Newbie looking to buy iMac

[agrats84]

I use my current PC for mostly powerpoint, word, the internet, and some music. I do not know whether to get the 2.0 or 2.4 GHz, and 1GB memory or 2GB? I am also confused as to whether to use Office or iWorks to make presentations because I am a high school teacher and the school uses Windows XP...

Ready to buy, but HELP!!!

 

[ob81]

I would go with the 2.4ghz and 2GB memory, but get the memory from another source, like crucial.com. Apple charges way to much for memory.

With iwork, you can export to the Office format, but it may be easier for you to use Office 2004, or 2008 whenever that gets here. I have used both for school. You get an excellent "teacher discount" on the system and software also.

If windows is just a huge part of your life, you can always install it on your Mac with bootcamp or parallels.

 

[amac4me]

If you're using your computer for Powerpoint, Word, and the Internet, the base iMac will suit you just fine. If you ever need to use Windows, Bootcamp, Parallels, or VMWare Fusion are there for you to use.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[dmw007]

For your uses, the 2GHz iMac would be fine- but I would still go for 2GB of RAM. Check out www.datamem.com for some great deals on high quality RAM.

As far as presentations at school, the safest bet is going to be M$ Office. Personally, I use iWork '08, more specifically, Keynote for presentations at college.

 

[TheVandit]

I just bought my first imac 2.0 ghz with just 1gb RAM and it runs all the apps you want fine. Probably will upgrade to 2 or 3 gig ram tho.

iwork is excellent

 

[emptyCup]

Keynote is superior to PowerPoint and Pages has grown into a nice word processor. However, if you must collaborate with people using Office, you are better off buying Office for Mac. BTW, unless you plan to run Windows under Parallels I would start with the basic 1 GB before buying more.

 

[SpookTheHamster]

Don't bother buying iWork with your Mac. All the Macs come with a 30-day trial of iWork. You can use that time to decide whether you like it. If you don't you could try NeoOffice or wait until Office 2008 (I had the beta and really liked it)

 

[109%]

Just a quick I-Second-That for Crucial RAM. Great prices (compared to Apple anyway!) and superb service.

 

[Hello.there]

Don't bother buying iWork with your Mac. All the Macs come with a 30-day trial of iWork. You can use that time to decide whether you like it. If you don't you could try NeoOffice or wait until Office 2008 (I had the beta and really liked it)

I switched from a PC to an iMac recently, after 20 years battling with Windows, and bought iWork with the package because I was determined to make a complete switch. But I gave up and bought Office for Mac after a couple of weeks . Pages (ie iWork's equivalent of MS Word) is fine, but I was so used to using Word I missed it and wanted it back! I tried NeoOffice too and it's excellent (can't believe it's free), very similar to Word, but not close enough to keep me happy. If you've really never used a word processor much before then Pages or NeoOffice would be perfect, but if, like me, you've spent half your life working with MS Word then I'd strongly advise you to stick with it.

As for the iMac: I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it