Got questions on buying a new Mac?

[Thunderstruck]

The idea of this thread is to farm all threads in regards to buying Mac hardware and the Intel transition. New threads will be added to the list as they are discovered. I'm hoping this thread will be free of discussions to make it easier for people to find the thread that they're interested in reading especially when Search doesn't erm… well, search.

Intel Mac
What does the prospect of Intel based Macs mean to me
Answers a lot of questions regarding the switch to Intel processors.

Silly Question
Mac OS X on AMD?

Intel's Trusted Computing Thing
DRM on Intel chips

Buying a Mac
It's no Pentium M
New 1.7GHz PPC chips for PowerBook

Any chance of new iBooks being released soon?
Whether to buy a new Mac (includes link to buyers guide at macrumors)

ibook G4 
About buying a new iBook

Portability
About Apple's portables.

What to choose
Suggestions on buying an Apple notebook

Re: Time to get a powerbook yet or not? 
Buy now or wait until the Intel PowerBooks come out?

Powerbook/Mac Mini Question
Decisions, decisions…

PowerBooks, PowerBooks, PowerBooks
Which PB is better for primarily graphics work (PS, Illustrator, DW, Canvas, Quark, etc)?

Best Mac system 4 cheap?
For the economically minded

Mac mini Question
Good idea to buy a Mac mini?

Questions About PowerBooks
PowerBook batteries and AppleCare coverage

12" PowerBook or 14" iBook buying situation
Choosing between the two

New to the wounderful world of Mac
Which Mac to buy

The Mac Mini
Is it worth it?

Recommendations?
For software & accessories to use with a PowerBook in college

Help me choose...Finally its time to order!
Choosing between iBook & PowerBook

Reasons to get an iBook
Reasons to get an iBook

CURRENT current current situation
Deciding between a 15" PowerBook and a 14" iBook with Intel 'Books looming on the horizon.

[Orion]

I'm going to second Thunderstruck here, and I'm also going to pull some rank as a mod. I'm going to sticky this topic, but NO REPLIES PLEASE. Keep it clear so that these thread can be found with out an undue amount of searching.

[midnightalone]

Why get a Mac?!?

[TheRealCaltsar]

Why get a Mac?!?

That is a question that can only be answered based on specific needs.  I could say they're more stable, more user friendly, more durable, etc.

But I won't.

The questions I'd need to ask you first are:
Does your PC crash frequently?
Are you getting too many viruses?  Too much Adware, Spyware, Malware?
Do you feel the need to be doing state of the art gaming?
Are you willing to spend a decent amount on a computer that will last you years and years?
Do you like the Mac's interface?
If not, are you willing to get used to it?
and finally, Are you willing to learn?

[Hawk]

please ignore midnightalone, he will be banned if he doesn't listen to the two warnings.

[Keizuki]

Just thought I'd add this...

If you want to compare spec's of Apple's products actually look at them on, surprise surprise, Apple's site then come back here and find people's opinions on them and what bested suited their needs. Apple gives very detailed information on all their products so read it all. Also in the store you can even find reviews of some of Apple products.

Research, read your research, then ask any questions that still remain.
Most of the research has been done and the results have been kindly compiled by Thunderstruck.
Admittedly this is not a full list that may need adding to, but if you find yourself in a similar situation to one that is in one of the threads listed add a reply to that thread rather than start a whole new one.

Thanks,
Keizuki

[SCaRa]

Why get a Mac?!?

That is a question that can only be answered based on specific needs.  I could say they're more stable, more user friendly, more durable, etc.

But I won't.

The questions I'd need to ask you first are:
Does your PC crash frequently?
Are you getting too many viruses?  Too much Adware, Spyware, Malware?
Do you feel the need to be doing state of the art gaming?
Are you willing to spend a decent amount on a computer that will last you years and years?
Do you like the Mac's interface?
If not, are you willing to get used to it?
and finally, Are you willing to learn?

Does your PC crash frequently?

No

Are you getting too many viruses?  Too much Adware, Spyware, Malware?

No

Do you feel the need to be doing state of the art gaming?

Sometimes, occasional gamer, not a die hard gamer

Are you willing to spend a decent amount on a computer that will last you years and years?

Yes

Do you like the Mac's interface?

Never had the pleasure of using it

If not, are you willing to get used to it?

Always willing to get to play with new stuff

and finally, Are you willing to learn?

Learning is all I do

So do I fit the profile?

[DougofTheAbaci]

Are you getting too many viruses?  Too much Adware, Spyware, Malware?

No

When's the last time you ran a scan? To be honnest I've yet to use a pc that didn't have at least one virus or piece of spyware. The one's at the library I frequent run Norton, Spybot Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware and use Firefox instead of IExplorer. Not to mention Fortress so they can't download. Yet, somehow they still manage to infect every single corner of the machine.

What gets me is the fact that no matter how much security you have on your PC, you will get something. Whether you know about it or not is a different story.

Does your PC crash frequently?

No

And I hate to say this, but generally speaking the PC I most often use doesn't crash that much either. At least, not for everyday normal stuff. Though, when I run some advanced programs it tends to get cranky.

In my experience, however limited, a PC can cover normal everyday use. But, if you start getting into anything major they tend to act up. And, no matter what any advertisements say, no network or machine is safe from viruses, spyware or adware. I don't care what AOL thinks.

(Anyone else think it's ironic that one of the biggest pieces of spyware claims it stops all spyware?)

[SCaRa]

it said

Are you getting too many viruses?  Too much Adware, Spyware, Malware?

I have a small tracker now and then that's it, doesn't qualify as too much to me

As for security, I use AVG Anti Virus free edition as virus scanner. I don't use internet explorer for my surfing needs and MS Antispyware is running to keep an eye on those nasty spyware thingies.

And I hate to say this, but generally speaking the PC I most often use doesn't crash that much either. At least, not for everyday normal stuff. Though, when I run some advanced programs it tends to get cranky.

I use 3Ds max on a daily basis, the pc runs fine. It only hogs all resources while rendering (which doesn't matter cause I do that when I'm sleeping), but it never caused my system to actually crash. The last crash I had with my previous system was when a hard drive died, something which just happens, no matter what the brand is.

Also prevention helps a lot, people that open email attachments without actually thinking who they came from, don't scan etcetera. Well that's just plain stupidity.

The only issue I have at the moment is that I tend to experiment too much, which often ends up in odd results :p

The thing I am tired of is well, frankly, the non mac pc world is moving so fast. It is not possible to have an up to date machine, I'dd rather get a machine that will last 4 years without upgrade instead of a machine that requires a mayor update after two years and a bunch of small ones between that time.

[DougofTheAbaci]

Trust me I know that one... I lost about 60 gigs of music because of that...

MS Antispyware isn't trustworthy in my eyes. How long after it was launched did it take before it was completely compromised? An hour? That's not exactly brag-worthy. Besides, any software can be tricked.

As for 3D Max, yeah it won't cause your computer to crash just by rendering, especially if you're just running that one program, which when most people render they do. The question refers more to when you have a few programs going and it just freezes up. It happened to me mostly when I would use Photoshop, iTunes and a few messenger programs at the same time. It'd just decide that it didn't want to do anything anymore.

And I don't care what anyone says the Blue Screen of Death is still around in XP... You just have to try hard to find it.

[SCaRa]

It happened to me mostly when I would use Photoshop, iTunes and a few messenger programs at the same time. It'd just decide that it didn't want to do anything anymore.

Hmmm, never had that here. Perhap it's the system that's a tad of a lightweight to handle those apps. Windies still sucks in that area.

So far my A64 3000+, 1 GB ddr400 seems to do fine(for now ). I usually have firefox open, winamp, msn messenger, photoshop, max and dreamweaver, I doubt however that it will run just as good on vista since that OS itselfs hogs yet an extra amount of memory.

You could say that I'm considering leaving a sinking ship :p

[Thunderstruck]

I'm going to second Thunderstruck here, and I'm also going to pull some rank as a mod. I'm going to sticky this topic, but NO REPLIES PLEASE. Keep it clear so that these thread can be found with out an undue amount of searching.

[straylight]

Someone showed me the graph of Satisfaction Over Time with respect to the Mac. I'm still on the first point, I guess.

[nekesu04]

Yeah that is really true, im at the last point, after having a Mac for a long persiod of time I started playing console games again. However I also have a PC to play my games, even though I don't windows too much I run bittorrent on the PC and have some games, thats about it.

[defekter]

Honestly, I have never contracted a virus, ever.. and the most spybot/adaware ever comes up with on my PC is a tracking cookie, or something similar to that level. I don't crash at all, and have not had problems with security on this build of XP running SP2, so all it takes is patience, as well as knowledge of the Windows file systems and how the os works. You need to know how to be careful and safe, and if you have all of that down, you're great. If not, the yeah, get a mac.