Advice req PC Vs MAC (laymans terms)

[DougA]

Windows XP is solid for me at home and work and no crashes. I've heard a few horror stories on Vista so I'd avoid for a year till they sort out teething problems.

You'll get the same functionality for basic PC stuff - most stuff really. With Apple your buying into a fashionable brand - they do look very nice though.

[DougA]

Be careful buying a cheap PC - the hardware will cause you more problems than the operating system. Dell will sort you out though.

[Whistler]

Thanks for all replies. As a total Mac novice, what is the entry model and what soort of price am I looking at. As regards software, I presume I would have to replace all my current programs (Nero, Adobe, Word, Excell, Norton etc) and buy Mac compatable. Does Suunto Dive Manager still work ok?. Thanks again

[Sparky750]

My only mistake in not switching to a mac was not doing it sooner. Made life much easier i use mine for everything now i've never had to boot up the pc since i bought mine. Vista wound me up so much i gave the laptop away rather than mess around anymore with it. If your buying now there are still some old (by 3weeks) macs to be had i bought my girlfriend the black macbook for 700 last week After a week of use all she does is moan about the pc she is forced to use at work . For what you need a mac will suit you down to the ground. If for some obscure reason you need windows you can run that on it too. Try and get into an apple shop and ask for a demo thats what i did the guy was so confident when i was buying my macbookpro he offered me a chance to keep it a week and a full refund if i wasn't happy. I had it since november it has crashed on me once but took about 1 minute to be up and running again

[Sparky750]

Originally Posted by Whistler

Thanks for all replies. As a total Mac novice, what is the entry model and what soort of price am I looking at. As regards software, I presume I would have to replace all my current programs (Nero, Adobe, Word, Excell, Norton etc) and buy Mac compatable. Does Suunto Dive Manager still work ok?. Thanks again

Download neo office it's free i've had no reason to need microsoft office on my mac and i use it mainly for business spread sheets etc.

norton forget it do some research on firewall/ viruses for macs

Adobe if your just using it for pdfs macs come with preview and something else that takes care of your pdfs.

Suunto doesn't work up to now but you can get one called divelog i think which is very similar for £30ish

Buy one you won't regret it after about a week you'll be wondering why you didn't move ages ago

[DougA]

Originally Posted by Whistler

Thanks for all replies. As a total Mac novice, what is the entry model and what soort of price am I looking at. As regards software, I presume I would have to replace all my current programs (Nero, Adobe, Word, Excell, Norton etc) and buy Mac compatable. Does Suunto Dive Manager still work ok?. Thanks again

VMware Fusion Overview, Run Windows on Mac, Virtual PC on Mac - VMware

This will let you virtually install windows and let you use your window programs. (You need a licensed copy of windows)

[BJ]

I have never had a PC but have four Macs in my house. When I suggested to my son (a software technician) that I might buy a PC, he said that PCs were for people who liked computers and Macs were for people who just wanted to get on and get their work done on a computer!
I am computer illiterate. The Mac operating systems just get on and do it. No configuring. Just drag and drop. Macs are more expensive but there's a real reason for that.
I am writing this on a high definition 30" monitor. I can retouch pictures very quickly and without a fuss.

[troc]

Originally Posted by Diving Dude

l've had a mac for about 3 years now and it's been great.

l've now loaded leopard and it doesn't seem to work quiet as well.e.g it stutters when l try to watch the u-tube links people post here whereas the shittop l also have plays them ok.

Any ideas?

Leopard is a memory hog - how much RAM are you using?

It's the reason my Wife's 3 year old iBook is still running 10.4

However my newer Macbook and Macpro cope perfectly.

[Diving Dude]

Originally Posted by troc

Leopard is a memory hog - how much RAM are you using?

Not a clue. Its a standard e-mac, how do l find out how much ram it has? and how do l increase it?

[BJ]

I run Leopard on an iMac (1.5Gb RAM). I also have an eMac (Tiger) for use with my scanner with only 1.5Gb of RAM. If Diving Dude's is an out-of-the-box eMac (made for school use) it probably has only the minimum amount of RAM (a lot less than 1Gb). My Macbook Pro (OSX 10.4.11 Intel) runs on 3Gb RAM but that's not a lot in comparison to the latest versions! My scanner software often falls over with the Intel Mac.