Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Analyst: iMac and MacBook Updates Coming Within Weeks?

Buzz Bumble said:
... but you have to remember that, unless you get a bundle deal, no Macs ship with proper "office" software (word processor, etc.), so you have to add a bit more for Microsoft's Mac Office Home & Student or Apple's iWork.
Click to expand...
Or you could opt to not spend any extra money and go with OpenOffice.org
 
What more can they really do to the lineup?

The only thing I would like to see is a blu-ray option. Maybe they can drop the prices a little also. Besides that, i'm happy with the current iMac and Laptops.

I would like to see a major price drop for the mb air. Maybe it wouldn't be such a failure if the price wasn't so high. A tablet would definitely be nice also.

They lack of blu-ray at this point is just ridiculous. How can you have a top of the line machine that doesn't support blu-ray?
 
corinhorn said:
Or you could opt to not spend any extra money and go with OpenOffice.org
Click to expand...


HELL NO. Open office and neo office are terrible pieces of software! They take sooo long to open and are very laggy and slow while using them. Microsoft Office is a lot better, faster, more responsive and worth the money. Neo office wasn't worth the space on my hard drive -- i deleted it a year ago after a year of using it.
 
thegoldenmackid said:
I can see a small price drop, but I would doubt that Apple lowers the price much more. They have repeatedly said that they are not in the business of low-end computing and don't want to be.

And given the recent sales numbers, that approach seems to be working quite well.
Click to expand...

hi, you suck. some people just don't have the big bucks to pay for an apple computer. they should at least offer a low end computer to open up to a whole new market of people that simply can't afford it.
 
Maserati7200 said:
HELL NO. Open office and neo office are terrible pieces of software! They take sooo long to open and are very laggy and slow while using them. Microsoft Office is a lot better, faster, more responsive and worth the money. Neo office wasn't worth the space on my hard drive -- i deleted it a year ago after a year of using it.
Click to expand...

Well good for you , but "after a year of using it" Thats a LONG Time !
CARAZEEEY
 
corinhorn said:
Or you could opt to not spend any extra money and go with OpenOffice.org
Click to expand...

Well, people can always try the free versions, but when I downloaded them a while back they were AWFUL - slow, ugly, buggy, etc. Plus it should be noted that the free versions (as well as iWork and other non-Microsoft applications) are not FULLY compatible with Microsoft Office for those who need to be.



tekboi said:
... I would like to see a major price drop for the mb air. Maybe it wouldn't be such a failure if the price wasn't so high. A tablet would definitely be nice also. ...
Click to expand...

The MacBook Air was a "failure" in the making to start with - expensive, slow compared to most of the normal MacBooks, no drive for installing software, etc. It was really little more than a fashion accessory which Apple and those buying it could say "look how thin it is". Laptops in general (and the tablet) also tend to suffer from this same "fashion item" status. Most of them that I've come across are not used as laptops / portable computers by the owners at all, but stay on a desk plugged into the wall. Some people of course do actually need a laptop, but many people don't.
 
Buzz Bumble said:
Well, people can always try the free versions, but when I downloaded them a while back they were AWFUL - slow, ugly, buggy, etc. Plus it should be noted that the free versions (as well as iWork and other non-Microsoft applications) are not FULLY compatible with Microsoft Office for those who need to be.
Click to expand...
A year ago, I would have agreed with you that OpenOffice.org was slow and buggy on the Mac. However, the most recent version of OOo works great for me and I haven't found any need to install MS Office on my Snow Leopard system. And I haven't had any issue sharing my files with MS Office users.
 
I agree with all the people who say that the iMac is a desktop computer so therefore why does it need to be so thin? To make it a little bit thicker to accomadate more heat will not offend the majority of people. I wouldnt care if my iMac was a cm or more thicker, as to allow it to contain a quad processor and/or additional hardware.

I also agree with the poster who says that the screen because it is not LED yet it omits much more heat, so without the case being modified, it probably could not accomadate any more tolerable heat strain.

I would to think that the next iMac refresh would have:

-Next generation i5/i7 type cpu and accompaning mobo e.g. No more FSB
-2 firewire ports again
-eSata if additional firewire port wasn't available
-Price decrease (as it went up last refresh)
 
corinhorn said:
A year ago, I would have agreed with you that OpenOffice.org was slow and buggy on the Mac. However, the most recent version of OOo works great for me and I haven't found any need to install MS Office on my Snow Leopard system. And I haven't had any issue sharing my files with MS Office users.
Click to expand...

... and what about iWork ... it's worth the money?
 
Maserati7200 said:
HELL NO. Open office and neo office are terrible pieces of software! They take sooo long to open and are very laggy and slow while using them. Microsoft Office is a lot better, faster, more responsive and worth the money. Neo office wasn't worth the space on my hard drive -- i deleted it a year ago after a year of using it.
Click to expand...

Well OpenOffice & TextEdit are certainly enough for me. MS Office isn't worth the price AND the HD space for some. ;)
 
DyingSun said:
The only thing an iMac needs is a new (high quality) display.
Click to expand...

I assume you're talking about the 20" iMacs, afaik the 24" have (and always had, since white 24") excellent IPS displays, the only tweak they'd need is LED backlighting.
 
re: Imacs and chipsets

I agree with the opinion quoted below. But additionally, does ANYONE making an "all in one" form-factor desktop actually use desktop components vs. notebook/mobile ones? The HP TouchSmart PCs are similar in design to the iMacs and they seem to be using mobile components. I believe the all-in-one Sony VAIO desktops I saw in the past did so, too.

One problem with a desktop motherboard is the card slots, which assume cards will be installed vertically in them. That requires much more of a "box" for the design than a thin "slab" ... so not at all friendly for a system that's going to be made to look like it's all contained inside an LCD display.

Desktop boards usually also assume you have a lot more cooling capabilities. I remember some of the "desktop replacement" Windows laptop computers in the past using desktop components to maximize performance, and they were NOISY and ran HOT. It wasn't really a very good implementation.


dlastmango said:
I honestly believe that using notebook parts allows the imac to be manufactured cheaper than if they used desktop parts. Apple's best selling line of computers are notebooks.... if they use similar or even exact parts on the iMacs they should get a better price for the incredible bulk they buy. Thus making the cost to build cheaper... Now weather they past that cost savings on to us... thats another story!

in my opinion of course.. :D
Chris
Click to expand...
 
re: iWork

Just one man's opinion here, but I think yes, iWork is worth the money. It's not very expensive compared to MS Office, in the first place (less than 1/2 the price), so even if you get 1/2 the functionality, it can still be considered "worth it".....

Pages was excellent for my small side business I operate. I needed to make things like 3-fold fliers and print addresses/return addresses on envelopes that had my logo on them, as well as create a standard invoice form and print professional-looking business letters. Pages handled all of it with starter templates that were often far more professional-looking than the ones MS Office includes.

I understand iCal is the "weakest" part of iWork... It's no "Excel killer" for people doing lots of hard-core number crunching. But it shines if you need sort of a "desktop publisher" for your spreadsheets. It's more flexible than Excel in printing out a spreadsheet or multiple spreadsheets so they're formatted nicely/creatively on a page.

I honestly have little need for presentation graphics/slideshows, so I don't really use Keynote -- but it's good enough for Steve Jobs to do Apple Keynote presentations with, so that should speak for itself.


frittino said:
... and what about iWork ... it's worth the money?
Click to expand...
 
kingtj said:
Just one man's opinion here, but I think yes, iWork is worth the money. It's not very expensive compared to MS Office, in the first place (less than 1/2 the price), so even if you get 1/2 the functionality, it can still be considered "worth it".....

Pages was excellent for my small side business I operate. I needed to make things like 3-fold fliers and print addresses/return addresses on envelopes that had my logo on them, as well as create a standard invoice form and print professional-looking business letters. Pages handled all of it with starter templates that were often far more professional-looking than the ones MS Office includes.

I understand iCal is the "weakest" part of iWork... It's no "Excel killer" for people doing lots of hard-core number crunching. But it shines if you need sort of a "desktop publisher" for your spreadsheets. It's more flexible than Excel in printing out a spreadsheet or multiple spreadsheets so they're formatted nicely/creatively on a page.

I honestly have little need for presentation graphics/slideshows, so I don't really use Keynote -- but it's good enough for Steve Jobs to do Apple Keynote presentations with, so that should speak for itself.
Click to expand...

if i couldn't get a free copy of MS Office i would just use OpenOffice or Google Docs.
 
Maserati7200 said:
HELL NO. MicroSoft Office is a terrible piece of software! They take sooo long to open and are very laggy and slow while using them. NeoOffice is a lot better, faster, more responsive and worth the money (free). Microsoft office wasn't worth the space on my hard drive -- i deleted it a year ago after a year of using it.
Click to expand...

Fixed that for ya.

*clarifier: I use MS office 08, and find it buggy/slow as hell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back