[miffed]

I saw one of these in PC world the other day and am *this* close to parting with the required amount ( £1,050)

I have never seen such a pretty computer in my life , and all of my "maccy" mates are egging me on - But I have never used a Mac , and am a little worried as to how I am going to get on sync- ing my collection of Windows mobile devices :confused:

Anyone here got one ? or use an apple of any description ?

Should I or shouldn't I ?

[chaslam]

Well, I know Getti has just brought one, but I would go for it.

I moved from a PC to a mac mini, and I dont ever think I will move back to a PC anytime soon.

Ive had it since september. I never turn it off, even though I sleep in the same room as it as it is so silent and you just put it to sleep and start it up instantly.

If I was you I wouldnt hesitate to buy one. Go and get it, NOW! haha

[Ben]

Don't do it.

Mac's are fantastic, my mini arrived today and I'm completely in love with OS X, but the iMac you mention in PC World is the G5 (based around an IBM Power processor) which has now been declared End of Life by Apple.

Take a peak at http://www.apple.com/uk/ and visit the store. There you'll find the new Intel iMac's. Buying an Intel Mac will ensure compatibility with the latest features for years to come.

I didn't realise you were a Mac user also, chaslam! That's amazing - this time last year I didn't know a single Mac user, now, including myself, I know 6! I think XP being dragged on for so long, and the prospect of Vista not being much better after many of the improvements were shelved, has pushed a lot of people to try out OS X - and of course once people move to a fully graphical UNIX environment they don't easily give that up!

I'll post some pictures of my new Apple setup when I next transfer the pictures off my phone.

[miffed]

Ah yes , Ben , It was the Intel one I want to get !

My "maccy" friend told me if I waited a month or so I'd get the same Computer with the Intel processor for the same price , So I assumed it would still have the same name ! - Sorry if I have caused confusion , But I have been well "briefed" on making sure I get the Intel version , lol


I found this quite funny and clever BTW

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6415770050655464328

[miffed]

Hmmm , just checked the site and the price for the intel one is about £180 more :( - wonder if my mate was just making a "market guess" or is it possible the Intel Macs WILL come down to the price of the former model eventually ?

Still , in for a penny , in for a pound I suppose , not sure If I can be doing with all that waiting around

[chaslam]

I didn't realise you were a Mac user also, chaslam! That's amazing - this time last year I didn't know a single Mac user, now, including myself, I know 6! I think XP being dragged on for so long, and the prospect of Vista not being much better after many of the improvements were shelved, has pushed a lot of people to try out OS X - and of course once people move to a fully graphical UNIX environment they don't easily give that up!

I'll post some pictures of my new Apple setup when I next transfer the pictures off my phone.

Ah same here! I was just about the say the same thing. I know several mac users now. Ben, is your a intel mini? I got mine a while ago in sept and have never looked back. Not had 1 virus or spyware, despite only having a virus and spyware checker (not really any need for an anti virus!)

Miffed, if I were you I wouldnt even hesitate in buying it. However, Im not sure if its a top of the range one, but go for the best you can. Macs are really upgrade friendly. They arent like PCs where you just undo them and plug somthing new in. If you get one, get the best you can so in a years time, it wont be to outdated.

[Ben]

Ah same here! I was just about the say the same thing. I know several mac users now. Ben, is your a intel mini? I got mine a while ago in sept and have never looked back. Not had 1 virus or spyware, despite only having a virus and spyware checker (not really any need for an anti virus!)
Sure is! Waiting for it was a living hell, but I'm truly amazed. I've replaced the TV that was in my bedroom with the 23" ACD + Intel Core Duo mini. So far so good. I'm hoping for a bit more time this weekend to have a proper play - I think I'll still be using PC's for several years yet for work. But the migration has begun, at last!

[Ben]

Here we are, the new toy!

[chaslam]

oohh thats a pretty nice set up you got going there!

My Best friends dad is the head of computer science at our local uni, and he relies on macs for his job. Theve got all the newest mac things like the G5, god knows how many powerbooks, Screens like the ones above, its great! Everytime I go round its like apple heaven!

[3g-g]

God damn you all... damn you all to hell that's what I say! I soooo wanna change to Apple, but could I cope with the switch? A few of my friends have had to keep PCs alongside their macs, they just can't cope with the complete changeover! However, one of my graphic designer friends has been mac all his life, he just couldn't go the other way, in fact I think he's invested in virtual XP and Win2000 OSs so he's never stuck anywhere! Mac, it's the future. A bit like garlic bread or cheese cake i believe! Ben, I'm sure about 10/12 months ago I said to you that I was thinking about a mac mini and you were shocked, said you couldn't move to mac... and what have you gone and done?!

Here's a question: Could I purchase a mac mini and manage to hide it from the wife? My original plan was to ditch the DVD player downstairs, get a mac mini and airport, use my WiFi access point, get a BT keyboard and mouse and have all the internet, music, downloading I ever needed from the comfort of my sofa? Is it a plan?

[Ben]

Here's a question: Could I purchase a mac mini and manage to hide it from the wife? My original plan was to ditch the DVD player downstairs, get a mac mini and airport, use my WiFi access point, get a BT keyboard and mouse and have all the internet, music, downloading I ever needed from the comfort of my sofa? Is it a plan?
The setup in my room is basically exactly that plus a USB TV tuner - using Front Row and the included Apple Remote I can remotely access iTunes (music stored on a Windows PC elsewhere on the network), DVD, photos and stored videos. You can even use the remote to put the mini into (and bring it out of) sleep mode, so you really need never touch it for the basics.

You can't hide it though... you'd open the box and find yourself completely unable to put it out of site ;) You *might* be able to convince the Mrs. that it's simply a new fangled DVD player though!

While I'm using the mini purely as a media hub and personal 'portal', I can already see that the 'easy peasy' GUI is only skin deep. There's endless power under the surface, right down to the UNIX console and the ability to run Apache, SSH & MySQL etc. Currently I'm unable to see any reason beyond the need to run specific applications rather than generic alternatives (though emulators exist as you mention) why anyone would absolutely require Windows over OS X. It's a whole different way to compute, that's a given, but the only thing stopping anyone from making the switch is the vast swathes of information we accumulate on our Windows PC's. Luckily with the mini it's affordable (well, almost) to run it alongside your existing Windows machines/on your Windows network.

Perfectly timed thread btw miffed, thanks! I needed somewhere to vent!

[miffed]

Right ... after much consideration .....

Going to pick my Imac up in a minute !

Getting rather excited now :D

[Ben]

That's fantastic news! Fingers crossed that everything goes well for you. What spec is the machine you've opted for?

[miffed]

It's just the bog standard 20" Imac (intel) - I was going to opt for more ram(as you suggested !) - But I was really overbudget on just the minimum spec (£1229)

Had it a few hours - just managed to connect to the internet - no wireless network here you see :( , I thought I could just use my USB modem from the PC , but the drivers wouldn't work - was about to give up all hope , when I had the idea of simply setting up an "adhoc" network with the old PC and leaviing the modem on there -works a treat

This is bloody lovely ! can't see me going back to windows in a hurry

All I need now is a series of OSX handhelds ...... :D

[miffed]

BTW Ben - you never told me about the Apple shop in swalecliffe ! (or did you and I just didn't take it in ? )

[Ben]

In Swalecliffe? There's an official Apple store in Bluewater but I'm not aware of any other official stores nearer.

[miffed]

Yeah ! There is an official apple "care" place just under the bridge from you

(at last they have stickers in thewindow to that effect)

I bought mine from them - lots of apple branded accessories there too :D

It is called "serviceweb" - I know they are recognised by apple because my maccy friend was referred to them by Apple - that's how I found out about them

Worth popping in for a look

http://www.serviceweb.co.uk/

[Ben]

Ah cool, it's an authorised service provider... I wonder if it's possible to get warranty work done there...

I'll certainly give them a look, thanks miffed!

[Hands0n]

Next there'll be talk about Colombian drug lords and suchlike :D

[Ben]

LoL! Anyhoo miffed, get us some piccies!

[miffed]

453


only took me about 45 minutes to work that out !

It isn't actually in its permanant "home" yet , as I have had to leave the PC set up for the time being - but once I get a router it'll be somewhere more cosy

[Ben]

Gorgeous! Don't forget to set iChat up to connect to your Google Talk account. If you can stretch to it and haven't already then .Mac is a nice, if not overpriced, add-on for your .Mac email/iChat/iDisk et al. Integrates nicely for automatic backups and iLife publishing.

If Safari starts to really peeve you off, try Camino http://www.caminobrowser.org/

[miffed]

had it 24 hrs now ! and absolutely loving it:D

I have had a few friends roll their eyes - making very negative comments - but to be honest they remind me of the time I had a very good looking PA - even though she was absolutely brilliant at her job , everyone assumed I employed her for the wrong reasons :D (OK , so perhaps I did ,but she was good at her job too !)

I have to say , so far - I cannot find anything that my PC does which OSX doesn't do much better , faster and with far more style
If first impressions are anything to go by , I am well and truly converted !

[gorilla]

Not really on the subject I'm afraid, but have you guys checked out the Apple refurb store? (http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wo/StoreReentry.wo?family=Certified)
I've just ordered me a 4th gen 40gb ipod for £117.
They also have ibooks and macs on offer. They all come with apple warranty, so should be a competitive deal.