Why buy a Mac?

[paetrick]

I love Apples products, especially the iMac, I love how it's silent, small, great design and runs Mac Os x.

I'm really into the 20" (I do got the money for the 24" but I really don't "want" anything that big and I would rather spend the extra money on something else)

I like TN display's (if I would buy a Pc I would for sure buy a TN display, Just because it's what is sold to us consumers today to a reasonable price - I got a TN display at the moment as well and couldn't be happier.

With that said - I love everything about the 20" model of iMac - So why don't a buy one?

Well, why would I?

-Temperature (This is very controllable on a PC - to buy silent but good cooling fans) - I know that the iMac gets very warm - which isn't really a problem right now, the components can handle the heat for sure - The thing is ->If the components runs hot all the time -> It loose it's capacity faster, I'm sure the imac will run sloower within a year (great? no..).

-Many defective units /The ones I know which have bought "any mac" have had many problems with this, overheated motherboards, camera's not working, screens on imacs which gives noises, macbooks which gets broken chassi's without reason. (Apple does no longer deliver quiality, I guess they did in the old days as my of my friends got old mac that still are working great, it's the new ones that kinda sucks :S)

Brightness - The new 20" iMac screen has a veeery bright screen(even when lowering the brightness on the keyboard), and though there's many programs for this on the mac no program seems to handle this very good (what I've read). On a normal Hp/LG display I can just change this on a simple button on the screen -> To lower the brightness MUCH is very important for me.

Sooo, this is my concerns about buying a MAC instead of a PC, I'm not really into gaming (just plays some network games with friends) So i don't really want a PC -> But i REALLY need a new computer..

So what do you guys think?, is a MAC worth buying even though it has so many problems? (that I never has experienced on a PC).

 

[jczubach]

Mac has a really decent dictionary feature

 

[wazgilbert]

Mac has a really decent dictionary feature

Yup. if the MS wintel machine you're using now is anything to go by, you should appear significantly more developed by utilising one.

Nah scratch that. Don't bother. if you had to ask, then you don't want it.

Like the old Rolls-Royce dealers used to say, 'if you have to ask what the fuel consumption is, you can't afford one'

 

[paetrick]

Mac has a really decent dictionary feature

Hah sorry , I'm from Europe and I guess my english isn't that good

But seriously, what is your view on this?

 

[72930]

-Temperature (This is very controllable on a PC - to buy silent but good cooling fans) - I know that the iMac gets very worm - which isn't really a problem right now, the components can handle the heat for sure - The thing is ->If the components runs hot all the time -> It loose it's capacity faster, I'm sure the imac will run sloower within a year (great? no..).

Its not that warm - The iMac has plenty good enough fans to stop the machine slowing down due to heat (unless you use it in a ridiculously hot place)

-Many defective units /The ones I know which have bought "any mac" have had many problems with this, overheated motherboards, camera's not working, screens on imacs which gives noises, macbooks which gets broken chassi's without reason. (Apple does no longer deliver quiality, I guess they did in the old days as my of my friends got old mac that still are working great, it's the new ones that kinda sucks :S)

While it is true that many people have problems, the vast majority don't - as there are more Mac users, you hear more complaints

Brightness - The new 20" iMac screen has a veeery bright screen

This has a 5 star rating...

I really recommend a Mac, as OSX is just so much better than Windows...

 

[Copland]

I wouldn't worry about it slowing down due to heat. I have had several macs, and all are a lot faster than their Windows contemporaries. The Windows machines I've used all tend to get really slow due to the constant deterioration of the operating system, and then it develops a corrupt registry, and then...

but with my macs, all are running as fast or almost as fast as the day I took them out of the box.

 

[paetrick]

Nah scratch that. Don't bother. if you had to ask, then you don't want it.

Like the old Rolls-Royce dealers used to say, 'if you have to ask what the fuel consumption is, you can't afford one'

Hah, not true at all. The thing is... I REALLY like it, and I don't want it to have the cons that I've seen and read about it

 

[paetrick]

This has a 5 star rating...

"Well, using the slider resets the current display profile to the default display profile. Hence, this app is not yet useful for those who have set a custom display profile." = No good, as custom display profile is a must to get to 20" look "good". !

 

[jczubach]

Hah sorry , I'm from Europe and I guess my english isn't that good

But seriously, what is your view on this?

Seriously? a) sorry for the spelling dig, hard to resist. b) Used both platforms since 1984, have stuck closer to mac and still have most of my hair in it's original colour. Not to mention my youthful good looks. Can't say that for Ballmer and his troops. I'll never say that apple has always been a peach, but overall she's kept me coming back. From innovative design to real customer service, 'i gots no problems', keeps me coming back and 2007 seems to be the culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication by the Jobs' crew. I happened to buy an MBP earlier this year and have never experienced less frustration or aggravation with a computer. Pure driving pleasure. Why a Mac? Maybe you should ask a different question... "Why a PC?"

 

[suneohair]

You will probably here about more problem here than anywhere else on the net. When you come to a place that has a high concentration of Mac users you are going to read about some problems. Also, people like to get together an talk about their problems here.

So you have what maybe 100 people with various issues here? How many people do you think have bought iMacs and have no problems? Heck the ratio here may even be in favor of those with no problems.

In short, reading these forums does not in the slight indicate that there are mass problems with any Apple product. Buy the iMac and try it out. If you don't like it, you can always return it.

 

[paetrick]

You will probably here about more problem here than anywhere else on the net. When you come to a place that has a high concentration of Mac users you are going to read about some problems. Also, people like to get together an talk about their problems here.

So you have what maybe 100 people with various issues here? How many people do you think have bought iMacs and have no problems? Heck the ratio here may even be in favor of those with no problems.

In short, reading these forums does not in the slight indicate that there are mass problems with any Apple product. Buy the iMac and try it out. If you don't like it, you can always return it.

I am not really talking about the people talk about on the forums, I'm talking about friends to me.

Before I buy a iMac I would really want to know if it's possible to lower the brightness to a good level without touching the calibration !

 

[Yuppi]

You might try to convince one of your friends to borrow you their Mac. Which of course they will not do. And the biggest reason for me to switch to Mac was not the hardware, but the software. I get really annoyed about anything that does not work under windows. Which does not mean that I'm too stupid to use a windows machine. I could probably do anything under Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It is just a question of time that I'm willing to invest. I've given up using linux on a desktop because I wanted to do fun stuff like programming and not spending hours of time figuring out how a USB Scanner might work, or how I could capture a video from my DVB card.
The final killer task that totally convinced me to switch to Mac OS X was its syncing. It ist horrible to do that using 2 Bluetooth phones from Nokia and SE on a windows machine if you do NOT want to buy Outlook. I don't want to talk about linux here which I could only guess, would be a pain in the ass.
If you look at the ratings from c't (german magazine) the quality of apple products is rated very high. If you understand German http://www.heise.de/ct/07/06/146/default.shtml or the former year http://www.heise.de/ct/06/06/178/
65% of all users had to return their notebook at least once. The iMac is from its form factor very close to a notebook. So if you have 10 friends and 6 had to go for a repair that is within the usual statistics for ANY notebook. And as it was pointed out before, there are far more people expressing their problems in Forum than there are people expressing their happniess about their product.

Oh, and get the computer and USE it. Using a computer does not involve the knowledge about how data is is transfered on wires, or why a pixel actually glowes. It is not rocket science to use one. If you like it, keep it. If you don't like it return it.

 

[bluedoggiant]

I love Apples products, especially the iMac, I love how it's silent, small, great design and runs Mac Os x.

I'm really into the 20" (I do got the money for the 24" but I really don't "want" anything that big and I would rather spend the extra money on something else)

I like TN display's (if I would buy a Pc I would for sure buy a TN display, Just because it's what is sold to us consumers today to a reasonable price - I got a TN display at the moment as well and couldn't be happier.

With that said - I love everything about the 20" model of iMac - So why don't a buy one?

Well, why would I?

-Temperature (This is very controllable on a PC - to buy silent but good cooling fans) - I know that the iMac gets very warm - which isn't really a problem right now, the components can handle the heat for sure - The thing is ->If the components runs hot all the time -> It loose it's capacity faster, I'm sure the imac will run sloower within a year (great? no..).

-Many defective units /The ones I know which have bought "any mac" have had many problems with this, overheated motherboards, camera's not working, screens on imacs which gives noises, macbooks which gets broken chassi's without reason. (Apple does no longer deliver quiality, I guess they did in the old days as my of my friends got old mac that still are working great, it's the new ones that kinda sucks :S)

Brightness - The new 20" iMac screen has a veeery bright screen(even when lowering the brightness on the keyboard), and though there's many programs for this on the mac no program seems to handle this very good (what I've read). On a normal Hp/LG display I can just change this on a simple button on the screen -> To lower the brightness MUCH is very important for me.

Sooo, this is my concerns about buying a MAC instead of a PC, I'm not really into gaming (just plays some network games with friends) So i don't really want a PC -> But i REALLY need a new computer..

So what do you guys think?, is a MAC worth buying even though it has so many problems? (that I never has experienced on a PC).

yes, theres a reason not to buy one, you will fall in love with it, you will put it in the box after u use it or buy a bed for it and cover it every night, decontaminate your hands every time before you use it (by the way, dont get one now, wait till sum time october wen their new OS is out), you would be afraid to touch it cuz you will think that its disrespectful to its sexy exclosure, you will feel bad wen u open the least memory consuming app becuz it will make ur computer do sum work, you will hang posters all over your wall that have HUGE pictures of imacs, and in whole, ITS WORTH THE MONEY, just wait till october

 

[paetrick]

yes, theres a reason not to buy one, you will fall in love with it, you will put it in the box after u use it or buy a bed for it and cover it every night, decontaminate your hands every time before you use it (by the way, dont get one now, wait till sum time october wen their new OS is out), you would be afraid to touch it cuz you will think that its disrespectful to its sexy exclosure, you will feel bad wen u open the least memory consuming app becuz it will make ur computer do sum work, you will hang posters all over your wall that have HUGE pictures of imacs, and in whole, ITS WORTH THE MONEY, just wait till october

Haha, was just going to order it when i saw ->

http://www.silvermac.com/2007/imac-colours-washed-out/

This looks MUCH worse than on my LG tn display, how is this possible?, I thought every TN display was the same !

 

[bluedoggiant]

Haha, was just going to order it when i saw ->

http://www.silvermac.com/2007/imac-colours-washed-out/

This looks MUCH worse than on my LG tn display, how is this possible?, I thought every TN display was the same !

the 20 inch as problems with the viewing angle, you can only view it from a certain angle, the 24inch is SOOOO much better at this, not all imacs have this discoloration,m ucan just calibrate ur screen, it will be fine after that, but imacs have been known not to have even lighting, but sum imacs dont have that, just go for da buy

 

[suneohair]

Best looking display I have seen...

 

[HLdan]

To the OP: you need to get yourself out of the idea that if it ain't broke it never will be.
I've used Macs for years since OS 8 and love them still. I love the Mac mostly for the OS stability and feature rich but does that mean my next Mac will be without issues? NO. I just got the new iMac 24" and love it, it's great in fact. My older G5's fans blew incessantly but now this new iMac is whisper quiet and as far as heat it remains at 106 degrees F. I game on it and it has ran no hotter than 120 F.

Two things, if you think that buying a new Windows PC will not have issues than that just not realistic. It's an electronics device and you are buying the hardware and not just the OS. A new PC can easily have heat issues, hard drive problems, LCD color and brightness issues, low quality fit and finish.
Just because your PC's were good in the past means nothing in terms of another one.
There are too many Windows machines out there to generalize that.

Another thing, too many switchers coming from the Windows world to the Mac always say they can't switch because they have too much existing Windows software and don't wanna buy the same stuff on the Mac. How come you can just decide to leave a Mac so easily? Don't you have Mac software that you don't want to spend more money replacing on the Windows side?

 

[CavemanUK]

Its not that

I really recommend a Mac, as OSX is just so much better than Windows...

The thing not to forget is that your not choosing a mac/osx over windows because all macs CAN run windows aswell! so you get the best of both worlds!

 

[Scarlet Fever]

"Well, using the slider resets the current display profile to the default display profile. Hence, this app is not yet useful for those who have set a custom display profile." = No good, as custom display profile is a must to get to 20" look "good". !

Shades works just fine for me. It doesn't change any profiles, it just dims the display.

 

[flopticalcube]

I .. PC).

Macs are not right for you. Buy a PC.

 

[AlexisV]

Temperature (This is very controllable on a PC - to buy silent but good cooling fans) - I know that the iMac gets very warm - which isn't really a problem right now, the components can handle the heat for sure - The thing is ->If the components runs hot all the time -> It loose it's capacity faster, I'm sure the imac will run sloower within a year (great? no..).

I'm not quite sure why you think the temperature of components would make a computer slow down? Heat has no effect on the speed of components, only the life of them. Even running very hot, the hardware will last decades easily.

The iMac runs hot, just like any PC. The CPU will shut down if it gets too hot in order to save itself, but it's almost impossible to stress the machine enough to cause this situation.

-Many defective units /The ones I know which have bought "any mac" have had many problems with this, overheated motherboards, camera's not working, screens on imacs which gives noises, macbooks which gets broken chassi's without reason. (Apple does no longer deliver quiality, I guess they did in the old days as my of my friends got old mac that still are working great, it's the new ones that kinda sucks :S)

As with any electronics manufacturer, a small percentage of units will have faults. And with the advent of computer forums, people have somewhere to post their frustrations publicly. Except that the 99% of people who have perfect machines have no reason to post 'my machine works fine' threads.

Apple hardware is actually very reliable. Our company has bought 6 Macs, 1 Apple Laserwriter and 2 Apple Cinema Displays over the last 5 years. All have worked perfectly since day 1.