*

Palomine

  • Moderator
  • 24033
  • Modern Male Mammal, Linux enthusiast.
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #75 on: October 20, 2009, 08:27:16 PM »
Hey, Apple has just refreshed the iMac line.

San Francisco Chronicle"Apple introduces new iMacs, MacBook and Mac Mini"

TUAW: "First Look: New iMacs announced, and they're incredible!"

The revised iMacs all feature LED displays, bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse now standard with all models, the entry-level iMac is now the 21.5 inch display (and the big one is now 27 instead of 24 inches), there's a new 'magic' mouse (also standard) which takes gestural/multi-touch input and of course, and of course, all versions get bumps in CPU speed and storage while maintaining the same approximate price points. There's also a boosted Mac Mini and a new MacBook which looks very nice... almost hard to justify the bump up to the base MacBook Pro. No word on Apple's forthcoming/rumored netbook... and on a business news channel today someone mentioned Apple possibly competing with Sony and Amazon for eBook reader market share... but unless they're convinced that EVERYone will eventually have a reader, I can't see the market being big enough anytime soon for Apple to dip it's toe in that particular pool. Despite the recession, Apple Mac and iPhone sales remain strong... the company's stock topped $200. today. I haven't heard, but I'd be surprised if the new iPod Nano (the one that shoots video too) isn't selling very well too.


*

TheZookie007

  • L Cup
  • 53281
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #76 on: October 21, 2009, 02:43:38 AM »
The old 24" iMac was so sweet...definitely my next desktop will be a Mac. But now should I go for the old 20" iMac or get the fancy-schmancy LED 21.5" iMac instead? I think they cost just about the same, but still...a 27" desktop is just insane man...Apple for the win, no doubt!

-- TheZookie "except if you bought your iMac last week in which case you are cussing Apple out right now LOL" 007
ACB, BK, CT, NG, SA: FU. FUATH. 100x.

*

gonZo

  • pain in the ass moderator
  • 9740
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #77 on: October 21, 2009, 08:43:32 AM »
Sounds like maybe you should go for the 21.5" over the old 20". The displays used in the 20's weren't very good, and I saw several comments in reviews yesterday about how much better the new 21.5" displays are.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2009, 08:49:22 AM by gonZo »

*

Palomine

  • Moderator
  • 24033
  • Modern Male Mammal, Linux enthusiast.
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #78 on: October 21, 2009, 10:29:52 AM »
Not relevant per se to this discussion, but I've been hearing more reports of the "Apple to release an e-reader/tablet to compete with the Kindle and Sony e-reader" and also, I just learned that Barnes and Noble has released it's own e-reader called Nook, which actually looks pretty nice and has a few novel features missing from both the Amazon and Sony efforts. With readers generally in the $200-300 range (for the standard size models) and netbooks costing slightly more (yes, I know there are a few netbooks in the $200-300 range but they're pretty bare-bones specwise and running something like OSX (or Vista for that matter) on such minimalist machines would be difficult) ...I'd assumed that an Apple netbook would compete with models in the $400-600 range. As such, the thought that Apple's offering would be BOTH a netbook and a reader seems perhaps a little less plausible... if they're going to compete in both markets, it would probably take two different products.

Which is not to say that Apple is incapable of designing a slim Mac netbook that folded into a tablet in a convincing simulation of a reader... I'm sure they could... but I tend to doubt that such an effort (in terms of componentry) would enable them to sell such a device at a truly competitive price. Still, iPods cost more than generic MP3 players... folks are happy to pay the difference for good design and quality manufacture, so maybe Apple could sell a netbook and/or reader thingy even if it were priced at say, 30% more than competitive offerings.

PS: Zook, I agree with gonZo: get the new 21.5" iMac instead of the previous-gen 20" ...the screen alone is worth it. Plus, the new one comes with that gestural-input Magic Mouse (and with that (assuming it works well) who the heck would want a weird mouse with a dozen buttons and wheels on it? ;)

*

TheZookie007

  • L Cup
  • 53281
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #79 on: October 21, 2009, 03:10:59 PM »
I've seen (and worked with for a while) the old 24" iMac and was just in love with it...so I will probably either get that or the new 27" one. Of course, by the time I finally get around to purchasing it, they're probably gonna come out with a 35" iMac or something :)
ACB, BK, CT, NG, SA: FU. FUATH. 100x.

*

Q_BE

  • P Cup
  • 5871
  • Dreaming of a Scarlett Spring
    • Q-BE's Ramblings
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #80 on: October 21, 2009, 07:35:12 PM »
I've seen (and worked with for a while) the old 24" iMac and was just in love with it...so I will probably either get that or the new 27" one. Of course, by the time I finally get around to purchasing it, they're probably gonna come out with a 35" iMac or something :)

Hell's bells, at that point, you might as well hook your Mac up to your HDTV! ::)

Q-"Utilizing the VGA hookup"-BE
« Last Edit: October 21, 2009, 07:43:43 PM by Q_BE »

*

Shara

  • Cup Runneth O'er
  • 8727
  • version 1.337
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #81 on: October 21, 2009, 08:27:34 PM »
so a bigger monitor qualifies for FTW?

I must have missed something when they told everyone that you don't need a good videocard in your ftw-machine 8)
"I don't always approve of coup d'état, but when I do, it's by Shara." -LuvDemWhoppers

*

TheZookie007

  • L Cup
  • 53281
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #82 on: March 10, 2010, 01:53:31 PM »
Quick question, people: the one-year anniversary of my Mac mini purchase has rolled around, and I got mail from where I bought it. They reminded me that the one-year warranty will soon expire and that I can purchase the AppleCare Protection Plan two-year extension, for around $140. Should I bother, or should I take my chances without AppleCare?
ACB, BK, CT, NG, SA: FU. FUATH. 100x.

*

MaxBigfoot

  • ZZZ Cup
  • 22275
  • Maximum Manga Maven
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #83 on: March 10, 2010, 02:53:34 PM »
The question I always ask myself when purchasing extended warranties is: What do you think the odds are of enough things going wrong in the warranty time period, to need the cost of the warranties worth of repairs?

In your case, do you think the odds are good that $140 worth of repairs will go wrong on your Mac in 2 years?

MaxBigfoot


To change Forum settings so that you see 50 topics per page:
Go to Forum Profile
Hover cursor over "Modify Profile" button in top left
Select "Look and Layout"
Scroll to "Topics to display per page", select 50 in dropdown menu
Click on "Change Profile" at bottom right of page.

You can also change "Messages to display per page" to 50 in the same way.

*

TheZookie007

  • L Cup
  • 53281
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #84 on: March 10, 2010, 03:08:56 PM »
You know what? No, I don't. I take pretty good care of my electronics. So I guess I will take a pass on that AppleCare. Thanks, Max.
ACB, BK, CT, NG, SA: FU. FUATH. 100x.

*

MaxBigfoot

  • ZZZ Cup
  • 22275
  • Maximum Manga Maven
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #85 on: March 10, 2010, 03:22:31 PM »
Glad to help, Zookie.  I learned that lesson after buying an extended warranty on my car that cost about $3000, and only using it for $125.  Same reason as you, I take care of my car.
Even better, my car extended warranty only applied to parts of the car, so the bet is "will $3000 worth of repairs be required on only 2/3 of the car in the warranty coverage period?".
I'll never do that again.

MaxBigfoot


To change Forum settings so that you see 50 topics per page:
Go to Forum Profile
Hover cursor over "Modify Profile" button in top left
Select "Look and Layout"
Scroll to "Topics to display per page", select 50 in dropdown menu
Click on "Change Profile" at bottom right of page.

You can also change "Messages to display per page" to 50 in the same way.

*

Q_BE

  • P Cup
  • 5871
  • Dreaming of a Scarlett Spring
    • Q-BE's Ramblings
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #86 on: March 10, 2010, 03:25:37 PM »
You know what? No, I don't. I take pretty good care of my electronics. So I guess I will take a pass on that AppleCare. Thanks, Max.

My Apple Macbook's hard drive failed within two years of its production, and my battery is now on the fritz, so yes, I am glad I took the AppleCare package. Maybe I just got a faulty Mac, but I like to think I take pretty good care of it. I don't drop it excessively, I shut it off regularly, and I basically only do work and play online games, except for SPORE, which is really the only processor-intensive program I run, except for Firefox.

I lost 80GB of data, and I'm still frustrated, over a year later. I also backup obsessively now. :P

Q-"Just my two cents"-BE

*

CarlTL

  • ZZZ Cup
  • 8453
  • King of the Avatars
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #87 on: March 10, 2010, 08:48:55 PM »
From the collective experience of my family, the extended warranty is best if you are picking up a laptop that you are going to be lugging around everywhere. A desktop just isn't going to be taking a beating that will require warranty work.

*

Chestnuts

  • L Cup
  • 3566
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #88 on: March 11, 2010, 01:51:21 AM »
ALWAYS get an extended warranty for a laptop, no matter who makes it. If nothing goes wrong, you're out some bucks. If something does go wrong, you're out a bunch. Laptop failure rates are much higher than desktop computers.




Avatar by John Coffey, used with permission. Avatar tweaking by Zasha

*

TheZookie007

  • L Cup
  • 53281
Re: getting a Mac
« Reply #89 on: March 11, 2010, 03:07:50 AM »
Oh yeah, if it were a Mac laptop, for sure I'd have gotten an AppleCare warranty, but since it's a nice little stay-at-home Mac mini, I'm not worried about anything untoward happening to it. (Backups done regularly, got it covered on my renter's insurance, the whole nine.)
ACB, BK, CT, NG, SA: FU. FUATH. 100x.