Hi All,
I'm one step closer to getting a Mac computer.
Any comments on the following:
1 - Should I get a Mac mini or an IMac (I still have the Dell monitor, MS Natural keyboard and Logitech mouse of my old Dell system)?
A new revamped IMac which is around $1,600 will be in the market by next week.
A Mac mini which is around $630, should last for 3 or 4 years, by then a completely new technology would be out where a new
IMac or Laptop would be an interesting buy?
2 - If it's a Mac Mini, which of the 3 models should I choose for home use?
3 - Is the firewall in the OS X strong enough to do the job or do I need to install another firewall?
4 - Should I go for the All-in-one HP 1510 printer which is offered as promotion for around $20 with the Mac purchase,
or should I keep the HP DeskJet 930C and HP Scanner 3570C that I own, if compatible and better quality?
5 - Where would I go to make sure that any new software or other stuff are safe and compatible with Mac, before installation?
6 - Is Apple OS 10.4 Mail included, thus no need for additional E-Mail and Antispam software?
7 - Which is Mac compatible and the best Antivirus software to use?
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2005
Kaspersky Lab Anti-Virus personal 5.0
Symantec Norton AV 2005
Alwil Avast! antivirus ( Free )
8 - Which is Mac compatible and the best Antispyware software to use?
Microsoft AntiSpyware ( NOT )
Webroot Spy Sweeper
Computer Associates eTrust PestPatrol 2005
Spybot Search & Destroy ( Free )
9 - Is the Safari browser good enough or should I install Mozilla's Firefox or the new one by Yahoo.... I think it's called FLOK ?
10 - I use Trillian to communicate with the outside world once in a while. Is iChat good enough?
Grazie,
Ciao,
Phoenix.
Hi Phoenix,
I'm a fairly new Mac user, and although I cannot answer all your questions, I can answer some of them. I may be wrong about some of these, so anyone please correct me...
1 - Should I get a Mac mini or an IMac? Of course it depends on your usage. Look at the Mini as the equivalent of a laptop. For web browsing, e-mail, music and such everyday usage, it does a good job. The iMac is certainly attractive, and has more power, although I still wonder why they put only 512Mb of ram in them!!!
2 - If it's a Mac Mini, which of the 3 models should I choose for home use? For home use I think any will be fine. You'll want to look at the options: combo drive or super drive, bluetooth or not, etc. I do strongly recommend you get 512Mb of ram though.
3 - Is the firewall in the OS X strong enough to do the job or do I need to install another firewall? Not sure, but I used it and didn't seem to have problems.
4 - Should I go for the All-in-one HP 1510 printer which is offered as promotion for around $20 with the Mac purchase,
or should I keep the HP DeskJet 930C and HP Scanner 3570C that I own, if compatible and better quality? The all-in-one is probably a very cheap product. I tend to stay away from them... Check the compatibility of what you have. If they are in good working condition, keep them.
5 - Where would I go to make sure that any new software or other stuff are safe and compatible with Mac, before installation? Usually web sites put the OS compatibility for each piece of software. Check the Apple web site first, there is a lot of software available there.
6 - Is Apple OS 10.4 Mail included, thus no need for additional E-Mail and Antispam software? The Mail software is included.
7 - Which is Mac compatible and the best Antivirus software to use? I don't use an AV on the MAc (yikes!)
8 - Which is Mac compatible and the best Antispyware software to use? I don't use any of these (yikes again!)
9 - Is the Safari browser good enough or should I install Mozilla's Firefox or the new one by Yahoo.... I think it's called FLOK ? Safari should be good enough. If you like tabbed browsing, you can enable this in Safari. It's not ON by default.
10 - I use Trillian to communicate with the outside world once in a while. Is iChat good enough? I don't chat.
Hope this helps. Also, I hate to advertise on your thread, but I have a Mac Mini for sale, if you decide to go with the Mini. Look at recent threads...
Vince
Hi Phoenix,
I recently had to make same decision as you. Once I factored in all of the costs of the various upgrades I wanted for the mac mini, the price was fairly close to the iMac. Keep in mind that you'll also need a monitor for the Mac mini, whereas the iMac comes with one. Since the price difference between the two was not that much and the iiMac is a more powerful computer, I went for the iMac. I'm very pleased with it!
I upgraded the memory on my iMac to 1 gigtabyte. Since it wasn't a default mac configuration, I had to order it from the Mac store online. My biggest mistake was not paying a little extra for express delivery! When I submitted my order, I was expecting to receive it in no more than 2 weeks. However, it actually took almost a month to arrive!
Regards,
George
Hi
Bought an Imac in March. Great machine, especially compared to a PC, which is all I've owned till then. Wouldn't go back for anything.
Had the same questions as you do. The Imac, being a G5, does the video editing that my kids and I like without much effort, Otherwise I think an eMac (refurbished,in the bargain section of Apple.com) could have done the trick as would a Macmini. I'd say at the price they go for (minis) get the most powerful one and you'll get more money at resale time when you upgrade to an Imac in a couple of years. Don't know if they are compatible with all the PC keyboards, mice and monitor..Whatever you do you'll probably wish in a year from now you had waited for the latest product. I've enjoyed my new imac but the latest ones sure have a lot of things on it that are standad that were optional at a cost 6 months ago, or not even available. Don't buy memory from Apple; it's a lot cheaper almost anywhere else.
As far as AV, I don't use any because there's so few Mac viruses out there,according to all my research, but you can still have them on your computer and pass them on to a PC user who will be affected by them...
For the price they're asking for the printer ($20?) I'd go for it and you can sell here if you're not happy with it. My 932c printer works with osX but my HP scanner I believe doesn't (haven't tried it in a while)...
Although there have been a few great responses already I thought I would add my own. I became a Mac user when I got my first iMac G3. I hated Macs before that since my only expereince was on black and white LCIII (think 16 bits, 2 MB of memory and 1x CD-Rom add-on).
Anyways, since then I've also owned a PowerBook G4 which I ended up giving away for charity reasons and have been missing it ever since. I work as System Administrator in the Windows world but I will always be a Mac user at home. I'm waiting for the new iMac G5 with the iSight to be available in Ottawa. It has some amazing specs on it for the cost. If you don't need those however now would be a great time to get the 17" or 20" first generation iMac G5. They are selling around town for $1200 - $1700. That price can't really be beat.
As for your questions I'll provide my own insight.
1 & 2) For me, it's the iMac. I like the neatness of it. I presonally hate a cluttered deks. This of course is completely personal. Both are nice systems but if you get the 20" iMac is has a better screen than Dells. The viewable angle on Dell LCD's is as good as the 17" but not the 20".
3) By default most everything on your Mac is turned off. As a base install it's relatively secure. I've never ran any additional firewall software on my Macs and I've been at university with them (and I could sit there and monitor the probes).
4) No real comment on printers. I have an Canon IP3000 and it works. The printer will die on you quickly but you'll get your $20 worth.
5) For software you already own - most likely most of it is not going to transfer. A few game companies will provide binaries that can be used with the Windows version. As for finding new software. A great place to start is apple.com/downloads/macosx or downloads.com
6) Apple Mial is included. It works well enough for smaller mailboxes. I found it really slowed down after 13 000 (not a typo) e-mails. I found entourage (the mail application included in Microsoft Office for Mac) much better with large amounts of mail. I haven't used the latest verison of Mail though and it is supposed to be quite a bit faster.
7) I use no anti-virus software. If you aren't installing a lot of questionable software (illegal) chances of getting a Mac virus are very limited. Of course, being cautious isn't a problem - you can check out http://www.securemac.com for information on ensuring that your Mac isn't compromised. You have to consider after a Windows install is done the average Windows PC has 18 minutes to live before being infected. If you're really adventurous, the NSA has whitepapers on securing Mac OS X. In their papers they do note that is is one of the more secure OSes out there (comparing with other commercial UNIX vendors).
8) Spyware - same deal as above. I have never had an issue with it. The bigges tproblem you'll ever have is when asked for the root password and you enter it without knowing what to do. Like most Unix systems the worst thing that can happen to the box is you.
9) I use Safari for the most part, it does work but sometimes Firefox does come in handy for broken pages. Generally Apple does not like breaking standards whereas the Mozilla people will implement standards but also allow broken pages to be rendered. In a few cases I had to use Microsoft's IE (not sure if it's still included with OS X) due to some websites being IE only. The mix between Safari, Firefox and IE would be 95/4/1
10) There are a bunch of great IM clients out there. Adium X and Fire are the ones I really liked using. Similar to Trillian but prettier :-)
If there is anything else just ask - and of course, welcome to the Mac world.
Alright Phoenix, here we go.
Any comments on the following:
1 - Should I get a Mac mini or an IMac (I still have the Dell monitor, MS Natural keyboard and Logitech mouse of my old Dell system)?
I would go for the iMac if you can afford it, The g5 is going to give you a lot more horsepower than the g4 in the mini. It also depends on what you plan on doing with the machine.
3 - Is the firewall in the OS X strong enough to do the job or do I need to install another firewall?
I've never even turned it on.
4 - Should I go for the All-in-one HP 1510 printer which is offered as promotion for around $20 with the Mac purchase,
or should I keep the HP DeskJet 930C and HP Scanner 3570C that I own, if compatible and better quality?
if your hp components are USB they are probably supported, check HP.com chances are they are better than the all in one they are offering.
5 - Where would I go to make sure that any new software or other stuff are safe and compatible with Mac, before installation?
New Software? Like what? Mac software works on your mac.. What other stuff? Check the products website/etc..
6 - Is Apple OS 10.4 Mail included, thus no need for additional E-Mail and Antispam software?
Mail is included, it handles all my mail needs. I've never even heard of a mac antispam piece of software.
7 - Which is Mac compatible and the best Antivirus software to use?
Its nothing to be concerned about....
8 - Which is Mac compatible and the best Antispyware software to use?
Well, i've owned a mac for about 2 years, what is this 'spyware' you talk of? hmmmmm.
9 - Is the Safari browser good enough or should I install Mozilla's Firefox or the new one by Yahoo.... I think it's called FLOK ?
Safari is great, I love it, but whats stopping you from installing the other ones to try out?
10 - I use Trillian to communicate with the outside world once in a while. Is iChat good enough?
If you use AIM then iChat is good enough. I generally use the official msn messenger client by microsoft (it finally supports display pictures and has a clean interface that matches the rest of the OS) I also use iChat and yahoo messenger. There are similar programs to trillian out there, probably better too. I dont use them.
Enjoy, and relax its not a big thing, at least it wasnt for me.