Does anyone have a Mac?

Marty_J

NickMidgley wrote: »

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.

Of course not. Where did I say that your workplace should be using expensive computers?

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.

I really don't see what your problem is. I like my computer. You like your computer. We're both winners then surely?

Marty_J

toasterman wrote: »

That's fair. While I could never be bothered with Windows gaming because of the need to upgrade graphics cards etc, if I was going to be into non-console gaming, I couldn't use a mac for it.

Unless you feel like dropping £10,000 on an 8 core Mac Pro with 32 GB of RAM.

tlck9

I have to say that I have had my mac for around 2 years now, I ahve a black macbook.

I love it....compared with my windows laptop, that crashes every day or other day....I find the OSX easy to navigate (albeit dont lose heart until your've had yout mac for around 2-3 months) they take a lot of get used to as a hardened windows user, but one you have you wont look back

There is a help to switch document on Apple support pages and a handy short cut reference on there as well - esential, since there are things you take for granted with windows that you dont get wih apple and these tiny things make all the difference in getting th most out of your new mac

I am now planning on my new Imac, if my other half will let me!!!

Bob63

Paul_R wrote: »

Seems to run OK with the tiny 1Gb that came with the machine. Upgrading the memory invalidates the warrantee, so look out for that problem.

Wrong. It does no such thing.

Apple won't cover any problems with 3rd party memory, as they will with their own memory, but their support website gives full instructions on how to do RAM upgrades and even tells you the exact specification to buy. e.g. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1423?viewlocale=en_US

The first thing I did with our three Macs was to upgrade them to the maximum with Crucial memory modules. Its fast and easy to do. To be honest my daughter's Macbook could probably get away with the original 1GB, but I use the full 4GB in my own Macbook Pro. Anyone who questions why someone needs more than 1GB of RAM shows a lack of understanding of computers and reminds me of the statement "I can't see why anyone would ever need more than 640K of RAM", which was falsely attributed to Bill Gates a few years back.

toasterman

Paul_R wrote: »

I've had a 20" iMac for around two years <snip> Very good for video downloading from a camera or editing video, but the software is a bit expensive for that.

Not true. Software on a Mac is no more expensive than software on Windows.

Paul_R wrote: »

Screen is the best, but the very latest keyboards are a bit naff (very thin stainless steel jobs and not much travel in the keys) so I prefer the older white ones.

Personally I love the new slimline keyboards. Because it's so thin and the keys don't physically move up and down as much, you don't get crumbs, hair, and other muck in them.
And I've never converted to typing on a new keyboard as quickly as I did when I got this one.

Paul_R wrote: »

My iMac came iwth a remote, but I've only used it once to see if it worked, never since, just sticks with a magnet on the side of the screen.

I love the remote! Very handy for volume control in iTunes, and you can press and hold the play/pause button to put the Mac to sleep for you.
Plus if you use watch films through FrontRow, you can use it for that too. Anything that Quicktime can play, will play in FrontRow from the remote, and it's linked in with iTunes, so everything in iTunes instantly appears in FrontRow. I think it's very well designed.

Marty_J

Paul_R wrote: »

Very good for video downloading from a camera or editing video, but the software is a bit expensive for that.

Don't you use the free software that came with your Mac for doing this? Both iPhoto and iMovie are very capable applications.

Seems to run OK with the tiny 1Gb that came with the machine. Upgrading the memory invalidates the warrantee, so look out for that problem.

As noted above, it doesn't. If you damage your Mac by trying to upgrade something, then that wouldn't be covered under the warranty.

Screen is the best, but the very latest keyboards are a bit naff (very thin stainless steel jobs and not much travel in the keys) so I prefer the older white ones.

I LOVE the new keyboards! They're so much easier to type on, and the old ones seems to end up with hundreds of eyelashes stuck inside them and the remains of whatever I have been eating at the computer. Taking them apart to clean them was a total pain. I can just give the new ones a wipe with a damp cloth and they're as good as new. The buttons for controlling iTunes on the new keyboards are very handy too.

Encantador

Iam looking to replace my XP laptop that I use in my part time business.

I take photographs with a Canon DSLR tethered to the laptop using Breezesys DSLR remote pro software to get the photos into the computer. Unfortunately Breezesys software is not mac compatible.

Don`t suppose anyone has any idea whether there is any other software suitable for a mac??

Marty_J

Canon's EOS Utility software allows you to remotely control your camera from a Mac. You don't say what model of Canon you use, but it should be on the software CD that came with it.

However, it only appears to be compatible with Mac OS X 10.2 - 10.4. Macs are now shipping with 10.5, so I would contact Canon directly to ask about the compatibility before you purchase.

Encantador

Thanks for that, I will take a look.

TiTheRev

Sorry to butt in on a thread but Ive seen some of you talk Apple Ram.

Ive had some kernel panic issues and after some posting on the Apple Support forum, ive tried some of the simple fixes, but it seems I may need to replace the RAM. I want to put some decent quality memory in (genuine Apple if possible), but want to know what other brands may be just as good and value for money? eBay have some dodgy sounding brands but reasonable prices, but dont want to be replacing it in 3 months!

Any suggestions for brands/websites they've used?

Thanks in advance