Shall I buy an iMac?

[paulman]

I am undecided whether to get an iMac. I was thinking the 20" one simply cos its so cool. I have never owned a mac before (although I do have an ipod) and was thinking about getting the old G4 iMac but upgraded my PC instead.

The thing is, I'm worried about shelling a lot of money on a mac. I've more or less decided to get one but need some more encouragement.

Also is .mac worth it? And shall I get the wireless keyboard kit? How much RAM do I need? (I'm going to be using the mac for internet, email, organsing my travelling photos, maybe movie making with iMovie)

Thanks!

 

[wPod]

you deffinitly should get a mac. and youve come to the right place for encouragement! i finally saw the new iMacs at the apple store and they rock! though for some reason the 17" seemed more porportionally appealing to me (i dont know im weird i am usually an advocate for larger screens). no doubt you will enjoy it, but you might kick yourself for upgrading your peecee! and im sure the first question you will ask when you get your new iMac up and running is 'why did i wait so long for this?'

oh yeah. . . go for the wireless keyboard/mouse i use a wireless mouse with my PB and it rocks!!! plus it looks cooler! go for 512mb of ram minimum, but you can always upgrade that later if you decide you need more. i cant say much about .mac b/c i dont use it, sorry!

 

[James_C]

The 20" iMac is ideal for your intended use. I would specify a 512MB 1 DIMM of RAM, this is enough to give you a good start. You can always add a second DIMM later to bring you up to 1GB if you are finding that more of your time is spent on iMovie / Photoshop type stuff. The wireless option in my opinion should have been standard kit on the Imac, so I would recommend it, but this is something that is personal choice at the end of the day.

Finally if you are not sure about a Mac, I would suggest going to an Apple store if there is one near you, or a reseller to take a look at in person. Making the initial transition from Windows is not hard, but takes a couple of weeks to get use to it, but I guarantee once you get use to the Mac way of working you will discover frustrations when you go back to a Windows PC (if you use one at work).

 

[mpw]

Should you switch? Yes.
Go for the most ram you can afford and the biggest screen (I've not seen either in the flesh but imagine that wPod IS weird )

I 'switched' 3years ago and must be one of the few people who switched from MS Windows on price(TCO). I still use a HP PC for work, no choice and I'm not paying. One of the very few downsides to the Mac is the one button mouse. I went with it for a couple of years before giving up and getting a BT MS mouse with a right button and scroll wheel. Since then I've been waiting for Apple to finaly except this IS a great format which needs their design talents all over it.
As for a BT keyboard, I don't see the point. Unlike the mouse the keyboard is 'fixed' when in use and I like the availability of the two USB's.

 

[fartheststar]

Get a mac. They're awesome.

As other posters have said, get a gig of memory and the 20" iMac. You won't regret it. I would also recommend a multi-button mouse, but the mouse on your PC would probably work. I have a 4 button + scroll wheel from Kensington and it works great! You'll find this useful for Expose and other Panther features. There are other threads on mice, one of my favorites is Philippe Starck's Mouse.

Your new mac will not be susceptible to crashes.
Your new mac will not have spyware
Your new mac will not have viruses
Your new mac will just "work", just like your iPod.

There's a few free/shareware programs on versiontracker.com that will allow you to download your music from your iPod to your iMac. Then, you can format it for mac, and then re-download it and you're ready to go.

Mac's are just great. They just work, they're easy to use, and intuitive and they'll last you for YEARS.

Edit: Added mice links / changed link/ spelling

 

[dornoforpyros]

yes, next question.

 

[cluthz]

More RAM will keep your mac more happy.
Get the standard config (256mb) and add an adittional 512 mb stick (from your favourite dealer..).
I don't think .mac is worth it, but thats my opinion..
I dn't care about the wireless extra, beacuse i don't want to use that (crappy, imo) one-button mouse.

 

[Mav451]

Macs can still hang, crash, and kernal panic.

To avoid these, make sure he knows what scripts/clean-up apps to run to avoid this. I've seen far too many "repair permissions" threads to know that even 10.3.3 requires maintenance.

This should help for most of your problems (should they arise):
http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/11/21/maintenance.html

 

[kgarner]

Go for it. Like everyone else said and you have admitted, you won't regret it. I would get the BT keyboard/mouse setup as it is too cool. Upgrade the momory if you can afford it.

As for .Mac, if you are going to use even a few of it's features regularly then I think it is worth it.

-I use mine to host pictures through iPhoto. I am (or want ot be) a web designer and I could easily do this on my own, but I really like the simplicity of iPhoto and .Mac. I also host movies on it.

-Being able to sync my address book and so forth comes in handy when I am at work adn need a number or something.

-iCal integration could be great if it supported making changes over the Internet. Until then it is okay but not extremely useful.

-Backup is very nice as you can automate your backups to several locations and devices. I backup my settings (prefs, keychain, etc.) to my iDisk and back up files to an external drive and it does it very well (I use the backup to CD/DVD for special occasions).

-The iDisk can be a great tool. I use a lot of different computers during the week (home, work, school labs) and having the documents I need available through my iDisk is simply wonderful. I have thumbdrive that holds more, but the iDisk is so nice for keeping things organized and central. I have lost a few things because I forgot what was copied onto the thumbdrive wehn and replaced them. My fault I know, but I find working with iDisk helps me keep these straight better.

-In addition, I have really enjoyed a lot of the .Mac Member Benfits. The free stuff can be really cool and useful.

.Mac may not be for everyone, but if you are going to use even 2 or 3 of those features regularly it can be very handy.

 

[berfmurret]

let me preempt this that i have always been a multi-button mouse kinda guy. in fact all of my current mice are multibutton/scrollwheel mice...

the thing about the 1 button mouse..

its weird. i used to pull my hair out in anger at the thought of using a 1-button mouse for an extended period of time. but the macs in the labs at school use the 1 button mouse. -- and really? in practice? its not all that bad. in terms of websurfing.. using the arrows, spacebar, delete key, and control key... viola.. all the functions of the scroll wheel (which im finding is actually clunkier to use than the spacebar/arrows combination) and alternate buttons are all there..

in terms of anything else. theres absolutly nothing wrong with KB shortcuts.. plus a lot of times those aux mouse buttons just get in a way..

im actually becoming a fan of the 1 button mouse!

 

[fowler.]

What's wrong with upgrading to a two button mouse? It's not that expensive.. and it's fully integrated into OSX. You don't have to do anything really, unless for some reason it comes with some drivers. But yeah.

OSX, yeah, good. IMacs.. yeah, good. Just do it, sounds like you already want to.

 

[Coca-Cola]

.mac alternative

Get the iMac. I still have my iMac after 4 years and it still rocks. I don't know when I will get rid of it. I never imagined it would last this long. Amazing machine. Get the 20" if you can. I saw the new iMacs at CompUSA and they are very very cool. I am thinking about selling both of my macs and consolidating into one new G5.
Oh Yeah, .Mac alternative- http://www.spymac.com has services available for cheaper. I like .Mac, it is great if you really put it to a lot of use. Honestly, I host a new webpage about once every 3 months, and I have just started to use iCal. It works very well with .Mac. For the money I paid I should really take advantage of every feature, but I don't.