New and looking to buy

rberry88 · June 17, 2004 1:04AM

Hello, first post here. I'm new to the Mac world, I've been living in the Linux world (on a PC) forever and want to expand my horizons by getting a Mac.

A few questions:

1. I see Imacs, Emacs, Macs, Powerbooks, Ibooks and so on. Being new this is a lot to try to decipher so I'm asking for assistance. If you want to provide a link to more info then thats fine, I don't mind reading. My 1st question is, what type of user is each of the above units aimed at?

2. I'm looking to spend $1000 (anymore and the wife would probably kill me). I would like something that will run the latest version of the OS (OS 10? or X?). I have a cable modem so ethernet connectivity is a must.

3. What are good places (online and off) that I could go to and get a good deal? What should I look for in a deal? Is it easy to upgrade certain models and not others? If I buy a mac with a small hard drive and little RAM, is it cost-effective to upgrade on my own or should I just buy as much as possible included in the unit right off the bat?

Okay, I think this will get me started in the right direction. I apologize if the forums are flooded with this info but I searched for various keywords regarding my questions and most of the threads died before I got my answer so I figured why not just start fresh.

Thanks in advance for any help.

rberry88

anders · June 17, 2004 2:11AM

This is my 1 minute reply

1: www.apple.com Yes they will off course hype their own products but there is also the bare specs of the different models.

2: iBook or eMac depending on how you weight your need for portability and the need for burning DVDs. Look for iMovie and iDVD and apple.com and see if thats something you´ll be using. All macs run X not just fast enough but FAST. The current version of X (10.3.4) is the fastest yet and even the iBook is quite a little mover.

3: Get the largest HD with the machine (can be a hell to replace yourself, boardering impossible with the iBook), bluetooth module with the iBook but buy (all you can get) ram from other places (look at ramseeker.com for best deals). X is very VERY ram hungry.

kelib · June 17, 2004 3:13AM

All products that start with an 'i' like iMac, iBook etc are con(pro)sumer products. The 'e' in the eMac name stands for education as in the very beginning it was only available for the education sector. But it's more or less a consumer model nevertheless. The right machine for you very much depends on what you like to do with it.

I currently have 3 Macs at home, iMac G4 800 with Superdrive (DVD burner), a brand new 14" iBook for use mostly on the move or when me fiancee is using the iMac. I then have an older 'Pro-line' Mac, often referred to as 'Sawtooth'

If you are not doing heavy processor demanding graphics or engineering stuff I would definitely go for one of the consumer machines. They all come bundled with great software when the 'pro-models' don't even come with a WP! And they're all reasonably fast.

All the machines I mentioned above run reasonably fast. Fast enough for me anyway. I use my Macs for sound recordings, for keeping track of my digital photos and videos. BTW, only the consumer models are bundled with SW to handle this. Other things I do are home financing and web browsing, Email etc.

With your budget of $1000 I'm afraid your choice is limited to the eMac, that is if you're gonna buy a brand new one. No reason to worry as it's nice machine to work on. If you like an expandable pro model I would go for a 'puter code-named 'quicksilver'. Others here are better suited to give you some advice regarding the US 2nd hand marked. Just make sure the Machine you buy has a G4 processor and is above the 500Mhz barrier.

Hope this helps mate and welcome to the club

talksense101 · June 17, 2004 7:02AM

The high end eMac gets my vote with your budget. It is currently more powerful than the iMacs. The Mac is definetly something you will enjoy.

rberry88 · June 17, 2004 7:28AM

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I've been lurking here, mostly waiting for the go-ahead from the wife to start the serious looking-and-buy phase. I really like the boards here and have learned alot, with alot more to learn yet though.

I'm going to try to talk the wife into going to the Apple store we have close to us and I think that will ease her into my spending limit rather than hers, hehe.

I was looking on e-bay for some deals but after seeing all the different options I think I'll go hang out at the Apple store for a day and get some hands on viewing of the various models so I'll be able to tell if a deal is actually a deal or not.

*Note: my mother in law is on my side on this as she has used Macs for the past 10 years (or however the story goes) so I just might have to take her with us to the store, never know, might come home with a shiny new one afterall.

rberry88

ipodandimac · June 17, 2004 8:25AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rberry88

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I've been lurking here, mostly waiting for the go-ahead from the wife to start the serious looking-and-buy phase. I really like the boards here and have learned alot, with alot more to learn yet though.

I'm going to try to talk the wife into going to the Apple store we have close to us and I think that will ease her into my spending limit rather than hers, hehe.

I was looking on e-bay for some deals but after seeing all the different options I think I'll go hang out at the Apple store for a day and get some hands on viewing of the various models so I'll be able to tell if a deal is actually a deal or not.

*Note: my mother in law is on my side on this as she has used Macs for the past 10 years (or however the story goes) so I just might have to take her with us to the store, never know, might come home with a shiny new one afterall.

rberry88

If money is tight, the eMac is a great machine for its price. It's runs a little loud, but hey, you save tons.

republic · June 17, 2004 10:18AM

I'm an iBook G4 owner, but I gained respect for the eMac when considering that machine. It's a solid computer, more now than in its earlier revisions. As said before, do get more RAM; the 256 MB given is barely adequate. When you can, upgrade to 512 MB or so. Unlike changing an HD, adding RAM to an eMac isn't terribly difficult...

johnq · June 17, 2004 10:32AM

And once you get a Mac be sure to check out:

http://mac.oreilly.com/

especially:

http://www.macdevcenter.com/

You'll find that the Mac is 2 OSes in one and has plenty of unix stuff to play with under the hood.

(btw, swapping drives in the iBook is not that hard but it does void the warranty. It's doable if you keep track of the screws and find a decent online walkthrough.)

flounder · June 17, 2004 12:00PM

Also, if you have any education connections (or friends with them who would be willing to broker the deal for you), try to parlay it into getting an education discount. That will save you a quick $100 or so right there.

ionyz · June 17, 2004 1:10PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ipodandimac

... It's runs a little loud, but hey, you save tons.

From what I understand cooling consists of a single 120mm fan in the back "cone" of the monitor. Coupled with the slots back there it adds turbulence. Not a whine, because of the fan size, more of a whoosh. Louder then an iMac, but more affordable too.

Also the Tilt and Swivel stand should be purchased, great for quick positioning of the heavy (22Kg / 50lbs.) eMac.

kelib · June 17, 2004 2:07PM

Quote:

Originally posted by talksense101

The high end eMac gets my vote with your budget. It is currently more powerful than the iMacs. The Mac is definetly something you will enjoy.

It's EOL-ed now and sold out in the Denmark AppleStore at least. So if Apple is going LCD only you better hurry

rberry88 · June 17, 2004 2:14PM

Okay, I have it narrowed down to either an eMac or iMac, wife really likes the look of the iMac and I like the LCD. I found a few "refurbished" 17" iMac's at the Apple Store site that I have "permission" to buy but wanted to see if anyone here had any input on buying these "refurbished" ones?

rberry88

kraig911 · June 17, 2004 2:25PM

refurbs are good and come with a warranty

go for it brotha go go go!

flounder · June 17, 2004 2:26PM

I generally don't think you'd go wrong with the refurbished rout, but if you are thinking iMac, my advice would be to wait about 12 days. WWDC is coming up and there is a pretty decent chance at new iMacs. While they might not fall into your price range, the current ones may, resulting in a decently better deal for you.

hobbes · June 17, 2004 5:22PM

Hmm, I'd say a pretty low chance of new iMacs at WWDC. But who knows.

rberry88 · June 17, 2004 6:32PM

*flexes newbie muscles*

Okay, what is WWDC? Its probably something I've seen spelled out but have no idea what it is.

I've decided to wait until tomorrow to make "the" decision (iMac vs eMac) as I can't really make up my mind which one I want.

eMac - more bang for my buck

iMac - good bang with LCD

rberry88

kelib · June 17, 2004 6:35PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hobbes

Hmm, I'd say a pretty low chance of new iMacs at WWDC. But who knows.

The current eMac lineup is definitely EOL-ed. Many claim (see AppleInsider and ThinkSecret) the whole iMac lineup is EOL-ed as well. Either way, he can't go very much wrong with an eMac. It's definitely good value as it is now. Never ever have I not heard voices inside my head telling me to wait just a little-bit longer with my order. What have I actually gained? Nothing really

a_greer · June 17, 2004 7:20PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rberry88

*flexes newbie muscles*

Okay, what is WWDC? Its probably something I've seen spelled out but have no idea what it is.

I've decided to wait until tomorrow to make "the" decision (iMac vs eMac) as I can't really make up my mind which one I want.

eMac - more bang for my buck

iMac - good bang with LCD

rberry88

World wide developers conferance (ALL APPLE, NO windows/*nix)

It is a big a** trade show for apple in SF each june where Steve Jobs (apple ceo and the tech "god"/santa to apple nerds) announces new toys for good...er well...rich lil' girls and boys...

rberry88 · June 17, 2004 8:24PM

Okay, its done. I ordered a refurbished 17" iMac from the online Apple Store. I even saved $300 by getting the refurb (makes the wife more at ease). It ships in 1-2 days and comes w/ 256MB Ram and when talking to them (Apple Help) on the phone they let me add a second 256MB Ram stick for only $49 more and they will install it before shipping it.

Now I'm excited, its going to be a long few days waiting for this thing to arrive.

rberry88

mcq · June 17, 2004 8:30PM

Congrats on the new machine!

ionyz · June 17, 2004 9:02PM

Yes, enjoy the solid machine.

New and looking to buy

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