converting from the "dark side"?

[mac-daddy]

I've been a pc user all my life and have recently been enticed to look at mac. I am looking at the imac G5 20" screeen with 1GB RAM, 250GB HD, airport express and bluetooth module with wireless keyboard. I am comparing this with the Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop (17" WUXGA screen) with comparable RAM and 100GB HD). Both systems look very slick. I have been using a dell laptop for the past 7-8 years and have been generally very happy with it as far as reliability and function goes.

I will use my computer mainly for word processing, presentations, photo editing and printing, video editing and DVD making, and of course internet use with a need for accessing my network at work.

I have heard much that Apple is superior for video/photo use, but is it that much better if one compares to say Adobe Premiere Elements or advanced photo editing software? Anybody know the answer here?

Also, does anyone have experience with the wireless bluetooth module and its compatibility with palm based pda's. I've been told by a mac user (1 year old ibook g4) that he has had problems with this. Is this still a problem?

I'm looking to be sold on the mac, but it would be simpler to upgrade the Dell given the amount of material I have on the old one and the new Dell is anexcellent looking machine.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Address the networking issue with your IT people.

Many will be sceptical if not hostile about introducing your Mac to their network. Fortunately, there are plenty of good resources that will help assuage their fears -- in fact, there's a sticky about this on this forum somewhere. It's an easy thing to set up...

A G5 iMac is a far superior machine than virtually any laptop. You can use Photoshop Elements easily on it but it will also come with iLife programs: iPhoto, iDVD etc that will enable you to do the same thing with no additional cost.

You will also not need to worry about viruses or other junk that affects PCs.
I suggest you get your hands on one and get a decent demo...

 

[shane-o-mac]

You have to appreciate the power and usability of mac's OSX........the reality is the operating system for macs is amazing.........the G5 is a great system..but not a laptop...if you want the same portability buy a 15"powerbook, but all in all no one ever switches from a mac to a pc......why is that? Because macs have a cult following, the os is remackable.

 

[Applespider]

You'll be able to do everything that you need to do on the iMac - the biggest deal is often getting your network IT guys to give you the relevant settings or allowying to you give them your MAC address if they filter access by that.

I've had no problems with Bluetooth on my Mac, although that's mainly been to phones including the Symbian p800/900 which I could transfer office files over to as well as standard calendar/email/address syncs. As far as peripherals go for the Mac, they're pretty much standard and 'just work' but if it's something that's passing data back/forth (ie handheld/Palm), you may want to do a little more research than you might do on Windows to make sure it's Mac-friendy as opposed to Mac-tolerant. There are quite a few discussions on the board about which handhelds are regarded best.

A colleague uses Photoshop PC at work and Mac at home. In terms of the tools available she sees little difference. But if she has an important project with deadline to do, she'll always 'work at home' and do it on the Mac. She has more confidence in her Mac not to crash and lose work and in the colours appearing better without needing tweaking. That's her personal opinion - I have no scientific evidence to back it up!

I use Photoshop Elements on the Mac over Paint Shop Pro - again, the functionality is very similar. But I've never had Elements crash on me and lose the pictures I've been working on (and I've attempted some big photomerges - 132MB and 5m long with layers flattened and merged - who knows how big it was when it was working!) and I can't say the same with the PC I used to have.

Talking of the upgrades from your Dell, if you have Photoshop/Illustrator etc on your PC, Adobe will allow you to change them to the Mac version of the software rather than having to repurchase. There is no 'Premiere' for Macs tho - people tend to use Apple's Final Cut or Final Cut Express depending on how serious you are. If you only edit video occasionally, it might be that the free iMovie is enough (it's much better than XP's free Moviemaker)

Lastly, if it's at all possible, try to get to an Apple store or good Apple reseller before you make the decision. They will have machines loaded with some or in the case of Apple Stores, most of the software you are interested in looking at. You can play around with them and see how they look and make your own comparison to what you are trying to do. If you're near an Apple Store, put that down as an additional selling point. If you're stuck doing anything on your Mac, chances are someone in there will be able to help you - whether it's applying a certain effect in a video edit program or your computer making strange noises.