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Original poster

iMac - beauty *and* brains?

37 replies

allhallows · 12/10/2007 16:16

I'm so tempted! Fed up with v. dated Dell desktop. Can't even burn a CD. Should I switch? Are iMacs worth the price?

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Sheherazadethegoat · 12/10/2007 16:24

imacs are favoured by folk who work with graphics - photographers and architect etc. if you are just browsing the internet buy a cheapo pc.

curlywurlycremeegg · 12/10/2007 16:27

ohh yes yes yes I love mine, have had one since 1998, when I met DH he was a total anti mac IT geek but he loves them now and has a mac notebok. I think they are expensive (and prob not actually worth the money) but so easy to use.......and nice to look at

Lulumama · 12/10/2007 16:27

oh yes.. they are glorious
a bit OTT just for web use, but crash far less often than PC

Original poster
allhallows · 12/10/2007 17:22

I used to be a "professional" photographer before the demise of darkrooms...

Been lusting after an iMac for ages but ooooh the price! Can I get away with the cheapest? How much memory would I need, really?

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bagpuss · 12/10/2007 17:27

We love ours here too. DH is a bit of a mac evangelist. They are so very stable and the applications are far better than windows/microsoft ones. So yes, worth the money IMO.

WotzyWhitchyWoo · 12/10/2007 17:38

joins mac fan club
Been using them since the very beginning
I was very very young

Sheherazadethegoat · 12/10/2007 17:44

well if you are doing photography you are allowed one (ponce )

if you want to use it for proper graphical stuff you can't really skimp and need loads of memory etc. have a squint on which online or something.

Original poster
allhallows · 13/10/2007 15:34

good plan re which? fortunately I'm a subscriber.

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USAUKMum · 13/10/2007 16:22

Snap WotzyWhitchyWoo, except I go back one further. I had an Apple II.

We love our iMac, we have the 20inch one. Which is plenty big for us. It is a doddle to set up a protected account for DC. Go for it

SenoraPostrophe · 13/10/2007 16:37

you'll be able to get a high spec pc for less.

SenoraPostrophe · 13/10/2007 16:39

...it used to be that the best graphic / photo software was mac only. that isn't true any more.

Original poster
allhallows · 13/10/2007 16:39

I know, SP, I know! I was having another look today while waiting for dh & saw a beautiful Sony Vaio for much less than a starter iMac laptop.

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zippitippitoes · 13/10/2007 16:40

i have a formac monitor on a dell computer a good combo and every one lusts after the screen

RubberDuck · 13/10/2007 16:41

I would go for an iMac - mainly because new PCs are being shipped with Vista, which looks pretty but is a big pile of POO.

And that's the technical description.

RubberDuck · 13/10/2007 16:42

(and I'm posting this from a Vista machine and a long history of buying/using PCs... am very disappointed with it and the amount of problems I've had with Vista).

Original poster
allhallows · 13/10/2007 16:42

But I'm in lust with the iMac.

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zippitippitoes · 13/10/2007 16:44

i paid about 260 for one here

Original poster
allhallows · 13/10/2007 16:44

And yes, my dad (who's a computer whiz) agrees that Vista is a load of shite. But he doesn't share my feelings for iMac. He's a sensible man.

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Original poster
allhallows · 13/10/2007 16:45

plaats in wagen...

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USAUKMum · 13/10/2007 17:47

yes, but the beauty, the elegance, the ease of use, the non-crashiness of the iMac......

RubberDuck · 13/10/2007 18:07

And the new macs can dual boot Windows as well if there are a few applications you use that need Windows (games, for example).

It's worth waiting until the new operating system for Macs (Leopard) is announced (supposed to be any day now) as then you'll get a free upgrade to that once you've bought your Mac if it's already been announced.

SenoraPostrophe · 13/10/2007 20:05

you can still buy PCs with XP though. and most of the problems with vista are actually related to other programmes not catching up, so they will fix themselves soon. I am neutral on vista. bits of it are very good, other bits annoying. overall better than xp, but not worth the extra money.

USAUKmum - the recent versions of xp and vista are very non-crashy though. that's not a good reason to buy a mac.

Original poster
allhallows · 13/10/2007 20:12

For macs, the cheapest I've seen is around £600 & prices soar up to a dizzying £1500. Can I be satisfied with a lower-end model?

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GeekBoy · 15/10/2007 11:08

Probably depends what you want to use it for. After being a firm PC user (from DOS to Windows XP but settling on linux for 'real' stuff) I've just ended up with a Mac... ...and it's superb. I'm running XP Pro using Parellels (that won't be needed when the new (Leopard) version of OSX comes out) for business stuff (Outlook still rules for shared calendars/contacts and the Mac version sucks).

For a computer for home for doing stuff like surfing the mintynet, playing with photos, listening to music you can't get a lot better IMHO.. ...totally sold on Macs as a home computer.. ..still think they suck for traditional business stuff though.. :-)

Go on.. ..buy a pretty iMac..

Pruners · 15/10/2007 11:12

Message withdrawn