To Switch or Not To Switch???

[fat turbos]

Looking at Apples newest addition to mac family, Finally something affordable. The Mac Mini, I have a PC right with the following specs:Athlon XP 2.0Ghz, 512MB PC-133, (2) 40GB Hard Drives and AIW Pro 128 with 32MB of Memory. Nothing really impressive. However I don't use my computer for much. I use AIM and MSN, I already have an iPod and I use iTunes. I use limewire for file sharing, I check my email using Microsoft Outlook and burn music CD's and very rarely use my DVD Drive. I've already gone over switching, I would use iPhoto for my digital camera, which is better than this kodak provided crap, continue using itunes, and use Apple's "Mail" Program for my email. and just AIM for mac and the same with MSN, not too bad, I wouldnt mind, and im getting sick of windows GUI and I want something different. my concern isnt price because I could sell my PC for around 200 Dollars. and I could get the rest easily, the only thing thats really concerned about is, I am leaving on a church mission soon enough here, and I will be gone for two years. Now, I know my PC would be fast enough to run the latest windows release when I got back, but I'm not sure if my mac mini would still be upto running the latest Mac OS X release? I mean should I wait till I get back to buy a mac to play with so it can run apple's latest O/S, or would the 1.25GHZ mac mini be up to the challenge?? let me know! thanks!

 

[Aptmunich]

Well in terms of longevity, mac's actually seem to fair better than pc's IMO.

You'll see people with original iMac's still using their systems with the current OS X version without much of a problem, not many windows boxes from then are up to running XP.

But if you're going away, why not get an iBook instead and enjoy it on your mission?
If that's not an option, I'd wait until you get back in 2 years to really have the most of your purchase...

 

[Desolate One]

Use iChat instead of AIM. The interface is much cleaner then AIM.

Your avitar looks like a 02/03 WRX. Are ya in the market for a UTEC?

Oh yah, welcome to the forums.

 

[ksun]

I guess if you were looking for people to talk you out of it, you came to the wrong place. Make your life easier, SWITCH.

 

[rman]

Not knowing where are going. Makes it a little harder on suggestions. I would do what Aptmunich suggested. That is if you have access to electricity on your journey.

 

[fat turbos]

yeah, im not sure where I'm headed yet, I may just wait till I get back to invest in a mac, but I think If I did get a mac mini right now, I would probably get the 1.25GHz model and add the 80GB HD and for $214 from price watch they have a 1Gb Dimm of Kingston DDR memory I belive its PC-2700, and kingston is good stuff, and should have no trouble working in a mac, possibly... and my avatar, is actually a Dodge SRT-4 with eyelids I love those cars.... much faster than the EVO or WRX lol

 

[wvmac]

Switch!

 

[soulreaver99]

Use Adium instead of iChat. It has AIM, MSN, ICQ, YAHOO combined and the interface is the bast I've ever seen. 10 times better than the PC eqivalent, Trillian.

If you can afford it, go for the Mac Mini but keep your PC for games. Also get a KVM switch so you can switch back and forth between your Mac and PC and use the same monitor, keyboard and mouse.

 

[mynameis]

Why not both?

 

[fat turbos]

well I probably wouldnt mind using iChat, but does iChat support all direct image connect and so on???

 

[alejandrico]

If you buy the mini after you come back, probably you'll get also the next OS revision, I would suggest to wait, it is scheduled to be out in the next 5 months timefrime

 

[Desolate One]

Where I live I wouldn't be caught dead w/o AWD.... especially w/ all the snow we've been getting this weekend.

Oh yah, switch!

 

[mangoSharingan]

fat_turbos: Like someone said, why not both? Considering the Mac Mini's so cheap at the mo. Then later on, if you really would like to completely switch to the Mac, then you can get a more powerful system (maybe G5?) to last longer and allow you to do anything you need. I got an iBook a month ago because it was cheap and also allowed me to try out the latest Mac systems. Now only a month later, I'm pretty sure I will never buy a Windows PC again!

soulreaver99: nice to know that there's a Naruto fan here too!