.Mac

For me the virus protection, free software, and email account are worth it long term.

One thought i just had if Apple is listening is an extra free song a week (or maybe a month) from the full iTMS catalog.

 

.Mac

I'm relatively new to Macs, and Yes, I think ,Mac is worth the yearly fee.
Kyan

 

Yeah I got it. Nice to have the iDisk for offsite backup and sharing of photos and stuff. Virus software is good, and the backup software ok. Access the the tutorial videos is attractive. A few of the special offers (when valid for me) are tempting as well. I got it hoping Apple will be improving it overtime to make it even more worthwild.

 

I rely on .Mac. iDisk is great and I use .Mac to sync all my computers. The extra stuff they throw in is usually pretty good too.

Re: Antivirus. Norton = bad. It's the gold standard on Windows but on the Mac anything called Norton causes more problems than it solves. When you're talking about antivirus it's a moot point though. Apart from that dumbass who downloaded a malicious AppleScript there aren't any viruses on OS X. When you have something to worry about, buy antivirus software. If you're paranoid, then Virex will do just fine. I'm paranoid about being attacked by Burmese tigers, so I wear garlic around my neck--and it works. I haven't been attacked yet.

Is .Mac email better than Hotmail? .Mac uses IMAP, which is cool if you check your mail on multiple computers. Hotmail is...it's Microsoft. I think we should do what we can to live Microsoft-free lives.

If you use multiple computers, .Mac is invaluable. If you have only 1 then it might not be for you.

 

Here is a fourm thread I started a while back about the topic.
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=66313

There have been several other threads lately about .mac...one problem with mail which hasn't affected me much but some others have been bothered by it. I would say spend the $69 the first year and try it out. If nothing, you get free software for virus and other free goodies on line not to mention free back up space for a year.

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of Apple Macintosh!

Johnny

 

We have to know what you want to do with your Mac. tunes, surfing, word processing, iMovie, iPhoto, Photoshop, etc. Unless you are a power user (ie photoshop, illustrator, Final Cut Pro, etc.) an iBook would be great...and even an iBook would run those programs...just not as fast so depending on how much you would be a "power user" would depend on what to get. I am buying an iBook for my wife at work as we speak and they are G4's and what I hear is they are great!

As far as appleworks vs office student (same as reg. office) we need to know what you want to do. AppleWorks can read an write documents that Word/Excel (PC or Mac) users can view accurately pretty well unless you get into lots of tables or major formatting stuff. If you are simply sharing a paper with a profess. or teacher apple works would work great. If you are doing extensive tables, use power point, very extensive spread sheets then Office would be better. Another reason to get the iBook is you get lots of free software with it that you don't get with the Powerbook. Apple Works only comes free on ibook...not Powerbook. iBook Software Collection

Straight from AppleStore.com: Every iBook comes loaded with top-notch software — including Quicken for Mac to make managing your finances a breeze, AppleWorks 6 to keep you productive, World Book Encyclopedia to tell you what you need to know about practically everything, Sound Studio for easy digital audio editing. And for those times when you just want to have fun, iBook also includes Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, Deimos Rising, and Mac OS X Chess.

Remember, the Powerbook will only come with OSX software apple, not the ones listed above. I would say the best thing to do is buy the iBook (if this is the one you decide on) and try appleworks out. If you decide you want MS OFfice student it doesn't cost any more to go back and buy it and you can get it at any school reseller or apple.com easily for around $150. Doesn't have to be bought with the Mac. this way you can try it out.

Good luck,

Johnny

 

iBook sound great except for the gaming which I dont' know for sure...but a PS2 is going down to $150 this month including an online network adaptor and free game so I would rec. getting the iBook and buy a console gaming system which is going to run games much better than most any affordable mac and have many many more games. Of course the drawback to a console is you can't game in class or on the run...but when the handhelp Plastation comes out that is what that is for I guess.

Johnny

 

right now memory at Apple is about as cheap (and installed already) as anyplace and may even be a bit cheaper. Check crucial.com for the best memory at the best price. Last I heard of the forum was that crucial was almost the same price if not more for some reason. when I got my imac memory it was much cheaper to buy from crucial, but now apple has cut their prices I see. Also, be sure you upgrade your hard drive size as it is only $45 on the iBook to increase it by 20GB. I also rec. the superdrive for backing up music, burning DVd's of movies from iMovie and backing up digital pics if you have a camera that is. Either way it will most likely come in handy, is only $180 for the upgrade and will help the resale in the future considerably...which macs really hold their value over time as well.

Are you getting .Mac or not? If you get .Mac you could put me down as a reference and I get $20% off my subscription rate next year. This is also a great benefit of .Mac...you can actually get 5 people to put you down as a referral reference and you get it for free (they let you add the 20% discounts up to 100% if you get enough) Pretty cool.

by the way, where in AZ?

Johnny

 

Yeah, I could put it to good use.