I want to buy a iMac Computer

Buy American · April-17-09, 02:24 PM

I am shopping for a new computer. I've looked at some at Best Buy, including an iMac desktop. After using Windows since 1999 I am a bit intimidated by the OS on the Mac but have heard nothing but good things about it. Does anyone out there own one and could give me the pros and cons. Also, does anyone know about Comcast and how the iMac is with their service?
I'd appreciate any information I could get.

**rajdet** · April-17-09, 05:33 PM

Buy American, I have owned a Mac Book for the past few years and canâ€™t ever envision myself owning another PC. It will take you a few days to get used to it but I am sure you will have no problems. Macâ€™s rarely crash and donâ€™t get viruses. I really believe they are better products. I would suggest taking a trip to Novi to the Apple store and talking with the team there. They will even upload your files from your PC to your new Mac. I donâ€™t used Comcast so I canâ€™t say if you will have problems with them or not but I am pretty sure you wonâ€™t. The only drawback to owning a Mac is your either have to downloan new software or go to the Mac store, to get it.

**Bigb23** · April-17-09, 07:20 PM

What about the mini macs ? I'm tired of the Microsoft fiascos every two weeks. All I do is surf the net, on dialup, and want to access a few websites a couple times a week.

**mauser** · April-17-09, 07:37 PM

Macs = $$$$$$$$$$$

They are nice. AVOID Mac Mini. Not expandable for pooh - just changing or adding RAM is a pain. Cant add better graphics card to those - nor can you use dual monitors [[if you do graphics that is).

ccbatson · April-17-09, 11:14 PM

Macs cost more to be sure...but last at least twice as long and run smoothly from the first moment on. Mini's can't be expanded, but for 500 dollars, would you expect it to be?

As an aside...until a fix comes out, time capsule is almost as buggy as the most stable PC application [[not at all up to the standard of all of the other first party Apple applications).

**oldredfordette** · April-17-09, 11:33 PM

Go to the Apple site on Wednesday morning [[or very very late Tuesday night) and watch for the Mac refurbs to appear. They are under warranty and every bit as good as a brand new Mac.

ccbatson · April-17-09, 11:36 PM

Very good point, the prices on slightly used refurbished Macs will fall right in line with brand new unreliable PCs.

Buy American · April-18-09, 07:51 PM

Thanks everyone for all the pointers. I'm looking at the 24" iMac desktop. It has quite a few extras on it that the Dell or HP doesn't have, but after adding some software, the 3yr. warranty, some one on one classes on how to use the iMac, the price is starting to get over $2,000. That's lots of $$$$$, but from what I am hearing, this is the way to go.

ccbatson · April-18-09, 11:13 PM

You will not regret it [[other than the price tag, but...you know that going in).

The only current "issue" I have is the buggy time capsule software. A fix will likely be available soon via free software updates 9as has been my experience with all such minor glitches with Macs.

**rajdet** · April-19-09, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by Buy American

...some one on one classes on how to use the iMac, ...

Buy American, I'm not sure I would invest in classes, just plug it in turn it on and play with it and I'm sure you'll be OK. The Help feature will explain any questions you have.

Buy American · April-19-09, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by rajdet

Buy American, I'm not sure I would invest in classes, just plug it in turn it on and play with it and I'm sure you'll be OK. The Help feature will explain any questions you have.

I know exactly what you mean, but these classes are for a year, once a week. Should I have a problem that I can't figure out, at least I'd have the opportunity to make an appointment at the Apple Store [[Partridge Creek) and have a tech walk me through it. Right now the one on one classes are $79 and I think I may need it. I am not computer illiterate but when it comes to this iMac I am intimidated by it. Thanks for the advice.

cheddar bob · April-19-09, 11:38 AM

Whoa there big fella...your screen name is "Buy American" and you continually rail about how people should buy American products and now you're talking about buying a Mac? A computer whose parts are from a different country and is assembled in a different country? How about if you put your money where your big mouth is and buy one of these computers assembled in the USA with American union workers...
http://www.unionbuiltpc.com/home.php

Remember what you computer you buy, computes America.

**oldredfordette** · April-19-09, 11:41 AM

My husband will give you some personal lessons and pointers on how to fully use your Mac for a very reasonable price.

**East Detroit** · April-19-09, 12:45 PM

The Apple Store has classes all the time.

And if you buy a Mac, the geniuses at the Genius Bar will give you an overview on the migration. I think they will even help you migrate your data.

ccbatson · April-19-09, 11:31 PM

Most are pleasantly surprised at how intuitive the interface is, and how well things work as intended. Classes are likely unnecessary for most modestly computer literate folks.

**d.mcc** · April-20-09, 12:00 AM

Originally Posted by ccbatson

Most are pleasantly surprised at how intuitive the interface is, and how well things work as intended. Classes are likely unnecessary for most modestly computer literate folks.

If you don't mind spending an extra 400-600$ for a logo, by all means, go for it. 2-3 years ago it would have been a great purchase, but considering Apples are essentially PC's with a different OS...same hardware, the same programs run on them... All you're doing is buying into consumerism and buying the fancy product when you can buy a PC and get all the same toys for a lower price.

ccbatson · April-20-09, 11:28 PM

100 percent wrong [[laughably so)...different AND FAR SUPERIOR OS, different hardware, and different programs.

**wolverine** · April-21-09, 01:51 AM

Just bought the 2.9 Ghz duo core, 24 inch imac model and love it. I was a PC user forever, but really made the switch for the heck of it.

I am:

Running Windows Vista on it, but not through boot camp. I use Fusion which allows you to run both OS's at once. I can toggle between both quickly, share files between both, and even make Vista full screen.

I am running extremely demanding Windows software on this imac, such as AutoCAD 2010 and 3ds Max. These programs are painful enough for PC's, so asking this much out of a mac was somewhat unreasonable. But gues, what? They work! I haven't had any problems. I feel they even run faster than the network installs on my University PC's

I use comcast, but it should make no difference PC or mac.

To get the full benefits you want, you may have to spend a bit more. I bought everything at discount from U of M. Windows Vista cost $5, and Fusion was $38. I know normal retail is much more. Regardless, having a Windows presence was absolutely necessary for me, but I have really warmed up to the Mac OS. To top it off, the imacs are beautiful computers. I was actually more fed up with wires running everywhere, loud exhaust fans, and a clunky cheap appearance of PC's

Buy American · April-21-09, 08:17 AM

^^^^^Thanks again for all the advice, both pro and con. I am sold on the Mac. Let me ask one more question....what about the small keypad? I am used to the bigger keypad from my Dell and find it a bit hard to acclimate my fingers to the smaller one that Mac offers. They tell me they made it smaller because more and more people are purchasing laptops and notebooks and find the smaller keypad better....I don't. I guess I could purchase a generic keypad, but for all this money I had hoped they would try to accomodate me in some way.

**Lowell** · April-21-09, 09:11 AM

I run both systems and both have their advantages. For the everyday home user, Mac is probably the best, even if paying a bit extra, but for a power user, someone with more business / development needs or intense gamers, Windows is the choice.

Using VM ware Fusion on a Mac one can run Windows transparently and with relatively little hit in performance but then you need a duplicate set of software. In the end the real expense is software, not hardware.

Now if you are talking small screen, Apple wins hands down. A couple of months ago I switched smart phones from a Windows mobile phone to an Iphone. The difference is day and night and highlights Microsoft's decline. For instance when one plugs the Iphone into the computer for syncing calendars, contacts, etc. it also sniffs out updates to the OS. In two and half years of Windows mobile, there was never a single update and no sniffing.

Any other iPhone users out there?

**sarge** · April-21-09, 09:27 AM

There is some truth in both sides of this. While the curret mac designs are clearly superior to most of the pcs out there [[IMHO), the guts of the mac machines are composed of essentially the same parts. I used pcs exclusively for almost 20 years and know how to do just about anything I want with one. Notwithstanding, I wanted to check out the mac side of things and see what all the fuss was about.

Consequently, I installed a separate hard drive on my pc and turned it into a hackintosh. After noodling around with it for a while, I liked it so much that I bought a macbook and an imac. Now the only machines running windows in my house are my netbook [[HP 2133) and my wife's old notebook. [[She is not nearly as fond of OS X as I am. Then again, she does not use more than a few programs). Everything else is mac, including all my old external drives that were previously formatted with NTFS.

Is OS X perfect? No. It takes some time to get used to. Most people are right-handed, so continually having to click on the left side of the screen seems anti-intuitive. You also have to relearn how to do many things that you've done for years on the pc. Not having a button to open programs to full screen is odd at first, as is figuring out the new keyboard. [[I continue to use my windows keyboard because I prefer it to the mini-keyboard provided with the mac. ) Not much of a fan of the mighty mouse either.

That being said, 99% of the time, there is a mac program that does whatever I used to do in windows. And it is more often than not faster and easier. I also feel like I am getting more done in less time.

Bottom line: If you can afford it, give it a whirl and see what comes out of it. Most folks I know who have made the switch now swear by their macs. I don't go quite that far, but I don't see me going back to windows any time soon.

**RO_Resident** · April-21-09, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by ccbatson

100 percent wrong [[laughably so)...different AND FAR SUPERIOR OS, different hardware, and different programs.

Certainly, the OS is different. The hardware is spec'ed just like any Windows based machine.

I curious about how the hardware is any different than anything you would find in a Windows-based machine. Apple specs their processor from Intel; hard drives from Western Digital et al.; video processors from NVIDIA, and ATI; LCD screens from Samsung, et al, just like the rest of the computer makers.

MacBooks suffered the same failures from NVIDIA's faulty 8400M GS and 8600M GTs as my Dell laptop.

And to the OP, Microcenter in Madison Heights currently has a pretty good rebate some Apple some products. The 20" iMac [[MB417LL/A) has a $200 rebate, so you could get it for just under a grand [[AMIR, of course).
http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0307586

**d.mcc** · April-21-09, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by ccbatson

100 percent wrong [[laughably so)...different AND FAR SUPERIOR OS, different hardware, and different programs.

Really??? Look at the specs, my PC has almost the exact same Hardware that a G5 would have and for about 2000$ less...

**Johnlodge** · April-21-09, 12:01 PM

I have both. I bought my Macbook Pro as a refurb, haven't used my PC since. The Linux-based OS is just far more stable. And being that Mac users are such a small percentage of the population, there are very few malicious programs out there written to attack them.

**jcole** · April-21-09, 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

I have both. I bought my Macbook Pro as a refurb, haven't used my PC since. The Linux-based OS is just far more stable. And being that Mac users are such a small percentage of the population, there are very few malicious programs out there written to attack them.

Thank you, JL, you just hit the nail on the head. Most people think that the reason there are fewer virii on a Mac is that it's such a superior product that no one can write malicious code, and the PC's are just crap that get infected by virtue of existing. They don't realize that once more people start using Macs or even Linux based PCs, malicious code writers will find it more intriguing and more of a challenge to write code for them, and then the problem will become much more common. It's not completely a matter of Windows being more susceptable, it's just a more 'valuble' target.