Switching to an imac

[Angelus]

Hey,
My mum is going getting a new computer and she is seriously entertaining getting a mac.she is upgrading from a pentium 166 with 128MB RAM,2GB hard drive,CD-ROM and win 95.
The imac i'm looking at for her is the 15" 1GHZ with a total of 512MB RAM,the rest is a stock computer.
Do you think that this is a good buy in terms of speed(running panther and everyday apps),lifespan(hoping for about 3+years)?
Are there any alternatives to Microsoft Publisher for Macintosh? I thought Appleworks might do the job although i've never used it.

Your advice is very much appreciated,

Angelus

 

[patrick0brien]

-Angelus

Once she learns the OS's differences with what she is familiar, the iMac will be a fine choice, and will likely outlive it's usefulness - no dying a premature death before five years or so.

As for the software, I'm not familiar with either package, what type of software are you looking for? A word processor?

Microsoft Word is available...

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

imac is nice but emac is the best value and they are all at 1 gig. this makes for a very durable long lasting machine. max out that ram and get her some goodies like digital camera & games whatever for her. Imac is a little nicer but doesnt warrant the price difference and Mac Addict magazine had a 1 gig imac going against a 1 gig emac and the emac edge out the imac performance wise. anyways emac,imac anymac would be great for mum!

 

[Angelus]

Publisher is like microsofts take on quark express but it only cost her £100 a few years ago so it obviously is not as sophisticated as quark

 

[caveman_uk]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
imac is nice but emac is the best value

I have to agree. The emac is fantastic value. Unless you either want a TFT screen or are really short of desk space (and you don't mind it's a little ugly) then the emac is a great deal.

 

[Coca-Cola]

I think an emac would be best myself. Has anyone tried Nisus Writer Express? I think I like it a great deal. Buying the eMac and adding some nice things like, Nisus Writer Express, Dotmac, photoshop elements, Contribute, and others would be a better value. I think the thing that scares me most about buying any new computer is the additional cost of extra's you may find yourself wanting later on.

 

[Brian Bosworth]

emac

how much flexability do you have in upgrading an emac. for example superdrives, video cards, storage a larger processor etc.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

imac & emac dont have video cards, video cant be upgraded,drives can be,cpu not really. pretty much what you buy is what you buy except for add ons & memory.

 

[the future]

If you're not on a very tight budget, get the iMac. IMO the fantastic adjustable LCD absolutely justifies the higher price (compared to the eMac), especially when buying a machine that is supposed to last a long time. Plus your mum will enjoy looking at a much more attractive computer every day for years to come. That's worth a lot!

 

[jxyama]

i was debating between 15" iMac or an eMac for my mom. i would have bought the refurb 15" iMac - when available, it's $950 from apple.com.

anyway, when i went to the store to look at the 15" iMac, dunno, it just looked kinda funny. esp. next to a 17" iMac. 15" just looks very "bottom heavy." i didn't really like that... the adjustable LCD and the lightness were definite plus, but i couldn't justify spending $200+ for a refurb over a brand new eMac...

eMac's 17" screen is very nice. my mom will appreciate the variety in supported resolution too.