Potential switcher concerns

[Qgirl]

Greetings. After 17 years of PC's and badly in need of a new desktop, I have pretty much concluded it's time to switch to a Mac, even though I've actually never used one. I'm typing this on a 7-year-old Dell XPS T600r, still running Windows 98SE. It has served me very well, although I have learned to troubleshoot all sorts of hardware and software issues (you have to with a Windows computer) and, though hardly a techie, I am the go-to person in my family for all manner of errors and crashes. The thing is, from everything I've read, Dell isn't what it used to be in terms of quality OR support and nobody likes Vista. Ergo, a new iMac, and I've been holding out for the new release, which appears to be imminent.

I do have some trepidation about making the switch. I've bought Switching to the Mac, Tiger Edition: The Missing Manual and wanted to go into my nearest (but not near) Apple store for the beginner's class (they only seem to have it first thing in the morning on the weekends and it's far), but I'm still a little nervous - I'm a bit of an old dog and this will truly be a new trick. I will also miss being able to open it up and stick new things in it as desired, and even (well, not so much) figuring out how to fix every stupid thing that goes wrong.

My bigger concern, however, concerns the all-in-one nature of the thing. It's beautiful, but I don't want to have to buy a new computer every two years - like our cars, we lovingly maintain and continue to use our computers till they die. (My old Dell will go upstairs and continue to be used, although its obsoleteness becomes more apparent every day.) But every computer I've had has gone through at least two monitors - monitors NEVER last as long as the other componenets. If that holds true with my iMac, then the computer will die a premature death with the demise of its monitor. Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

 

[AutumnSkyline]

One thing that has stayed true throughout the iMac line, is that they have a very long life span. Some people are today, still using their iMac G3's to run OS 10.4.10, not an operating system that came out in 98. If you put 2 GB of RAM in it (which you can do by yourself, which is recommended because of Apple's RAM prices) it will last you a good while. Maybe in two or three years you could add the maximum amount of RAM if you can afford it. Also, if you might want to put the 500 GB drive in it, because you cannot easily (or safely) replace it.

I don't know if this will be true when the new iMacs do come out, we will have to wait and see.

Oh, and to not have to buy a new iMac if the screen does give out, get AppleCare, and they will replace the display with a new one. It can be extremely useful if something else goes wrong as well.

 

[RichardI]

Qgirl: my story is very similar to yours, with the exception that I have built my own systems since the '90's. I will be switching in October (when Leopard is released). I want off the "upgrade" train - I've invested a LOT of money and time into maintaining and upgrading py PC. And now Vista comes out and obsoletes some of my favorite programs!
My advice to you is twofold:
1. Do your research. Make sure you have a transition plan so that you can still do all the things with your Mac that you currently do with your PC. I, too have read that book, and it's a good start. There is also a lot of good advice on the 'net under Mac 101.
2. Always buy the very best specs. as futureproofing. When I finally order my iMac (24"), it will have the fastest processor, the best video, the biggest hard drive, and the most ram it can hold. If I've learned one thing from PC's it's that you can't have too much of those things....

Rich

 

[mikerol]

Qgirl -- Unlike most on this site, I'm far from a technical wizard, but certainly the go-to guy in our family when it comes to tech issues. I'm in the market for a new iMac when they come out, but more out of want than need. I've had my iMac G3 for about 7 years, running OS 10.4.something or another. It's still running fine. A bit sluggish on certain applications, but never had a problem with it. I do some reasonably heavy photo retouching with pretty large files and I've noticed over the past year or so that my old iMac is choking a bit and taking a while to open large files and apply changes in Photoshop. But 7 years of service and it still runs well enough to make it my office computer once I get the new iMac.

Hope that helps. Fear not. Apple's better. It's easier. I'm typing this message on my wife's Dell laptop. This thing frustrates the hell out of me. Once you spend a little time on a Mac, go back and mess with a PC. You'll kick yourself for waiting this long to switch. Good luck.

 

[synth3tik]

The OS X platform has a very small learnng curve. You should have no problems with day to day operation and you should be able to quickly come to know the other, less day to day operations.

The all in one design has been a possible issue for many people. But working on an iMac will be just like working on a laptop. IMO Apple has great support, any issues with the computer should be anwsered by an Apple Genious quickly.

I think you'll have a great time with a Mac. I myself have been with Apple since 1986, I had a Win 98 PC for a short while and hated it.

 

[KurtangleTN]

Greetings. After 17 years of PC's and badly in need of a new desktop, I have pretty much concluded it's time to switch to a Mac, even though I've actually never used one. I'm typing this on a 7-year-old Dell XPS T600r, still running Windows 98SE. It has served me very well, although I have learned to troubleshoot all sorts of hardware and software issues (you have to with a Windows computer) and, though hardly a techie, I am the go-to person in my family for all manner of errors and crashes. The thing is, from everything I've read, Dell isn't what it used to be in terms of quality OR support and nobody likes Vista. Ergo, a new iMac, and I've been holding out for the new release, which appears to be imminent.

I do have some trepidation about making the switch. I've bought Switching to the Mac, Tiger Edition: The Missing Manual and wanted to go into my nearest (but not near) Apple store for the beginner's class (they only seem to have it first thing in the morning on the weekends and it's far), but I'm still a little nervous - I'm a bit of an old dog and this will truly be a new trick. I will also miss being able to open it up and stick new things in it as desired, and even (well, not so much) figuring out how to fix every stupid thing that goes wrong.

My bigger concern, however, concerns the all-in-one nature of the thing. It's beautiful, but I don't want to have to buy a new computer every two years - like our cars, we lovingly maintain and continue to use our computers till they die. (My old Dell will go upstairs and continue to be used, although its obsoleteness becomes more apparent every day.) But every computer I've had has gone through at least two monitors - monitors NEVER last as long as the other componenets. If that holds true with my iMac, then the computer will die a premature death with the demise of its monitor. Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

You shouldn't have any problem's with lifespan. They hold up well, just check eBay for older Macs, and compare that Mac to a PC of that time.

Don't worry too much about the switching aspect, I found it's very easy. Everything is fairly straight foward, the only thing I didn't get off the bat was all the short keys, but that's just natural. I also never used a Mac, the only experience with using them was in third grade where they were running old Macs.

Enjoy the Mac if you get it, I'm pretty sure you will not regret it.

 

[nlivo]

dont worry about the switch....i switched a bit over two years ago without ever having used a mac in my life....it feels now, that i have had a mac all my life....they are extremely easy to use and figure out how to use...i have an iMac G5 (iSight) and it is the greatest thing ever....it runs as if it is brand new.....i consider myself very tech savy when it comes to knowing how to USE the computer....i got no idea when it comes to ghz and all that jazz.....you will love mac.

 

[queshy]

it takes 10 minutes to figure out what many of the os x functions do, and it takes a few weeks to master it. don't sweat it - it's also really fun learning it because it's a refreshing change.

 

[Gosh]

I switched in May 06 and I'm proud of that in the same way I stopped smoking - but switching was alot easier!

It's a very intuitive operating system but often the mind plays tricks and you start looking for a complicated way to do somthing when a simple method is right before you.

Eg: "send to mail recipient", I missed this and then found that I could create somthing called a "workflow" in Automator and save it to the right-click contextual menus - brilliant! Infact I went one better and had "zip and send to mail recipient". But - then I found that just dragging a file to the Mail icon in the Dock created a new message - which is easier, and of course I could zip it first. But if I wanted to repeatedly send an updated file to "say" the same person - automatically - on a given day of the week then that's where Automator in OS X makes it easy!

Ref the iMac (which I have) - I think you have to way up the benefits of the all-in-one package which are many - some obvious, some not like being able to move your desktop from one place to another in one go, with one plug. I'll probably keep this for 5 years and maybe longer as a family pet!

 

[slimsakus]

then I found that just dragging a file to the Mail icon in the Dock created a new message

Hey I just learned something new.

I have only had my mac for about maybe a month, but the switch has been crazy easy. I was very hesitant about it but you know, I am so glad I did. It does the things I want (photos, mail, web, recording music) and does it so well and so easy at the same time. I also installed boot camp thinking maybe I might need to boot into windows occasionally for something. Yeah not so much, I have only booted into windows twice.

 

[Qgirl]

Thank you all for your helpful and reassuring posts. I am psyched now, and will be ordering my new iMac (with Applecare) as soon as the new version makes its appearance (next week?...) Not sure whether I'll get the 20" or 24" - will see what the offerings (and prices) are - but will definitely go for the upgraded video card and 2 gigs of RAM. Thanks again!

 

[steamboat26]

If it reassures you, I have a 6 year old iMac G3 (with a built in CRT) that is still kicking it with Mac OS 10.3 Panther. So in my limited experience with iMacs, they last a long time