Right I need a new computer for myself and my partner for home use. I can get a decent spec MAC for about 1k..

Is it worth the extra £££££…

Anyone know any good places for deals on a MAC?

i think so. get a elgato tuner and it can double up as a tv too.

Only deals are refurb ones from the Apple shop online.

I am a big Apple fan and use them all day every day.

BUT

We want a computer at home for my wife to use now she is not working (maternity) and only plans on going back part time. I can honestly not see the point of one just for keeping music and pictures catalogued, surfing the internet and email.

I am currently looking at spending about £350 on a reasonable laptop. The same money would get me a much older second-hand Mac.

Of course, the exact answer would depend on your exact requirement for the machine.

i think so. get a elgato tuner and it can double up as a tv too.

What if the OP has a tv already?

it was a suggestion, not an order.

Yes

it was a suggestion, not an order.

Really? Dammit!

*cancels order*

Yes it is. I have two and I find them much better that PCs for home computing – excluding gaming of course.

– more reliable
– less maintenance
– software you need is generally cheaper or bundled with the system
– you can run VMWare or Parallels on them if you must run Windows applications

<pulls up chairs and waits for the inevitable and rather old arguments to commence>

Yes, if only for longevity and not having to worry (as much!!!) about all the viruses, malware etc out there. No excuse for leaving yourself unprotected though.

Any particular reason you want to spend that much money on a computer? What do you plan to do with it?

Personally: I don't like Macs. I don't get on with the OS, and I intensely dislike the keyboards. The rest of my family love them. YMMV.

Yes

for home use they are not worth the extra. you can get a pc for a few £100's to surf the interporn and look at people hurting themselves on youtube.
if you like the usability of the OS and want something that you can leave in the sitting room and not think "that is one ugly computer" then they are probably worth it.

Yes.

With a Mac you are paying extra for aesthetics, but also mainly for difficult to define stuff that just feels right.

It's like architecture. The cost of the materials may be the same, the build quality may be the same (although probably not), the square meterage may be the same, but one building might be great and another crap. Macs are great.

They were.
But now they're not.

£1000 seems like a lot to spend on a computer if it's just going to be used for basic things like surfing and excel/word.

I would grab a dell, get a cracking 17" i3 WLED laptop for about £530, if its just for home use.

…and i use a Macbook Pro for the record.

I still wouldn't spend that much £350 will get you a 15" laptop with windows 7 which will do all you need for home use.

yeh basically its for surfing, i tunes, pics etc so nothing to major really..

Found lower spec ones for £799 so may possibly do down that route.

Thanks for all the input!

I like mine. I thought it was worth the extra, and as I deal with Windows stuff every day of my professional life, coming home to something different gives a feel of separation. I like the photo and video stuff that came with it more than the freebie ones I've used on windows, and itunes runs better too. It has backup that just happens and I don't have to manage, just by plugging in a USB disk.

Don't buy if you're expecting some angels-singing, light pouring from the sky revelation to your home computing. Don't expect everything to be "better", or to be intuitive straight away. Don't buy one if you've got a load of windows apps that you absolutely must still run because keeping a VM of windows going is always a compromise.

Try it, you might like it. You might not, and just want to use Windows. That's fine too.

(thread of mac and windows fanboys arguing the toss about irrelevant stuff can continue)

The thing that got me about Macs is that you now have to pay extra for iPhoto (unless it has changed again).

So you have this really nice computer for all your music and pictures then have to pay for their software to properly catalogue your pictures.

(I would rather download Picasa for free though).

They are, I am running Photoshop CS2 on a huge old G3 Tower. I believe it to be the first computer to embrace the USB and use them solely, that and the fact it cost me a tenner kind of gives you an idea of its age. Would like to see a PC of this vintage keep up. If you want to spend a bit less and want one just for general home use the mac mini is worth a look. My mate is an I.T. lecturer and has slated me for using macs for years. He has just bought a Imac and a macbook and sold his windows machines.

i think so. get a elgato tuner and it can double up as a tv too.

We were in the market for a new TV. I am already a huge Mac fan so we splashed out on a new 27inch iMac. Combined with the above tuner it is doing sterling work as very high quality TV on which you can watch and record Freeview TV (and export the recordings to iPod / DVD etc) and also look at the thousands of pictures that we have taken over the years.

When not watching the TV we have the screensaver on scrolling randomly through the pictures.

Are they worth it? I would say yes.

The thing that got me about Macs is that you now have to pay extra for iPhoto (unless it has changed again).

Wrong – it comes pre-installed these days.

Another reason I decided a PC would be better is that I don't need mine to be on view (it will just be folded away and put under the sofa or whatever when not in use) so no need for computer bling.

There was a thread yesterday about deals on PCs – some nice 17'' Samsung laptops for £350

Wrong – it comes pre-installed these days.

As I said, unless it has changed again. On a quick Google, they bundle it on new Macs but you have to buy it if updating your OS (which I recently did).

iPhoto has alwas been installed, but you had to buy an upgrade as part of iLife if you wanted to get a later version. I've recently upgraded iPhoto on my PowerBook because it couldn't see my library on the external drive. It was V2.1, around seven years old, the age of the Mac. I borrowed iLife '08 from work for free and installed that. Works fine.
A recent analysis of a top of the range 27" iMac came to the conclusion you're buying a high-end monitor and getting the computer and periferals for free; the Dell LCD monitor was around $1600, the iMac around $1690/1700.

My mac mini is the best computer I've ever owned. Absolutely tiny, totally silent, looks great, as powerful a computer as you could ever need (unless you start playing cutting edge games) and running Windows on VMware is much nicer than running Windows on a machine on its own… 🙂

Mac refurb on the apple site

get a Mac best thing ever

our new imac……

randomly crashes
shuts down automatically
crashes when anything elsewhere on the network changes
crashes when you take headphones out of it
crashes when you import text into motion
is less reliable than my vista running PC.

Ooh it looks pretty though.

get a Mac best thing ever

I'm glad I don't live your life! 😉

no one has posted anything that makes me think it's worth spending more than 350 for basic home computing.

our new imac……

randomly crashes
shuts down automatically
crashes when anything elsewhere on the network changes
crashes when you take headphones out of it
crashes when you import text into motion
is less reliable than my vista running PC.

What have you done about it then? I'd have taken it back if it crashes every time you do those things.

no one has posted anything that makes me think it's worth spending more than 350 for basic home computing.

But it's not you asking the question is it?

So far as I recall the OP was asking for other people's opinions, not whether those of us who like macs could change the mind of some random third party who doesn't.

I don't suppose Michael Dell would think it was worth it either, but Steve Jobs would – so what?

No but the OP has said it's for basic home computing.. 🙄

What have you done about it then? I'd have taken it back if it crashes every time you do those things.

It's got a major project on it that needs finishing asap (precisely why we bought the sodding thing in the first place), and another delay will not be good for us.*

Apple care have been out and don't know what it's doing. Forums are buzzing with talk of some of the issues being. The result of that discussion "Oh yeah, you've just got to work around it". Great.

Lump of (pretty) crap.

*incedentally, the delay came from the client end, and they want us to edit at light speed in order to reign in their slack.

Is it worth the extra £££££…
Anyone know any good places for deals on a MAC?

So questions 1 & 2 are for Mac Lovers aka the pink pound 😉

macs tend to be better in terms of design and build quality (the aluminium unibody of my mbp is great) but i seem to have far more frustrations with the OS now than i get with windows 7. Things like not being able to maximise windows or the multi touch trackpad – being able to scroll down the screen using 2 fingers is a great feature, but most of the other gestures are just a pain in the arse causing me to do things accidentally like minimise/maximise text size when i dont want to. Gets very frustrating yet it is impossible to disable the multi touch gestures i dont want to use and customise it to work the way i want it to work. My windows machine is much easier to configure to work to my own preferences.

The OS on macs used to be a strong point too in comparision to windows in terms of stability, speed and user friendliness – but i dont think there is much (if any) difference now.

(I would rather download Picasa for free though).

I personally feel Picasa is better than iPhoto on the mac. Chuck in iphone apps like iPicasso that allows you to upload pics from the iphone to your online Picasa account and its brills.

I'm typing this on a G5 powermac from http://www.scrumpymacs.co.uk – I think it's from mid 2006, running 10.4.11. with 1Gb ram.

Next to it on the desk is 2 year old custom PC (won't bore you with specs) running Windows 7, with 4Gb ram.

Old Mac is twice as fast booting from cold, and runs CS3 much faster.

At home I've got a Macbook refurb, about 4 months old – awesome – £579 direct from Apple.

Are they worth it? Yes, because my wife has no idea how to work a Mac, so leaves it well alone.