Geek (mac/pc) Question

Eamon

Eamon

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Eamon
OK. I have had it with my PC yet again. Even with never opening any attatchments & using Firefox to surf..... The dam thing locks at the bios screen or says no HD then it trys to start & xp loads but goes to safe mode.... Ugg. I then went to a July save of XP restore & it worked for a week & then.....ugggg


I think I am ready to buy a Mac Mini. All my friends with Macs have no OS problems???

The questions I have are.............

I have 4-5 HDs with info on them from my last 4-5 PCs.

If I get an external HD case with a USB connection, Will the MAC be able to read the music & photo files?

DO i need any software for this?

If I decied not to go with the mac, what other OS do you reccomed to run on a PC? Redhat, Fadora, Unix?

I can pull apart & put together any pc. I am good with hardware & ok with software, But I haven't done any programing since I got rid of my TRS-80
 
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Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
No.
Yes.

I'll tell you more detail later.

Get a Mac Mini. I'll recommend an enclosure. A mac can read it native.
 
Do it. I plan to just as soon as I have 1K stashed away so I can max out the specs on the mini. :D
 
As they've said, yes to all of the above. I'd recommend skipping the Mini (you too, William). They were barely refreshed last time, have a cheap & slow internal HD, don't come with a keyboard/mouse, and are considered to be dead-end. Refurbed last-generation 17" iMac's can be had under $1k at the Apple store online. There aren't any there right now, but there's a 20" job at $1099. Keep checking every morning and you can pick up a good one.

OTOH, refurbed Mini's can be had in the $429-$479 range if you're looking for "value."

-Rich
 
rpadula said:
As they've said, yes to all of the above. I'd recommend skipping the Mini (you too, William). They were barely refreshed last time, have a cheap & slow internal HD, don't come with a keyboard/mouse, and are considered to be dead-end. Refurbed last-generation 17" iMac's can be had under $1k at the Apple store online. There aren't any there right now, but there's a 20" job at $1099. Keep checking every morning and you can pick up a good one.

OTOH, refurbed Mini's can be had in the $429-$479 range if you're looking for "value."

-Rich
Click to expand...

Yeahbut, for some reason Minis haven't been showing up as refurbs. I think that they get grabbed for use as servers right away.

The Mini is good choice as a starter Mac. It's plenty fast enough for most uses. Just get at least 2GB of RAM.

The one complaint about the iMac is the that the screen and computer are welded together so you can't upgrade the screen or computer. Not a big deal but just know that's where you would be.

That said I'd go for a 24" iMac if not a Mac Pro for my next Mac.
 
I don't know very much about Macs, I confess. I think they're great, don't get me wrong. But I don't get enough calls for Mac work to "stay current," so to speak. Also, I have a friend who knows everything about Macs, so I send most of the Mac work beyond routine work to him.

You PC sounds like it may have hardware issues, though, which might be as simple as a loose or defective HD cable. Could also be a lot of other things, but if you haven't tried replacing the cable, I would try that before tossing it overboard at altitude.

As for alternate OS's, my current favorite suggestion for newbie Windows refugees is Ubuntu. Burn yerself a live Ubuntu CD, fire it up, and see if your hardware likes it. It will be slow running off the CD, but it will give you some idea whether you're going to have to change anything expensive to make it work.

Ubuntu isn't for Linux purists (it's Debian based, but with a lot of distro-specific mods). But it's real pretty, polished, and easy-to-use; and it has the power and stability of Debian backing it up. I haven't had a single person complain about it. (In fact, they all love it.)

Oh, and it's free (though I encourage users of ANY free Linux distro to contribute something, if they can).

Rich
 
mikea said:
Yeahbut, for some reason Minis haven't been showing up as refurbs. I think that they get grabbed for use as servers right away.
Click to expand...

They're there right now. Just gotta get up early, I guess. :) They go quick.

1.66GHz Core Duo, 512 MB RAM, 60GB HD, Combo Drive (CD read/write) for $429.

Or go 1.83GHz Core Duo, 512/80/Super Drive (DVD writer too) for $479.

The Mini is good choice as a starter Mac. It's plenty fast enough for most uses. Just get at least 2GB of RAM.
Click to expand...

Mike, I just can't agree with that. The case is a PITA to open, and by the time you add RAM and possibly a new keyboard/mouse (or get a PS/2 to USB adapter for your old PC keyboard), you'd be "this close" to a refurbed iMac 17" 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo 512/160GB/Combo which is $699! Hadn't realized they got so cheap! Plus you get a very nice new screen.

Even if Eamon is comfortable taking the Mini apart, they're limited by using the 2.5" notebook hard drive form factor. Largest reasonably priced drive you can get is 160MB (~$100), which is what the iMac already has anyway, so I'd consider that a wash.

As far as RAM goes, my MB runs pretty well at 1.25GB, and I've usually got multiple stuff open. When I upgraded it last January, the 1GB sticks were $115 :eek: so I only did one. The second one is on it's way, now that they're down to $45. :yes: Funny how memory pricing goes like that when the economy gets soft.

The one complaint about the iMac is the that the screen and computer are welded together so you can't upgrade the screen or computer. Not a big deal but just know that's where you would be.
Click to expand...

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I could've kissed Apple for making my Macbook's HD easy to remove in addition to the RAM. First thing I did was toss the 60GB from the cheap model and put in a nice hitachi 160GB!


-Rich
 
Check out Apple's site. They just announced the new iMac, faster and cheaper. They also have a deal where I believe they will transfer all your files to the Mac.
 
So.. how much of an educational discount can I get for:

  • Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
  • 16GB (8 x 2GB)
  • Mac Pro RAID Card
  • 750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • 750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • 750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • 750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB, Stereo 3D (2 x dual-link DVI)
  • Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
  • Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
  • Two 16x SuperDrives
  • Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
  • Mac OS X - U.S. English
  • Aperture 1.5 preinstalled
  • AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro (w/or w/o Display) - Auto-enroll
  • Subtotal $17,185.00
  • Estimated Ship:
    3-5 business days
    Free Shipping
Click to expand...
Hey, free shipping. :D
 
Thanks Guys.

I am going to go with a refurb Mac.

I just have to chose one.

I will also load my PC with some other than windows OS & put it in the music rome to record with.
 
Eamon said:
Thanks Guys.

I am going to go with a refurb Mac.

I just have to chose one.

I will also load my PC with some other than windows OS & put it in the music rome to record with.
Click to expand...

Load it with Ubuntu. Install Audacity. Life is good.

You're really gonna like Garage Band. You can install Audacity on the Mac, too.

Keep checking the "Blue tag" on http://store.apple.com or the refurbs on http://smalldog.com

Apple refurbs are actually better than new because they burn in refurbs for longer before shipping.
 
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wbarnhill said:
So.. how much of an educational discount can I get for:

Hey, free shipping. :D
Click to expand...

You got $17,185 on the normal apple store...

I get $15,330 on the education store, a savings of 10.8%.

Apple employees, IIRC, get to buy one of each product category (desktop Mac, laptop Mac, iPod, etc) at a 25% discount each year, and 10 of each at a 15% discount for family and friends. They also get a 50% discount on software.

Maybe I should go work there. ;)
 
There is one on there now.


Refurbished iMac 17-inch 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SuperDrive
17-inch widescreen display
1GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight camera

$849


I got a refurbished macbook last year and love it. Just got rid of my PC desktop. I am hooked!!!
 
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