iMac 27

andyf3050

Hi everyone,

I'm just posting this to find out peoples opinions on the iMac 27? My wife works for the NHS and under the salary sacrifice we've ordered one to replace our ageing Dell desktop (2007 build but it was top of the range at the time and still pretty reliable).

My question is... are they as good as what they're cracked up to be? I've never owned a Mac before because, to be honest, they've always been well outside our budget. Is everything compatible? Can I open documents, photos and videos etc?

Any info would be much appreciated.

Thanks, Andy

Notmyrealname

Macs are cracking machines. They have superb build quality and are beautiful to look at. Everything is seamless in how it works. Are they better than a similarly priced Windows machine? Not really. Dell, HP and Lenovo all make computers a similar price built equally as well. The problem with Macs is that people don't compare like for like and will compare a £1000 Macbook Pro with a £400 laptop from PC World and they'll say the Macs are better quality or they're overpriced for spec depending on point of view. I sell solely ex-corporate laptops that were £1000 or over when new and the build quality is the same as my Macbook Pro. However I have a Macbook Pro because whilst the aforementioned are built just as well, being corporate machines they're !!!!!! to look at.

I would strongly suggest getting "Mac OS X Lion for Dummies". OSX is OSX and she'll either like it or hate it but you can put Windows on it if you want and Apple provide the tools to do so. OS X is far easier to get to grips with if you stop thinking of it as being like Windows because it looks similar. Sadly the included documentation is quite sparse and there's some Linux/Unixy type stuff you do such as needing to "eject" a pendrive or downloaded dmg file. OS X is very powerful and has a lot of usability tweaks in it which people don't get to know about because its not documented. But she'll get the hang of it all. Keyboard shortcuts are similar to Windows for copy, cut, paste etc but using the CMD key instead of CTRL.

There is Microsoft Office for OS X and there is OpenOffice too. Chrome is available on OS X, MSN Messenger, most stuff is available or has equivalents. Apple computers are primarily used in multimedia industries so photos and videos are not a problem.

patflanel

Hi Andy
First thing you will probably get is all the Apple haters berating your choice and all the Apple fans congratulating you.
What you must be prepared to do, considering your investment, is not to compare it to windows but look on it as if starting from scratch and relearning certain things. Apple has a section on it's site
http://www.apple.com/uk/support/mac101/
Which will walk you through most things. Above all don't get discouraged when things don't quite work the way that windows did but if you think logically then most things "just work"

Mr_Toad

Andy, I agree with what the others have said.

I always had PCs and have no problem with either the hardware or Windows. A few years ago I needed to replace an aging laptop so I made a list of my requirements to try and cut down on the massive choice of machines. When I'd done I realized I was in MacBook territory so I decided to take a chance and bought one.

It was quite simply one of the best laptops I've ever used, I was so impressed that when I got my bonus the following year I bought myself a 27" iMac and I love it.

As well as my job, I'm a software engineer, computers have always been a bit of a hobby. My Macs just work and for me they were the right choice. I work every day with Linux so I'm very familiar with Mac OS X

Ignore the evangelists from both camps and make the choice based on what you need a computer to do.

Go to an Apple store and play with one, ask the staff to show you one in action, they'll be happy to help.

InsideInsurance

andyf3050 wrote: »

are they as good as what they're cracked up to be? I've never owned a Mac before because, to be honest, they've always been well outside our budget. Is everything compatible? Can I open documents, photos and videos etc?

Are they all they cracked up to be? I would say no, I dont "get" those that absolutely idolise Apple computers.

That said, we have 3 computers at home and all are Macs, we have AppleTV, iPad and iPhones each. So we certainly do think they are great but not the untouchable things that some true fans make out

Is everything compatible? "everything" is a big word and in short no, there are some things that are purely Windows only, some that are purely Mac only and some that are Linux only etc. Most large applications have both Windows and Mac versions plus you can either dual boot your Mac with Windows or use something like Parallels to run a virtual machine with Windows

Most common applications you'll be fine with, it is more specialist software where the gaps appear and computer games.

Can I open documents, photos and videos etc?
Certainly word, excel, powerpoint, pdf, jpg, tiff, png, gif, mp3, mp4, ra, mov etc are all fine. As above, some specialist documents can be more problematic but unless you are heavily into CAD or programme management etc then its unlikely to be an issue.


The two negatives about back are:

(1) they are not very user upgradeable, from memory the iMac are still just limited to changing RAM and so other than RAM you need to buy what you want now rather than with a PC where you can buy a lower spec machine and switch the g/card in 12 months time.

You can replace one or two other components (eg harddrive) but they arent designed for consumer replacement and are exceptionally difficult to do so - I replaced the HD in mine and I think there is only about 5mm slack on the cables connecting the screen to the motherboard which doesnt give much room to reach in and plug it in - had to use long tweezers and a thin rod in the end.

(2) if they do break they tend to be fairly expensive to fix - partially because of the above. Certainly consider an extended warrant (apples own one is called AppleCare)

I am not sure the terms under which you are getting the computer but if there is flexibility then students and family members of students can get (a) a reasonable discount but also (b) get AppleCare for very low price.

Hoseman

It's down to personal preference of course. I was a PC user for many years and my partner bought a Mac laptop so I begun using it from time to time and then decided to get an iMac. I won't be going back to PCs anytime soon because for me the user experience is just so much more superior.

There are some drawbacks like less freeware options but it's something I am happy to live with.

johnnyboyrebel

To mirror others comments, I was a pc user for years. Last year I decided to just buy a macbook (happened to have the cash and just bought on impulse).

Better than any laptop I ever used, true OSX os different to windows bit within a few hours its as I'd you have used it forever. To be honest, most actions are pretty much the same as windows but there are small differences, nothing to worry about though.

People who slag them to bits probably just can't afford one

I have a digital marketing company and as it happens am buying 2 iMac 27"'s tomorrow to make my office. and hone office apple only. Having said that I will be keeping a pc running too just in case as there are a few things that el be windows only.

paddyrg

You've already bought it, so our opinions don't count!

Personally I would have saved about 50% and gone with a PC, but who cares, you chose the mac, and it will do everything Macs do perfectly well. Everything Macs do is pretty much everything most home users need, so unless you start wanting to do heavy coding or anything, you'll be happy. And there will be plenty of Apple fans to stroke you and make you believe you've just bought a portal to the celestial realms - as long as you remember you've just bought a computer, you'll be alright!

andyf3050

paddyrg wrote: »

You've already bought it, so our opinions don't count!

Personally I would have saved about 50% and gone with a PC, but who cares, you chose the mac, and it will do everything Macs do perfectly well. Everything Macs do is pretty much everything most home users need, so unless you start wanting to do heavy coding or anything, you'll be happy. And there will be plenty of Apple fans to stroke you and make you believe you've just bought a portal to the celestial realms - as long as you remember you've just bought a computer, you'll be alright!

They do count... and we haven't had it delivered yet.

I use a computer a lot for coursework, presentations, photoshop, music software (Reason, Cubase etc) and have always used PC's... despite having a decent desktop at present I do find that I encounter so many problems with it which can be really frustrating.

I just wanted to know how reliable they are, how much difference there is compared to what I've been used to in the past etc.
I'm not getting a Mac as a status symbol or ego-stroker... we've got a great opportunity to own one which is really affordable and from what I've heard, they're more reliable than PC's and this will no doubt help us with everything we use it for.

As this will be our first Mac, links to any helpful websites would be great...!

Thanks for all your replies!

gonzo127

hardware wise they are no more reliable than a pc as they use the same physical parts

software wise, they can be, but that doesnt mean you will not have problems as macs can and do crash and the large increase in people asking for mac help on this forum over the past year shows that as Apple gains market share we will start hearing more of the problems people have

viv0147

Hello Andy I love my Mac I had a PC for years but switched to the Mac about 6 years ago and have never regretted doing so there is a website you will find to be invaluable it called MacMost which is free it has 100s of video's to view and its very informative.
Get the most from your Mac, iPhone, iPod and Apple TV! The video podcast features tips, tricks, techniques, tutorials and reviews geared toward the casual personal and business Apple user.