Need Advice: I'm entertaining a switch to Apple...

[Oddball_Inc.]

Hey all...

I'm looking at purchasing an Apple and wanted to hear some fresh opinions of which hardware I should be looking at.

I've not used Mac's since System 8; however, I have used various *nix flavors, and suspect I should feel right at home in OSX.

I am however; a bit wary with the price of the Apple hardware. That said, I would love to hear some of this communities opinions on why it is worth the price premium.
I use my computer for; Web, Word Processing, the occasional "hot game", photo editing, dvd creation, etc...

I certainly recognize the quantum leap that Apple has made in providing an OS that caters to all users from novice to expert. (I just don't have enough experience with OSX to articulate that). I am intrigued with the Open Source aspect of OSX. I will be losing all of the Windows apps that I have purchased over the years and won't be able to replace them all immediatley (Office, Photoshop, games etc...) I would be interested to hear others opinions on how they fared through similar migrations.

Thanks in advance,
D

[geneman]

look here (http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=8847)

[Louie]

iMac g5?
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71508/wo/tO5SjTjru5od2sTIehH1aDn86pv/6.0.11.1.0.6.23.1.3.1.2.0.0.1.0

this would be really good for what you listed

edit: a good plus would u dont have to buy a screen

edit2: migration...well right now i think i might be in the same boat that you want to get into... i run my macs but i still have my windows pc for all my games. as for all of your apps. mac has sooo many photo editing software such as photoshop. and it does email and all the other stuff with ease (not like windows or linux). and you wont get any errors or pesky virus's to spoil your day. and to end on a good note you will be using your mac more that u will be fixing it

if you would like to shoot me an email send it to accola@gmail.com

[praesidi]

I just bought an iMac G5 17" a few weeks ago for most of the reasons you listed (except that I'm not a game player). I am very happy with my decision and can't envision ever purchasing another Windows based product. The iMac has plenty of power for video editing/dvd creation, though I plan on adding more RAM (maybe 1 GB, just because I'm like that).

Though I'm not a huge CompUSA fan, they are running a 24 month, no interest payment plan on all computers over $499, including Apples, which I took advantage of. Sure makes it affordable!

[Oddball_Inc.]

Thanks everyone for your input...

praesidi, I was especially interested in your experience as you have no regrets after switching platforms.

This is a difficult/expensive decision for me. I manage my current windows/home network with little pain, so the whole "crash free" argument really doesn't resonate with me; however, I certainly see an advantage in using OSX for it's innovative approach to just about everything (including the ability to leverage all of the OpenSource software).
D

[Franz Josef]

You didn't say if you are looking for a laptop or a desktop. This site may help - http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

If you do a search here in Nova (top toolbar) for say "Switch" you will find a large number of threads talking about the benefits of using a Mac - you will find very few people (I in fact don't recall any) who regretted moving to Mac from Windows. You will almost certainly find find creative apps (music, photos, movie editing) better and easier to use running on Apple.

Louie - links to the retail store time out quickly as they are for your personal shopping session only.

[losslesshead]

Well, here is a lowdown from someone that just got an iMac a couple weeks ago (yes, i am a switcher). If you don't care about the whole 'crash free' argument, you should still get a Mac. Why? Even if your windows network is crash free, a Mac WILL be faster.

For example, I used to have a Gateway with a 3.4 GHZ Pentium 4 and 1 gig of RAM. I now have an iMac with a 2.0 GHZ PowerPC G5 and 1 gig of RAM. I can not tell you how much faster this PowerPC Processor is!

Plus, programs that are Windows/Mac usoually end up running much more smoothely on a Mac (Macromedia Studio and Adope Photoshop are examples). Oh yeah, in terms of games, there ARE games for Mac. For example, I currently own World of Warcraft and Star Wars Battlefront (planning to get ut2004).

Another word on migration: Migration is easy. There are a lot of ways ways:

1. Put all of your stuff on an external Hard Drive.
2. Burn your data to DVD's.
3. Transfer your data to an iPod.
4. Use Move2Mac.
5. Use an Ethernet connection to transfer data.

I used the external HD. Was done transfering files in minutes. Oh yeah, I recommend getting iWork '05 for Word processing, etc...

[Oddball_Inc.]

lossless, Thanks for the heads up. I'm starting to look heavily towards a G5 tower. I'll continue to lurk on this board to hopefully make the right decision....

[losslesshead]

Good. The only thing I would say about a G5 Tower is that it is going to be expensive. And it is not worth it if you are not getting a dual processor one. Keep the iMac in mind though.