Does anyone have a Mac?

frugallass

mac convert here - I've got a 20" imac at work - damn, those keyboards are funky - and wish that I could afford one to replace the clunky old pc we have at home

the 20" screen is fantastic, so god knows how good it is to use a 24", I can have 3 or four documents open at the same time and am able to read each one of them clearly.

the software is so easy to get used to and is much more impressive than windows

and yeah, they are very sexy !

mrtg0525

I've got a bunch of PCs here, a MacBook and a 24" iMac - my excuse is that I'm a software developer

Like some of the other posters above, I wasn't too keen on going Vista on my PC as that would mean getting a new machine anyway, plus the Windows side of the development needs to be done on XP anyway. And as you can perfectly well run Windows on a VM in OS X, that problem went out the window (err) anyway.

So far, both machines "just work" and do pretty much everything I need. A lot of the stuff I do for myself/my company is Unix-based anyway so the Mac wins for having a decent Unix-like environment, too. Yes, I could have saved about 200-300 if I'd built another decent PC with a good monitor compared to the iMac but in the end pre-built with a warranty won out.

But if you like tinkering with hardware, iMacs aren't for you. You can upgrade the RAM and that's it. Getting at the hard disk to put in a bigger one? Forget it, you need to dismantle the display just to get at the drive.

Kavanne

I have a 20" iMac, got it a couple of months ago and I love it. I team it with a 19" external monitor and it's a media monster.

Can't fault it in any way to be honest.. it's on 24/7 and the only time I've ever needed to shut down/restart is for software updates. No crashes.

I would say I work it quite hard with downloads and also a lot of photographs.

If you use microsoft office (word, pp, etc) the Mac version is quite different from PC and very expensive. The Apple version, iWork does exactly the same things and only costs £55...

Also it's worth investing in the Applecare if you can. I did with my previous MacBook and when it decided to ignore my battery they replaced it there and then, all fixed. No sending off or wrangling with PC world/Currys lol.

There are discounts available for students in college or uni so if you have any kids get them to buy it on your behalf (either via the website or in store) and you'll get a discount of 14% if they're in uni, a bit less if they're just in college.

toasterman

Just an aside - if the op is considering the 24" model, go and have a look at how big a screen that size is, first!
A friend of mine has the 24" model and given the size of his room, how close you sit to it from where the keyboard/mouse etc is, I find it a bit too big.

Imagine watching tv on a 24" LCD, from half a metre away, and I'm sure you get the idea.

knightstyle

Agree with all these, Macs are user friendly. There is a good site for UK users with an excellent help forum in case you get stuck. https://www.macworld.co.uk

sillyvixen

i have a mac ibook g4 ... and love it - it takes a bit of getting used to (my first computer was a mac perfoma) and having used a pc in between the mac was like a comfortable pair of slippers and i very quickly got into the swing of things. last year i had to have it repaired due to a accident covered by my home insurance - it was away for over 6 weeks - my brother very kindly lent me his pc laptop and it drove me mad!! it was so nice to get my mac back.

the only down side to owning a mac is that you wont want to use a pc again!!

lee634

Have been a Mac convert for over a year, currently using a 17" Macbook Pro, Wife has a 20" IMac, Would never go back to windoze, Even persuaded the father in law to buy a Mac mini,
Yes they are quite expensive but as a previous poster said they hold their value well.

It does everything I need it to do and I never have any problems with it at all.

Bob63

toasterman wrote: »

And secondly - if you want to play the latest games on your computer, a Mac is not for you.

The iMac runs Guitar Hero III. Is there any other game worth running?

b.t.w. People in this thread have talked about RAM upgrades. There is nothing special about Mac memory. iMac, Macbook and Macbook Pro all take standard SODIMM memory from Crucial and the like. All three of ours are stuffed to the max with Crucial memory.

mindlesstrance

Thanks all I bought myself the 24" iMac today. It'll be arriving tomorrow

Kavanne

It's huuuuuuge! lol I hope you measured up!

And make sure you are sitting far enough away from the monitor etc