IMAC shall i jump ship?

[scottlwl]

Hi guys and gals!!

I am seriously thinking of jumping from the PC ship to the white and silver ship of apple. I love the new imacs and have had a play in PC world and was very impressed with the feel of it.

Are they really more reliable than PC's? No virus? I am so fed up with the crashing of my PC and the fact that it seems always to need clearing of spybots and virus' no matter how much protection i have on there (maybe i should be more careful where i surf)

I dont really need anymore convincing but the wife (boss) may so please help.

Also my PC has a reasonable GFX card (7900GT) and lots of DDR2 can this be fitted to the IMAC or the slots different? sorry i am not very literate on MAC/PC stuff.

thanks in advance

[SeedyR]

Personally I was a PC user for about 15 years before switching to a Mac. Yes it took a few weeks to get use to everything but in my mind, well worth it. I'm never going back!

I haven't got an iMac, so not too sure on the slots, but I'm pretty sure you can't change the graphics card or the harddrive.

Nothing is 100% virus free, and while there are the odd ones on the Mac, it's very rare to get one. However pop ups and spybots I have never experienced so far on my Mac.

Bottom line, get a Mac, best thing I did!

p.s There are rumours of a newly designed iMac coming out end of july/start of August. Like I said only rumours, but it may be worth holding off for a couple of months. Click here for more info.

[scottlwl]

thats interesting about the refresh. I was going to go ahead and order this afternoon with a bit of a push from this thread, heheh but i guess waiting will be a good idea.

Thanks for the help craigy boy. I am so excited i could poo

and the missus is fully behind it now.!! (as her laptop broke last week, may cost me a macbook!)

[Paul_T]

I've also heard about the revamp - aparently the 17" is getting phased out, and the screens will be LED backlit.

Wouldnt be suprised if the new models have a Blu-ray / HD DVD option either.

[NickRich]

After using a PC from the beginning, I've recently got an iMac and have no hesitation in recommending the change. As Craigy Boy says, it takes a little while to get used to the ways of Apple if you have Windows ingrained into you, but after a while the whole computing experience just gets much more enjoyable. OSX is a pleasure to use and some features, like Spotlight (search facility) are a revelation. You can really forget about viruses and spyware and just enjoy doing the things you want to.

I know Macs are often criticized for being expensive, and it's true they are not cheap, but compare costs with similar spec plus a first rate screen (the iMac screen quality is superb) and I think they are reasonable value. My suggestion would be that you go for the biggest screen you can afford. I hesitated for a long time over the 24", thinking it was much too big, but boy am I glad now I went for it.

I don't think you will be able to use your PC graphics card or memory. That's the downside with Macs - you can't really chop and change components like with the PC, but really, I think you'll find you won't need to. You can add more memory, but that's about it really.

This revamp sounds interesting - must check that out - and the new version of OSX (Leopard) is due out in the autumn, which promises more wonderful stuff...if you can wait that long....!

Nick

[muzzi]

Hi Scott,

If you are unsure, you could buy a second hand imac. I bought an emac as my first mac 3 years ago, as i wasn't sure, and i loved it. iLife is great and it is free.

Buying second hand could save you a fortune if you are not that keen on the OS (but you will be)

If you don't wish to buy second hand, you could buy a refurb unit and save yourself a few pounds, tho if you can wait until October, i'd be tempted to as this is is when OSX 1.5 Leopard will be released, and it is looking V nice.

Go Mac, you won't be dissapointed.

If you do get one, WHSmith often sell good introductory magazines to Mac OSX. This is published by the people who publish iCreate, and is a worthwhile investment if you are new to OSX.

Hope this helps

Muzzi

[SeedyR]

Originally Posted by Paul_T

I've also heard about the revamp - aparently the 17" is getting phased out, and the screens will be LED backlit.

Wouldnt be suprised if the new models have a Blu-ray / HD DVD option either.

Apple are in the blu-ray camp, so if it does happen it will be blu-ray. I can see it being an expensive upgrade, and not included across the board on the range of iMacs.

Originally Posted by NickRich

I know Macs are often criticized for being expensive, and it's true they are not cheap, but compare costs with similar spec plus a first rate screen (the iMac screen quality is superb) and I think they are reasonable value. My suggestion would be that you go for the biggest screen you can afford. I hesitated for a long time over the 24", thinking it was much too big, but boy am I glad now I went for it.

Macs also have very good resell value. Look on ebay and the trading forums here, a Mac that is a few years old can still go for quite a fair bit. I totally agree with the bigger screen. I was going to go for a Macbook but changed my mind to a Macbook Pro at the last minute. I'm so glad I did.

Originally Posted by muzzi

If you do get one, WHSmith often sell good introductory magazines to Mac OSX. This is published by the people who publish iCreate, and is a worthwhile investment if you are new to OSX.

Macrumors.com and appleinsider.com are also good sites to get into Macs. The forums on both are helpful, but you can always ask on here of course

Originally Posted by scottlwl

thats interesting about the refresh. I was going to go ahead and order this afternoon with a bit of a push from this thread, heheh but i guess waiting will be a good idea.

Thanks for the help craigy boy. I am so excited i could poo

and the missus is fully behind it now.!! (as her laptop broke last week, may cost me a macbook!)

The problem is you can always be waiting. As I said it's only rumours at the moment about a new iMac in July/August, then you know people will be saying "wait until October, Leopard plus new features will be out then", then in October it will be "iMacs are going to have touch screens next year". My point here is, you could be waiting forever, you need to draw the line somewhere.

As for the laptop, I nearly suggested this in my first post in this thread. You could get a Macbook and then buy an external monitor so it can become a desktop. You can get monitors pretty cheap now (19" Acer LCD for £105) so would then mean you're not confined always to desk, so you get the best of both worlds. Just an idea!

Any more questions please feel free to ask.

[scottlwl]

thanks guys for the advice on this one. I had kinda convinced myself about the move anyway but nice to know i am not just a sucker for a good sales pitch (which i probably am) and that there is substance behind it.

I dont know what to do now. As i really and i mean really really, want one now. Shall i wait or not? hmmmmm

I was always going for the 24" anyway as i have 22" monitor now so you can never get smaller...thats just wrong!!

now where do i sell my everso reliable (honest ) PC to help pay back the credit card when i order???

[breadbun]

I think the current 24in iMac has the option of a 7300GT or maybe even a 7600GT. Not bad cards. However, I imagine the newly released ones when they come out will probably mirror the cards that are in the latest Macbook Pro's, so we are talking 8600GT. Good card, and DirectX 10 compatible. Bonus!

[jonathanTVTV]

Originally Posted by scottlwl

thanks guys for the advice on this one. I had kinda convinced myself about the move anyway but nice to know i am not just a sucker for a good sales pitch (which i probably am) and that there is substance behind it.

I dont know what to do now. As i really and i mean really really, want one now. Shall i wait or not? hmmmmm

I was always going for the 24" anyway as i have 22" monitor now so you can never get smaller...thats just wrong!!

now where do i sell my everso reliable (honest ) PC to help pay back the credit card when i order???

I would say wait... you've waited all this time to get a mac... a few more months won't harm you. I know someone said you have to draw a line somewhere but the current design has been with us for three years - a change is due. You might find you only wait 20 days or so before an announcement.
You will love the mac experience just don't get burned like I did by buying, only to see a new model a few months later (I purchased a G4 swivel screen imac just before the release of the current model). I'm definitely waiting it out for the new design. There may even be a bigger screen option that the current 24"!

[scottlwl]

Originally Posted by jonathanTVTV

I would say wait... you've waited all this time to get a mac... a few more months won't harm you. I know someone said you have to draw a line somewhere but the current design has been with us for three years - a change is due. You might find you only wait 20 days or so before an announcement.
You will love the mac experience just don't get burned like I did by buying, only to see a new model a few months later (I purchased a G4 swivel screen imac just before the release of the current model). I'm definitely waiting it out for the new design. There may even be a bigger screen option that the current 24"!

then wait i shall....its going to be a long month i can feel it, nearly bought a emac from ebay for 30 squid today lol, just to get used to OSX...lol....i need to get out more

[breadbun]

You should grab that emac... for that price!

[jonathanTVTV]

Originally Posted by angstmann

You should grab that emac... for that price!

I'll second that. Who said macs were expensive?

[scottlwl]

it might of been an old imac

oops but it looks like an old portable telly.

the wife soon put pay to that

[TheBigApple]

Scottlwl

I'm having the same dilema. I decided to make the move to an imac just as I heard the rumor about a redesign. Then leopard gets shown (Steve Jobs is definately one hell of a salesman) and I want one even more.

I'm really impatient when I have made my mind up to buy something, but also don't want to buy an imac now if the specs are to be immenently updated and sell for the same price or less. As for having to wait until October for leopards release this just feels like torture.

If a redesign happens in the next month or two I can wait for this and then upgrade from tiger to leopard when released.

I've found some websites which have daily news updates.

http://www.macrumors.com/

http://www.appleinsider.com/

Like you say though, it's going to feel like a long month.