talkmagic.co.uk

yeah, go on then...i've been tempted by some form of mac for a while, i used to use them years ago when i was a forms designer...so anway...

luckily, at work, i get internet access, but i feel the need to finally buy one for home and potentially business use in the future...

my criteria is:
bit of graphics work
lots of writing
occasional surfing (though surprisingly, im not bothered by porn downloads and all that nonsense)
e-mailing
not worried about:
burning dvds
YouPube
and im not a fan of the i-pod

soooooo....all you mac friendly people...my questions are:

is the mini mac a good alternative?
if not, what mac should i start looking at?
pit-falls/traps with macs?
prices - trusted places to buy online?

my gut instinct is to buy a minimac, i've already got a lcd tv with a monitor port built in...and to save space for magic books, that would be an advantage too...

any takers?

is the mini mac a good alternative?
if not, what mac should i start looking at?
pit-falls/traps with macs?
prices - trusted places to buy online?

Well, after using Macs practically every day for the last 18 years for both work, and home, I would offer the following advice:

1. A Mac Mini is great. Plenty fast enough. But remember, it's not so upgradeable, and doesn't come with a keyboard/mouse

2. An alternative is the iMac. More pricey, and still not as heavily upgradeable.

3. Pit-falls: none. Macs pretty much do 230% of what PC's do straight out of the box. And the new Intel Macs (like the Mini) will happily run Windows XP—so anything you've got which needs a PC (spit) will run on the Mac.

4. Graphics work, writing, surfing, emailing, burning DVDs etc. are all Mac's forte. People who've used a PC actually can't believe they've heard so much bad press over Macs once they try them. I've converted more people to Macs than I care to mention!

So... to recap:
A Mac Mini is the dogs. It's more than capable, and if it's any indication, two guys who freelance for us use Mac Mini's as their workhorses doing graphics work.

The Mac is your friend... it will become part of your daily life.

For a more reasonable price try the refurbished macs availbale from apple uk....

They may be refurbished but they (aparently) get a better testing before they go out before the ones straight off the production line.

Andy

andycoates wrote:For a more reasonable price try the refurbished macs availbale from apple uk....

They may be refurbished but they (aparently) get a better testing before they go out before the ones straight off the production line.

Andy

Sorry, but I disagree.

We've bought refurbs before, and they're genrally ex-dem or lease, or repairs.

Much easier—and safer—to get a retail box. And always buy from Apple. They can take a little longer to ship than retailers, but it's nice to deal with the horses mouth. Plus, if you have an Apple Store nearby, go along, have a coffee, and let them wow you. It's a life experience—far detached from PC World

i've got limited space at the moment, and the mac mini just seemed to tick all the boxes from what i read...cheers senor seige..

macs are pretty, and that's basically sealing the deal...p.c.s are like disposable lighters in comparision to macs being like zippos from what i remember...they were a joy to use..

EDIT: there's an apple store up the road from me....i'll have a sniff round on friday...ta

You've had bad refurbs from apple? I work ith a guy who lives mac's and hes hand no bother?

I wouldnt get a refurb from a retailer other than apple though..

Andy

Not sure how much I can add as everything has been covered. Although I have used PC's all my working / studying life. But last year I moved job and they use Macs so I had to get used to them.

I wasn't looking forward to it at all, but I can that it was pretty easy to get used to them. After a few hours using them, things were great. I also find they are far more reliable and most things are a lot simpler. You don't get as many crashes and program problems with drivers etc. I use the minimac for CAD drawings and presentation drawings and handles all them well.

I can honestly say that I'd seriously consider getting a mac now instead of a PC. Only if I hadn't bought a laptop PC last year.

andycoates wrote:You've had bad refurbs from apple? I work ith a guy who lives mac's and hes hand no bother?

I wouldnt get a refurb from a retailer other than apple though..

Andy

Yup. At work, and at home.

I bought a Mac G5 and a laptop, both refurbs, for home. The laptop had a scratch on the screen and the power adaptor was faulty, and the G5 had a dent on the alu casing, plus a nasty rattle inside turned out to be ill-fitted memory, which in turn cause mobo problems.

I've known countless people who have had probs with refurbs. The old addage of 'buy cheap, buy twice' springs to mind.

For the price, it's MUCH better to get a brand spanking new one anyway.

abraxus wrote:occasional surfing (though surprisingly, im not bothered by porn downloads and all that nonsense)

I am surprised!

copyright wrote:

abraxus wrote:occasional surfing (though surprisingly, im not bothered by porn downloads and all that nonsense)

I am surprised!

well, since your site went down mate, all the others seem tame...

Nothing I could do, the RSPCA went to my hosts and they shut me down.

yeah, i recently went mac around November. i got my self a macbook and its so much better then my old laptop that crashed every 2 hours. the only little annoyance is when i want to play a game, i have to reboot my whole laptop and wait like 1 minute, a little frustrating at times. but i hear that mac will fix all that up when the new OS comes out

I've got access to Macs and PCs both. Macs: from the laptop (Macbook) to the G5; PCs: from laptops to Media Center Behemoths. Each one is good for different things and different reasons. Right now I' working from a PC.

I recommend starting with an iMac or a Macbook rather than a mini-Mac. If the lack of a mouse bothers you, you can add a mouse or better still, a roll ball device that links up via USB cable.

If you go to a mac store they have all the different macs to try out without the pressure sales people constantly asking 'can I help you?' , they just let you do what you like. You always see lots of people just checking their emails in there, its that relaxed.

I love my mac iBook!

Not to start an argument, but rather the add my own observations:

I run Mac and Windows PCs for my work, which is primarily video production, editing, DVD authoring and freelance writing. For me, the Mac is indispensible for one sole reason - DVD Studio Pro. There simply isn't another DVD authoring program to compare with it in its price range. For absolutely everything else, I use a Windows PC.

I don't like Final Cut Pro (simply a personal preference about the workflow and user interface), and my Windows systems always behave impeccably, so I've never had reason to 'switch'. On the other hand, my big desktop Mac (despite being immensely powerful) doesn't inspire me to work with it. I know I can get almost all of my work done in half the time on a Windows system.

And all claims of the superior stability of Macs always makesw me think of my years working for a leading magazine publisher, where the air was constantly being turned blue by designers whose Macs would crash on them whenever they were battling their most vicious deadlines. These were up-to-date systems, and regularly maintained, but the frequency of crashes was almost comical. I've known my own Macs to be temperamental b*ggers too.

Again, all this is not to stir a hornet's nest or to begin an argument over whether Macs are better than PCs. It's just to illustrate that the debate isn't really clear cut and that my experiences are very different to those described here.

Pete