Why should I switch?

Hi,

I'm a developer on PCs, and would like to start development for iPhone. I gather that I need a Mac to do that.

As far as I can tell, the cheapest option of getting a Mac is a Mac Mini, at about £650 here in the UK. Is this the cheapest option for a decent spec Mac?

At that price, I'd like to be able to use a Mac for other stuff too, to make it worth the investment.

I also have an iPhone 4 and iPad, so I figure they would sync better with a Mac than they do my PC (photo organisation, for example). I think I could also plug it into my TV and use it to watch downloaded movies through iTunes?

Other than those things, is there anything that Macs do better than PCs, to justify spending on a Mac? And is there anything that Macs just aren't as good at, as PCs?

Many thanks for any opinions, or pointers to online articles that can answer those questions for me...

JimR123 said:

As far as I can tell, the cheapest option of getting a Mac is a Mac Mini, at about £650 here in the UK. Is this the cheapest option for a decent spec Mac?

Click to expand...

You could purchase a used Macintosh as well.

- Nick

JimR123 said:

Hi,

I'm a developer on PCs, and would like to start development for iPhone. I gather that I need a Mac to do that.

As far as I can tell, the cheapest option of getting a Mac is a Mac Mini, at about £650 here in the UK. Is this the cheapest option for a decent spec Mac?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure why you'd need a *brand new* Mac for this, a recent one (refurbished or used) should do fine. You could save some money that way.

I also have an iPhone 4 and iPad, so I figure they would sync better with a Mac than they do my PC (photo organisation, for example). I think I could also plug it into my TV and use it to watch downloaded movies through iTunes?

Click to expand...

Yes.

Other than those things, is there anything that Macs do better than PCs, to justify spending on a Mac? And is there anything that Macs just aren't as good at, as PCs?

Click to expand...

Yes. Macs are better at:

1. Having an OS that makes sense.
2. Running without crashing.
3. Having higher-quality software.
4. Being elegant and pleasurable to use.
5. Typography and iconography.
6. The whole experience of using a computer.

Macs are worse at:

1. Games.
2. Breaking down.
3. Acquiring viruses.
4. Really boring "cubicle work" software.
5. Rewarding bad webpage coding.
6. Flash.

To put this another way, using a very tired old car analogy: a Ferrari is seen by SOME people as just another car. To some, its just a FANCIER, MORE EXPENSIVE car. But for those who take the time to understand it, its a work of art that's worth the money and effort.

Many thanks for all replies so far.

Thankfully, I have XBox360 and PS3 for playing games. Haven't played games on a computer for years.

With regards to buying a "recent" (as apposed to brand new) Mac, what kind of model should I be looking for?

I get the impression that there are fewer variations than with PCs, is this true?

Is refurbishing a popular thing with Macs?

Where's a good, reliable place to buy a refurbished/used Mac from?

I quite like the idea of the Mac Mini so far. Does the previous model (not 2010) still cut it, and if so, for how long?

Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (U.S.)

The macs available are the MacBook, MacBook Pro, Macbook Air, iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro

Apple - Mac

JimR123 said:

With regards to buying a "recent" (as apposed to brand new) Mac, what kind of model should I be looking for?

Click to expand...

Could still be a previous generation Mac-Mini.

- Nick

iZach said:

Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (U.S.)

The macs available are the MacBook, MacBook Pro, Macbook Air, iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro

Apple - Mac

Click to expand...

Cool. And if I bought a Mac from the US Apple website, would there be any issues with using it in the UK?

Presumably, the power plug will be US style for starters?

JimR123 said:

Cool. And if I bought a Mac from the US Apple website, would there be any issues with using it in the UK?

Click to expand...

If you're located in the UK...buy a refurbished Macintosh from the Apple UK Store.

Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (U.K.)

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

If you're located in the UK...buy a refurbished Macintosh from the Apple UK Store.

Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (U.K.)

- Nick

Click to expand...

They don't seem to have what I'm looking for (namely a cheaper entry to Macs).

The US store has a Mac Mini (old one) going for about £325, whereas UK store cheapest is a 21 inch iMac at £819.

chas_m said:

Yes. Macs are better at:

1. Having an OS that makes sense.
2. Running without crashing.
3. Having higher-quality software.
4. Being elegant and pleasurable to use.
5. Typography and iconography.
6. The whole experience of using a computer.

Macs are worse at:

1. Games.
2. Breaking down.
3. Acquiring viruses.
4. Really boring "cubicle work" software.
5. Rewarding bad webpage coding.
6. Flash.

To put this another way, using a very tired old car analogy: a Ferrari is seen by SOME people as just another car. To some, its just a FANCIER, MORE EXPENSIVE car. But for those who take the time to understand it, its a work of art that's worth the money and effort.

Click to expand...

Better at:
1. Opinion.
2. Opinion. I've honestly had more crashes on my MBP than on my self built desktop.
3. Opinion. Adobe 64 bit was originally released for Windows leaving Apple with just CS4 32 bit. Can you find a quality autocad program for OS X?
4. Opnion. I have one **** of a desktop. All black case with inside painted gloss red. Looks pretty slick to me. Other than me being too lazy to rout cables under the mobo so they're less visible, my opinion is it's elegant.
5. There we go, one that's legit.
6. Opinion. I use Windows a lot. Just as much as I do OS X since Win7 was released.

Worse at:
1. True, with the exception that Valve is actually doing something about that with Steam.
2. Opinion. I've had more problems with MBPs than with my Dell notebook or any of my PCs. My desktop is on about 24/7.
3. Somewhat factual. It depends on the user. Your average person that has no idea what they're doing is more likely to get a virus than some one that knows better about viewing porn, downloading strange software, and running programs that just pop up on your screen.
4. This one is just rediculous as using in an arguement about which system is better. So this is basically admitting that the only thing OS X is good at is "creative" software? Which isn't true, because not most programs of that nature are available on either system or have a competing software that is available on one and not the other.
5. ?
6. Flash seems to work as good on Win7 Google Chrome as it does on OS X Google Chrome for me.

My slightly dusty rig.

JimR123 said:

They don't seem to have what I'm looking for (namely a cheaper entry to Macs).

The US store has a Mac Mini (old one) going for about £325, whereas UK store cheapest is a 21 inch iMac at £819.

Click to expand...

They're updated pretty regularly. I was checking several times a week until they had the exact MBP that I wanted as a refurb.

Refurbs are probably the best way to go.

JimR123 said:

They don't seem to have what I'm looking for (namely a cheaper entry to Macs).

The US store has a Mac Mini (old one) going for about £325, whereas UK store cheapest is a 21 inch iMac at £819.

Click to expand...

The refurbished offerings at the Apple Store change daily...even by the hour sometimes. Refurbished Mac-Mini's don't show up too often...so you just got to keep checking a couple times each day until refurbished Mac-Mini's show up. Sometimes when refurbished Mac-Mini's show up...they only last an hour (limited stock).

Don't think buying a refurbished Mac-Mini from the U.S. Apple Store is going to be cheaper. You still have to pay all applicable "import" fees & taxes for the UK...including VAT!

- Nick

another reason, you get to hang out with all the cool people here on mac-forums :}

If you are anywhere near London you shouldn't have any issues finding a used mac in good condition for a decent price. Try looking at craigslist or local apple resellers.

I lived in the city for 2 years back in 2002-2004 and was astonished at the number of mac users, this was before the big switch campaign.

If you weren't so far away, I could ship you a G5 20in imac ....

roeiboot said:

another reason, you get to hang out with all the cool people here on mac-forums :}

Click to expand...

Wait, I'm cool now?