I plan on buying an imac this Friday. Any accessories I should or should not get? Do I need the office for MAC or can I just use what they have? Will it be easy or hard to transfer my files from my pc to my mac... Please HELP! I'm running out of time! Just a couple more days!!!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What do I need with my new Imac?
- Thread starter vermonter16
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I recommend iWork over Office, but I refuse to buy any Microsoft product. You can export iWork files to Office documents, and can open Office documents with iWork without a problem.
Neither of them come with your computer, but iWork is far less expensive.
You can have your Mac itself or an Apple Genius (in the Store) transfer your files if you'd like.
We're always here. Welcome to the fold.
Oh, and accessories you shouldn't get? Anti-virus. Of ANY sort. EVER again. Anyone who tells you that you need anti-virus to protect yourself from viruses is a filthy liar who wants your money. Anyone who tells you that you need anti-virus to protect company computers from viruses (such as your boss) is completely right and you should listen unconditionally (unless the company is nothing but Macs, in which case he's just an idiot.) The only time you'd ever need the stuff is to protect Windows users from getting viruses. In general, it's best not to do that at all. Save your money. Drop the A-V.
Neither of them come with your computer, but iWork is far less expensive.
You can have your Mac itself or an Apple Genius (in the Store) transfer your files if you'd like.
We're always here. Welcome to the fold.
Oh, and accessories you shouldn't get? Anti-virus. Of ANY sort. EVER again. Anyone who tells you that you need anti-virus to protect yourself from viruses is a filthy liar who wants your money. Anyone who tells you that you need anti-virus to protect company computers from viruses (such as your boss) is completely right and you should listen unconditionally (unless the company is nothing but Macs, in which case he's just an idiot.) The only time you'd ever need the stuff is to protect Windows users from getting viruses. In general, it's best not to do that at all. Save your money. Drop the A-V.
i would get an external HDD so that you can use time machine, but i would reccomend time capsule tbh as you get wireless and the usb port as well
cant reccomend iwork or office over each other as i have both, but tend to use office more as iwork somtimes has a problem exporting office files correctly!
a memory card reader
and thats about all i can think of tbh!
Simon
cant reccomend iwork or office over each other as i have both, but tend to use office more as iwork somtimes has a problem exporting office files correctly!
a memory card reader
and thats about all i can think of tbh!
Simon
Thank you so much for your suggestions! I am excited to actually get excited about computers again! Thanks for the suggestion about iwork - I definitely will go with that. Do you know if it is hard to transfer your files from the PC to the MAC...I'm not a complete dimwit when it comes to computers but over the last few years I've definitely slacked when it comes to really doing anything with them...because I got so annoyed with Windows... Nothing could ever be smooth and seamless - there always seemed to be issues.
Right now I have a PC that my brother built me. It is hooked into the cable router for Internet by an Ethernet connection. Will I be able to instantly get my MAC to hook up to the Internet? I suppose I should see what disk I have from the DSL folks....
Also, I'm looking at the 24" imac....any suggestions on which one? And any upgrades for it?
Also, I'm looking at the 24" imac....any suggestions on which one? And any upgrades for it?
you probably wont need any disk. just plug it in..it'll work!
oh, and I second the mouse recommendation. (the microsoft ones are awesome)
If you do a quick search or look here you should be able to find a staggering array of free software. This page might be useful to you, it also has a link at the bottom telling you how to move your stuff to your new mac.
What exactly is so good about the mouse? Do the batteries drain fast? Maybe I can just use my current mouse?...don't even know what I have - but I don't love it 
so I'm willing to get something else.
so I'm willing to get something else.
A lot of people don't like iWork and find it too limited since it doesn't have feature parity with MS Office (personally, I like it, and I don't need to do anything it can't do). Unless things have changed recently, your iMac is likely to come with a month long iWork trial (all mine did). If so don't buy it yet. Try it out. You can get the license online if you decide to buy.
If new Macs no longer come with the trial preinstalled, you can download it from Apple - http://www.apple.com/iwork/trial/
I use the Apple Bluetooth Mighty Mouse - unlike a lot of people, I actually like it, but I keep it set to one button operation since I couldn't get used to its right click operation. I find I hardly ever need right click and Ctrl-click is just as quick. Again, try it out - but if you don't like it, any mouse will work.
What exactly is so good about the mouse? Do the batteries drain fast? Maybe I can just use my current mouse?...don't even know what I have - but I don't love it
The mouse is super comfortable in your hand, has plenty of buttons with a scroll wheel that can be tilted left & right to scroll vertically through a document, and moves easier, requiring very little hand movement at all. Tracking on it is fantastic. Every button can be customized. The scroll wheel moves freely without clicks and it has a small button on top that brings up the Search function, in addition to the front and back buttons on the side.
The battery is rechargeable and typically last me about 5 to 7 days but I leave my mouse on all the time and it gets heavy use. It recharges quickly in about 2 hours. It comes with a very small USB stick that connects your mouse to your computer via USB port so there is nothing extra sitting on your desktop. The mouse has a button under it to turn the mouse off if you want.
I urge you to read the reviews on this mouse and try it out if you have the chance. I think the mouse will sell itself to you once you've tried it. Good luck to you with whichever mouse you decide on.
I would just get maybe an external HDD, one of the newer and sleeker/sexier SeaGate FreeAgent Go drives with dock and carrying case. The color scheme matches that of the iMac very closely and you can use Time Machine with it, without having to reformat the HDD using Disk Utility since it already is HFS+. And also some more memory (RAM). 2GB is good, but the prices on 4GB (2 x 2GB sticks) are pretty cheap, more or less around $50, cheaper during the Black Friday sales.
"I would just get maybe an external HDD, one of the newer and sleeker/sexier SeaGate FreeAgent Go drives with dock and carrying case."
I think those SeaGate FreeAgent Go drives are sooooo cute! Way cool! I'm so excited!!!!! Maybe I'll get a blue one! And I'll look for memory too!
I think those SeaGate FreeAgent Go drives are sooooo cute! Way cool! I'm so excited!!!!! Maybe I'll get a blue one! And I'll look for memory too!
When i get my iMac on Friday I will be buying later...
AppleCare
Final Cut Express
An external hard drive
a UPS
speakers
a memory card reader
extra RAM
By the way if you don't have a UPS already, you really need one. The one I'm going to get is this one.
http://www.apc.com/resource/include...se_sku=BE700-UK&ISOCountryCode=gb&segmentID=1
AppleCare
Final Cut Express
An external hard drive
a UPS
speakers
a memory card reader
extra RAM
By the way if you don't have a UPS already, you really need one. The one I'm going to get is this one.
http://www.apc.com/resource/include...se_sku=BE700-UK&ISOCountryCode=gb&segmentID=1
What imac are you getting? What does the memory card reader do? The only memory card reader I know of is the one I have for my SD cards, etc.
I'm getting the 2.8Ghz 24" iMac with wireless keyboard and mouse. The memory card reader is to plug SD cards in from my camcorder so I can transfer the video onto my iMac.
I tried both, but I actually liked the MX 1000 better. I couldn't take the scroll wheel at the thumb on the Revolution MX.
No, not really other than you don't have to spend loads at the same time by buying AppleCare as well as your iMac. Also, check out eBay. You can find a good deal on AppleCare over there, sometimes you can get AppleCare for less than half the price Apple charge.