The Value of iLife and iWork

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I am trying to pursuade someone at work to switch. I am almost there the question of cost keeps rearing its ugly head.

I know macs are great value but need some cost comparisons to make the case. The Question is this:

Apple products come with iLife and iWork ($79). I haven't bought a typical budget PC laptop so have no idea what they come with.

So - in order to get the functions of iDVD, iMovie, Garageband and all the other stuff macs can do, how much extra would I have to spend on that Budget Toshiba PC.

Please list the alternatives to sat, Garageband with a price (lets stick to US dollars)


Thanks
 
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This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't want to try to convince someone to "switch". If what they have been using for works for them, then they should continue to use that, whether it's Windows/Linux/OS X or whatever. But good luck. :)
 
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I have Microsoft Office for Mac installed in my system, but hardly ever used it. The only software being Word. I use Mail, iCal, iPhoto, and the rest of the software that already comes bundle with iLife when I bought my iMac. I think most PC also come bundle with a form of DVD player and the such, but you have to install them and update them. The software that come with the Mac are pretty much fully integrated and ready to go.
 
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This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't want to try to convince someone to "switch". If what they have been using for works for them, then they should continue to use that, whether it's Windows/Linux/OS X or whatever. But good luck. :)

I am not trying to convince her, she approached me after already being 50:50 in favour of the mac, I am just pointing out what advantages she will have over her old XP laptop

I have already done some research:

OSX PC Price

Imovie / iDVD Adobe Premiere Elements $100

Garageband Cakewalk Music Studio $79

iPhoto Photoshop elements $49

iweb ?????
 
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I am not trying to convince her, she approached me after already being 50:50 in favour of the mac, I am just pointing out what advantages she will have over her old XP laptop

I have already done some research:

OSX PC Price

Imovie / iDVD Adobe Premiere Elements $100

Garageband Cakewalk Music Studio $79

iPhoto Photoshop elements $49

iweb ?????

Fair enough, but you said you were trying to pursuade said person to switch. :p

Remember, if she buys a Mac, iLife (iPhoto/iWeb/Garage Band/iMovie etc.) will already be included with it. :)
 
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apart from iWork is there anything else the mac does for free that you have to buy software to get XP to do it - does the PC have anything like keychain access built in
 
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Has your friend used a Mac? That generally works to sway those still on the fence. Show her the various apps and just how "pretty" Macs are. Remember, cost may not matter as much if the machine offers something more compelling. Once she sees how easy Macs are to use and what sort of things she can do out of the box compared to a PC, along with the time saved from the lower downtime, she just may convince herself.
 
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She's seen our mac pros at work and likes them

Anyhow, here are my findings so far. On the mac she pays $70 after the iWork trial expires. For windows she will save 300-400 (assuming she doesn't need, say, garageband)

softwarevaluebv1.png


What would be a no brainier web editor for PC (she knows nothing about html - but would like to do some personal web stuff)
 
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You can't get an iLife equivalent for Windows. Sure you may get individual apps that are capable of some of the stuff, but the integration that goes into OS X cannot be found in a Windows system (not Linux for that matter).

However, don't force someone to switch, it will bite you in the rear end later on. Every little fault of OS X will be your fault. If someone is totally bent on Windows, let them have their way.
 
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iWork doesnt come with Apple computers...at least it didnt with my iMac I bought a few weeks ago. Well, a "trial" did, but you still have to buy it

*edit* Forget what I said, I didnt notice you added the "after trial" part in the last post, lol
 
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I was just thinking. Wouldn't it make more sense to get her Office instead of iWork? If she still needs convincing, I'm guessing having Office available would make her feel more at ease.
 
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You can't get an iLife equivalent for Windows. Sure you may get individual apps that are capable of some of the stuff, but the integration that goes into OS X cannot be found in a Windows system (not Linux for that matter).

However, don't force someone to switch, it will bite you in the rear end later on. Every little fault of OS X will be your fault. If someone is **** bent on Windows, let them have their way.

as I said, I am not forcing anybody to switch, she approached me, I just needed a bit of info to show how you pay more for a mac, but actually save more in the long run. She is pretty much won over - just needs to understand that a cheaper PC is not really cheaper after all.

She really likes the look of our macs and I am very certain that, after walking in to our department, she is sold on the mac thing. All she wanted is a few assurances that she can do all she wants on a mac.

We told her she can have office, but she seems more interested in the whole photo, movies and web pages idea. She will probably buy office, but likes the whole macs are good at multi media thing
 
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Well I had posted that much in advance. For some reason it didn't get posted and later on after all those posts suddenly it went through :)
 
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I'm an ex pc user and i can't stand word,excel etc.
They just look wrong on the mac.
Don't get me wrong i'm a POWER user at work using pivot tables, macros etc.
But on my mac they just look and feel wrong so I stopped using the trial version and uninstalled it. Much happier with Neoofice and iWork.
 
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as I said, I am not forcing anybody to switch, she approached me, I just needed a bit of info to show how you pay more for a mac, but actually save more in the long run. She is pretty much won over - just needs to understand that a cheaper PC is not really cheaper after all.

She really likes the look of our macs and I am very certain that, after walking in to our department, she is sold on the mac thing. All she wanted is a few assurances that she can do all she wants on a mac.

We told her she can have office, but she seems more interested in the whole photo, movies and web pages idea. She will probably buy office, but likes the whole macs are good at multi media thing

On top of showing her the value of the included iLife suite, you should also point out that she'll be saving time and money when it comes to things like antivirus and scanning for spyware/adware. Also note that she'll spend more time using her machine rather than taking care of it. So on top of the $50 or so per year she'll be saving in an AV program, she'll be saving lots of time, and we all know that time=money.

Also, she can most definitely have Office and still enjoy the multimedia aspects of Macs. Her new Mac will come standard with iLife, which as you know comes with iPhoto, iMovie, etc, and trials for both iWork and Office. I would suggest you let her check out the trials before getting her to buy one or the other. Most likely, she'll want to stick with Office just to reduce any potential compatibility issues.

I'm an ex pc user and i can't stand word,excel etc.
They just look wrong on the mac.
Don't get me wrong i'm a POWER user at work using pivot tables, macros etc.
But on my mac they just look and feel wrong so I stopped using the trial version and uninstalled it. Much happier with Neoofice and iWork.

I'll agree that Office 2004 doesn't look that great. However, you should check out Office 2008, it is quite aesthetically pleasing.
 
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iPhoto is definitely not comparable to Photoshop Elements ... but PSE 6 for macs will be out at the end of March. I think the upgrade is $69.
 

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