Should I buy an iMac?

[Tim Dorr Veteran]

I don't use macs. I don't like their closed-ness. I like to be able to control my conputer inside and out. This is slowly changing. Nowadays, you can control the basic components of high-end macs, but components still have to comply to mac specifics leaving you with little variety (think same).

First off: Mac OS X has an open-source kernel. That's DAMN open compared to MS. I can (and do for my uptime program) use kernel functions directly, and not have to use some bass ackwards API call to do it. As for hardware, I don't CARE about doing much modification to it. It's not like I have a choice of CPU provider, or mobo. I buy the box, it works. If I want to add RAM, Video, Sound, HD's, CD's, etc, I can. You're just stuck with the CPU, which you have no choice on anyways...

I cant stand one-button mice!

Um, my mouse has two buttons and it's DEFINITELY plugged into my mac, not my pc :D If you take anything from my post, it's this: Macs are no longer one-button mouse systems!!!!

OK? :D

LCDs rock!!

Well, can't argue there :D

Macs are seeming more PCish everyday. (think command line, .extensions, hardware openness, etc.)

Macs are hardly PC-like (don't get me into big and little endian!). Unix > NT in terms of kernels (especially when you get corporate funding involved ;) ), it just happens to bring along a nice CLI. Extensions are in macs, but the methods for storing filetypes are essentially the same hidden format. You can overrride a file's extension type on a per-file basis. This isn't a bad thing. I don't want A_Text_File.txt, I want A_Text_File. It's cleaner and more human-like :)

Circumstantially, Windows has the most games.

Circumstantially, mac OS has the most digital media software for things like audio and video editing.

I have to agree here. The altivec unit is great for a/v stuff (but even better for games if people programmed right...). Macs do get games, and mainly the good ones.

Anyhoo, just wanted to point out some inaccuracies in your logic for not liking macs entirely. You still don't have to like Macs, but I'd rather you just know the truth :)

[Silvorgold]

when i got my ibook, i was showing my dad some other laptops that day, there was a price tag thingy (and description) for a 12" laptop, and the ibook was a couple hundred bucks cheaper than that laptop, and the ibook had alot better specs (and the ibook is well worth the price :D), and the 14" laptops the store was selling (ibook is still better deal) had cruddy specs, the 800mhz ibook line is almost as fast as an average imac/emac :D

[frod]

well macs are one button mice machines in terms of laptops, but come on. everyone i know who owns any type of laptop plugs in an external mouse when doing anything that requires more than minimal cursor movement. and for this, i will plug my trusty microsoft mouse into my powerbook, hehe. i do have to say that i think microsoft makes very good peripherals, and at least they're taking a step towards good with windows xp.

[aristotle-dude]

I've been playing Return to Castle Wolfenstien (sp?) Demo on my eMac and the graphics are smooth as silk. What more do you need? Sure people with faster PC's might be able to brag about faster Quake fps benchmarks but if the gameplay and graphics are smooth, who cares about benchmarks?

I have found the gfx in games to be smoother on my Mac. It seems like my XP machine would develop memory leaks and would end up swaping like crazy after a while (on some 3D games) causing stalling and jerky graphics.

Examples of this: Star Trek Armada I & II and Empire Earth.

Edited December 23, 2002 by aristotle-dude

[Wickedkitten Veteran]

I've been playing Return to Castle Wolfenstien (sp?) Demo on my eMac and the graphics are smooth as silk. What more do you need? Sure people with faster PC's might be able to brag about faster Quake fps benchmarks but if the gameplay and graphics are smooth, who cares about benchmarks?

I have found the gfx in games to be smoother on my Mac. It seems like my XP machine would develop memory leaks and would end up swaping like crazy after a while (on some 3D games) causing stalling and jerky graphics.

Examples of this: Star Trek Armada I & II and Empire Earth.

im playing that demo at the mo as well as the warcraft 3 one.

I can't wait til we get a dr botts dviator so i can pop back in the radeon 8500 to see how much better it looks than on this gf2mx, not that it looks bad by any means on this.

[intensityx]

If you want one then get one. If you like IMacs then get one. If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket then get one.

Can't you people make any decisions on your own??? :wacko:

While I'm here... I'm thinking about getting a new tooth brush I've had mine for two months and I know I'm supposed to get a new one every three months, but I'm sick of my old one and I saw a really cool new one at the drugstore. I'm wondering if i should get it. What do you guys think?

[Silvorgold]

when i was deciding on a mac, i had my eye on a few diff macs...and i ended up with a mac i least thought i was going to get (half a year ago), some people here arent too sure what to get since they think all of apple's products are beautiful, and just cant decide, but have a budget to get a mac...

have very little room for a computer: get an imac/ibook

low budget: low end emac or low end imac (and a cheap pair of 2.x speakers)

money is no object but u want an all in one machine: 17" imac

you want a mac mainly for graphics/producing movies (like lots of it) and have very lil money: 17" imac

"...but money is no object: powermac DDR G4 or powerbook

want a beautiful fast machine: any imac

have bad eyes: imac/ibook

just want it to play around with osx: emac

your in school: ibook

the switch adds are hypnotizing you: imac

u cant take windows anymore: imac/emac/ibook/powerbook/powermac

you want to buy something thats made by apple but dont want to spend over $1000 and you currently only have a pc: windows ipod (10 gig is best buy)

want it for a gaming machine: powermac probably with a high end card..but u migh as well just a pc for gaming

lots of internal storage: high end emac, high end emacs, powermac

best computer for your buck: imac/ibook

i dont get tired of these types of threads only cuz i created way too many of these threads from august-nov since i didnt know what mac i wanted :(

[patseguin Global Moderator]

intensityx, ROFL! I highly recommend the Braun Oral B dental care system. ;-)

Seriously though, I more or less posted this topic to have people help push me over the edge into buying the iBook. The only real reasons are that I love OS X and I've never owned a Mac before. I worked on a IIci a long time ago that had (I believe) a Motorola 68030 and 8MB RAM. The new notebooks are just sweet!

[Chad]

If you want one then get one. If you like IMacs then get one. If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket then get one.

Can't you people make any decisions on your own??? :wacko:

While I'm here... I'm thinking about getting a new tooth brush I've had mine for two months and I know I'm supposed to get a new one every three months, but I'm sick of my old one and I saw a really cool new one at the drugstore. I'm wondering if i should get it. What do you guys think?

Why do you think neowin even exists? So the community can HELP PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS. Whether it's on a sofware/hardware problem, what gaming console to buy, or what hardware to get for the pc.

The next time you ask for help on something, we'll make sure we don't answer. Make the decision on your own.

I'm all for the ibook. And btw, you CANNOT get 640 mb of ram for 40 from apple.com. Silver dragon is mistaken. All ibooks come with 128mb. You can double the ram to 256 for 40 dollars. But if you want apple to put in 640, it will cost you 200. Since when is 256x2 640 anyway?

[frod]

I'm all for the ibook. And btw, you CANNOT get 640 mb of ram for 40 from apple.com. Silver dragon is mistaken. All ibooks come with 128mb. You can double the ram to 256 for 40 dollars. But if you want apple to put in 640, it will cost you 200. Since when is 256x2 640 anyway?

ibooks come with 128 built in to the mobo and an extra dimm for another stick with a max size of 512, hence the 640 number.

[Gator]

I'm all for the ibook.  And btw, you CANNOT get 640 mb of ram for 40 from apple.com.  Silver dragon is mistaken.  All ibooks come with 128mb.  You can double the ram to 256 for 40 dollars.  But if you want apple to put in 640, it will cost you 200.  Since when is 256x2 640 anyway?

ibooks come with 128 built in to the mobo and an extra dimm for another stick with a max size of 512, hence the 640 number.

What he means is that the double your memory for $40 special at apple.com will not give you 640mb of ram in the iBook, only 256 (128x2).

[Aragorn]

I personally don't own a Mac, because I my paycheck barely pays for bills (i gotta eat, sleep and drive right? ;)) If I could afford it, I'd have one.

Anyway, I've done my research. I wasn't interested in Macs until I checked out OS X when it first came out at Compusa. I was amazed, I had hated the look of OS up until then. A few weeks later, I met a guy (who is now a good friend of mine) who owns a Mac. His house is a PC free house, and PCs have never entered his house. I played alround with OS X when I was at his house one evening (while at a party), iMovie, iTunes...wow.

I say get one, but don't forget PCs. I like XP, and all the Windows before hand (minus ME). In my eyes, Macs and Wintel computers are just like Ford Motor Company and GM cars. Both are cool, neither are better than the other, and both basically are the same.

[bdpmax]

If you are 50 percent unsure of buying it, just try it out for 30 days.

[Chad]

I'm all for the ibook. ?And btw, you CANNOT get 640 mb of ram for 40 from apple.com. ?Silver dragon is mistaken. ?All ibooks come with 128mb. ?You can double the ram to 256 for 40 dollars. ?But if you want apple to put in 640, it will cost you 200. ?Since when is 256x2 640 anyway?

ibooks come with 128 built in to the mobo and an extra dimm for another stick with a max size of 512, hence the 640 number.

What he means is that the double your memory for $40 special at apple.com will not give you 640mb of ram in the iBook, only 256 (128x2).

Yep that's what i was getting at. ibooks come with 128. If you try to use the double your memory deal for 40, that will give you 256mb of ram, not 640 as Silver Dragon said earlier.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Mine came with 256 MB and I paid $40 and got 640MB.

[pizza]

I'm all for the ibook.  And btw, you CANNOT get 640 mb of ram for 40 from apple.com.  Silver dragon is mistaken.  All ibooks come with 128mb.  You can double the ram to 256 for 40 dollars.  But if you want apple to put in 640, it will cost you 200.  Since when is 256x2 640 anyway?

ibooks come with 128 built in to the mobo and an extra dimm for another stick with a max size of 512, hence the 640 number.

Don't the 14" models come with 256?

[Chad]

I guess I've never even looked at the 14inch ibooks. The 12"ers are my bag. But yeah the third highest model comes with 256. I stand corrected. But who wants a 14" ibook anyway? :wacko: :)

[Samoa]

There are LOADS of threads about this subject, try looking at one of them :rolleyes:

You and only you answer that for yourself.

[frod]

yeah, that's what powerbooks are for ;)

[Chad]

There are LOADS of threads about this subject, try looking at one of them :rolleyes:

You and only you answer that for yourself.

Your post is just spam. It has nothing to do with the topic. Let the mods decide if the thread is ok, and they seem to think it is.

EDIT: Well before he edited his post, it mentioned this thread was spam. Nevermind... :wacko:

Yeah iBook's are supposed to be small! Leave the massive screen to the TiBook