Convince me fellas

Convince me fellas :: Good job, youve convinced me!

What you are currently reading comes from a potential switcher. I've been using Windows since 3.1, but now that I absolutely need to upgrade, I'm actually thinking of switching to Mac. Unfortunately, I'l stuck in the ole' "change is bad" philosphy, and I'm not 100% ready to commit. Thats where you guys come in, I really really want to buy a mac, but at the same time, I don't. You know? Now, I'm fully aware that this is Mac forums, and that the replies may be a little... biased, but thats good! I mean, be truthful, of course, but a little bias doesn't hurt.

Anyway, let me go into some details.

First off, I'm looking into that MacBook. Here are the things it absolutely positively needs to do:

• Work (this is obvious)

• I'm a student, so it needs to do studently things (like word processing, spreadsheets, etc.)

• I'm a freelance web designer, so I need to be able to design some webs. (I use Macromedia primarily).

• I'm a WoW addict (and I hear the newest patch makes it work on the Intel chips).

Here are some things that would be nice if it could do:

• Since I'm a web designer, I'd like to be able to install a web server enviroment to do full testing of my webs. I'm gonna keep my old tower up with a web server on it.

• I'm a musician, so I'd like to be able to record music bits

• I'd like to rock out with my 5.1 speaker system out. I understand that there's external sound processers available, so built it is not as important.

Here are some things I would NOT like it to do:

• Crash every 30 minutes

• Get a virus ever 30 minutes

• Ask me to update every 30 minutes

• Crash after doing said update every 30 minutes

Another thing that is pretty important to me is its functionality right out of the box. I don't want to turn it on and it say "Welcome! You have 1,209 updates available! Click DOWNLOAD to download now, and go take a vacation, becuase this could take WEEKS!" I mean I understand that not everythings up to date, but theres a difference between being FORCED to update to do anything, and being suggested to update.

I think the only real reason I have trouble switching is the change deal. But I don't think I do anything now that I couldn't do on a mac. So yeh, based on what I've posted, you guys need to help convince me to switch. Try to keep it as constructive as possible (I kinda don't wanna hear "liek ZOMG mac r t3h awesome!!11eleven").

Thanks for reading!! And look forward to your replies

[Edit]: Wow, thats a pretty evil looking smiley

dude... mac can do all that stuff you talking about.

You can get microsoft office for mac, you can get macromedia, mac is perfect for a musician, and yes wow works great on mac. I know this isn't very detailed but I've been switched for a year now almost and my mac does everything I need it to. I hardly use my PC expect maybe playing a game like Quake 4 but other then that macs are great. They are not that hard to get use to either. I'm sure some others on these forums will give you better detail then this but just wanted to put my 2 cents in.

I switched 2 weeks ago

I took my iMac 20" desktop out of the box, connected the power cord, turned it on and within 30 seconds it booted. I answered a few one-time startup questions and literally within 5 minutes i was on the computer looking at Apps.

2 days later, a friend at work gave me her Sony digital camara to play around with iPhoto with. i connected via USB and in seconds had her 76 photos loaded. Within 2 hours i created a slide show, sent this to iWeb and in about another hour created a webpage of the slide show. We viewed it the next day at work on the Windows PC's we use. She is now using one of the photos as her PC wallpaper.

Believe me, I didn't know what I was doing and was able to accomplish this in little or no time!

So far as music, you'll probably get into Garageband. I haven't really looked at that yet.

I didn't get a laptop (expensive!) , but I liked the fact of not having a bulky tower and wires. I've been using the Mac in my dinnette off the kitchen in my Condo. Several nights i have shut it down and retired to the bedroom with it (it only weighs 20lbs.) placed on the dresser top in front of the bed and we have watched movies on it. The 20" screen is unbelievable!

Coming from a recent switcher, do yourself the favor and take the plunge. I doubt that you'll regret it. I'm in pretty much the same boat that you are - webdesigner/student, plus I like graphics. The Mac lets you focus on your work/play by taking the focus off the system. First off, do yourself a favor and invest in a quality system. Web design and Office software doesn't change all that much, so chances are you'll have this system for years. If you need portability, I'd suggest going with a PowerBook. If you want power on a budget, get an iMac G5 or Intel Core Duo. If you have cash to spare, buy a Power Mac G5. And please, post any questions you have about hardware or upgrading. I'm coming from the Windows world and I know what you're feeling

Second, keep in mind that as a student, you can get hundreds of dollars off Apple stuff and the associated software. I just ordered a fully loaded 20" iMac Core Duo for $2100. That's with 2gb ram, 250gb hard drive (instead of the 500 gig drive, which takes nearly a month for shipment, plus it's nicer to have a simliar-sized backup drive - $300 for the 500gb drive, $150 for a 250gb backup drive), 256mb video card, USB modem, and AppleCare. I also added on iWork ($49), Office 2004 Student & Teacher edition ($150), and .Mac ($70). This will give me an incredibly fast computer that can handle just about anything I can throw at it, plus is future-proof with the Intel chip (I'd imagine Universal applications will run faster/better on it anyhow). The iMac also has an optical digital audio output jack/headphone jack combo (are you hooking it up to a receiver or to 5.1 speakers like the z-5500s?). It also has audio line input and a microphone built in.

You can get Lightwave, a 3D app, for $195. You can pick up the new Adobe Design bundle, which includes Flash 8, Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, InDesign CS, and Acrobat 7 for only $480 here. Don't forget, you can also get a discount on iPods (knocked the 1gb Nano from $149 to $129 for me). Journeyed.com and AcademicSuperstore.com are two great places to get nice discounts. If you hand-code your websites, be sure to check out BBEdit too. M-Audio has a great selection of external USB and Firewire audio input/output devices that you might be interested in.

The bottom line is, if you want something that just works, get a Mac. That's all there is to it.

I switched to the mac about a year ago after being a long time windows user (since 3.1). I was very nervous about doing the switch but since i have been using this Imac it has performed without fault and does everything that i want it to. I mainly use Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Word and Excel as my main applications as well as the stuff that comes with it (Ilife, Itunes and Imovie etc).
I wish i had moved from windows to the Mac sooner. I still have my windows XP laptop but my daughter uses it more than i do now.
My Imac is the one just before the Isight model, but if anyone is going to buy a mac then my tip would be get more ram.

Hope this helps
Regards
Thomas

Thanks for the replies!

I'm about 98% there, couple more things I forgot to mentioned before.

I am looking at the Macbook Pro. I needed the notebook and figured I would get on to also serve as a psudo desktop replacement. The Macbook has all that.

That in mind, say I do purchase it monday, and say it ships in 3 weeks, and arrives a week later. How will the application support be for it? The Intel chips are fairly new, and I'm sure not all the developers have converted yet, but will they still run? I mean big name software like Office Mac, macromedia, etc. This could be a deciding factor

Also, since I need the machine within the next.. month, how confident are you guys that the ship date posted on the store (3-4 weeks) is true and not just a placeholder? Y'all would have more inside gossip about that than I would

Well, while this may not be "convincing" you I would like to point out to my knowledge what you want to do (listed) the Mac is perfect for.


Why can I not convince you, well I have yet to recieve my first Mac. Though, I will share with you my only problem with switching to Mac. I've always been a gamer, and you said you were a WoW addict. Now, WoW (which I have but play on free servers) is available on the Mac. Though, first things first you're going to have to buy the Mac version of the game, I'm guessing you don't have the Mac version of the game nor do you have a Mac at this point in time from the contents of your post.

I too am a student, which I've always heard Macs are great for students but not for gamers. This happens to be true, in your case if you're only into WoW then you'll be fine. I LOVE games such as Battlefield 2, granted the previous BF games are on Mac, and the Sims 2 (which is also on Mac) and Unreal Tournament is just a MUST HAVE for me, I just play a lot of games. Which, brings problems when switching because I have to buy them all over again or in the case of BF2. It's not out yet, nore has any one said "yes we're making it for Mac". Which brings me further concerns when UT2007 comes out. It'll probably be like 2008 before I can play it on a Mac.


The rest, to my knowledge, a Mac is perfect for. I'm still in the "Testing" phases personally because I have ordered, yet not recieved, my first Mac but seriously can't wait for it to get here. An old friend once had a Mac and a PC laptop back when the iBook G4 laptops first came out. Man, past games he used the Mac for everything because it was easier and nicer than the PC. I even agreed with him, I've just always been... I'm a gamer so no Mac for me.


Due to major problems with my two PCs, one a laptop and one a desktop (from different companies), I have decided to jump over. I seriously don't have the time to baby a computer and it's rediculous how much money I spend to keep my computer running, but not protected, from viruses. They'll always find a way to get in but it's just the users job to clean them off before they do any major harm.


From all my research and questions I've asked I"m confident my Mac will run 3 years down the road just as good as it runs the day I get it. I wont have to worry about viruses/malware/spyware and I wont have to worry about defragmenting it weekly for optimum performance. After finding that the only thing I was sacrificing was my games I was still weary to switch over but my schools server is just a torture chamber for PCs. I doubt I'll ever be a 100% Mac user, well by choice (money), but my next PC is going to be for gaming and stay on my home network where I'm not hooked up to a wireless or groundline that is hardly protected from the outside and NOT protected from the inside.


Just my 2 cents on Mac computers. Also, I am a musician myself and can't wait to mess around with Garageband as on PC without paying you're stuck with Windows Recorder for a sound recorder.

// Edit to the post above

Mac OS X Tiger is said to have Rosetta built in to it which will convert, as it's said, the program to be able to work. It wont emulate it, but actually change it. You can find out all this on Apple's web site, I read like every single page they have over the MacBook Pro and OS X Tiger seeing that's what I ordered. Past that, it seems a lot of the higher end programs already have the Universal symbol on them and I believe they did list a few exceptions (wouldn't work) on the Apple web site under the Rosetta section.

On the shipping dates, no one can be for sure. I ordered mine Sunday Morning and mine is scheduled to ship the 28th of February and be at my house on the 7th of March. That's all I can really say...

PFerrara said:

What you are currently reading comes from a potential switcher. I've been using Windows since 3.1, but now that I absolutely need to upgrade, I'm actually thinking of switching to Mac. Unfortunately, I'l stuck in the ole' "change is bad" philosphy, and I'm not 100% ready to commit. Thats where you guys come in, I really really want to buy a mac, but at the same time, I don't. You know? Now, I'm fully aware that this is Mac forums, and that the replies may be a little... biased, but thats good! I mean, be truthful, of course, but a little bias doesn't hurt.

Anyway, let me go into some details.

First off, I'm looking into that MacBook. Here are the things it absolutely positively needs to do:

• Work (this is obvious)

• I'm a student, so it needs to do studently things (like word processing, spreadsheets, etc.)

• I'm a freelance web designer, so I need to be able to design some webs. (I use Macromedia primarily).

• I'm a WoW addict (and I hear the newest patch makes it work on the Intel chips).

Here are some things that would be nice if it could do:

• Since I'm a web designer, I'd like to be able to install a web server enviroment to do full testing of my webs. I'm gonna keep my old tower up with a web server on it.

• I'm a musician, so I'd like to be able to record music bits

• I'd like to rock out with my 5.1 speaker system out. I understand that there's external sound processers available, so built it is not as important.

Here are some things I would NOT like it to do:

• Crash every 30 minutes

• Get a virus ever 30 minutes

• Ask me to update every 30 minutes

• Crash after doing said update every 30 minutes

Another thing that is pretty important to me is its functionality right out of the box. I don't want to turn it on and it say "Welcome! You have 1,209 updates available! Click DOWNLOAD to download now, and go take a vacation, becuase this could take WEEKS!" I mean I understand that not everythings up to date, but theres a difference between being FORCED to update to do anything, and being suggested to update.

I think the only real reason I have trouble switching is the change deal. But I don't think I do anything now that I couldn't do on a mac. So yeh, based on what I've posted, you guys need to help convince me to switch. Try to keep it as constructive as possible (I kinda don't wanna hear "liek ZOMG mac r t3h awesome!!11eleven").

Click to expand...

Cool. The MacBook Pro will:
WORK. From what we can tell it'll be quite a step up from the G4 line. As far as word processing/spreadsheets, I believe iWorks does that. But for ease and assured compatibility, just get Office for Mac. Works virtually the same, maybe better.
As far as web design... using Dreamweaver (and assuming Flash, since Adobe now owns them)? The Rosetta emulator should work flawlessly but Adobe has since said that they will not release a native (Universal) version until 2007. The lag in performance is seen in the iMacs in Photoshop or other intensive programs. DW should be fine. That's is simply an option to be weighed when people start getting the MacBooks
Recording should be great with Garageband and cutting audio clips is a snap, even in Quicktime. As for 5.1 sound, there is digital output in the Macbook, so straight digital to your receiver/surround system.

As far as crashing OSX has been the most stable OS I've encountered. Apps may crash from time to time, but I've run my system nonstop for weeks - on restarting to update something. Updates come around every quarter, and take several minutes to a half hour, depending on your internet. If you buy the MacBook, here's the scenario:
Open box.
Read manual. (or not, if you're male.
Plug it in and press the power button.
It asks: English? Location? Name? Wanna .Mac account? Register online? Ok - Go!
You're done! Start right off learning where everything is and set your browser to Mac-Forums.com for everything you need to know. I bid you good day.

Here are some things I would NOT like it to do:
Crash every 30 minutes
Get a virus ever 30 minutes
Ask me to update every 30 minutes
Crash after doing said update every 30 minutes

Click to expand...

You're on the right track looking into a Mac. My Mac automatically brings up System Updates ONLY once a week, and that is because I set it to do so. You can manually update.

As for viruses, with a Mac, just download Clam XAV.

Oh, and I've had my Mac for nearly 6 months. You want to know something? I turned it off once. Because I had an issue with my RAM and had to take it to the Apple Store to get it fixed.

Thanks for the quick replies

I'm gonna give it until sunday night to think it over and then make my final decision. I'll let yall know what happens

you know you want it so stop putting it off and order it now!
Sooner you order sooner it arrives

I was in the local Apple Store yesterday and they said they would have the MacBook Pros on display next week...pretty cool! My one and only gripe about the current crop of PowerBooks is the horribly dim screens. I was estatic to hear that the new MacBook Pros would be as bright as the Cinema displays; I just hope they release a 12" or 13.3" version of it as well, although I'll probably end up getting the MacBook Pro if they don't. My current PC laptop is a 15.4" widescreen but it weighs 7.5 pounds, so the 2 pound loss on the Apple version will be highly appreciated. Now I just have to ebay the rest of my PC stuff lol...

The deeds been done! I ordered the Macbook not more than 10 minutes ago, and now I feel all tingly. Is this normal?

Thanks again for the replies, I'll most likely be back in the next couple weeks when it arrives, see yall then!

[Edit]: Gah, estimated ship on Mar 15, can I wait a month? we'll find out!

You made the right choice.

You won't regret it. I replaced my XP laptop with a 12" Powerbook a month ago. It's smaller, lighter and wonderful to use in comparison. I've only turned it off once.

It just works. Networked into my 4 machine system and the router with almost no questions asked and it just works.

I had to use it today to transfer some stuff from an old G3 running OS8.6. I'd never laid eyes on a Mac that old and it just did that as well.

I've still got 2 XP boxes but I'm using the Mac more and more - even at 12"

VERY wrong about WoW, or any blizzard game for that matter. All blizzard games can be installed on a mac or PC with the same cd (well WoW and WC3 work this way atleast from personal experience.)