your views and suggestions please

[jordan eff]

hi, i'm considering buying a mac after christmas fianlly but i am a bit of a stranger to macs now.

the last ma i had was a power mac G4 about 7 years ago and it only had OS 9.4 but i had alot of problems and constant crashing with that machine so i got rid of it.

so what sort of specifications would you recomend, photo editing, alot of msic use, day to day use like typing up documents and alot of internet use

just looking for all your views seeing as i have only ever fiddled about with these in an apple store


also i have heard there might be a new imac being released in january so do you think i should wait till after then to see what happens

thanks alot

 

[Tallest Skil]

Wait for the iMac update, get the base model 20".

 

[czachorski]

For the uses you described, the lowest-powered Mac would more than meet your needs, such as a Mac Mini or MacBook. The mini can be especially economical if you already have a KB, mouse and monitor. If you need those things, than a 20" iMac makes a lot of sense. A laptop might be nice for those needs to be able to be portable, especially with things like photos (taking the Mac over to show photos to friends and family) and internet surfing (going anywhere in your house and surfing on wifi). Basically, your power needs are so simple, that you could pick the unit based on other lifestyle considerations, and not have your power needs even come into the equation.

 

[NightSailor]

I'd wait for the new 24" iMac. I think the extra screen real estate is wonderful. I looked at the 24" iMac yesterday, and it looked like it had a second display port on the back. I agree with the other poster about having a second display--that is something you can grow into later.

Or if you prefer a laptop, the Macbook is nice. If think you'd want a larger display you could always hook up a 24" Dell monitor (it has USB connectors and card readers built in) with a $30 adapter, and also a full sized Apple keyboard, and the Apple wireless mouse to make it feel like a real desktop.

I don't like the wired mouse or the wireless keyboard. The wired keyboard has two USB connectors and the numeric keypad--separate cursor keys, a "delete to the right key", page up and page down, home, and end keys, plus a bunch more function keys. Check on eBay for good prices on these things.