Does anyone have a Mac?

sillyvixen

i never had any problems with freezing and macs untill i read this forum and other people had had problems. in all the time i have used macs i have only experienced the wheel of death twice (since th 80'S) and been able to deal with it. but for the last 2 days my g4 lappy is freezing before it loaded the opening page (using my brothers pc at the mo). my brother is a tec person but pc's and is away at the moment so i cant get him to have a look at it ... but i am not sure he will know how to deal with it.

ANY IDEAS!!! HELP!!

Marty_J

Try following the steps in these articles to reset the PMU and PRAM:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

That would be the first thing I'd try.

Cloudane

sillyvixen wrote: »

i never had any problems with freezing and macs untill i read this forum and other people had had problems.

You're jinked! :eek:

Sorry I don't have any better advice. Try booting from the install disc (hold down opt/alt on reboot) and do the diagnostics?

toasterman

Marty_J wrote: »

As for the stuff that comes bundled with PCs, you can keep it. The stuff that comes with a Mac is far better than any bundled PC software I've ever seen. I got iPhoto, iWeb, iDVD, iMovie and Garageband. There just isn't a PC equivalent for that little lot, never-mind one that comes free.

While I am a Mac convert, I have to say some of that has Windows equivalents. Windows Movie Maker instead of iMovie, for example. Although in independent comparison tests, iMovie generally comes out better.

I think there's some basic photo editing stuff in Vista too (not sure how it compares to iPhoto).
I'll give you that iDVD (which is superbly easy) and iWeb don't exist afaik in Windows.
And Garageband I can't get my head around. It's a good idea in theory, but editing anything in it seems very fiddly.....HOWEVER what I found to do my editing was a £20 bit of Mac-only software. Never seen anything like it for that price on Windows.

Sput2001

But are you comparing like with like? Is your PC a snazzy all in one design? Is your PC made by a high-end manufacturer?

My PC's a custom build, with individual components hand-picked according to their performance and spec I want. I'm not sticking all my eggs in one basket like you need to with Apple. And like I said, who cares about having an all-in-one snazzy design? My monitor happens to be a pretty smart one, the rest is out of sight, and focuses on doing its job and future flexibility, not looking pretty.

And who said anything about Dell?

Did they buy new really expensive PCs? I doubt it if they saved money. Hence, the comparison is meaningless.

No. They bought reasonably priced PCs that do what's required of them perfectly well - and at least as well as the Macs they replaced. The comparison is perfectly valid.

Well fair enough, so an all in one design isn't for you. I'm not bothered about upgrading my Mac as it works just fine.

So what happens when you want to add, say, a Blu-Ray drive?

And not to mention that us Mac guys need you PC guys to be the targets of all those viruses, worms, trojans, malware and spyware. So you're really doing us a favour.

Perfectly possible to keep all those out of the way with freeware and a modicum of common sense.

Marty_J

NickMidgley wrote: »

My PC's a custom build, with individual components hand-picked according to their performance and spec I want. I'm not sticking all my eggs in one basket like you need to with Apple. And like I said, who cares about having an all-in-one snazzy design? My monitor happens to be a pretty smart one, the rest is out of sight, and focuses on doing its job and future flexibility, not looking pretty.

And who said anything about Dell?

So the things that are important to some aren't important to you. I care more about actually using my computer than tinkering with it.

Like I said, everyone is different.

No. They bought reasonably priced PCs that do what's required of them perfectly well - and at least as well as the Macs they replaced. The comparison is perfectly valid.

No it's not. Macs aren't "reasonably priced PCs", they're expensive PCs, and they should be thought of in those terms. When your workplace kits itself out with Sony Vaios or similar, then we'll compare prices.

So what happens when you want to add, say, a Blu-Ray drive?

Well I plan on getting a new Mac once Apple start putting them in their iMacs (and quad-core processors would be nice too). Until then, I would either buy one and plug it in, or else stick to watching movies on my TV.

I could theoretically open it up and stick one in, but that would be a huge pain.

Perfectly possible to keep all those out of the way with freeware and a modicum of common sense.

Or you could just use a Mac.

Sput2001

No it's not. Macs aren't "reasonably priced PCs", they're expensive PCs, and they should be thought of in those terms. When your workplace kits itself out with Sony Vaios or similar, then we'll compare prices.

OK, so if someone's looking for a car for going to Sainsbury's or the school run, you'd recommend a top-end BMW? My workplace hasn't kitted itself out with Sony Vaios because it doesn't need to, and it would be senseless to pay double for what would be little more than vanity.

So the things that are important to some aren't important to you. I care more about actually using my computer than tinkering with it.

I care loads about using my computer. I work from home 50% of the time, so I have to! I also care loads about being able to use it in five years time without having to ditch it (even though half the components would still be perfectly functional) and buy and complete new unit.

Cloudane

I can't remember the last time I upgraded any of my PCs. 5 years is a long time, after which everything has moved on... little point having a faster hard drive if everything else is still slow, and there's no way to upgrade the processor because they've changed to a different socket so you need a new motherboard, RAM, new PSU to drive the new power requirements etc etc.

[Deleted User]

Cloudane wrote: »

I can't remember the last time I upgraded any of my PCs. 5 years is a long time, after which everything has moved on... little point having a faster hard drive if everything else is still slow, and there's no way to upgrade the processor because they've changed to a different socket so you need a new motherboard, RAM, new PSU to drive the new power requirements etc etc.

If you keep on top of progress though you don't have to make major purchases every few years that wipe you out. I constantly change things in my pc probably every two to three months. I could never get on with the lack of upgrading ability with Mac's, especially the lack of Ram..

Sput2001

you need a new motherboard, RAM, new PSU to drive the new power requirements etc etc.

Changing RAM and a PSU is a doddle and if you're smart (e.g. DON'T go to PC world etc.) can be done for pocket money. Changing a motherboard is a bit of a pain but is certainly still doable.