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Potential iMac Buyer (From PC) w/Questions

Z

zyx5432

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 27, 2011
6
2
Houston, TX
I think I have settled on getting an iMac 27" i5 3.1 GHz machine (in stock format with planned memory upgrades after purchase). I have a question or two.

It appears that I can get the stock machine from B&H Photo (from whom I have purchased a crapload of camera equipment with great success) for a bit cheaper than getting it from the Apple store. They have the iMac that normally retails for $1,999 for only $1,876. Also, they discount AppleCare to $122 and change. Plus, they offer free shipping and since I don't live in NY, I pay no sales tax. All in, this adds up to almost $350 worth of savings.

So while that seems like a no brainer, my question is if I order from B&H and run into any of the few problems encountered with iMacs (hard drive recall, screen issues, new OS problems, etc.) will I still be able to just take my machine into the local Apple store to have them fixed or will I be stuck shipping it back? If the latter, It may just make life easier to pay the extra dough and get it locally.

What say the experts?

By the way, this would be my first Mac, coming from a lifetime PC user. It will be mainly used for photo editing, occasional video editing and general messing around. I still have a PC laptop for use both at home and work.

Thanks in advance!
 
Yes, regardless of where you purchase the Mac, you can always take it into an Apple Store for repairs. No sweat!
 
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Congrats and welcome. I was in the same boat as you just a few months ago. I do not miss windows at all. Everything I did in windows is doable in the Mac.

That said, if you do need windows apps I suggest vmware fusion or just setup Boot Camp. The latter let's you boot in to windows (you provide the install media of course) and works flawlessly. Though I prefer fusion (or virtualbox which, i believe, is free) now since it's brilliant and you need not reboot. With your planned mem upgrade, you'll be all set.

Once you get beyond the differences of the two platforms I think you'll be quite satisfied.

Welcome and enjoy.
 
zyx5432 said:
Thanks guys. I just ordered it. My first Mac!
Click to expand...

Congratulations. I would recommend bookmarking these sites, they're designed for folks just like yourself switching from a PC.

The first is on migrating your data from your PC to the iMac. You have a great opportunity the first time you switch on the iMac so get the PC prepared with the correct cable.

http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/SetupLion.html

The following are extremely useful too:

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/
http://support.apple.com/videos/#macosx106

I also would recommend downloading the manual from Apple's site and reading it before the machine arrives. You will be surprised what you learn, please don't assume because you have been using PC's for years you already know....you don't!
 
I've had my 27" 3.1 iMac with 8gb and 2 TB H/D for just over a week after changing from years of Windows (from 3.0) and plenty of other stuff before that, including Amstrad, Sinclair, Apricot and a self-build in 1982.

The iMac is the best machine I have ever had and I'm LOVING it!
 
And of course you've got multiple ways of running Windows if you need to.

You will find Apple products keep their value well too.

Oh and the support is very good too eg this forum.
 
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