My Mac is tired

[Gordon]

Here I am, at home, with my ancient Macosaurrus. It's really feeling the pain of the internet, these days. --Webpages load slowly, and video doesn't play.

$1200 for a new Mac, or half that for a Windows machine? I'll continue saving my pennies. --That's how much I really like the Mac experience. It's a quality product. My only complaint, and it is a serious one, is Apple abandoned the older computer users, when it issued OS X. They made a conscious decision to maroon the older OS survivors. --What that means is, I have lost the ability to view most video due to newer updates to the Flash software online which exclude OS 9 people. My old Mac is actually capable of playing the video, but the software available is not backward compatible.

I paid $499 for this original close-out iMac, back in 1999. It has served me well, at ten hours a day, for ten years, lol, but I really need to give it a rest.

Any dedicated Mac fans here? And do you think Apple will ever reduce the price for entry level Macs again?

 

[mouse_chalk]

:wave: Mac fan here!! And my other half Steve, being a web developer, is a Mac fanatic too!

I have only had mine a year so haven't experienced the software issues like you have, but I have had absolutely no complaints whatsoever. I LOVE it! I always say that the best thing about them is that they just 'work'- I think I've had to reboot about 3 times in the past year unexpectedly, compared to 3 times daily (at least) with my Sony Vaio that had Vista installed! I will never ever go back to Windows either...



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAd6bjc5V6k[/ame] :biggrin2:



As for the price, I'd love them to be a bit cheaper, more affordable, because then more people would buy them, but sadly I don't think it would happen anytime soon. I do think you get your money's worth with them though- I'd much rather spend a bit more on a Mac any day!

 

[Brandy456]

Windows ftw !
=)

 

[mardigraskisses]

What exactly do you use your computer for?

 

[Gordon]

mouse_chalk wrote:

:wave: Mac fan here!! And my other half Steve, being a web developer, is a Mac fanatic too!
I think I've had to reboot about 3 times in the past year unexpectedly, compared to 3 times daily (at least) with my Sony Vaio that had Vista installed! I will never ever go back to Windows either...

My mother has a Sony Vaio, and she is going to be buying a new computer soon, and putting her Sony in the basement where an old HP machine lives. She likes to have a backup. My mother was online years before I was, and is completely addicted to her email, and being "connected", so she must have a reliable backup computer. She cracks me up.

Anyway, I've tried to get her into the cult of Mac, but she's firmly entrenched in Windows.

 

[Gordon]

mardigraskisses wrote:

What exactly do you use your computer for?

I am a basic computer user. I use it for email, and forums like this, but my disappointment has been the lack of software updates out there to let me use YouTube, and Flash-based websites.

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Another big Mac fan here :wave:

I've always loved Mac, way back when I was studying geology we had the very old Macintoshes in the geology labs. They were so much easyer, even back then, than the computers we had to use in computer class!

And when I moved here, I found out my husband was hooked on them too

We had to buy a "new" one last summer too, to replace an older model. We were able to go to using OSX though on our old one, even though it couldn't handle the latest OS.
We ended up buying refurbished from the online apple store and got a very good one for just under $1000. We're very happy with it, not had a problem since.

 

[mardigraskisses]

Gordon wrote:

mardigraskisses wrote:

What exactly do you use your computer for?

I am a basic computer user. I use it for email, and forums like this, but my disappointment has been the lack of software updates out there to let me use YouTube, and Flash-based websites.

Then my vote goes to PC.

You can get a great laptop for half the price of a new Mac. Although, since you've been using Mac for so long, Vista may be a problem. :twitch:

I love my Gateway laptop. Never had any problems with it.

 

[Gordon]

mardigraskisses wrote:

You can get a great laptop for half the price of a new Mac. Although, since you've been using Mac for so long, Vista may be a problem. :twitch:

I love my Gateway laptop. Never had any problems with it.

Well, I'm a bit stubborn. It's the rabbit in me.

I'm holding out for Apple to drop the entry level iMac's to $999.

 

[Gordon]

Hazel-Mom wrote:

Another big Mac fan here :wave:

We were able to go to using OSX though on our old one, even though it couldn't handle the latest OS.
We ended up buying refurbished from the online apple store and got a very good one for just under $1000. We're very happy with it, not had a problem since.

Yeah, that $1000 number is a psychological barrier more than anything for me. I have a friend who works in the educational field, and he could buy one at the reduced rate for schools, for me, but I want to do it honestly.

 

[BethM]

Don't Mini Mac's run more in the $500 range?

If you're just using it for email, internet, and such, a Mini Mac will be fine.

 

[Gordon]

BethM wrote:

Don't Mini Mac's run more in the $500 range?

If you're just using it for email, internet, and such, a Mini Mac will be fine.

That's true, but I really need a new monitor, too, and those Mac Mini's are just hardrives.

 

[undergunfire]

MAC!! I just bought one a little over a month ago and I am in love with it. I bought the silver macbook because I thought the white would get dirty quicker. I bought the energy saver macbook....the screen dims when the lights dim (saves you're eyes, too!). I paid a bit less then $1200 (purchased at Best Buy).

I can honestly say that I will never, ever purchase a PC again. They crap out in such a short time that you might as well just spring for a macbook. I look forward to owning my macbook for years, compared to the 2 years a PC usually lasts me. I purchased a Gateway with Vista 2 years ago and it was starting to run really slow and it was frustration. For as much as I use the computer every day....I needed something that ran fast. We gave my Gateway to my MIL and she loves it because it is brand new to her....her old Dell laptop was like over 5 years old and on its last legs (or should have died 2 years ago), haha!

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Gordon, anyone can buy refurbished from them. My husband too works in education and could get one at "reduced education price", but it turned out refurbished was even cheaper!
They are often better too, because they have been competely gone over and so you are sure everything works properly.
They also come with all the latest operating system and software, and are set up and ready to go. Free shipping, too, so what could be better

 

[Gordon]

undergunfire wrote:

MAC!! I look forward to owning my macbook for years, compared to the 2 years a PC usually lasts me. I purchased a Gateway with Vista 2 years ago and it was starting to run really slow and it was frustration. For as much as I use the computer every day....I needed something that ran fast. We gave my Gateway to my MIL and she loves it because it is brand new to her....her old Dell laptop was like over 5 years old and on its last legs (or should have died 2 years ago), haha!

My mother has had 4 Windows computers, and is getting ready to purchase her 5th, compared to my one and only Mac. Granted, she started her interest in computers before I did, and that was maybe 1994-ish, compared to me, around 2000, but in the grand scheme of things, I think I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of my Mac. I just need to bite the carrot and buy a new one.

 

[Gordon]

Hazel-Mom wrote:

refurbished was even cheaper!
They are often better too, because they have been competely gone over and so you are sure everything works properly.
They also come with all the latest operating system and software, and are set up and ready to go. Free shipping, too, so what could be better

I didn't know the online Apple store sold refurbs. The free shipping sounds awesome, but I'm very leery of buying such a big ticket item mail-order.

 

[mouse_chalk]

I just hate that Windows machines come so over-stuffed with random trials of software and crap that you don't really need, which makes it slow from the off. Plus then there's the constant hassle/worry of anti-virus and anti-spyware software/scanning. I used to get annoyed every Sunday evening when my laptop would do a virus scan and run at a (even slower than normal) snail's pace for 3 hours while it scanned. I'd end up postponing it, and then getting spyware because I wasn't running the scans properly!

Not had a single thought of spyware/viruses etc since I got my Mac- they just don't exist to me anymore! :biggrin2: Never had any hassle installing software or hardware- in fact most things I just plug in and off they go, unlike Windows where you have to install software/drivers etc before anything will budge, if it will. No freaking out because you get a 'Your computer will restart in 10, 9, 8.... seconds' countdown and you're in the middle of something big. No opening a program and then having to go and make a cup of tea whilst it thinks about opening it or not... None of that!

I'm a much less-stressed person since I got my Mac, and I love it!!





Oh, and did I mention that they're pretty too? :coolness:

 

[BethM]

I'm going to be the voice of dissent here, because I am very happy with my Windows computers.

I am still running Windows XP, and when there is no longer support for it I will skip Vists and go to Windows7.

I have been using the same Windows computer for about 7 years, and it is plenty fast. I have found that when there is a speed issue, it is usually my own fault for putting too much stuff on it, and not maintaining it the way I should. Over the years, I have upgraded some of the components (processer, motherboard, video card, hard drive), and doing some upgrades yourself is really easy and much less expensive than buying a whole new computer every time one of the components slows down. Of course, some of the "major" computer companies don't allow you to do this, because they want you to buy a new computer from them.

As far as scanning for spyware and such, I use a really good, free program, that I can set to scan at a designated day and/or time, so it can run overnight, and will turn the computer off when it's done. I have found, though, that I can run it when I'm using the computer, and lower the resources for the scanner, and it will take maybea fewminutes longer, but won't interfere with anything I'm doing. But, I've actually never had a problem with spyware since I configured the firewall on my router.

It really only takes half an hour or so to remove all the trial programs that come with a new computer. I did mine myself when I got my netbook a few months ago. 30 minutes of my time was worth the several hundred dollars I saved by not buying a Mac.

 

[Gordon]

BethM wrote:

I'm going to be the voice of dissent here, because I am very happy with my Windows computers.

I have been using the same Windows computer for about 7 years, and it is plenty fast.  Over the years, I have upgraded some of the components (processer, motherboard, video card, hard drive), and doing some upgrades yourself is really easy and much less expensive than buying a whole new computer every time one of the components slows down.  Of course, some of the "major" computer companies don't allow you to do this, because they want you to buy a new computer from them.

You definitely know what you're doing, but the general computer user is a little more like my mother... they want something that works without tinkering.

 

[BethM]

My mom uses Windows computers, too. She can't afford a Mac.

I will agree, however, that you can't beat Apple for their design. I just think the price is way too high. (Same withSony. You can get all the same things a Vaio has for MUCH less money, it just doesn't say "Sony" and have the pretty design.)