We need a new computer. Too MAC or not too MAC ???

[MultiMat]

Our 8yr old pc is needing more $ thrown at it , we are thinking of getting a new one instead. A friend swears by Mac's & I have heard they are extremely user friendly . We would use the new system for ,in level of importance ; Internet browsing , burning CD/DVD's, photo storage/editing , I would like to edit + burn onto DVD our home videos . Things I would like to do in the future; VOIP/web cam to talk/see  my overseas sisters, wireless router to a cheap lap top for a 2nd internet, it would be cool to have digital TV set up too (Compro usb set up gave nothing but grief on current PC).

Things I am not so sure about Macs is their reliability esp as they have every thing jammed into the monitor ( a friends died just after the factory warranty had finished ) . I have heard the software to run on macs is expensive ? We are using Open office on are current set up & really like it  , is there quality free applications out there for Macs?.
I am leaning towards Mac as I have heard they are great for photo/video editing & that they are user friendly. Is this true. Thanks in advance 

[Sea Monster]

Good things about Macs:

They are reasonably sturdy, they are pretty quick and tend to maintain their specs after a PC has slowed to a halt (easier to keep "clean" and they don't collect registry gremlins), they are (more or less) idiot proof.

The newest OS (Leopard?) runs Bootcamp for Windows natively - so far I've been able to play all my old Windows and games etc well on a mac.

Built in "iSight" camera seems decent (not sure about the microphone).

Setting up wireless networks is a piece of piss, but it's easy on most modern computers these days.

Plenty of built in USB ports, Firewire, etc.

As a typist I have little joygasms over their tidy aluminium keyboards. (as a gamer, they're not that great)

Bad things:

They cost twice as much as an equivalent computer of any other brand,
if you're used to PCs, it'll take you a good 6 months to learn all the tiny unimportant details that make using a computer easy and enjoyable.


If you want to bootcamp, you have to cough up for a Windows install disc, and you have to decide ahead of time where you want to do most of your work (ie, microsoft office*, pictures etc) otherwise you'll always be switching between Mac & Windows to access your files.

*I bought MS Office for Mac & put Open Office on the Windows half, to save having to buy it twice.


One thing to note about iLife (the iPhoto, iTunes, Garage Band, iWeb etc suite that comes with Macs - which sounds like the main reason you are interest) - it is purely HOME USER.
If you want to do anything even remotely professional, you should buy real software. The package stuff is obviously usable, but very basic (which is why it is so popular - any jackass can use it and feel like a hero)


The word on the street is that if you want to buy a Mac, do it now.

Australian Mac prices are expected to rise with the next Price announcement (Apple never tells anyone when these will happen).

(I got stooged and bought a mac at the beginning of last year - three months before the prices went down!)

[Mr. Whippy]

If your choice is Windows Vista vs Mac OS, I would go Mac OS.  I have one laptop with Vista.  It has been such a dog with so many program crashes, I coughed up $$ to buy a copy of XP tablet and converted it back to XP.

My wife got a Macbook Pro and it has been relatively hassle free.  It was a chore to get it to work with the print server, but a bit of perserverance and google and all is right.

Yes, Macs have a price premium, but the current version of Windows (Vista) is the Hellspawn of Windows ME.

JMO

[jzmtl]

One thing I hate about mac is software avalibility, a lot of good ones aren't avaliable on it.

If your choice is Windows Vista vs Mac OS, I would go Mac OS.  I have one laptop with Vista.  It has been such a dog with so many program crashes, I coughed up $$ to buy a copy of XP tablet and converted it back to XP.

You can downgrade to xp for free from vista, and come back when you want.

[Pacu]

I have no problems with Vista. I download  the crap out of (stuff).  I have 4 gigs of memory running in my laptop though.

[MultiMat]

One thing I hate about mac is software avalibility, a lot of good ones aren't avaliable on it.


Yeh I have a Creative Zen MP3 player & just bought the wife a Walkman MP3 , I wonder if Mac will work with them.I do like to use DVD shrink too.

[Tsquare]

I think that is key for Vista.  It seems the people running two or preferably four gigs of ram do not seem to have problems. Those running just one gig of memory seem to have issues.  I was told four gig was perfect for Vista.  My daughter has a dell vostro and I upgraded to two gig on the ram and she does not seem to have any problems.  I use a macbook with with only half a gig of ram and it seems okay but I do not multitask with it.  My son has a gig on his imac and his seems much better than mine.  The real question is what you do with it.  A PC  is fine if you keep it cleaned out but macs  are less likely to have problems all else being equal.  

[Poncho65]

Personally they screwed up when they booted DOS completely out of Windows But que sera or something like that I still prefer PC over mac but that is just me  I have XP on my desktop which was brand new when I got that PC (tells how long I have had it  ) and Vista on our laptop but it does have 2 gigs of RAM and I haven't had any problems with it

[Sea Monster]

Personally they screwed up when they booted DOS completely out of Windows

I leave the cmd window (or terminal for mac) open just to mess with people.

It amazes me that so many folk are unfamiliar with the screen.

I miss Xtree (The Xtree pic in Wikipedia could very well be from one of my computers. Ah, good ol Wolfenstein 3D...)


(I also set the colours to green, just for retro cool sake)

[Medic82]

When I’m arguing with my girlfriend (a graphic designer) and her graphic designer friends and Mac/Apple lovers about Mac vs Pc and all that baloney. I basically come too the same conclusion,  Adobe Photoshop works the same way on my 800$ PC as on her 3000$ Mac. You notice absolutely no difference. It’s up too you but I would go with PC. And windows 7 is going too be what Vista where meant to be

[Leatherman123]

I am in the market for a new computer as well. I have a Sony Vaio laptop, but I am looking for a desktop computer. I am torn on which to get. Tbh, I really like the look of the HP Touchsmart!

[eodtech]

Windows VISTA runs better on a MAC than a PC !!!

Of the plausible alternatives to Windows, Apple's Mac OS X has the largest market share and history. InfoWorld chief technologist Tom Yager has written that the latest version of the Mac OS, Leopard (10.5), is simply the best operating system available. And Macs are indeed popping up more frequently even within IT circles -- I've seen more MacBook Pros in the hands of CTOs and IT execs at conferences in the past year more than ever before. Although there are no real numbers on just the business adoption of Macs, it's clear that Apple is in growth mode, gaining an increasing proportion of all new computer sales for more than a year now.

Many businesses have already adopted the Mac as a standard platform, discovering that the hardware is typically better designed than equivalent Windows systems for the same price, that security risks are lower, and that there are more enterprise-quality management tools than they expected. InfoWorld has chronicled how to make the switch to Mac OS X.

The drive for Mac adoption often comes from users, not IT. InfoWorld's Yager has chronicled the adventures of one PC user who switched to the Mac OS, showing that for an individual, the conversion was ultimately a rewarding one.

A key tool for any Mac OS X switcher is a virtual machine to run Windows for those apps and Web sites that require it. Both Parallels Desktop 3.0 and VMware's Fusion software will do the trick, as InfoWorld's comparative review has shown.

[glorn]

There is no spoon.

[Whoey]

I'll stick to PC and Linux thanks...

I'm not trendy enough to own a MAC.

[Sea Monster]

I'll stick to PC and Linux thanks...

I'm not trendy enough to own a MAC.

There's an apple store in the City here.


Goddamn it scares me.

I usually shop in dingy backalley, cockroach infested slimeholes, where business is an exchange of unmarked brown paper bags.

Walk into the Apple Store - completely made of glass, not less than FOUR people at the door to usher you in and direct you through the three floors to the area you need (come to think of it, if they ever go out of business, I'm buying the joint to make the best nightclub in town)

Inside - all table tops are polished glass, the stairs are glass (and I think held up by the sheer self importance of everyone inside), and of course, all the macs are clean white.

The only aspect of difference or interest is the ridiculously trendy "mac speSmurfpillsts" who, despite being in a neat blue uniform, manage to stand out via their arrangements of excessive piercings and cute tattoos. (unfortunately, all the tats & steel was on the boys, and the girls who show you around were boringly plain)

I never buy anything there.

Partially because I support my local small authorised mac reseller store, and partially because I was reasonably sure my government approved currency actually had no worth within these walls and I was expected to pay with some sort of alternate