help me with a mac

[Brumeiser]

Just got promoted to work from part to full time and we need a new computer. Looking at the Macbook and I have a few questions. Sorry for the ignorance but i don't know the answers. First can my laser printer from my desktop be plugged into the Macbook? None of my vista programs will run correct on mac so I will need all new programs correct? Can a mouse be plugged into this laptop? Any one have the Imac mini and what is your thoughts on those? thanks everyone.

 

[hpfan100]

I have a Mac and love it! You an plug any printer into the USB port as well as a mouse. I use a wireless one. As far as programs go check the disk/box to see if compatible. Most programs will say something like Windows 98, Vista, etc for PC. Macs will look for OS. I think 10 is the current level. Also if not able to find that info take your disks/boxes to the mac store and ask for help. The people at the store will help you out. Also, the apple store near me offers free training to people who need help switching from PC to Mac just ask and sign up!

Good Luck!

 

[DonnaL]

Just wanted to say once you begin using a Mac you won't ever want to use a PC again. DH and I have been Mac users for years......however, our adult children always had PC's until our youngest (who is now 21 and only has two semesters left) started college and decided to get a Mac laptop for school.....then, they all switched over to Mac's. We never have a problem with viruses and breakdowns.......unlike all of our friends who have PC's. DH has a MacBook Pro......it's an older version.....I think maybe about 6 years old and I have a sleek iMac desktop.....which I love......I got a little more than a year ago. DH just recently needed to replace his battery, but, that was the first problem he has had with it.

Hey Brumeiser.......I just noticed you're from Toledo......when DH and I were first married over 30 years ago we lived in Toledo and Perrysburg for a few years.......his first job out of college was as a manager at the Ace Hardware Distribution Center in Perrysburg and I worked for Libbey-Owens-Ford at the tech center in Perrysburg .... I think it was in Perrysburg) and then, at corporate offices downtown. I still remember our two addresses there.... 3347 Airport Hwy, Toledo and 118 Three Meadows Court, Perrysburg........

 

[DebMcDonald]

My husband was a Mac user long before I was and at that time I had nothing good to say about Mac's, how could anything be better than a PC We are now a family of Mac's except for one lonely PC laptop that my oldest DD uses. I had the Macbook and had one of the few laptops that was just a lemon from the start, (FYI my husband also had a macbook pro and we have an imac and have never had ANY problems) I had a service plan on it and Apple recently upgraded me to a new Macbook pro at no cost to me except for a new protection plan. The reason I got upgraded was my macbook had firewire and the new one did not, so they needed up provide me with the same option. I do not use a mouse, but yes you can plug one in, they also have a great wireless one. My printer is the same one we use for all our mac's and our one pc.

I would highly recommend getting the one on one service. It was $99 a year and they will transfer any information from you PC to your new Mac at no cost and you also get one on one training, up to one visit a week (for one hour) for one year. I think I only did 5-6 visits, but it more than paid for itself and it really helps with the initial learning curve.

Have fun with your new Mac and you won't be going back.

Regarding viruses, etc., never something I need to worry about. It also never crashes nor do you ever get the fatal blue screen (except in my case when the hard-drive died).

 

[Disneefun]

Just wanted to add that you can actually run Windows and it's programs on a mac. (Although why people want to crap up a perfectly good mac with it, I'm not sure.) The macs come with a utility called "Boot Camp." You can choose to boot into either windows or mac mode. If that's too much hassle, you can buy a program called Parallels that will let you run windows and the mac OS concurrently. The people at the apple store can really help you more with this, but if you have some programs you just don't want to let go or can't replace, this may be an option.

I have a macbook pro and love it. It's never given me any grief except needing a new battery, which all laptops do eventually. I've been a mac user going back as far as the Bondi Blue imac and never had problems. As for the mac mini, it's a good inexpensive option. You'll have to buy a monitor to go with it. The only reason I don't use one is that it's not powerful enough for what I need to do and I can't take it with me on the road. But if all you're doing is typical home computing and you're not looking for the portability of a macbook, it can be a good choice, although in that case I'd probably opt for an iMac because I like the all in one form factor.

 

[ambgoph]

Consider buying a refurb directly from Apple - it comes with the same warranty and you can add Apple Care protection to it if you want. We bought a refurb Macbook Pro last year and saved a few hundred dollars. We couldn't tell it was a refurb - it just didn't come in an Apple box. We love ours!

 

[Ava]

Once you go Mac, you never go back!

We got a MacBook Pro a couple years ago & I love it. Never any problems with viruses or anything like that. It does take a bit of getting used to if you have only used PCs before - it took me a while to get used to letting the Mac organize my files for me (and to realize that it's easy to find any file on the HD using Finder), I was so obsessed with organizing all the folders on my old PC.

I've never used Boot Camp, I just use the Mac equivalent of MS Office programs. Pages = Word, Numbers = Excel, Keynote = Powerpoint. They can read the PC file types (.doc, .xls, .ppt) & you can export into these file types so you can easily send files back & forth from PC-Mac.

ETA: If you do go with a Mac, I would suggest downloading the Firefox browser so you have that in addition to Safari. Some websites still aren't very Mac-friendly & therefore don't load right on Safari.

 

[CarlisleMom]

I am going to need a new laptop soon. My current one has been giving me problems (running slow, not loading correctly etc).

Can the mac connect to the same wireless/wired network as PC's? Can I use the same external hard drive? I have 1000's of pictures on it.