Kevin's Watch

It's getting near time for me to buy a new computer. I've just been browsing around on Apple's website and I've got some of questions for you Apple users.

What is the difference, more than a cosmetic one, between an iMac and an eMac?

How great a learning curve is necessary for one who has only used Windows? Is their operating system as easy as they say?

Am I going to spend $2000+ on an Apple just to have to replace it in 3 years? Or is their useful life a little longer?

Ive never had a Mac, sorry cant help you!

I know two people who have Macs and are very happy with them. One is an artist and swears he could never use a PC for what he does, but the Mac is perfect.
I've never used a Mac, so I can't give you any firsthand knowledge.

Thanks. I was asking a friend who knows more about this topic than I do. He thought I was nuts for looking at a Mac for 2 reasons. Since only 7% of the machines out there are Macs, it is harder to get, and share files and software. To me not a big deal. I don't do much of that anyway. Second, since they depreciate in value so swiftly, it's stupid to invest so much for a machine that you can get for a fraction of its current value in 18 months. That arguement is a little better.

Since I'm a couple of months away from a final decision, theres time to think on it.

My computer is a HP. It seems to work pretty well. My neighbor has a Gateway and she likes it pretty well. And the computers at my school are eMac's. They work pretty well.

For general use, I figure an Apple is over-kill.

I agree .. I love Mac's but am just not rich enough to invest in a mac .. as you say .. its an elite niche market ... parts are expensive .. upgrades less practicable ..

for general use .. a pc gets my vote ..

Well, my iMac arrived yesterday. It's really a great looking machine. I'm really impressed by the relatively few amount of wires needed for setting it up. There is no clutter behind it. It looked like a spilled plate of spaghetti behind my Dell.

Right now, I'm in the process of transfering files from my Dell. Of course there are hiccups. Quicken is proving harder to transfer than I thought, and I forgot my password at the Hangar, so I have to wait for those goofs at ezboard support to get around taking care of that. What is that - I've never had someone have to manually take care of a forgotten password before.

It's been a while since I used an Apple, but I think I'm getting a hang of the O.S. quicker than I thought I would.

Good for you! I'm Apple illiterate.

Damelon wrote:Well, my iMac arrived yesterday. It's really a great looking machine. I'm really impressed by the relatively few amount of wires needed for setting it up. There is no clutter behind it. It looked like a spilled plate of spaghetti behind my Dell.

Right now, I'm in the process of transfering files from my Dell. Of course there are hiccups. Quicken is proving harder to transfer than I thought, and I forgot my password at the Hangar, so I have to wait for those goofs at ezboard support to get around taking care of that. What is that - I've never had someone have to manually take care of a forgotten password before.

It's been a while since I used an Apple, but I think I'm getting a hang of the O.S. quicker than I thought I would.

Let me know what you think. I've used Macs for a LONG time, but when my 18-month-old Power Mac dies, I'm not sure if I'm going to get a new Mac. Apple definitely has to start using micro-processors that can compete with the new high-end Pentium 4s.

The issue that made me consider the Mac was that I got tired of downloading programs that would have a negative impact somewhere else. I downloaded Opera, and somehow it disabled the Java console that allowed me to send work email at home. If every time I download something I have to check all the other programs to see that they are ok then its too much of a pain.

I'll let you know about how it goes. I've still got a couple of issues to address with my Palm and printer.

Good luck! As my new computer is a Dell, I can really relate to the spilled spaghetti comment!
And there aren't enough plugs in the back, so in order to use the scanner, I have to unplug my camera cradle, and to use the camera, I have to unplug the scanner amd, well, you get the idea!

And now that you have the Apple, are you enjoying it????

I like it. The hardest part of the transition was transfering Quicken files over from the Dell. I had some problems with my Palm as well, but that was more from having an old Palm.

In terms of ingrained habits the hardest one to break is that the red square in the window doesn't close the program as it does in Windows. It gets rid of the window, but the program runs in the background. To close a program you have to go to the menu bar.

All in all I think it was a good investment.