OT= NEW MAC!!!

[BBISHOPPCM]

Well, I've gone and ordered my very first new macintosh! I've owned old clunkers over the years (I'm an Apple technician, so I have quite a few vintage machines kicking around! I've never actually owned a new one myself) I bought a 20" 2.4 GHz iMac, and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. Any other Mac users here?

[Great White Versa]

I've had a series of apple laptops since '02 when I started doing tech support and realized how much I liked the OS. I have a macBook now that I bought when I gave my last iBook to my little sister.

I really like the new iMacs and if I hadn't just recently built a PC for myself would probably buy one of those for my media storage/viewing.

My mom, and one brother (out of 8) are the only members of my family that don't have at least one mac. My little brother was a hold-out till he bought his car and put a mini in it. I was going to do that with my V but want more of an integrated/permanent system.

Enjoy the new toy.

[BBISHOPPCM]

I never used one as a primary machine, even my work-supplied iBook usually sits in the bag. Right now, I'm surrounded by about six or seven macs (in my bedroom), the newest one is a TiBook G4 that I use as a cutting board. Seriously though, I love Apple's way of keeping everything simple enough to work, thus promoting productivity and ease of use.

[MinisterofDOOM]

(I'm an Apple technician, so I have quite a few vintage machines kicking around! I've never actually owned a new one myself)

I've owned a few Apple][es and -cs. A couple of them were seriously upgraded...tons of RAM, the matching power unit, twin 5.25 drives... They were really fun machines. I miss Spy vs Spy.

Unfortunately that was all years ago when I was in high school and the mom didn't like all the ancient computers I had decorating the basement.Had to throw them out.

Only other Mac I've owned was a 1st gen iMac. That thing was one serious POS.

[corpsecorps]

24" imac & 12" macbook.Have not had a personal PC since my windows 95 laptop!

I also had the first Mac! cool.

[Vahagn23]

meh not an apple fan, though I build my own computers they all are windows, bought a Dell XPS1530M laptop, upgraded ram to 4 gigs with third party ram cost me 60$$$ and they were charging me 500$ for the same upgrade, I thought I made a mistake buying DELL but its good so far.

[frankoV]

Just had to replace my office notebook . . . tried for a MacBook but was told "the budget doesn't allow it [very small outfit!] and in fact almost had to beg for anything . . . even though my notebook had lasted 7 years and was dead dead dead . . . they said "we'll earmark a couple of hundred a year and you can get what you want when there's enough". So I gave them the notebook I had and invited them to work on it (hard to do when the battery pack is dead and the A/C adapter doesn't work).

So I've got a Dell. Happy with it (the last one did last 7 years!) . . . and managed to avoid Vista!!!

[insert "green with envy" smilie here]

[BBISHOPPCM]

I've given up on PCs, too many problems. I fix PCs all day, I don't want to come home to a dead PC, you know? the main problem is most PC manufacturers (like Dull) are using nothing but the cheapest components just to kick machines out the door. Apple has a bit more at stake, so they design their own motherboards, housings, and operating systems to work in harmony. Yes, Apple has made mistakes, and is by no means perfect; but they are the lesser of the two evils. Vista was the final nail in the coffin for me. I know some systems can be purchased with XP, but I don't want to buy an older operating system; I already have XP, I want something different.

[corpsecorps]

Have you ever opened a G5 or newer Mac - Very Cool - No wires inside! all direct connect. WOW space age!

[scooterbob]

Looked at them yesterday as a matter of fact. I've decided to get the new Macbook. I like the option of being able to run Apples' OS or boot into Windows XP/Vista whenever I need or want it. Both operating systems on the same unit is a big plus in my book. Not possible on a PC, that I know of.

[Great White Versa]

Not possible on a PC, that I know of.

There are a few PCs that can support slightly modified versions of OS X. If you are interested, look here http://www.osx86project.org/ When I built my PC I tried to get OS X to run on it, but unfortunately my board is not one of the ones that are supported. I should have looked at the list before buying, haha. Oh well.

[CopyChief]

Longtime Mac user here, since the days of the SE. Right now, I've got a new 20" iMac (beautiful) and an aging 15" Titanium PowerBook, the precursor to the Aluminum models, themselves the precursor to the MacBook Pro. I've supported both Macs and Windows machines in a mixed-network environment, and always found Macs (or maybe Mac users?) to be a little more self-sufficient. The complexity of Windows is both a blessing and a curse: you've got a little more control but it's easier for the average Joe to get himself in a lot of trouble.

[matttail]

There are a few PCs that can support slightly modified versions of OS X. If you are interested, look here http://www.osx86project.org/ When I built my PC I tried to get OS X to run on it, but unfortunately my board is not one of the ones that are supported. I should have looked at the list before buying, haha. Oh well.

You can of course ditch windows and mac and go with Linux. Besides mac is now based off of Linux. Check out Ubuntu for a good place to start.

[frankoV]

sigh . . .

[KimberKenobi]

yay! I bought my Intel iMac last year with my tax return (17" only)...

I was very happy with my 1st GEN iMac (I upgraded it myself) and it worked just as I expected it to until I finally sent it in to be recycled... I now have a tangerine iMac for my photoshop... which I haven't setup since the move so it'll stay packed away until the next move (March 7th) and then I'll either bother with it, or pay for ArtRage 2.5 and move on with life until I can shell out the $$ for the newest edition of photoshop.

[Diznum]

I do heavy end Photo re-touching and Illustration (3D-2D) I still have my 9600! Right now I have G5 tower with the 30" display, and I just got a little black Mac-book and I purchased for my older boy a new i-mac 24", He loves it, My younger boy inherited a G4 tower with the first series Cinema display 17"from his older brother, and we still have a first gen i-mac DV, it's a good little unit just needs ram.

[CodeRed]

Mac sucks. Linux pwnz!

[Vahagn23]

MEH Linux blows MICROSOFT FTW

Mac sucks. Linux pwnz!

[themanfromvlad]

Apple fanatic here, ever since switching three years ago I've been kicking myself... for not doing it sooner!

I've got my unlocked iPhone next to me (just virginized, upgraded to 1.1.3 and re-unlocked tonight) and my Apple TV has been a great purchase. Take 2 is awesome.

And in my Versa, my Pioneer AVIC-D3 double-din GPS unit has full iPod connectivity, so my old 3G iPod sits in the glove compartment with all my music on it. I navigate through it via touchscreen.

I never say never... but Microsoft will have to change a lot if they ever want me to consider Winblows again.

[BBISHOPPCM]

Yes, I recently did some work to a G5, and I might say, Apple realy outdid themselves in the design and overall quality of that system. The Intel MacPros took it one step further by eliminating the two awkward HDD bays and replacing them with four SATA drive caddies located just below the top-third of the chassis. This design is similar to the X-Serv. I still have a soft-spot for the old LC/II/III chassis; 100% tool-less chassis, sleek design, and nice component layout.

[bdu]

Mac sucks. Linux pwnz!

Funny you should say that, because one of the reasons I'm so fond of my macs is the fact that under the hood I have a full *nix-compatible shell that I can (and often do) use.

[BBISHOPPCM]

I bought a copy of Photoshop Essentials, anyone use this? I've been using Photoshop 6.0 for PC since, oh, 2001? I can't afford the real thing.

[Frahman]

Have both. Wife has a mac, i have a work laptop. Invariably, like now, she ends up kicking me off her mac so she can use it.

Find macs much better to use for day to day stuff. Windows is what makes me my living, but the mac ALWAYS works. No messing around in the registry to fix some new issue.

It works well every day, but if you want to mod it significantly, options are limited. Sound familiar?

[BBISHOPPCM]

Yes, I make my living repairing Windows machines.

[KimberKenobi]

It works well every day, but if you want to mod it significantly, options are limited. Sound familiar?

ROFL! You wouldn't be referring to our dear V's ... would ya?

[MinisterofDOOM]

I was very happy with my 1st GEN iMac (I upgraded it myself) and it worked just as I expected it to until I finally sent it in to be recycled...

Mine could very well have been defective. I hope it was. There's NO excuse for taking several minutes to boot the OS after being turned on.

That little machine was fun to play around with, but it didn't do anything that the half dozen or so older Windows 3.1, 95, and 98 machines I had at the same time couldn't do. And even those (running on hardware as old as 80286 chips) would boot faster than the little iMac. And I could get inside them in 5 seconds rather than a few minutes.The voice dealie was neat, though. It was always therapeutic to hear the computer cursing along with me when I did something wrong.

Newer Macs I've used have left a much more pleasant taste in my mouth. And now that the OS has seen some big improvements on the back end and the hardware has joined us in the 21st century, they're a bit more "doable" for me.

But I'm still not about to spend Apple prices when I can build myself a high-end PC for around $1000.

[BBISHOPPCM]

The older iMacs (CRT display, fruit-flavored) were actually built as entry-level macs, designed for home and school use; they were also built on the older G3 processor and running on an operating system that hadn't really changed a whole lot since 1984. I've owned a few of them, never liked em. The new iMac is nothing like the original; I test drove a few before I bought one. I actually wanted one of the previous generation iMacs, but they were discontinued in favor of this aluminum and glass version, which requires a $100 toolkit just to disassemble it. Thank god I work for a school; I already have one of these kits!

[imac_89]

Macs are awesome. I will not say anything more at the risk of debate. My second hand Powermac G4 (400MHz) runs tiger extremely well!