Buying a Mac

So my wife wants a Mac desktop... why, I'll never know.

Anyway, are there any benefits to going to MyMacDealer or West World over just runnin to FS or Best Buy or something?

Fanin80, can you suggest a moderately priced one... in teh 1500-1800$ range?

Thanks

[Barnes]

The Top 21.5" iMac would be perfect at $1599. The 27" has a bunch of LCD problems and I would be hesitent.

I hate MyMacDealer. If you have a problem with the Fanboy attitude, you'll want to firebomb this place.

Westworld is OK.

FS or BB is fine if you know what you want and don't have questions. DO NOT get their warranty. Apple's Applecare can be purchased anytime in the first year and will cover it top to bottom for 3 years.

Apple.ca has free shipping.

If you collect airmiles, you can purchase through apple.ca at the airmiles shop.

The Apple Store in Market Mall could help you and your wife with some of the basics.

[FanIn80]

London Drugs is my new favourite place to buy Apple stuffs. Apple hardware is pretty much the same price anywhere you go. Peripherals are usually marked up, but most places (like London Drugs) will match the Apple Retail Store price.

What Barnes said is pretty bang-on, can't go wrong with either the $1299 or the $1599 21" iMac. The $1599 has the 1TB HD and the ATI graphics card, while the $1299 has 500GB and an nVidia 9400 on-board chip.

Edit: Since you set your price range at $1500-$1800... that opens the door to the 27" iMac at $1799. Something else to consider. It's basically the $1599 21" iMac in a 27" screen.

[KTrain]

Go for the $1299 21" iMac. Once you add GST and AppleCare you will be at your budget limit.

This is what I have and I consider myself a fairly heavy user (graphic design and video editing). If it is your wife's first mac she will be more than happy with it and it will last her quite a while. You don't need to waste your money by the absolute latest Mac if she doesn't have a point of reference to work from.

[FanIn80]

Yeah that's pretty much the way to go. The $1299 iMac is more than enough computer for most people.

[bubbsy]

go on the website, and go for the student discount.

We moved to a mac 6 months ago and loved.

IMAC is wicked.

[Buff]

Going with a mac was the worst decision I've ever made.

I might just settle on ordering it form the Apple store.

Where does iWork fit into the scheme of things? Just get a mac version of office or go with iWork?

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Buff

Going with a mac was the worst decision I've ever made.

You could sell it and get a PC. The resale of Macs is great. You should get more than enough to buy a nice PC.

I'm serious. Not trying to sound like a prick.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Bent Wookie

Where does iWork fit into the scheme of things? Just get a mac version of office or go with iWork?

I bought Office just because I'm so used to using it on my work PC. I think it's a personal preference thing because from what I understand iWork does the same stuff.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Buff

Going with a mac was the worst decision I've ever made.

what do u find the most annoying troubling aspects of the transition to the mac?

i'm curious, as i just moved to a mac recently as well.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Bent Wookie

I might just settle on ordering it form the Apple store.

Where does iWork fit into the scheme of things? Just get a mac version of office or go with iWork?

iWork can import most simple office docs no problem. If you need to work with docs that have lots of tables, checkboxes, and other form-like elements on them, such the change request forms I have to fill out for work, Office 2008 works better.

For home/student use, iWork is very nice. I often use it for my own small document needs because its quicker and easier to get good looking layouts out of. For office work at home use, Office 2008 is the better choice, or run both like I do.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by fotze

Doubt its any of those reasons if it qualifies for "worst decision ever made". Probably more along the lines of the mac dealer banged his wife, or it fell into the tub and zapped hid kid, or he was in a car accident on the way home from market mall and his family was wiped out.

No kidding. If buying the wrong computer is the worst decision someone's ever made, then they've probably had a fairly easy life.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Not a fan of iwork, use office instead. I recommend refurbished apples from their website too. Saves some money, they seem brand new when you get them and have the same warrantees.
I've bought many refurb Apple products and have been happy with them all.

[Russic]

I love iWork. It really depends how you use it. Like somebody said above, if you're heavy into tables and such and it needs to be shared with people who use office, then perhaps picking up a copy of office would be wise. I just use it for standard stuff that stays on my computer (or gets pdf'd for sending), so I love it.

I have the downgrade of the $1299 computer that most are recommending and even it is way more computer than I need. The most intense stuff i do is video encoding and image editing and it flies through both.

Why the hate Buff?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Just noticed this on Gizmodo - you might want to research this "yellowing LCD" problem a little more before buying an iMac right now.

http://gizmodo.com/5447250/the-fault...saga-chapter-1

[woob]

I bought a refurb 15in MacBook Pro and love it. I have OS-X and Windows installed on it so I can flip back and forth if I need to. I mostly use Windows for Civilization 4, since I already had the Windows version and didn't want to purchase the Mac version. Next up is to get ntfs-3g running so I can read/write to my Windows drive. Not sure what I'm going to go with to read hfs on the OS-X drive from Windows. It has been fun learning the tricks of a new OS.

[Titan]

I'm not really a fan of iWork but I am definately not a fan of shelling out whatever office costs. I don't use it enough to warrant the expense.

I have loved my mac but there are definitely differences that will take a while to get used to. I would search the tech talk for mac forums as there have been extensive advice given on the transition. Mac 101 here: http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/ is also a great start. In almost 2 years I have had only one problem that was fixed by a wipe and re-install. Zero maintenance compared to a pc. I like that part. If only I could find a cheap time capsule...

[HotHotHeat]

Nothing better than a PC fanboy needing advice on buying a Mac for his wife haha. Priceless.

[Titan]

I have also heard that if you enter a student ID Apple doesn't care. At your own risk but we used my wife's work id from MRC and it worked fine and she is not an employee. Might be worth a shot. Not super savings on the hardware but software may be cheap.

Also, loading windows is incredibly easy to install and use and is very cool. I have not done it yet but it looks pretty sweet.