06-18-2005, 08:36 AM

I anticipate ordering a Mac in a few days, but I am not exactly sure which one to get. I have a 4 year old pc which I have finally had enough with.
I only get on the computer maybe once a week, but that may be due to frustration with it. I surf the web, pay bills, buy things, make photo and music cds, and make cards. No email, for which I use webtv on which I am posting this now, so I have had no spam on my computer for 4 years and I can easily surf the web, check email, and post on message boards.

Knowing this, a Mac mini would adquately serve my purpose base on what I do now. But what I do now has been limited by my pc experiences. I do have a set top dvd recorder, so I might like to delve into that on the computer. There seem to be points where a mini with lots of features begins to converge on the price of a low end eMac and the same with eMac to iMac. I want something that will be good for many years and not be at the point in the first year where I wished I had spent a few hundred bucks more to get something better. The mini is nice, but space is no issue for me.

I have read many posts here and have learned much about ram and whatnot. I stayed up way longer on Friday than I had intended. No matter what I choose I am looking forward to my Mac.

TIA for any suggestions.

06-19-2005, 12:40 PM

If you decide to go w/ a iMac, you will be very happy with your purchase. The iMac will surely last you many years to come. A mini, however, might get you a good 2/3 years, whereas the iMac should provide 3/4 years of solid use. I would suggest upping the RAM to 1gb, but other then that, you should be set to go.

06-19-2005, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by djlee12

If you decide to go w/ a iMac, you will be very happy with your purchase. The iMac will surely last you many years to come. A mini, however, might get you a good 2/3 years, whereas the iMac should provide 3/4 years of solid use. I would suggest upping the RAM to 1gb, but other then that, you should be set to go.

I talked with a friend in another state who is a power Mac user and a graphic artist (he says he has 6gb of ram) and that was pretty much his advice also. I am going to get a 20" iMac G5.
I figured I might as well spend as much as I did on my pile of crap pc system that I bought 4 years ago. I had read about the ram, so I will start off with 1 gb. I should have it by next weekend.

06-19-2005, 12:57 PM

congrats on your new purchase!

06-20-2005, 10:50 AM

Congrats on your new purchase

06-20-2005, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by elocs

I talked with a friend in another state who is a power Mac user and a graphic artist (he says he has 6gb of ram) and that was pretty much his advice also. I am going to get a 20" iMac G5.
I figured I might as well spend as much as I did on my pile of crap pc system that I bought 4 years ago. I had read about the ram, so I will start off with 1 gb. I should have it by next weekend.

Good choice. I have the 17" model and I absolutely love it. The 1 gig of ram is also a good decision and you will like the iMovie/iDVD creation applications. Congrats.

06-20-2005, 12:21 PM

You'll love that 20".... Great purchase! And like your friend and djlee12 said make sure at least a Gig of RAM in that baby.

06-20-2005, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by sarahsboy18

You'll love that 20".... Great purchase! And like your friend and djlee12 said make sure at least a Gig of RAM in that baby.

I cancelled my order tonight after getting an email from the Apple Store that there was a problam with my bank. The problem is that I was approved online for 90 days same as cash using a link that the Apple Store provided and that is the first and last thing I will have to do with that bank. The irony is that after I made my order I got my pc working again that had been on the fritz for 10 days. So maybe it is a sign.
I had been fully prepared to use my own credit card that would have went right through.

I fully intend to get this system in a couple of months. I do have a question. Is there any advantage to going through a local store that deals only with Macs? There is one in my city and in hind sight I am thinking that it might be better to deal with people I can see face to face.

06-20-2005, 07:35 PM

as for getting a deal i doubt it.. the only thing that is better to go to the "brick" store is u do not have to wait for it to come in ( in most caes)

06-20-2005, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by xthisisRomancex

as for getting a deal i doubt it.. the only thing that is better to go to the "brick" store is u do not have to wait for it to come in ( in most caes)

I didn't see any real deals online for the iMac that I had ordered. There was probably no more than $10 difference between the best known online stores. I just thought that next time I might like to give the business to the one and only place in my city that deals with Mac and only Mac, as long as there is not a big difference in price.