Even though buying at the Apple store is more fun, look at refurbs. I got my Mac mini as a refurb, with no problems at all, and in better than new condition, as everything is double checked, replaced if necessary, and carefully reassembled.
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Considering switching from PC to Mac, but have questions
- Thread starter medgirl2001
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Even though buying at the Apple store is more fun, look at refurbs. I got my Mac mini as a refurb, with no problems at all, and in better than new condition, as everything is double checked, replaced if necessary, and carefully reassembled.
no worries.
Your last few queries..
Hotmail sounds like it should work for you. Mine still works fine after 5 years.
Also if all you will use the winmo phone for is internet tethering, when iphone os 3.0 software comes out, (rumours of june) tethering will be enabled via both usb and bluetooth. It may however be limited/prevented by your contract provider tho. Just something to add to your googling list.
I know, it would be terrific if I were able to tether with the iPhone, but I am doubtful that AT&T will allow it without a significantly pricier data plan. It's not technically allowed without a special plan for Windows Mobile either, but they don't watch WinMo as closely as the iPhone. For the little bit I ever do it, it really would not be worth a $60/month data plan. We'll see, though. You never know!
There is also a free software called Sea Shore that works like Photoshop for additional photo/image editing. Also if you are into retro gaming there are some good emulators for playing Atari, Super Nintendo and Arcade games.
Many good things you can find for free. Just google and coninue asking in these forums.
Many good things you can find for free. Just google and coninue asking in these forums.
I may do that. They do have some good deals. I have heard very good things about Apple refurbs. Did your computer have any cosmetic defects at all? I know they are supposed to be as good as or better than new in terms of function.
4. You can dual boot but if the game does not use heavt graphic VMware Fusion works well, you can run Windows in a virtual machine. It's fast if you have 2 or 4 GB of RAM
5. Viruses are unique to Microsoft Windows. No other OS has problems with Viruses. Not Mac OS X, Linux, BSD Unix, Solaris, None of the other OSes. Seems to be a Microsoft invention.
6. You can share a DVD drive over the network but if you typicaly use DVD disks buy a computer with a optical drive. ou said soething about Photoshop? If so look at the screens so with you can use.
DOn'r worry about "compute power" The lowest end Mac has a Core2 Dual inside.
I think I'm going to do it. I am leaning towards getting one of the refurbished MacBook Pros they have on the website right now. I have heard good things about refurbished Apple products, and it will let me get a better configured system for the same price I would have paid. I think if I am going to do much with running a virtual machine, having extra RAM/processing/video power would be nice. My understanding is that the warranty is the same and that I can add on the extended Apple Care any time in the first year, so it seems like a pretty safe move for a refurbished product. If anyone disagrees, please correct me!
That's just great! Let us know how you like it. You know, if you went with an iMac, because they're the previous gen, you may get some bonuses like a larger HDD or more RAM...
I did it! I ordered a refurbished MacBook Pro. Based on the Wikipedia entry on the MacBook Pro (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbook_pro) I estimate that it's a late 2008 system since it has the 2.53 GHz processor. Anyway, I am totally excited. I am anticipating the initial switch to be a little painful, but I think it will be worth it in the end.
Congrats on the purchase! And I suspect the switch won't be nearly as painful as you might think - it's actually pretty intuitive in most cases.
Just wanted to give a quick update. I got my refurbished MacBook Pro on Friday. It was in perfect condition; no problems there. So far I love it, although I am still getting used to it. For any others who were wondering about some of the same I questions as I was, here are my updates:
Hotmail works great with Entourage, although one of my accounts is a premium one and the other is a very old one, so I don't know if it would be different with newer Hotmail accounts. Httpmail wasn't that great for me, because it basically just allows Mail to download the Inbox, but you can't use all the folders. Having synchronized folders is what I like about Hotmail. I am not a fan of pop mail accounts.
I decided to just sync Windows Mobile with the XP side, so I haven't bothered with Missing Sync or anything like that. As far as tethering goes, it was a little weird. USB tethering works with the XP side, but I can't get Bluetooth tethering to work. On the Mac side, Bluetooth tethering works fine, but not USB. Using XP in a virtual machine does not allow USB tethering - it has to be booted separately. At any rate, I have a tethering solution with each platform, so that's good enough for me, since it's something I really only use as a backup if I'm somewhere I can't get WiFi.
Synchronizing my iPhone was no issue, not that I expected it to be. I was pleasantly surprised that it imported all of my contact and calendar entries to iCal and Address Book without my having to export them from Outlook.
My VPN for work works, but only through Firefox. I couldn't get the Citrix web and Safari to play nicely together.
Getting Windows loaded was the only tricky part, although I can't really blame it on Apple or Microsoft, really. I know it said you have to have a full, non-OEM, non upgrade version of Windows. I have a non-OEM copy of XP, but it is an upgrade version. I thought it might still be okay since I had an old Windows 98 disk to put in during the install to prove I had Windows, but I wasn't thinking it through clearly, because during the reboot, there was no way to switch out the CDs! Very annoying, since all of these copies of Windows are legal, legitimate copies. It's just a glitch of the optical drive not being able to eject the CD during the install process. Anyway, a friend fixed up a CD for me that made Windows happy, I used my legal installation key, and all is well. I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that Windows was the only hiccup! But Windows itself works fine, in fact better than on my old Dell, since it was a clean install without all the crapware they put on there.
Anyway, so far I am happy, though still trying to get the hang of the different keyboard and some things about how the files are set up. I am also struggling to get videos off my TiVo. Other than that, though, I think I'm a convert, and glad I made the switch!
Hotmail works great with Entourage, although one of my accounts is a premium one and the other is a very old one, so I don't know if it would be different with newer Hotmail accounts. Httpmail wasn't that great for me, because it basically just allows Mail to download the Inbox, but you can't use all the folders. Having synchronized folders is what I like about Hotmail. I am not a fan of pop mail accounts.
I decided to just sync Windows Mobile with the XP side, so I haven't bothered with Missing Sync or anything like that. As far as tethering goes, it was a little weird. USB tethering works with the XP side, but I can't get Bluetooth tethering to work. On the Mac side, Bluetooth tethering works fine, but not USB. Using XP in a virtual machine does not allow USB tethering - it has to be booted separately. At any rate, I have a tethering solution with each platform, so that's good enough for me, since it's something I really only use as a backup if I'm somewhere I can't get WiFi.
Synchronizing my iPhone was no issue, not that I expected it to be. I was pleasantly surprised that it imported all of my contact and calendar entries to iCal and Address Book without my having to export them from Outlook.
My VPN for work works, but only through Firefox. I couldn't get the Citrix web and Safari to play nicely together.
Getting Windows loaded was the only tricky part, although I can't really blame it on Apple or Microsoft, really. I know it said you have to have a full, non-OEM, non upgrade version of Windows. I have a non-OEM copy of XP, but it is an upgrade version. I thought it might still be okay since I had an old Windows 98 disk to put in during the install to prove I had Windows, but I wasn't thinking it through clearly, because during the reboot, there was no way to switch out the CDs! Very annoying, since all of these copies of Windows are legal, legitimate copies. It's just a glitch of the optical drive not being able to eject the CD during the install process. Anyway, a friend fixed up a CD for me that made Windows happy, I used my legal installation key, and all is well. I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that Windows was the only hiccup! But Windows itself works fine, in fact better than on my old Dell, since it was a clean install without all the crapware they put on there.
Anyway, so far I am happy, though still trying to get the hang of the different keyboard and some things about how the files are set up. I am also struggling to get videos off my TiVo. Other than that, though, I think I'm a convert, and glad I made the switch!