into photography more as a hobby than simply snapping when on hols etc. My 15.4" MBP is lovely, only one problem: I still have to use a Win PC at work :-(

[Mud]

Originally Posted by SiKkBaSs

I dunno about you but I wouldn't buy a used computer...I'm sure a lot of people on this forum wouldn't, moreso if it were a year old. Weak argument for the justification of the price.

LOL you talked about having a 10 year old machine that still works great, but you wouldnt buy a one year old one?

There have been for sale threads on this forum for used laptops/cameras/mobile phones/xbox360s blah blah blah....

Aaaaaaaaaanyways, I would go for the imac and if he doesnt like it he can sell it on without losing too much, if any, money.

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by Mud

LOL you talked about having a 10 year old machine that still works great, but you wouldnt buy a one year old one?

Definitely not, it works great because I bought it from NEW and have been the sole user of it for all that time. I'd buy a brand new desktop. Maybe that's just me but I'd like to buy new in the case of a desktop (for issues regarding warranty and the like, you may argue that used ones have 'em too but your own is your own).

Why would I want to purchase something that's a year old when mine is over 10 years old, the usual approach would be to buy a new one. That's not the point though as you stated iMacs are "overpriced" as they hold value and therefore negate my overpriced argument, which is ludicrous.

[Mud]

YAAAAAAAAWN.

You take what YOU would do and make it sound like everyone does that, at the end of the day there is a massive market for used/second hand computers.

If you buy things new then throw them away and buy another one new, even though you now you could have sold it then more fool you.

just because you dont sell your machine on doesnt make it ludicrous that the resale price can be a factor.

In fact Apple and lots of others manufacturers like Dell sell refurbished machines for slightly cheaper, which is essentially the same thing!

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by Mud

YAAAAAAAAWN.

You take what YOU would do and make it sound like everyone does that, at the end of the day there is a massive market for used/second hand computers.

just because you dont sell your machine on doesnt make it ludicrous that the resale price can be a factor.

Hmmph!

I alerted to the fact that yes that is what I would do, no mention of what others would do, but I'm pretty confident in saying a high percentage would do as I would do and buy brand new.

The resale price is a FACTOR yes!!(Very small IMO) So it, itself does not negate my argument!!


I should just go out and buy an iPad, iPod Touch/Phone/Mac and go Halpin on yo' asses!!

[tres]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

My son is intent on wanting an iMac to replace his desktop. I have heard only good things about the Mac but have never really paid much attention to them. We went to PC world yesterday and I was blown away by the new 27" iMac.

This is the machine he would probably want to buy.

A few questions to you Mac guru's

- Will all his current peripherals work with it? Printer/scanner, USB webcam, external hard drive etc
- Is it straightforward to transfer all his photos/files/music to the Mac - probably using an external harddrive.
- Assume he will need to buy Mac Microsoft Office if he wants to use his Word/Powerpoint files?

Bottom line, is it worth it?

yes

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by Gibbo

Peter, sounds like an expensive weekend of cars and computers. I'll have an I pod touch if you are splashing the cash.

It sounds like it, but my son will be paying for his own Mac, thankfully!