Apple computer

[jdpopp]

Here is a link for those of you contemplating an Upgrade to Leopard.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/guidedtour/

I have full confidence that the first release of 10.5 will be very stable, unlike Windows Vista which I will not even touch (I'm not flaming Microsoft, I love my PC too but, that has to be one of their worst first OS's yet. Very buggy and a memory hog). Apple has a very good beta testing system with tons of mac fanatics that get all the problems hammered out. I am actually using the last pre-release version before the Master version that will be shipped out, and I have no problems with it at all.

 

[pinkplaydoh]

this is probably a stupid question...but do you hook the Apple up to your modem just like a PC?

 

[jdpopp]

They have a built-in modem that has a port where you plug the phone line into. Now if you have a cable modem or DSL modem, you just plug the ethernet cable into the ethernet port and you're done.

 

[autumnbaby9]

I loved my Mac and was heartbroken when it broke (I got one of the dreaded logic board issues)

I couldn't afford to buy a new mac so I had to buy one of the cheap PCs form Walmart. All I have to say is I HATE WINDOWS VISTA. The only reason I can see someone wanting to have a PC is if they are a big gamer. Otherwise Mac is the way to go.

 

[Forevryoung]

I too love my Apple and have not used a PC except under duress in years.

One of the things I love about my Apple's is that I only ever need to restart them to install software updates. Otherwise it is an amazingly stable platform. We just sleep our laptops and desktops (we are a multiple computer household) Apple users are spoiled though, so if they do need to reboot you will hear them acting like the sky is falling.

You sound like me- My PC is left off except for "emergencies"

and the sky is falling when I have to reboot

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I am a Mac technician, and I own both a Mac and a PC. My main machine is a PC desktop at home, and I use it mostly for games. My portable machine is a MacBook and, that one I use for everything else (music, photos, video editing, etc...). If you are looking for ease of use and great built in video/picture editing, the mac is the way to go. The only reason I don't have a Mac for a desktop is the video games, which there is not many of for the Mac. I suggest going to an Apple store or a Best buy if they have a Mac section and, spend a while trying out all the programs. There is usually a Mac person there that will spend time with you explaining all the features. If you do decide to purchase a Mac I also recommend buying the 3 year warranty from Apple, "if" you ever need a repair it more than pays for itself. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Also the new operating system comes out the end of the month so, if you hold off another week or 2 it will be worth the wait.

If Mac ever got serious about being the epicenter of the rec room (a BluRay drive via a video and audio card that fed HDMI output to any HDTV), I'd already be typing this from a MacPro!

Just sitting on my wallet for now, trying to figure out how long I can milk my piece o junk XP laptops.

Thanks for the tip about the new OS.

 

[Forevryoung]

Well I didn't really lie but 6 hours after typing my previous post, my beautiful fabulous perfect macbook suffered a complete and utter hard drive failure (oh the irony)

pictures- check (some are lost but they are just some nature shots... I'll go back in the spring and take some more)
music- check
last years school work- check
data from clients- can get from supervisors (check)
paper due Monday- check (on flash drive already)

Thesis (7 pages written)- gone

Would never in 100,000,000,000,000 have imagined that one minute I would be dis'ing and the next minute everything would be poof for absolutely positively no reason.

But then again, it's the first time in 14 months... it happened three times in the first year with my Dell! I'm ahead of the game sweet


PS. don't not get a mac by this post, I still love love love my computer I just have REALLY bad luck with technology. Two hours before the failure I wrote my dad an email saying that his next computer should be a mac and listing the 20 reasons why.

 

[northie]

I loved my Mac and was heartbroken when it broke (I got one of the dreaded logic board issues)

I couldn't afford to buy a new mac so I had to buy one of the cheap PCs form Walmart. All I have to say is I HATE WINDOWS VISTA. The only reason I can see someone wanting to have a PC is if they are a big gamer. Otherwise Mac is the way to go.

I had one with the logic board issues too. PITA. And Vista...wow. Not ready for prime time, that's for sure! Forced to use it, but I don't have to like it!

 

[NJtoATL]

I currently own a Macbook (white). I love my laptop. I enjoy all of the features that are on my Mac.

I would suggest to you, to make an appointment at your local Apple store and test/try the Mac. That way you would have a better idea of what you may want in a computer.

Good luck

 

[icartjetta]

Once you go MAC, you don't go back.

 

[kab407]

I was looking to replace my old Dell desktop almost three years ago. I was looking at Windows based laptops. I can across a computer buyers guide/review from Walt Mossberg of the WSJ. He was always positive about Apple products. So I did some reaserch and stopped at the Apple store to take a look. A week later I bought my iBook G4, a new printer and my first iPod. Other then a touchpad problem that Apple fixed within two days I have no complaints. I am a happy Apple convert.

 

[iggbees]

i remember the days when i would go to the genius bar and i'd be the only one there. now it's ridden with people who don't know the first thing about computers or ipods (and they decided to buy a mac and have these geniuses explain what a computer is to them). bugs the carp out of me especially when i go and have a legit problem (like when i had a problem with my very old ibook and the power cord, i had that sucker for 5 years then i gave it to my dad and he had it up until this year). there would always be someone in line complaining about how their itunes won't load music into their ipod. i'm just warning you that if you do have a problem with your mac, be prepared to wait in very long lines to see someone about it.

i've been a mac user my entire life (all 24, almost 25 years). i've had pc users tell me how much macs suck and how pcs are better. uhh.. yeah, that's why pcs break down all the time, quit programs you're using for no good reason, and lose a lot of your data. i would NEVER EVER switch to a pc. i even converted my computer science degreed boyfriend to a mac and he'll never go back to a pc.

people who don't like macs still think that they are like they were in the 90's, which was definitely more complicated than they are now, but still so much easier to understand than pcs ever were.

 

[SueM in MN]

I think it depends on you level of comfortability with change- my mom would freak if my dad purchased a mac. The change is too big for her and she's barely comfortable with what she has.

My SIL is a Windows support person for an Internet Service provider. She said after dealing with people's Windows problems all day, she really wanted to come home to a computer that workes.
She wanted to get a Mac for their last computer, but just the idea of it totally freaked out my BIL. So, they got a Windows desktop, which has had to be re-built 3 times that I know of since they got it. They children were forbidden from using it on the internet at all because just going on, they got several viruses.
Her son is really into games, but he doesn't use the computer for his games - I forget if he's got an Xbox or what, but he says he'd rather use that than a computer anyway.
So, what do the kids use for internet and homework?

My family's old early 2001 blue dalmation, 500 MHz iMac. Even though it came out several years before OS X, we installed it on that computer and it works just fine. So, their Windows desktop is mostly un-used (which SIL says has really cut down on the time she has to spend fixing it).

yeah, that's why pcs break down all the time, quit programs you're using for no good reason, and lose a lot of your data. i would NEVER EVER switch to a pc. i even converted my computer science degreed boyfriend to a mac and he'll never go back to a pc.

I have to use Windows at work, because that's all that is available. When I got a new laptop at work not quite 3 years ago, the tech people could not get the email to work correctly. It says it is archiving, but it doesn't actually do it. Then, I get a message that my email is over the limit and I can't get any more email. The tech people try again and think they have it fixed, but a few months later, I am at the same point.
Until about a year ago, I actually had Windows NT on my computer at work. It wasn't until then that the tech people at our company thought Windows 2000 was 'ready for prime time'. The 'standard' for new computers is Windows 2000 and they don't know when they will consider Vista ready to make the new standard.

people who don't like macs still think that they are like they were in the 90's, which was definitely more complicated than they are now, but still so much easier to understand than pcs ever were.

Everything was more complicated in the 1990s, but PCs had just started with Windows not that long before that.
The thing I remember people saying about Apple in the early 1990s was that it was too easy for adults to use, which made people think of it as a 'chidren's computer'.

 

[Forevryoung]

i'm just warning you that if you do have a problem with your mac, be prepared to wait in very long lines to see someone about it.

i've been a mac user my entire life (all 24, almost 25 years). i've had pc users tell me how much macs suck and how pcs are better. uhh.. yeah, that's why pcs break down all the time, quit programs you're using for no good reason, and lose a lot of your data. i would NEVER EVER switch to a pc. i even converted my computer science degreed boyfriend to a mac and he'll never go back to a pc.

Ok, my experience- I rarely take my laptop to an apple store, they have computer service technicians who are Apple certified in little tiny shops around the country and I go there as much as possible. Apple still covers the cost like you went to a Genious Bar.

Secondly, while my PC quit programs ALL the time, my mac did it with enough frequency that I noticed (usually safari and MS: Word). And top it off with the fact that my hard drive in my Macbook poofed last night with ALL data gone, clearly it does happen. I replaced my PC (dell desktop) hard drive at 10 months because it erased all data and I'm replacing a 14 month old Macbook hard drive for the same reason. While I love the Mac operating system, I've become very jaded when it comes down to it- no matter what, expect technology to fail on you.

 

[Green Tea]

I have the apple care warranty on my imac and I got it on the iphone as well. I've never had a terrible problem, but if I had a minor complaint or need, I call and they send me a new part that arrives the next morning. It really is amazing. I don't live near an Apple store, so I've never experienced taking something in for service.