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Hi Boffins, as a layman in such things, could you offer some advice please.
I am buying a new (shop bought) PC as have lost faith in home based PC Doctor, since repeatedly having had to return this PC for fettling over last month since he sold me it!
All i need, is this;
Internet/mail
Burn images on CD from camera.
Download music and possibly film, burn to disc.
XP seems to be the prefered op/system and as long as speed in above tasks is average, i'm happy
also i only need the base unit as i bought a flat screen to save space in December 300-450 quid do it?
Cheers Rich
I am buying a new (shop bought) PC as have lost faith in home based PC Doctor, since repeatedly having had to return this PC for fettling over last month since he sold me it!
All i need, is this;
Internet/mail
Burn images on CD from camera.
Download music and possibly film, burn to disc.
XP seems to be the prefered op/system and as long as speed in above tasks is average, i'm happy
also i only need the base unit as i bought a flat screen to save space in December 300-450 quid do it?
Cheers Rich
I've not got one, indeed have never owned a Mac in my life but am in almost exactly the same situation as you and am exceedingly tempted by www.apple.com/uk/macmini/ It's just so...well...sexy. And - if the legion of fans is to be believed - knocks spots off any Windows PC for any kind of multimedia use.
Rich 36 said:
Internet/mail
Burn images on CD from camera.
Download music and possibly film, burn to disc.
I use a Mac to do those things. OSX is a joy. No virus worries at the moment. Built in firewall. iTunes included. Safari (browser) and mail programs work well and Safari is very quick, quicker than Firefox for me.
Its a personal choice for me.
They do look good do'nt they, I simply want something new nd reliable really, that will likely switch on,work, and not crash/go blank or display a lot of messages to tell me i've done something wrong, before crashing/going blank
OSX ?
>> Edited by rich 36 on Friday 11th February 22:15
OSX ?
>> Edited by rich 36 on Friday 11th February 22:15
rich 36 said:
OSX ?
>> Edited by rich 36 on Friday 11th February 22:15
The Mac operating system.
link
Know anyone who has one? Have a look? PC world sell them. See if you can get a demo on them.
Personally I use the machine for my own use and have a windoze lap top for work. Choice I made and very happy with it.
Again, I made it my choice. Sort of a mind set.
Never been near a Mac in my life, only got into windows about 5 years ago at work, PC's are of little use to me with too many glitches, which is why this purchase is such a let-down as my first desktop.
(had a notepad for last three years which despite running millenium, was not to bad)
(had a notepad for last three years which despite running millenium, was not to bad)
Right. Not having a go at Macs / PC builders / anyone. Clear? Good 
The reasons why Mac's seem/are much better than PC's lots of the time:-
1) Mac's don't get built out of a totally random selection of bits, sometimes using cheap/poor quality components.
2) Mac's are not put together by 'think-they-know-it-all' people in bedrooms or on living room carpets.
3) Mac's don't get loaded with every 'free-on-the-front-of-a-mag' bit of iffy software.
4) Mac's don't have there settings randomly twiddled with, 'cos my mate down the pub said if I set this registry key it'd go twice as fast.
If you build a PC with good components, stick with quality software and don't bugger around with it they're just as / more than reliable than Mac's. I've got an XP machine here that's got 341 days of uptime. No reboots, nothing.
Am I helping to to make your mind up? Thought not. Sorry.
Me? Well I look at it this way. I'd like a choice of who makes my hardware. Can you imagine if Apple had 80% of the market and still held the hardware rights. What Microsoft are going through would look like a walk in the park.
I'd go with Jeff. Get down to PC World and have a play.
The reasons why Mac's seem/are much better than PC's lots of the time:-
1) Mac's don't get built out of a totally random selection of bits, sometimes using cheap/poor quality components.
2) Mac's are not put together by 'think-they-know-it-all' people in bedrooms or on living room carpets.
3) Mac's don't get loaded with every 'free-on-the-front-of-a-mag' bit of iffy software.
4) Mac's don't have there settings randomly twiddled with, 'cos my mate down the pub said if I set this registry key it'd go twice as fast.
If you build a PC with good components, stick with quality software and don't bugger around with it they're just as / more than reliable than Mac's. I've got an XP machine here that's got 341 days of uptime. No reboots, nothing.
Am I helping to to make your mind up? Thought not. Sorry.
Me? Well I look at it this way. I'd like a choice of who makes my hardware. Can you imagine if Apple had 80% of the market and still held the hardware rights. What Microsoft are going through would look like a walk in the park.
I'd go with Jeff. Get down to PC World and have a play.
No doubt a million arguments on either side for which is better. Personally I have never had a PC for home, Amiga then Mac route for me. I use PC's for work and I know which I prefer. I use mine for music downloads, digital camera and mail among a few other things. Games, bit of word processing etc. All the apps for work like office etc are not needed by me for personal use. So I don't miss them.
If you can get to see one operating the latest OS you will be impressed. There is a new OS due out shortly but not sure when.
Mind you, I understand OSX 10.1 was a mare. On 10.3.8 and stable as a stable thing in a stable being stable show. It is memory hungry but if an application wants to throw its toys out of the pram, you can crash out of it with out re booting.
PS, just threw out my old 266 iMac. Had it for umpteen years. Video power board failed. Cheaper to upgrade to an eMac. 580 odd squids. All in.
>> Edited by jmorgan on Friday 11th February 22:50
If you can get to see one operating the latest OS you will be impressed. There is a new OS due out shortly but not sure when.
Mind you, I understand OSX 10.1 was a mare. On 10.3.8 and stable as a stable thing in a stable being stable show. It is memory hungry but if an application wants to throw its toys out of the pram, you can crash out of it with out re booting.
PS, just threw out my old 266 iMac. Had it for umpteen years. Video power board failed. Cheaper to upgrade to an eMac. 580 odd squids. All in.
>> Edited by jmorgan on Friday 11th February 22:50
Ordinarily i would side with the home-based PC chapie, which is what i have done, sadly the ideal has not worked out quite as well, with as i've said repeated returns to his house with this bloody PC, and the odd weeks'worth of happy browsing before another un-explained crash,
As money talks with me, 300 quid later and no better off, i'm off to Tiny/PC world this weekend to look at new out-of-box systems, wish me luck, and thanks for helpful suggestions all
Mac BTW looks quite tempting, and not to dear really either, must have a look at em'
As money talks with me, 300 quid later and no better off, i'm off to Tiny/PC world this weekend to look at new out-of-box systems, wish me luck, and thanks for helpful suggestions all
Mac BTW looks quite tempting, and not to dear really either, must have a look at em'
For the size, note the top bit is for a CD/DVD. Pretty much silent (all you hear is the HDD from time to time. Mine lives in a cupboard with a hole in the back for ventilation.
Great size, great (lack of) noise, and great price too. (£400)
LB
Don't go to Tiny, Time Machine or other places like that.
>> Edited by luca brazzi on Friday 11th February 23:19
Meant to add, the tower unit i'm using now has the 'Tiny' logo emblazoned across it, so perhaps you do'nt speak with forked tongue after all
Apple-ogies Luca
Just had a browse at PC'W, in the 300-400 bracket, they had either 'E machines"?
or packard bell, any thoughts on either make?
Apple-ogies Luca
Just had a browse at PC'W, in the 300-400 bracket, they had either 'E machines"?
or packard bell, any thoughts on either make?
e'machines - No
Packard Bell - are OK, but its all to PC world specs, ie big bundle of not so useful stuff and poor quality budget components.
If you want to walk away with a unit today, then get a cheap packard bell....as it will satisfy your needs.
But I'd get a Shuttle (I did), as they have more than enough power, and are small and quiet too. I got mine built in a shop near the Hangar Lane giratory (sp.), and they were excellent. If you want the details, just ask.
But for getting one today, and installing it today, PC World / Dixons is pretty much your only choice.
HTH
LB
Packard Bell - are OK, but its all to PC world specs, ie big bundle of not so useful stuff and poor quality budget components.
If you want to walk away with a unit today, then get a cheap packard bell....as it will satisfy your needs.
But I'd get a Shuttle (I did), as they have more than enough power, and are small and quiet too. I got mine built in a shop near the Hangar Lane giratory (sp.), and they were excellent. If you want the details, just ask.
But for getting one today, and installing it today, PC World / Dixons is pretty much your only choice.
HTH
LB
i bought an apple laptop about 18 months ago, haven't looked back, this was despite years of slagging off macs, the final piece of logic that convinced me was if all things are equal, there should be as many people who swapped from macs to pcs and would never go back as there are who went from pcs to macs and would never go back. The problem is i have yet to meet anyone in the first group ( i'm sure someone will come forward now) and knows lost in the second, the only peopel i know who have gone from macvs to pcs are those that have been forced to for work
would you like to guess what the one piece of software that crashes, yes it's microsofts office
seriously for what you're describing, the mac will be perfect, go play, the only things that ou won't know what to do are those that you've learnt to do a certain way for windows, if you ever get stuck all you do is stop and think, if you'd never used a computer before, how would you expect it to work and 99% of the time, that's exactly what you need to do
if you need an further advice, just contact me off line
pk
would you like to guess what the one piece of software that crashes, yes it's microsofts office
seriously for what you're describing, the mac will be perfect, go play, the only things that ou won't know what to do are those that you've learnt to do a certain way for windows, if you ever get stuck all you do is stop and think, if you'd never used a computer before, how would you expect it to work and 99% of the time, that's exactly what you need to do
if you need an further advice, just contact me off line
pk
You could aleays check out where the nearest re seller is in your area. Look in the back pages of a Mac magazine like Macworld. Don't even have to buy that, have a squint down smiths. They (the re seller) should give you a tour of the system with no obligation.
Just found this
>> Edited by jmorgan on Saturday 12th February 17:23
>> Edited by jmorgan on Saturday 12th February 17:25
Just found this
>> Edited by jmorgan on Saturday 12th February 17:23
>> Edited by jmorgan on Saturday 12th February 17:25
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