Switching today; have questions

[bobweaver3434]

Hello all,

After months of stewing over it, this lifelong PC user is making The Switch after work today. I've decided to get an iMac 20"/1gb/250 gb to replace my battered, late 2000-vintage Dell PIII800 laptop. I haven't used a Mac even semi-regularly since studying print design in the OS9 days, so this should certainly be interesting...

A few questions before I go back to the Apple Store:

1) Is .Mac worth it? I could go either way with this one, but the $30 off is a good inducement.

2) What are the chances of my current printers working under Tiger. I have a Samsung ML-1450 laser and an HP Photosmart 1350. I didn't really take into account the possibility I might have to replace these and obiviously would like to avoid it if at all possible.

3) Do I need any additional utilities beyond those integrated into the OS?

I have a feeling I'm going to be asking some fairly embarrasingly elementary questions around here the next couple of weeks, so thanks in advance for everyone's help!

 

[Josh]

1) Is .Mac worth it? I could go either way with this one, but the $30 off is a good inducement.

3) Do I need any additional utilities beyond those integrated into the OS?

I can't answer #2, but the others, I can.

#1: I do not believe .Mac is worth it at all. If you want a website, or to publish pics to the net, etc, you can get good hosting for less than $50 a year and get more features. If you're interested in the web, check out ASO.

#3: Depends on what you will be doing. If you just want to listen to music, do a little photo editting, etc you can get off very well with the iLife suite your computer will come with. If you will be writting reports, doing serious graphics or spreadhseets and that, you will want to get additional software later on.

I'd say go without buying extra software right now, and see how the installed software works for you. If you need something else, you can always get it later on

 

[robbieduncan]

Hello all,
1) Is .Mac worth it? I could go either way with this one, but the $30 off is a good inducement.

2) What are the chances of my current printers working under Tiger. I have a Samsung ML-1450 laser and an HP Photosmart 1350. I didn't really take into account the possibility I might have to replace these and obiviously would like to avoid it if at all possible.

3) Do I need any additional utilities beyond those integrated into the OS?

1) I personally think so, but many don't!

2) The HP should probably work (I have an HP 990CXi that works perfectly). Not sure about the Samsung.

3) Quite possibly not. I'd wait and see if I were you.

 

[camomac]

#3. VLC for viewing movies that you can't always view with quicktime.

 

[drbrog]

I am not familiar with your printers, but if they connect by USB (and not a parallel port) they should work without problem.

I like .Mac but don't think its necessary. I think you can buy it now at a discount and sign up for the 60 day free trial. If you don't want to keep it, you should be able to return it later within(?) 30 days. Apple also puts it on sale at other times during the year. I got it discounted last year around thanksgiving.

I would also strongly consider getting Bluetooth integrated into your imac. Its not very expensive and you can't get it integrated later (only by USB dongle). I didn't think I would use it but have been surprised how much I have- bluetooth mouse, keyboard, phone and PDA.

Enjoy your Mac!

 

[altair]

I like .mac, and im sure there are other things that are better, but its nice because its sorta built into the OS. I find it very usefull.

And CONGRATS

 

[bobweaver3434]

Thanks for all the good help so far. Bump and a couple follow-ups...

1) By "utilities" I meant more along the lines of system/disk utilities.

2) I know the virus/malware issue is almost nonexistant with OSX, but I'm still going to get an antivirus program. Is Virex the gold standard? What about the Norton suite?

I'm definitely excited about all this, but hate how clueless I feel.

 

[yellow]

1) By "utilities" I meant more along the lines of system/disk utilities.
2) I know the virus/malware issue is almost nonexistant with OSX, but I'm still going to get an antivirus program. Is Virex the gold standard? What about the Norton suite?

1) I'd suggest DiskWarrior or Tech Tool Pro.

2) I prefer Virex, mainly because it's NOT a Symantec product. But Virex is pretty sucky, and the current version doesn't work with Tiger. You might want to look at something like ClamAV instead.

 

[camomac]

I'm definitely excited about all this, but hate how clueless I feel.

thats why these forums are so helpful.