Need help with Computer Purchase, please

[DByers]

So I returned from vacation to find a dead PC. The hard drive is done. Its been 3-1/2 years so I feel I should look into a whole new system. Instead of just going down the same old road I would like some opinions from people who really have used or are using a Mac. This is for home usage and we really do alot of picture downloading from the many cameras we have. Lots of video and movie making, we have 3 kids and family out of town so we burn alot of home movies to send off. Internet browsing and email all the time. No games on the system. Lots of music from i-tunes and CD's. My wife has an iPod and is looking at a video iPod in the near future.

looking at Intel® Core™ 2 E6420 Duo Processor(4MB L2 cache,2.13GHZ,1066FSB)
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 DIMMs
256MB nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS
500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
for a PC

&

2.16GHZ Intel core Duo Processor
2GB RAM
500GB Hard Dive
for the iMac in the 24" version

So real life experience with Macs and the plug and play they say is so easy would be nice. Pro's and cons with the Mac,s. I am not adverse to going Mac since I am not really a PC guy, its just whats been convienent.

Help me out a little.
TIA

[Dottore]

Get the iMac.

I have used PC's and Mac's for going on 20 years. Always hated PC's - but had to use them for work. Always loved Mac's, and now that I am self-employed I wouldn't touch another PC with a barge pole.

Mac's are much better machines on every level - particularly for the applications you seem to have in mind. There are numerous threads on this already if you check around.

And don't listen to the one or two neo-cons on this board who will inevitably tell you to go with a PC. They can't be trusted - as we well know. ;-)

(Had to get some politics in here.)

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Recently had mine go kaputt also. Picked up a floor-model HP Pavilion at Frys for about 400 bucks out the door. Not too bad. Dual-core, 2GB RAM, big-ass hard drive, etc. Not bad. Had to spend a couple days deleting all the factory crap off the HDD, finding/downloading drivers, but in the end it was worth it for way less than the price of Dell or one of those places that rips you off blind for a "new" PC.

I'd look for something like that.

[Moses]

Originally posted by DByers
This is for home usage and we really do alot of picture downloading from the many cameras we have. Lots of video and movie making, we have 3 kids and family out of town so we burn alot of home movies to send off.

This is exactly where Macs excel. You will love the functionality and painless transformation to Mac.

All new Macs are shipped with a magnificent software suite called iLife and is comprised of iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD and Garage Band.

You will have to make an adjustment to virus-free computing, though.

[HardDrive]

Hmmmm......

My company, and indeed I, are pretty much Microsoft whores up here in Seattle. I am not a big fan of Apple. But my concerns are mostly about running 'line of business' software and such. The term 'Enterprise data indexing' gets me hot and bothered.

But if your primary concern is a system that make sharing photos and video with family easy, then Apple kicks the snot out of MS. End of story. Walk up with a video camera, plug in via Firewire, 30 minutes later you have a nice DVD to share with family. The same operation on a PC would be HOURS (as in many), and $150 (minimum) worth of software.

EDIT: DO keep in mind that you are entering Apples little, mostly proprietary universe. Your options on hardware and software a limited when compared to the PC world. And DO NOT believe the BS about Apples being more reliable. Its baloney. A computer is computer. The stickers on the case don't mean much. They all end up in land fill in the end.

[Joeaksa]

Dell has some very good deals on desktop systems. $400 or so out the door.

[Dottore]

Originally posted by HardDrive
Hmmmm......

And DO NOT believe the BS about Apples being more reliable. Its baloney. A computer is computer. The stickers on the case don't mean much. They all end up in land fill in the end.

OK: Well this is anecdotal - but in more than 20 years of using both Apple and PC the only malfunction I have ever had with an Apple is a faulty battery for my laptop. With my PC's in the same period I have had dozens of malfunctions - to say nothing of endless frustration with software glitches etc. And everyone I know who has used both extensively will tell you similar stories. Everyone.

[stomachmonkey]

Based on your intended usage the 24 in iMac is an awesome choice for a home computer.

Easy decision.

[DByers]

Well my wife will be heading out to the Mac Store here in town to test drive the iMac. I am sure she will want one. For me I dont care one way or another. I am flexable enough and just stupid enough to make anything work for what I am doing (right now I am using a 8 year old Toshiba laptop with an 11" screen that was under my kids bed for the last 4 years). It took me awhile to get everything to work on our PC with out to much trouble and it did take awhile to make and burn DVD's but I was able to fumble thru. If the Mac does not work for me for whatever reason I will just get a new hard drive for our existing tower and use it and let my wife use here pretty iMac.
Everyone I have talked to locally who uses a Mac cant say enough bad things about PC's. But a friend at MS who I recently saw when I was in Seattle (by the way HD the Prime Card Rocks!) told me to get a Mac. In fact he has one himself and uses it all the time. He also uses his PC all the time. He basically told me you dont use a spoon to cut a steak and you dont use a hammer to do heart surgery. The right tool for the job I guess. He is more of a realist and having only been with MS for just over a year maybe has not had the koolaid yet.
The only thing that really bugs me about all this is the lost data (no back ups, stupid me) and the fact that this new computer will cut into my Porsche budget for the year.
Thanks for all the help and opinions and I will report when we get what ever.

[Neilk]

Dan,

If you buy an Apple, order it from the online Apple store and use your "student discount". It will knock off several hundred dollars from the price. Of course you are a student at UCSB, right ? Don't worry, they don't check.

[id10t]

Get the Mac, esp. for video/photo stuff. If you *must* run something in windows, get a copy of parallels and run windows... while you are running OS X as well.

[herr_oberst]

You will love a Mac. Get the 24 inch. More real estate than you'll need, then you can get the aquarium screen saver for a lovely decorative accent in your home.

I use them at home and I use them at work. When I have to use a PC, it is like driving a beat up, hard driving, non-syncro, granny-geared 4wd dodge power wagon down a narrow, hilly dirt road in a rainstorm.

Having said that, I am looking into a PC because I am thinking of getting a driving game, (GPL) and Macs still suck in that arena. Ironic, considering the dodge power wagon illustration I described earlier, ha ha.

BTW, Adobe makes a crippled version of Photoshop for less than 100 bucks that fits the Macintosh to a Tee. It's called Photoshop Elements.

[kstar]

Dan:

The Mac is perfect for what you need and if you really need Windows, which you probably won't, you can run that too . . . on your Mac.

My experience is anecdotal as well, but since my first Mac 128k in 1984, I have never had a Mac die on me.

The big iMac would be a great choice, IMO, but even the 17 and 20 inchers have plenty of screen for most folks. Always safe to go 2GB on RAM as well.

Good luck on your choice and best to you!

Kurt

edit: A decent Photoshop alternative is Gimp/Gimpshop and it's free, FWIW.

[nostatic]

iMovie is one of the best pieces of software ever written. Period. When you combine it with the other iapps, you have about the best digital media machine ever.

No contest. Seriously.

get the biggest screen you can afford.

[Drew001]

Originally posted by Neilk
Dan,

If you buy an Apple, order it from the online Apple store and use your "student discount". It will knock off several hundred dollars from the price. Of course you are a student at UCSB, right ? Don't worry, they don't check.

Dan has probably already made his purchase, but those thinking about buying a Mac in the future should look into buying from PowerMax or Small Dog Electronics.

Both are Apple Authorized Resellers and both do not charge sales tax.
No sales tax allows you to put that money towards more RAM, external HD, AppleCare, etc.

[DByers]

Thanks for the additional opinions. We have not bought yet. Probably next week sometime.

Drew001 - Thanks for the links. If we go Mac I will probably buy from my local store. (Not a CompUsa or Fry's) I live, run a small business and spend my money locally. Living in Santa Barbara is hard and not cheap but its worth it. I just like to keep my $ local when possible. If he can get in the ball park with the price he gets my business because his service so far has been great.
With the internet its harder to keep business local, but for me a purchase goes beyond the price of what ever it is. A topic for another thread I guess.

Thanks again,
Dan

[stomachmonkey]

There is really not much margin in the hardware, couple'a percent. Not something you can really shop for a "monster" deal other than the Apple online store in the refurb section.

If you have an Apple retail location locally they usually have some open box returns in the back that they can give you a deal on. They (at least my Apple store does) will sell you a floor model at a good price if you ask.

In terms of service I find the Apple retail locations are great at taking care of your problems. They will give you 1 on 1 training if you ask, let you schedule service appts online or by phone, can take care of most everything right on the spot.

People love to ding Apple but they have been wildly succesful with their retail locations where Gateway failed miserabley.

Dell had always thought retail to be a losing propostition. Based on Apples success Dell are starting to open retail locations.

Follow the leader.

[stevepaa]

What happened to your hard drive? Maybe one of us can retrieve the data for you. I am doing it now for my daughter's computer. A recent Mac which appeared to be dead, but I am able to recover everything off it using some recovery software.

As for which computer, I have had Macs for 17 years and only use a PC at work. It really is easy to use for what you have described.

[DByers]

Okay, Got the 24" iMac two days ago and so far I likey! Need to adjust the way I hink a little but change is a good thing. Thanks for all the advise!

Steve, the hard drive was gone. A friend who does recovery work basically had not seen this kind of failure but twice in his 15 years. The drive head (?) probably scratched the hard drive and the onl way to really see if any data was there would be to scrap the disk. Sounded pretty technical and there was nothing of real importance on it at least for me. I did back up all my pics and videos regularly. Other stuff was jus fluff an fur excep for my wifes music files. Oh well.

[snowman]

Forget macs or apples. They are bs, no one supports them and the average user will suffer if he has any problems with one of them.

Go to Costco and buy one of their better offerings. You can't go wrong. If you don't like it just take it back.