Need a new Desktop...Mac or PC?

[TNJ]

Recommendations?
You'll read this and figure out quickly that I'm not an IT guy, and not Todd Rundgren in my savvy digital compositional
ability. Would I like to record music or play along to music or fly music samples to TGP? Sure, if it isnt too complicated.
Additionally, I want to clear my desk space off at home, and am looking for good screen size/res, a fast processor, and adequate storage (multi gigabyte).
I mainly do TGP/Net browsing/CD burning/sync my iPhone and the occasional tune download (which I'd like to do more of this coming year), and YouTube browsing for music lessons, etc.
Also want a nice sound system to go with it.
Hoping I can stay with it longer than the mandatory 18month tech turnover time.
I have a Mac PowerBook, and like it...but havent had an Apple desktop since the first iMac (which wasnt all that great, to be honest).
I do have an iPhone4, and really dig it, so the interface there with iTunes would be cool.
On the PC side, I have a Gateway that has served me pretty well over the past few years...but it's time to upgrade.

What should I look at?

Thanks,
S.
j

[Big Boss Man]

Mac Mini

[mep]

The iMac in whatever configuration you choose would actually be a better choice. They aren't that expensive, very easy to set up, look great and they work well.

[doublea]

Mac Mini if you have a nice monitor.

If not, iMac. I believe the 21.5" is just over a grand now. I really want to get the 27" for my wife to replace her PC.

[Joshlespaul1952]

iMac. Versatile, cheap in comparison to the rest of the Apple lineup, and extremely intuitive. Love mine.

[Jon C]

I went iMac in June (21.5") & have no significant regrets... 1 TB HD ... I don't nec. agree that they're not that expensive (they are imo) but they are easy to set up and they do work very well from what I've seen so far on this & my parents' iMacs.

If you go iMac consider a refurb to save some bucks...

[TNJ]

Hmmm...
iMac 27" Quadcore...sounds good.
Can I get them at any Apple Store?
Price range now?

S.
j

[doublea]

Hmmm...
iMac 27" Quadcore...sounds good.
Can I get them at any Apple Store?
Price range now?

S.
j

Most Apple Stores should have them in stock. $2000. 5% off if you know a teacher.

[TNJ]

My wife is a teacher, whose dept. uses Apple exclusively.

I'll ask her about getting it through her dept.

Thanks!
S.
j

[stephenT]

Hmmm...
iMac 27" Quadcore...sounds good.
Can I get them at any Apple Store?
Price range now?

S.
j

That's what I just bought, upgraded from my 3 year old 24 inch iMac. I went w/ the i7 quad core and added 8 gigs o' ram for a total of 12 gigs (photoshop user). I went w/ new from Apple but they come up as refurbs on the Apple store for $1899 plus tax. You can find the previous generation for a bit less. I went w/ new because I could get the wired keyboard w/ number pad instead of the shorter bluetooth keyboard they ship as the standard configuration. My wife's an educator so I saved a $100 buying from the Apple Store for Education. If you buy from Apple store for Education, tell them where your wife works and it's a done deal, they don't care if you're buying for yourself.

It's a beautiful screen, love the magic mouse and this iMac is FAST. Feels like my iPad, everything's pretty much instant. It's quiet and space efficient.

These folks are having a sale right now w/ some good prices.

http://www.expercom.com/

Here's a good deal on a dual core,

http://www.expercom.com/product_detail.html?p=632030&o=726,729,736,791,740,742

[playsarobin]

I've worked on iMacs and macbook pros for about 2-3 years now after being nothing but windows prior.. I still use both but I absolutely enjoy macs. They're simple, intuitive and as complex as you want them to be.

You won't go wrong with an iMac. I intend on our family computer becoming a 27" iMac after another year or so. Recording/production I'll stick to PC for now as its what I've got my time invested in and it works.
The mac is just so simple, streamlined and more than enough.

[photoguy]

Don't overlook a refurbished iMac for some savings. My last 3 came that way and are indistinguishable from new. You can order a refurbished machine at the mac store and it'll come shipped to your home.

In the bigger picture, I'm not a tech guy but absolutely depend on computers for my work (commercial photography). While PC's might represent a $$ bargain comparatively, I've found the Mac's to require less effort on my part both initially as well as over the long haul. Applecare is something to consider as well.

My basement looks like an elephant graveyard for PC's but the mac's (5) are still going strong.

[halorealm7]

I will never buy another PC again period. Fooled with my wife's PC for hours trying to get SP2 downloaded for Vista. I despise it. We have 3 Macs. Mine is an older black Macbook that's been going strong for years and never a minutes trouble. I recently downloaded Mac Word suite and that was the pinnacle for me. For my work, I can now do just as much on the Mac as I could ever do on a PC.

[sixstring531]

Just got an Apple refurb iMac (pretty much new) for a few hundred off. Great computer.

[hellbender]

New Imac guy here. Great product at a good price.

[M40A1]

My wife is a teacher, whose dept. uses Apple exclusively.


I'll ask her about getting it through her dept.

Thanks!
S.

j


For Education click here: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/findyourschool

For Business: http://store.apple.com/us_smb_78313?cid=AOSA10000022131

For Government (including current or retired military): http://www.apple.com/r/store/government/

[Blindspot]

From the requirements you described, a basic iMac is all you need. Anything else is pretty much overkill.

Though if you like overkill (I do) go for a 27" iMac jammed full of memory. That's my next purchase, just because.

[MRCHILL4]

get a mac and don't look back.

[MRCHILL4]

If your wife is a teacher or if you have kids in school you can buy through Apple's education store.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/education_routing

Also check their closeouts or refurbished section.

They're very lax about it. You don't need to put their name or anything. Just what school they work at.

Buy.com always has reconditioned imacs, etc... if you don't mind a slightly older (still Intel) machine check them out.

If you need any DAW software for OSX let me know.
yes sir good advice !

[TNJ]

Thanks for the tips, guys.
My wife is gonna look into it through the school she teaches at.
We can purchase directly from them.

S./
j

[RocksOff]

Mac Mini is the dogs balls. I'd highly recommend it.

[koen]

Save yourself some money and do *not* buy additional memory from Apple on their store. You can get it much cheaper at places like Kinston or Crucial. And don't worry if you don't know what type of memory to buy, those websites have a menu where you can find your specific Mac so you know you got the correct type.

[mep]

Save yourself some money and do *not* buy additional memory from Apple on their store. You can get it much cheaper at places like Kinston or Crucial. And don't worry if you don't know what type of memory to buy, those websites have a menu where you can find your specific Mac so you know you got the correct type.

I agree with this 100%. I bought extra memory for a fourth of the price and it took a whole ten minutes to install. :D

[rdnzl]

Agreed on the Apple memory. Its WAY overpriced. Its real easy to install on an iMac ( a little panel you remove) and not too hard on the Mini. (cover comes off, with a little trick).

[earthtonesaudio]

My Intel iMac is 5+ years old now, and I'm still happy with it. Over the years it had its logic board and LCD screen replaced, both (thankfully) under warranty so it didn't cost anything. The only upgrades I've needed have been more RAM and the latest OS. I won't buy another iMac just because when a single component goes out (like the screen) it can spell death for an otherwise good machine. If I had to replace it today I'd get a Mac Mini.

Actually if I had to choose between a brand new Windows 7 machine and my current Mac I'd probably still pick the Mac.

[dkaplowitz]

iMac 27" Quadcore...sounds good.
Yeah it does! That's a nice display to be sure. A little pricey for me, but I'm an IT person and I don't mind (in fact prefer) doing a bit of finagling if it means saving several hundred for the same amount of processing power. Then again, there aren't too many affordable 27" displays that compete at the same level as the one you'd be getting with the iMac. Still, you're paying a bit more. But if you're cool with that. Have fun!

[stephenT]

The new iMacs are a breeze to update memory, there's four slots so you can keep the OEM stuff and add two matched pairs. The new iMacs will recognize 18 GB of RAM and Apple buys from Crucial so that's what I went with.

[Faraldi]

Love Macs. I've used them exclusively for the past 11 years. I still have and use my first Mac which is a PowerBook G4.

11 year old computer that still gets it done. Yep, that works for me.

I now have a MacBook Pro which is awesome. You can build a great desktop unit on the Apple website. Just build what you want and have your wife get it through the school. Great move going to a Mac.

[buddastrat]

Mac Mini

I got mine a few months ago and LOVE it. It's great and I just used my old monitor. But I love the Apple boards so I got one of those too.