craig1410
|
 posted on 19/3/07 at 11:06 PM |
|
|
Apple iMac - To buy or not to buy???
Hi,
My PC needs an upgrade and after umpteen years as a PC user I'm thinking of jumping ship to Apple. I'm an IT consultant and software
developer and will still be using PC's at work every day but at home I'm keen on a change. I'm currently using Fedora Linux (have
been for many years) on my workstation and I also have a Fedora server which I intend to keep on Fedora.
Questions are:
1. Where is best/cheapest place to buy a Mac? Best price so far is with PC World £978 (all inc) for spec below. Dabs £1000.99 & Apple.com £999
2. Thinking of the 20" iMac with 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM and 250GB disc. Good choice?
3. 2GB RAM costs an extra £120 at purchase - How does the Apple respond to 2GB compared to 1GB? Is it worth getting 2GB?
I intend to use the machine for general purpose web/email/productivity and also for web development using Ruby on Rails which is my favourite topic at
present.
Any comments are most welcome. I'm fairly new to recent Mac's although I have fond memories of using them at Uni many years ago...
Cheers,
Craig.
|
|
|
|
|
stevebubs
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 12:28 AM |
|
|
As you're already using Linux on a day to day basis, I'd have to ask:
Other than liking their styling, is any other reason to move to a Mac rather than a PC that would give you a higher specification for less cash....?
|
|
|
craig1410
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 12:43 AM |
|
|
Hi Steve,
That's a fair question...
I've been using Linux since the earliest of days (1994 ish) and it has come a long way for sure, especially in the last few years. However,
I'm finding my time is more and more precious these days (3 kids, DIY, Locost...) so when I do have time to spend learning new skills or using
existing skills then I'd like that time to be 110% productive. I've been thinking of changing from Fedora to something a bit lower
maintenance (eg Ubuntu) but given that my PC is overdue an upgrade as well I thought of giving the Mac a whirl instead.
My PC is currently a 1.4GHz Athlon XP so I'll need to replace pretty much everything. A quick tot up of parts on dabs.com comes to £559 (inc
vat) for a modest upgrade to Core 2 Duo (inc m/b, 2gb ram, cpu, gpu, hdd). My monitor is also a bit old (an 18.1" TFT LCD from 1999) and
I've had to repair it 4 times so far so I don't expect to get much more life from it either. That's another £250 for a 20"
replacement...
Total for PC upgrade comes to £809 and I can get a complete iMac as spec'd above for £978 (all inc).
Sometimes a change of scene can be quite refreshing and when I'm staring at Windows XP all day at work it might be nice to come home to OS/X. As
I said, I'd still run Fedora on my server (actually 4 virtual machines for email, proxy, file & print & web server)
Does that make more sense? My mates at work think I'm mad... 
Cheers,
Craig.
|
|
|
caber
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 07:44 AM |
|
|
Go for the Mac, max out the memory get the biggest drive you can and get a copy of Parallels so you can run virtual Windows and Linux in as many
flavours as you like.
Remember that the mac comes with pre loaded software for lots of fun things and there is a load of good shareware and cheap software to do many
things that you need additional hardware to make work on a PC.
Most the macs I have bought (since 1984!) retire as they just become too slow not because they are broken and most have never ever seen a repair shop.
I can't say that the current generation will be as robust as they are now made down to a price to a greater extent than they used to be. They
also look pretty cool!
Caber
|
|
|
oliwb
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 08:01 AM |
|
|
Go for it! Most reliable computer I've ever owned....so easy to use my Granny now has a powerbook (no joke). They also look a hundred times
better. Once you go mac you wont go back! They always respond well to extra ram so go for that too if budget allows. And realisticaly if you tot up
all of the extras and exactly what you get with them they are comparable in price to mid to high end pcs. Obviously the likes of dells will still be
cheaper due to economies of scale but there still good value IMHO. Good luck and if you decide you don't like it I'll give you £50 for
it! Oli.
If your not living life on the edge you're taking up too much room!
|
|
|
mark_mcd
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 12:05 PM |
|
|
cheapest place would be direct from apples refurbished store
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=19B76462&nclm=Certified
or if you know a student get them to get one for you...
|
|
|
Keith Weiland
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 12:21 PM |
|
|
I would personally buy any memory upgrade seperately. 2gb for £101.04 at
crucial.com
|
|
|
craig1410
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 12:24 PM |
|
|
Thanks for the comments guys, very helpful.
One of the things I wondered about was reliability. If a PC goes wrong then I'd just open it up and replace the faulty part but I don't
know if this is possible with the iMac. Once the warranty expires, can you get spare parts for DIY repair? I'm an electronics engineer (and more
importantly I have lots of practical rework skills) so I'd be capable of repairing it if I can get the required parts.
The iMac can take 3GB of memory but the step from 2GB to 3GB is pretty steep - would I be okay with 2GB for things like Parallels? I'm very
interested in running virtual machines. Disk-wise I'd probably just go for the 250GB which comes fitted as standard and then use my Linux file
server and/or an external USB2 drive for further storage. Any potential probs with this approach?
Another question - when the new Leopard O/S comes out, can machines running Tiger be upgraded to Leopard? Are there any other "events" or
reworking of the product lines coming up which might mean I'm better off waiting for a few months to get a better deal perhaps?
Also, what are Apple like to deal with? Are they quick and efficient if repairs are required?
Thanks for the tip on refurbished Mac's - certainly some good deals to be had there.
Cheers all,
Craig.
|
|
|
craig1410
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 12:28 PM |
|
|
Keith,
Yes I noticed Crucial had cheaper memory but the iMac only has two slots and comes with 1GB fitted which I'd need to remove. I could always sell
this on Ebay though and make a few quid back.
Edit: Quick calc - 3GB would cost 316.05 from Crucial (2GB + 1GB) and Crucial list 512MB at 27.01 each so best case I would get maybe £40 back for a
pair of 512MB modules. Total cost would therefore be £276.05 to upgrade from 1GB to 3GB.
Thanks,
Craig.
[Edited on 20/3/2007 by craig1410]
|
|
|
Keith Weiland
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 12:44 PM |
|
|
I might have misunderstood, I thought it was 120 to upgrade to 2gb not to upgrade to 3gb. I thought you would get 2x1gb sticks from crucial and sell
your 2 512 sticks and it would cos you about £60 total after selling your 2 512mb sticks
|
|
|
craig1410
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 12:48 PM |
|
|
Hi Keith,
No you are correct, I was just doing the sums to upgrade to the maximum 3GB based on a comment received above that I should Max Out my memory. I think
the 2GB option is a no-brainer (via Crucial) but 3GB is still a bit pricey until 2GB modules come down in price.
Sorry for the confusion...
Cheers,
Craig.
|
|
|
Keith Weiland
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 01:38 PM |
|
|
You could always build a new PC for much less money and Install OSX on it
then you will get the best of both worlds
[Edited on 20/3/2007 by Keith Weiland]
|
|
|
andyharding
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 01:43 PM |
|
|
Questions are:
1. Where is best/cheapest place to buy a Mac? Best price so far is with PC World £978 (all inc) for spec below. Dabs £1000.99 & Apple.com £999
I buy all of mine from Apple.com. Check the refurb section for occasional great deals.
2. Thinking of the 20" iMac with 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM and 250GB disc. Good choice?
Sounds good. I have a Mac Mini and an iBook.
3. 2GB RAM costs an extra £120 at purchase - How does the Apple respond to 2GB compared to 1GB? Is it worth getting 2GB?
The more RAM the better. Check our crucial.com/uk for cheaper memory.
I intend to use the machine for general purpose web/email/productivity and also for web development using Ruby on Rails which is my favourite topic at
present.
Any comments are most welcome. I'm fairly new to recent Mac's although I have fond memories of using them at Uni many years ago...
I dumped Windoze last year and haven't looked back. Go for it.
P.S. Look at CentOS linux. It's better than Fedora. We mirror the download site so pick us if you download it for fast speeds
Are you a Mac user or a retard?
|
|
|
craig1410
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 05:27 PM |
|
|
Hi,
Thanks for your comments. I've not tried CentOS Linux but I have tried a bunch of the newer distributions like Ubuntu, Mepis etc. Don't
get me wrong, I like Linux and have built up quite a lot of knowledge on it over the years. I even have a Linux based Sharp Zaurus PDA...
Linux is great on the server and I think with a little bit more effort on the Desktop it will also take advantage of Microsoft's shortcomings on
Windows Vista but there are still things that frustrate me about it, mainly with regard to some aspects of hardware compatibility. I think Ubuntu and
Linspire will help to achieve critical mass on the Desktop and if the likes of Dell and HP do give in fully to pressure to preinstall Linux for
Desktop users then I think it will take off quickly. However, it will probably never achieve the level of polish which Apple have achieved with the
Mac. After all, Microsoft have been trying to emulate the Mac for years without success and Vista looks to be no better...
I've pretty much decided that the way forward is to use a Mac for my workstation, Linux on my server(s) and get a games console (maybe PS/3) for
games.
Now all I need to do is convince my wife that all my ranting and raving about saving money doesn't apply to me... 
Wish me luck!
Craig.
|
|
|
craig1410
|
| posted on 20/3/07 at 10:09 PM |
|
|
I was just looking at a report on computer reliability comparing the likes of IBM, Apple, Dell etc. Makes interesting reading...
http://www.rescuecom.com/news_page.wcs?id=190
|
|
|
craig1410
|
| posted on 21/3/07 at 09:24 PM |
|
|
Hi,
I've just read an article in The Inquirer which suggests that Apple are about to release an updated iMac. Have any of you guys heard anything
about this?
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38363
I'm unfamiliar with dealing with Apple - any idea when will be the best time to get a good deal? Am I better snapping up an iMac now before the
old iMac's dry up or am I better off waiting for the new one? I don't know how their supply chain is likely to operate and I have heard
reports that stocks of the current iMac are low. I don't want to end up in the situation where I can't get hold of the current iMac and
the new one hasn't ramped up volumes yet.
Are there likely to be a surge of refurbished older Mac's hitting the market once the new one is released?
Advice welcome...
Cheers,
Craig.
|
|
|
