Thinking About Getting A MAC

[landbeforetimelover]

Well I haven't really wanted to get a real working mac computer for quite some time because even if I liked them more than PC's, I couldn't afford an office full of them.  Despite this fact I think I need to start getting into the MAC world a bit more.  It will definitely be a core2duo imac if I get one.  I want to be able to dual boot with Windows for sure.  I don't really like the mac OS very well and I want to be able to actually use the computer.  For $850 I can get a white Imac with a 2.16ghz Intel Core2Duo processor, 3gb DDR2 667mhz ram, and a 250gb hard drive.  It will be a HUGE 24" screen.  I won't buy one of those pieces of crap with little 17" screens.  It's worth a few hundred more to get a decent sized screen.  Since the smallest screen I work on now is a 19" and ALL my other monitors are 22" or larger, getting a 17" Imac would NOT be a good idea.  I'd go crazy with such a small screen.

I'm debating whether to get the white Imac or the aluminum series.  I like the aluminum series look A LOT more, but the computer would most likely go to mom once I'm done experimenting with it so I think I'd better go with the white one since she'd like that a lot more than the aluminum one.  On the other hand I don't really want to spend all this money on a stupid mac that won't really get me anywhere anyways.  Even running Windows I still couldn't really work with it and for that price I could get a really nice Core2Quad PC with 8gb of ram and a 24" monitor.  I don't know what to do.  I don't have the money to go blow on old macs to experiment with.  With a mac if I screw something up I just lost at least $500.  This is why I started with PC's.  I was able to get them for $5 apiece at garage sales and such.  Even 10 year old garbage macs are still like $75 and mac hardware changes too much to be able to learn from old stuff like that.

I don't know.  I'm debating getting a mac to experiment on, but I don't know if I actually will.  It's just a lot of money and I don't know that I'll get anything from it other than a little bit of fun messing around with something I don't have much experience with.

[Tyrannosaur]

macs are way too expensive for what you get. essentially you are buying a shiny computer with a different OS.

the mac OS is ok, but not something that i could live with on a day by day basis. its said to be alot more easier than a windows OS. that simply isnt the case. i find it incredibly hard to use; theres a reason Apple offers tons of training vids and stuff on it.

only get a mac if you will actually use what it can offer you. ie iLife stuff, no hassle with viruses etc. otherwise, its just a huge money sink that would be better put into a new windows PC.

also, did you know that Apple actually have it in their EULA that you are not allowed to install any mac OS onto a computer not made by Apple? yet they sell the OS as separate packages...

logic 1 - Apple 0

[Petrie.]

Mac -  you pay for the image and marketing (like their ipod crap)  You can buy others that do the same for much less.  Much much less if you dive into a linux distro.

[landbeforetimelover]

Geeze, for $850 I can get a brand new HP computer with a Corei7 processor and 4gb of ram (12gb max).  Screw a mac! :

[Petrie.]

My point exactly.  Same with luxury clothes...you pay for the name, yet they're still a pair of jeans in the end (or insert anything else in there).