'Puter's dying! Considering Apple; thoughts?

[Ben Brewcat]

Our 10-year-old 'puter is freezing (when it's nice) and suddenly shutting down (when it's not, about every 10 minutes). Screen blanks, returns, blanks and dead. Have to force-shutdown and restart :pinch:. Grr!

I don't game. I don't yet do the Ipod thing, but we will sometime soon. We won't be watching movies or the like on the computer. We email, I go online (a lot), and the occasional low-octane word processing, spreadsheet, etc. I also work remotely for my job at times through a web portal.

Anyone recommend a not-terribly-expensive desktop? Don't need a laptop, and we have a monitor we're happy with (just need a tower). And I'm not terribly hip on this tech stuff. I'm kind of sick of MicroSuck bugs and idiosyncrasies (stop trying to help me! I didn't want to do that!), but I'm not a militant either way. Though I do swear by Firefox.

[Will]

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

Buy a mac. You won't regret it. Wish I had done it years ago. Bought a macbook pro. Had messed around with linux. Apple is unix based.

[Brenda]

I had a Mac Mini when they first came out. My brother in law liked so I traded it to him. They are ok. :)

[JPK]

If you have a friend that can loan you one for a week I would highly reccomend going that path.

The Mac is a computer that they try to sell to you as a lifestyle.

Ultimately most people need a computer that just runs, does word processing, gets you on the internet and doesn't cost you a lot of money.

If thats your goal then I suggest you take a good look at the mac prices....they are pretty steep.

Mac Pros: They work, its supported and its trendy, fewer vulnerabilities to viri/exploits than Windows

Other Solutions

Find a good quality brand/model like the Dell Lattitude (business class) machines and buy a reconditioned model at a fraction of the original price.

It will come with Windows but you can blow that away if you want and load any number of flavors of Linux (Fedora, Gentoo, Suse, Ubuntu etc etc) just as easily with user friendly graphical interfaces and use free alternatives to office products like Open Office and Firefox instead of Explorer....you can run Windows apps inside a program called WINE (Windows emulator).

I've used macs but can't say I'm a huge fan....I don't like being cornered/forced into one solution they way the do. I would much rather buy a good piece of hardware and put a free OS on it that has tons of free software options avail.

[Barry]

I've been on a Mac since 1991 and have never regretted it. Solid machines.

[Bizzybee]

mac smack, he said cheap. :)

If you're game for a new OS, buy yourself a Dell refurb at Microcenter or some place similar for 100 bucks. Pick up a copy of SUSE or Redhat Linux cheap and load it. They can be downloaded free, but don't put yourself through that right out of the box. Retail copies are cheap and you won't have a need to buy any other applictions to run on the machine. Everything you will likely ever need is included in the packages.

NO I'm not going to beat on the macheads! :) If you can swing the bucks, they are for sure good machines.

Just hate to see another user move to the dark side of the force! :p :lpf:

[Brenda]

With a little knowledge you can buy hardware on ebay and build your own for not too much. A linux os can be bought reasonably on http://shop.cheapbytes.com
If you want Windows, you can sometimes catch Vista on sale on www.nothingbutsoftware.com
Building your own isn't hard. I've been building my own for years.

[Ben Brewcat]

So are these "aftermarket" OSs (Linux et. al.) easy to use? Intuitive graphic interface? I'm a plug and play kind of guy with little familiarity with the man behind the curtain.

[JPK]

So are these "aftermarket" OSs (Linux et. al.) easy to use? Intuitive graphic interface? I'm a plug and play kind of guy with little familiarity with the man behind the curtain.

Yes, an OS like Fedora Core 10 is really easy to install...actually its easier and quicker than Windows, supports hardware very well and if you want a hand please just shout.

[Bizzybee]

SUSE and Fedora are probably the biggest players at the moment. ubuntu is another good one. It's a little more watered down for the home user so to speak.

Fedora is the free version of Red Hat which is based here in the states. Where SUSE is owned by Novell and is based in Europe. ubuntu comes from Africa. There are many other lesser know releases that are probably as good and I'm sure arguably by some.

SUSE uses the KDE desktop environment where Fedora uses the GNOME desktop. Either will or can be installed with either. They look and feel similar and can be setup to run pretty much like the Windows desktop you are used to. KDE more closely resembles it right out of the box. KDE also has more apps than GNOME that give you that GUI you mention to the background. I haven't used Fedora and GNOME in a while, so that last statement may not be so acurate today?

Both are plug and play OS's and work very well with most hardware. I personally steered away from Fedora/Red Hat because at the time, they seemed to want to corral you into their way of doing things. And unless you did know how the system runs in the background, it was difficult to get what you wanted out of it. SUSE was more open IMO and much easier to get the software and machine settings where I wanted them. But then I'm one to tweak and turn screws when no one else will.

I would think you would do fine with any of them and probably either of the desktop environments. But there are options, which I think is a good thing!

If you have an old machine sitting around that you could play with, I would suggest you download a copy of either or all releases and give the different options a try. Again I don't know about Fedora, but SUSE has a network install iso (CD Image file) that is small, somewhere between 100 and 200 meg. You can drop it in the CD drive, boot to it and start the install. You select the defaults or make manual adjustments to the installation and software that is going to be installed. (default being easiest until you get a feel for it) It will automatically make the connection to the repositories on the web and download/install all the packages needed. If you elect to download the full install, it's about 2.4 gig. You'll be waiting a while. It comes in a DVD iso.

There are some new machines being offered with Red Hat or SUSE pre-installed if you are so inclined to go that direction. They are considerably cheaper than a Windows box. As mentioned earlier, there are loads of free applications (1000's) to be had with the OS's.

[drobbins]

if you go here

http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora

you can download Fedora, burn it on a CD, and load it off the CD to test it out. you don't have to load it on your machine to test it out. it will be slow running off the CD but it will let you see if it's something you want to try. you can also install that CD permanently on your harddrive

SUSE has a similar LiveCD

Dave

[crazytranes]

I bought a macbook last summer. It is very stable, I have never had it lock up on me yet. I've taken it on the internet quite a bit, and never had any problem with malware (viruses, worms, etc.).

The OS took a little getting used to. It also took some time to get used to having only one mouse button (How do I right click? :eek: How do I right click?!) Now that I am familiar with it, it is very easy to use. If/when I ever get an Ipod, it'll interface seamlessly with the apple computer.

Also, my college roommate has a Mac tower that has been running for 10 years now. His wife uses it often for graphic design and internet. They have never had a problem with malware and have never had to take it in to be fixed or cleaned up. I have personally never seen a desktop last longer than 5. However, that is anecdotal evidence.

That being said...

Hindsight 20/20, for the purposes I bought my comp for, I should have bought a $300 lightweight netbook type computer and either thrown Linux on it, or paid up for an antivirus program. Even with the cost of a Terrabyte external hard drive, I would have saved money. Macs cost a lot. At the time I bought it, I was a DINK, so we had cash to spare.

You use spreadsheets. Do your spreadsheets use Macros? If they do use macros, they will not work properly on the newest version of microsoft office for mac. For whatever reason, Microsoft decided not to include Visual Basic (the program macros run on) in the latest office suite (for mac only). Learned THAT one the hard way. :doh:
Along the same line: Open office and the mac version, Neooffice are free office suites. They look and operate very much like microsoft office. They have limited support for macros (Visual basic is Microsoft's intellectual property) because they had to reverse engineer that part of the software.

To sum up: If all you are using the computer for is internet, word processing, and average person created spreadsheets, and you have the cash flow to buy it: get a mac. It'll last, and you'll have (almost) no fear of viruses. If price is your driving factor: get something used and try out linux.

That's just my $0.50 (all those words have to be worth more than $0.02.)

[Barry]

mac smack, he said cheap. :)

Yeah, that's why I said Mac. I figured by the time he bought his Gates machine, and all the headaches he'll have for years to come over viruses, OS glitches, software glitches, etc, etc, . . . it'll be cheaper! :D

[Brenda]

You can find any linux distro on http://distrowatch.com/
The downloads may be pretty long and drawn out, even with torrents.

I'm running Vista Basic and XP on this tower, on separate hd's, and Suse 11.1 on another tower. I still like Windows for most things and running games or even my printer. I like different flavors of linux to mess around with when I'm bored with Windows.
I run a free anti virus, etc, and haven't had any problems in the years I've been running pc's. You just need to keep your AV updated and install the windows updates. Don't dl things nilly willy, don't go to websites you think may be risky. My BIL keeps going to motorcycle sites and getting nasty ware on his wife's pc. As long as he uses his mac to go to those sites, he's ok.
I like windows (XP or Vista) and I like Linux distros that have GUI's, and I liked OS 10 when I had it. Apple is more expensive and why I got a Mac Mini instead of a bigger mac.
It all depends on what suits your needs.

[Bodo]

Macs are slick. PC's are cheap. I haven't upgraded to Vista, so I can't talk about that.
If you haven't used a Mac, get some keyboard time on one first. I can't get around on one very well.

[JPK]

Macs are slick. PC's are cheap. I haven't upgraded to Vista, so I can't talk about that.
.

Don't do it.....can't stand Vista.....wait until Windows 7 comes out if you have to have Windows......the new version is pretty slick....not as bloated.

I prefer Linux but there are times that you just have to have Windows......

[nursebee]

The $1300 HP I bought years ago was a $500 notebook last year. Except the notebook is VISTA, I do not use it as much but it is a nice back up machine, easy to travel with.

For money, I'd go PC. Always been that way.
For ease of use, I'd go with similar stuff as to what you are using.
Norton, Firefox, Spybot, Adaware, no computer problems here. I even use IE for some applications.
I enjoy the "media center" part of my computer, can watch and record TV. Not sure if Apple has such a thing. If you buy one, see if it will work with the whole HD changes?

I looked at Apple for many products. iphone or ipod with wifi could not see what I wanted to see on net. Computer not customizable for what I wanted.

Form over fashion for me.

[Bizzybee]

Yeah, that's why I said Mac. I figured by the time he bought his Gates machine, and all the headaches he'll have for years to come over viruses, OS glitches, software glitches, etc, etc, . . . it'll be cheaper! :D

Yeah yeah, technicalities................. :D

[Elwood]

I used to be a PC only guy for at least 10 years until I got tired of all the crashes, the reformatting of the hard drives and viruses. I got a Mac Mini and have never looked back. It takes up the room of about half a cigar box, but does everything I need. When viruses come around I don't worry a whole lot, (knock on wood). Would buy again, in a minute.

[Ben Brewcat]

Update: now working on iMac and yep, liking it a lot. Some new menus and doodads to figure out but MAN is it nice how everything just dovetails and works together! Oh, and how it just works is nice too :).

[Barry]

Welcome to the other side. ;)

[Bizzybee]

We'll call Lyons and have the obituary listing arranged today....... :(



:D:D

[Barry]

I've arranged the service.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkmeiDsxXRk&feature=related

[Bizzybee]

:lpf::lpf::lpf:

I love Taps!!!

[crazytranes]

Welcome to the other side. ;)

:eek: I second that. :D

[Beaches' Bee-Haven Apiary]

Glad to hear you're pleased with the iMac. It's a great machine and the OS is fantastic (and will only get better w/Snow Leopard.)

Welcome to the bright side of computing!

-Nathanael