Some background on me: I've been working in the computer industry as a Sys Admin (Windows and Linux) for about 5 years now. I've always ran either Linux or Windows on my PC because I'm a geek and have always like the idea of building my PC instead of buying one pre-built.
My first Apple product was the iPhone. I was immediately amazed with the device. Not only did it "just work" but it worked well. It felt good in my hand. After suffering for years under the Microsoft hegemony of Windows Mobile I felt liberated! I wondered, are ALL Apple products this good...
There was a time when I had never even touched a Mac computer. After success with my iPhone and iPod I began to ask myself why I was so hostile to the idea of say an iMac or a Mac Mini or MacBook Pro. The answer I came up with is that a computer is a computer! Once I figured this out I decided to give an honest look at a Mac.
So now I know I want a Mac and that I want to totally move away from Windows all together.
Anyway, I'll try to wrap up this post now because it's grown too long I just wanted to share my story with you guys and ask some questions that are below.
Which Mac will be best for me? I'm in need of a laptop (but am not opposed to starting with a desktop) so I will probably start there, I'm just not sure how much more I'll need to save to get me there (I'm not opposed to buying refurbs from Apple if I get there sooner). I surf the internet, do some website design (dreamweaver for now, but hopefully Coda?), photo editing (photoshop), I watch a lot of movies and TV shows, listen to a lot of music and I want to start editing movies for upload to YouTube. I do play some games, but not very often. Any recommendations are welcome.
For those of you that do web editing, how does Coda compare to say dreamweaver?
The only game I really play on a regular basis is Everquest 2. I don't need a super powered computer for gaming, but whatever I buy needs to be able to run this game at a respectable level. Can the lower end (non dedicated video card) Mac's run this game (obviously under Windows)?
Part of the reason I can't stand using Windows is the stupid stuff they do. For example, there is no Exchange support in Windows 7 but there is Exchange support in OS X! How dumb!! I'm used to using Outlook for Exchange, but in keeping with the idea of getting rid of MS how does Apple Mail compare?
Right now I have a 2TB server with all my media on it. I would like to take the hard drives out of my server and put them in an external raid enclosure that is compatible with a Mac - any suggestions?
I currently stream all my movies and video's to my Xbox using Tversity. I want to either save up and get an Apple TV to hack or replace Tversity, what are the Apple alternatives to Tversity?
Any other comments or suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance guys!
My first Apple product was the iPhone. I was immediately amazed with the device. Not only did it "just work" but it worked well. It felt good in my hand. After suffering for years under the Microsoft hegemony of Windows Mobile I felt liberated! I wondered, are ALL Apple products this good...
There was a time when I had never even touched a Mac computer. After success with my iPhone and iPod I began to ask myself why I was so hostile to the idea of say an iMac or a Mac Mini or MacBook Pro. The answer I came up with is that a computer is a computer! Once I figured this out I decided to give an honest look at a Mac.
So now I know I want a Mac and that I want to totally move away from Windows all together.
Anyway, I'll try to wrap up this post now because it's grown too long I just wanted to share my story with you guys and ask some questions that are below.
Which Mac will be best for me? I'm in need of a laptop (but am not opposed to starting with a desktop) so I will probably start there, I'm just not sure how much more I'll need to save to get me there (I'm not opposed to buying refurbs from Apple if I get there sooner). I surf the internet, do some website design (dreamweaver for now, but hopefully Coda?), photo editing (photoshop), I watch a lot of movies and TV shows, listen to a lot of music and I want to start editing movies for upload to YouTube. I do play some games, but not very often. Any recommendations are welcome.
For those of you that do web editing, how does Coda compare to say dreamweaver?
The only game I really play on a regular basis is Everquest 2. I don't need a super powered computer for gaming, but whatever I buy needs to be able to run this game at a respectable level. Can the lower end (non dedicated video card) Mac's run this game (obviously under Windows)?
Part of the reason I can't stand using Windows is the stupid stuff they do. For example, there is no Exchange support in Windows 7 but there is Exchange support in OS X! How dumb!! I'm used to using Outlook for Exchange, but in keeping with the idea of getting rid of MS how does Apple Mail compare?
Right now I have a 2TB server with all my media on it. I would like to take the hard drives out of my server and put them in an external raid enclosure that is compatible with a Mac - any suggestions?
I currently stream all my movies and video's to my Xbox using Tversity. I want to either save up and get an Apple TV to hack or replace Tversity, what are the Apple alternatives to Tversity?
Any other comments or suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance guys!