Shootie's getting an iMac soon!
 

Word! I finally convinced my mom that Windows sucks.. and she hates our computer.. so she finally decided to see what Macs were all about.. so I dragged her over to CompUSA last weekend, she tried one out for a few minutes.. then said that if I wanted one.. she would get one.. but it would replace this Compaq piece of s**t that I have now.

I also sealed the deal by telling my mom about Microsoft's plans to charge..

I'll have more information soon.. I have to wait till my dad gets back.. then I get to go shopping.. all on my own for a Mac... my dad knows nothing about them..

w00t! :D

: Goes to Websters online :
: Looks up Compaq :

Compaq: [kom-pak], n 1) Well known computer company. 2) Pieces of s**t (slang)

Hey i have a compaq.... it sucks ass tho .... 398 MHZ peice of anus ( sappose to be 400 but i had it benchmarked and it turned out to be 398 ).... my video card is 4 MB and in the benchmark it said that it cant draw curved lined... its very intensive. My speakers like blew up. One day i was usin em and i heard a pop and smoke started to come out and smelled like burnt plastic.... anyway i need a new comp... Il prolly get one this summer

Damn right. I'm sick of this POS not working.. and I'm pissed with Compaq products in general. I can't wait to ditch my iPAQ and get an iPod :D

Hmm... suggestions:

Get a different mouse. OS X takes advantage of 2 button mouse and scrollwheel, so right-clicking will be more familiar with you. With 1 button mice, it's control-click. I recommend the Microsoft Intellimouse explorer, Microsoft just released drivers to so now you can use the side buttons for browsing and stuff.

Don't forget you'll need all new software, like Office X. Just check to see if stuff's running in OS X or not. I suggest you don't even bother with OS 9, not unless you have to, which you may. Pathes allow some programs to run in OS X, but that means you still need to install from OS 9. Anyway, if you're not sure you can ask me.

Programs you may be familiar with will be like Norton systemWorks (2.0 is OS X version), Office, Adobe and Macromedia software, etc. But you may need to look elsewhere for some stuff. CD/DVD burning, go with Toast 5 Titanium. 5.1.3 path avaliable for it to run in OS X. Best damn burning software ever made. StuffIt is like Mac's compression software. StuffIt Expander (freebie) comes on Macs. StuffIt files have better compression than Zip, and use the .sit extention. But they also decompress .zip, and every other format in existance. I suggest you just buy StuffIt Deluxe 6.5 and save yourself the hassle of trying to download and use DropZip, and those other StuffIt freebies. It just makes life easier.

Go with the best iMac you can. Return to Castle Wolfenstein just came out and it requires 500mhz. Kinda high considering Macs only top out at 1ghz, well... dual 1ghz. I'd also get a good graphics card if I were you, cause I don't think you can upgrade that in an iMac. That's the problem with iMacs, you'll be stuck with what you buy for a while. No adding a GeForce 4 Ti this June or nothing. What you buy when you get it, with the exception of AirPort and adding more RAM, is what your computer will be until you get a new one.

Which iMac is this you're getting? Is it one of the fruity colored clear plastic cased all in one unit ones? Or is it the new one with a G4 processor and flat panel monitor (man, I want one of those. This tower next to my desk takes up so much space...).

Anyways, welcome to the Light Side. :vader:

Erm, I mean. :beerchug:

Good Job Shooter!

Now let's ceck what Alienware is in the dictiornary


Alienware:

n 1) A computer company with respectable gaming PC's and horrible tech-support.

2) a UFO from another planet


Now let's check Mac:

MAC:

n 1) a type of fruit that tastes very good in an apple pie

2) The Best Damn Computer company on the planet.

3) The cure for Windows PC users


;)

Umm... What is so bad about Windows? I have Windows 95... And it works good for me.

:unsure:

Well.. I'm nto exactly sure what kind I want to get.. I might even be able to get out of getting an iMac and get some other kind of Mac computer in General.

My mom set a limit: I can spend $8,000 -- I'll see what I can get for that amount of money.

$8000?!?!?1?!?1?!?!? Holy crapolla!! That is a lot of money!

GET THIS :

http://apple.com/imac/


I am pretty sure $8000 will be enough. You might as well throw in an Apple iPOD as well. :D

Oh.. here it is : http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....3.1.1.0?93,94

The Superdrive iMac as only $1900 plus tax. GET IT! And give the rest of the money to me.

$8,000 goes fast though, Shooter has NO Mac software, or hardware.

First of all, if I were you, I wouldn't go all out. Every Mac fan is waiting for the release of the G5, we don't know when it will be, but we all want it. So if this is going to be your last computer for a few years, I'd at least try to save something basically to say "Look mom, I only spent 3K on the computer, now can I get this new G5?"

Judging on what I know about you, you're not going to use many of the PowerMac's features. I doubt you'll ever use a PCI card, or SCSI adapter. It's likely the only thing you'll ever add is a harddrive or new video card. But since you play games (haha, no Half-Life for you!), you might want to buy a PowerMac G4 just so you can have something better than the GeForce 2 MX. GeForce 4 MX, Radeon 8500, or the GeForce 4 Ti in june would suit gaming needs better.

But really, the G5 is coming soon, and pretty much everyone is waiting for it, so try to save some money, or you'll be stuck with what you get for a while. If you follow Macs you know they only release big products at certain times, at MacWorld. The G5 might come as soon as July with MacWorld New York, it might not. But maybe get a decent PowerMac G5, not one that costs $5K, and then put your money elsewhere, like into software, into a Palm, iPod, etc.

Here's my suggestion. Cheap, but will be able to run and play everything perfectly, and will give you some money to set away to a G5 fund, like everyone else.

800mhz PowerMac G4 (that's the tower)
256MB RAM, then buy another 256MB at CompUSA for cheaper
60GB HD
Combo (DVD/CD-RW) - I've got the SuperDrive, only used it once, for data purposes
NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX - Good graphics, not nearly the price of the Ti.
250MB Zip - Easy way to transfer some of your PC files over, unless you want to burn it onto CDs
AppleCare plan

$2,197

Now more RAM from CompUSA will be cheap. Also, ATI has some new Radeon 8500 offer where you send them your old card and save money. You might be able to go with the 7500, and then trade up for cheap. The 8500 is a nice card, and will play games quite nicely.

19" CRT display. Can buy PC ones, much cheaper than Apple's flat-panel.
Buy some speakers. No sound cards for Mac means no surround sound. So just get a 3-piece set for cheap, and get better sound than the cheesy mono thing.
10GB iPod - Buy from CompUSA, like i mentioned before.
Palm m505 - My dream Palm :) But hey, it's worth the price.
Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer - Gotta love it.

Software:
QuickTime Pro license - $30
Norton systemWorks 2.0
StuffIt Deluxe 6.5
Toast 5 Titanium
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Black and White
Unreal Torunament
Office X

Always need a few games. I wouldn't re-buy too many if you don't play them anymore. Just wait for new ones, like Warcraft 3. Blizzard games are hybrids, so those should work fine (D2 & StarCraft (OS X patch avaliable), and WarCraft II for sure).

All and all, you should be under $4,000, with software and everything. Then have your parents put aside the $4,000 for the next computer you get, like a G5. It'll keep her happy, and you'll want a new computer in a year or two anyway. Plus, when you buy a new one again, you don't have to rebuy software, monitor, etc.

Thanks gekko! I'll run it by my mom when I see her.. might not be for a few days.. she's out looking at colleges with my brother.. I love being home alone..

I've haven't gotten much sleep in the past week :D

Congratulations Shooter! You're going to love it! The operating sytem and all! :D Hope your dad doesn't flip his lid... :unsure:

Anyway, unless your a hardcore computer user, I would just get the top of the line G4 iMac.

I have the old school iMac DV SE with a G3 processor and I'm doing just fine. I think a CD-RW is standard in Macs now, whether you want a DVD-R drive also (which is featured in the top model iMac), is up to you. I'd still get that model because it has a little more than the others, and who knows, maybe you'll want get a DV camera and make your own movies and burn them on to DVD?

Welcome to a world free of illegal operations, unsteady operating systems, and monopolyed software. Do what you want, think different. :D

P.S. Unless you're an avid music fan, a 5 gig iPod will do just fine and it's a $100 less, but it appears money isn't an issue for you rich folk so if you can find 2000 songs to load up, go ahead! ;)

5GB iPod is just fine, but you get less than 5GB. Also, it's less storage for the portable HD.

I mean, if he has an $8,000 budget, he might as work fork over the extra $100 and get doube the storage.

Yeah, you're right.

However in my case, I'm simply buying it for the it's primary function as an MP3 player. It's also within my budget. There are also plenty of other good MP3 players out there for a heck of a lot less and I just can't justify spending $500 on one.

BTW gekko, how are you enjoying your iPod? I wanna get one this weekend and I'm planning on it but I might as well ask a fellow Mac expert how they're enjoying it. Is it everything you expected? Is it really all "they" say it is?