Sebby's new mac - is it a big one?

[David]

You will just have to Sebby  when is the big day ?

[Sebby]

Delivery is current estimated for 18-19 March, though I suspect/hope it will be next week some time.

[Rik]

I want a blow by blow description of your transition, Seb.

[Sebby]

Sure thing. I'm so excited; I'm really looking forward to the world of Mac, and hopefully I won't be disappointed. I'm also excited about a 24" display. You did always tell me it was the way to go.

[Rik]

It is, believe me.

[David]

Delivery is current estimated for 18-19 March, though I suspect/hope it will be next week some time.

Hope it is for you Sebby will read with interest.....

I love new toys 

[Steve]

Another one moving to the dark side Having used OS X for 5 days  It offers very little excitement it simply does the job its supposed to . If you feel you are missing something Virtual box seems to work well with OS X. you just need a copy of xp and a license key.

I miss defragging,Windows defender, UAC, spyware and AV software .I have AV on the XP virtual disk

[Simon]

Good luck with it, Seb! 

[Sebby]

Thanks, guys.

[Gary]

The one thing I would like, is a full 1080p TV, so that I can take full advantage of the Blu ray format, but I simply can't justify it, only having bought my Panasonic plasma two and a half years ago.  I also made a mistake in buying the Arcam amp last year, as it doesn't support HD audio formats, but it does make standard DVDs sound great.

I have a full 1080p TV simon and i bought a Sony STRDA2400ES which does true HD, the tv is  a Sony KDLW4500 which has a great picture, I got some Pioneer S V410 speakers, all much cheaper now as new things come out but the amp is gorgeous had great reviews in what hi fi as did the TV and speakers, now that's going to stay for years, I got the Sony BDP-S550 bluray player and I'm happy. I ditched the big tower pc and got a laptop, Acer gemstone 8930 with 4gig ddr 3 ram, 640GB hdd at 7200rrpm and a 18.4" screen with a res of 1920 by 1080 and dual band intel wireless draft N wifi adaptor, with a dual core T9400 2.53ghz processor, it suits me fine for all I will ever use a pc now and I can take it outside in the summer into the garden, it has a built in freeview tuner and bluray drive, this will stay with me till it breaks also, I'm happy with all I have now  and with recession being the catch phrase for the next god knows how many years I am not going to be buying many new gadgets, all I have is all I need at this time, and for the foreseeable future. There is always going to be something newer and brighter and with extra chic but its a money pit getting stuck into that routine, which I spent years doing, its tighten your belts time and as I said the next new thing these days seems worse than the last new thing, I toyed with the idea of a mac but I have all my money invested in windows software, and I cant justify the use of one when I don't need its features. I'll rethink in ten years on Apple as long as they are still not status symbols, possiby 

[Gary]

Thanks, guys.

My Microsoft mate swears by his mac  I just have gotten a bad taste from Apple so to speak, as they are somewhat akin to status symbols and not always with functionality at the forefront, but some MacBooks and pretty much all iMacs and Mac Pros are gorgeous, if i could justify one I would have bought one, but alas I can't, have fun with it Sebby. No registry.......oh you lucky man 

[weevil]

Don't think you will be disappointed Sebby. I've had my 24" iMac since Jan 2008 and it has been plain sailing all the way. By the look of your spec, you should have no problems whatsoever.

I do know that there were some batches which had problems with the screens (dead pixels) but I did not experience this with mine. There were some issues with Leopard when it first came out (as with most new OS) but it is really solid now. I reckon it's a good idea to get it now before Snow Leopard arrives - wait for the bugs to get ironed out and then upgrade when it is generally considered "solid".

The temptation is always to keep adding things too! Noticed you have gone for wireless keyboard and mouse, so figured you are going for the really minimal look! If that is the case, then a Time Capsule is really good too, so no plugging in external hard hard drives/cables - works great with backups (Time Machine works and you don't even notice it) + great for wireless.

I'd say the only thing against the wireless keyboards and mouse is the batteries and their usage. I have the wireless mouse (not keyboard) and one set (x2) of Energizer Lithium batteries lasts me 2 months – that's with 12 hours continual use, 5/6 days a week. It's not a big deal really but make sure you have some spares!

All the best for when it arrives. Don't think there will be any turning back once you have used it for a while.

[Steve]

Any thoughts on iwork09 or macoffice 2008 Weevil? Obviously familiar with Windows office using mainly word powerpoint and excel. I do not require anything with too many functions but good integration with ilife 09 sounds sensible and the ability to communicate with windows users.

[weevil]

To be honest Steve, I don't have first-hand experience of iWork09 and Macoffice 2008. I have (and do use) older versions but not in any great capacity, so wouldn't like to advise too much one way or the other.

What I would say, is that if you are ok with Office then iWorks should be very easy to pick up. It's made in such a way as to attract Office (basically Pages is Word, Numbers is Excel and Keynote is Powerpoint) users and enable them to get straight into it. iWorks does look nicer (as is the case with most Mac things) and is straight-forward but not sure that when you start digging deeper whether it stands up so well.

If you have a look at Versiontracker and other comparison sites, they both have mixed reactions. I think some find iWorks a bit lightweight compared to Office.

Historically, getting Windows users opening Mac/OSX native software can be problematic (not so much the other way). If communicating with Windows users is vital, I would say the path of least resistance would be to get Macoffice. The good thing is, I'm pretty sure that you can get fully functioning trial versions of both, so this would give you a good chance to compare and contrast the merits of both.

[Sebby]

Thanks for the comments. I'm going with Office 2008 because I need Excel.

[RogerP]

Hi everyone

I've been using a MacBook Pro for 2 years now and don't regret it at all, software updates and installation are so much easier. Can't wait for Snow Leopard to come out.

We still have a PC which my wife uses as my laptop has only a 120gb hard drive, but the good news is I am in the market for an iMac 24in 3.06 with a terrabyte of hard drive space, would definely go for wireless keyboard and mouse.

I just love Apple products mainly because they just work, have had a problem with my battery in laptop but a call to Applecare took 24hrs to send me a new one and the delivery man waited while repackaged the old battery for return, then Apple emailed to say they had recieved it the next day.

That's what I call service.


RogerP 

[Rik]

Thanks for that, Roger. 

[Sebby]

This thread is just making me more excited! Delivery is still showing as 18-19th March, but my fingers are crossed that it'll be sooner!

[Rik]

It's only a week or so, Seb - use the time to clear some space.

[Sebby]

I'm away anyway this week, but it would be nice if it was waiting for me when I get back on Friday.

[Rik]

I'll talk to Santa.

[Sebby]

[Steve]

Thanks Weevil. Not sure which way to go with the office package. I have tonight tried to import a calender.xls 97-2004 windows file in to Numbers and it doesn't want to know.I have had no issues yet with word.doc files into Pages (trial version)

[Sebby]

My iMac has now been shipped and, as far as I can tell, is due to be delivered tomorrow.

I've also ordered Office 2008 for Mac so I'm still reasonably compatible.

[Rik]

We'll all bate our breath for tomorrow then.