Thinking of switching to a Mac....

[ste.mount]

When Vista is out, I may switch to Mac OS.

But, I find it expensive, and I've used Windows all my life.

What do you recommend?

 

[jsw]

Mod note: moved from this thread.

ste.mount: the recommendation would depend upon your needs. I think, knowing nothing about those, that the most likely fit for you is a mid-range iMac, as they seem to appeal to the largest set of users, they're fast, and they're attractive.

Just don't consider them for gaming unless you get the better graphics card option.

 

[iancapable]

When Vista is out, I may switch to Mac OS.

But, I find it expensive, and I've used Windows all my life.

What do you recommend?

Depends on what you want a mac for. Personally I find mac's are cheaper than dell depending on how you class cheaper (I say value for money and quality is a lot better than dell and you get a whole bunch of neat stuff with them).

If you want something all in one, the iMac is an unbeatable deal

 

[srf4real]

You could start with an inexpensive used G4, just to get to know MacOSX and make sure you're ready to switch; are the apps good for you to work with, etc... Then figure out what you need machine-wise to get 'er done. There is an Apple for your needs, just pick it out! My mini cost less than a decent desktop pc and is waaay more reliable, user friendly, attractive, etc...🙂

 

[Eraserhead]

On the laptop side the Macbook is generally cheaper than the relevant competition (in the UK at least). When I checked out http://www.dell.com/uk at the end of august a similar Dell, (with 15" but same resolution screen as the Macbook) cost about £50 more (than the normal price for a mid-range Macbook), it had an 80GB HD instead of 60GB, but lost on Weight, Webcam, Magsafe, Bluetooth, long battery life, remote control, user-replaceable RAM/HD, worse OS etc. etc.

I could also get HE discount on a Macbook which made the Macbook even better priced 😀.

Obviously now as Apple are being slow updating to Core 2 there are a lot better deals currently but that isn't normally the case.

 

[orangezorki]

Yeah, as others say, Apple's offerings are very good value, but their options are limited, leaving many gaps, a standard desktop for example.

However, if you appreciate the OS, that is far more valuable than any slight hardware difference. If you can get one that works flawlessly (personal gripe about a DOA iMac), every Apple product is superb and built to last at least as long as any other PC equivalent.

What's best for you is really up to you. What do you value most - Portability? GPU speed? Screen size? Then we might be able to help you a bit more on that side of things.

David

 

[FFTT]

It's difficult to advise you without knowing what you expect from your computer.

What applications do you consider essential to your daily use, workload, budget,
desktop or portable, student, professional or recreational use, all of this will help us
help you to determine the right system for your needs.

 

[apfhex]

When Vista is out, I may switch to Mac OS.

Why does Vista have anything to do with it? If you're gonna switch, why not now, or any other arbitrary point in time?

Expensive is relative. You're paying for higher quality hardware (and software, you could argue). If you have to repurchase a lot of software it might add some cost though.

Consider this: get a new Mac and you can still run Windows on it along side OS X.

But if, say, you mostly game, or do a lot of programming or boring office tasks, maybe you'd be fine sticking with a PC.

 

[Eraserhead]

lot of programming

Unless you use MS Visual Studio, .NET or Windows Applications (OK so a pretty sweeping area!), (which would make using a Mac be a bit silly) using a Mac would be better for programming as you have all the Unix tools, which are good for programming, built in and don't have to use Cygwin or another Linux based partition...

 

[miles01110]

You could start with an inexpensive used G4, just to get to know MacOSX and make sure you're ready to switch; are the apps good for you to work with, etc... Then figure out what you need machine-wise to get 'er done. There is an Apple for your needs, just pick it out! My mini cost less than a decent desktop pc and is waaay more reliable, user friendly, attractive, etc...🙂

Why bother buying an old computer where for maybe 30% more you could get an up to date one? Personally, I think recommending that new users buy old machines is a terrible idea.

 

[Island Dog]

Well just my personal experience is I was very hesitant about switching. My wife bought me an iBook just months before the intels came out, and I have been very happy ever since.

Although I do a lot of work on the PC, I am saving to replace my desktop with a Mac.

 

[ozone]

As others have said, you really have to ask yourself what your computing needs are.

I'm a long time PC user and this past spring I picked up a used 17" PB G4. Very nice. BUT.... my university uses Windows almost exclusively and I like the functionality my tablet offers me for administration and teaching. So, unfortunately, my PB sits around unused 90% of the time. I'm probably going to sell it.

However, if you don't care about the tablet or some other unique thing that a Windows system offers you, the Mac OS X is just... nicer. Sure Windows might be more flexible for some things, but the Mac OS is just... nicer. And, with Boot Camp and Parallels, does it really matter much anymore?

My wife uses a PC at work but an iMac at home. Guess which one she loves and which one she could care less about? 😎