Advice on purchasing a new mac, IMAC VS G5.
- Thread starter OSX-Devlinite
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Arden
Where mah "any" keys at?
Well, you ordered the iMac before I could give my advice, but you'll love it still.
The iMac is a good introductory machine to the platform. It is plenty powerful, but it doesn't get ahead of itself and it doesn't cost too much. It comes with lots of stuff (including the built-in monitor), and it has the ultimate form factor. It will suit you well for the tasks you mentioned (Photoshop, light video editing), and if you feel like it's starting to bog down, you can save up for a G5 for a later date.
It's nice to see you've reformed. Welcome to the friendlier side of Macosx.com.
The iMac is a good introductory machine to the platform. It is plenty powerful, but it doesn't get ahead of itself and it doesn't cost too much. It comes with lots of stuff (including the built-in monitor), and it has the ultimate form factor. It will suit you well for the tasks you mentioned (Photoshop, light video editing), and if you feel like it's starting to bog down, you can save up for a G5 for a later date.
It's nice to see you've reformed. Welcome to the friendlier side of Macosx.com.
OSX-Devlinite
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Hopefully, apple will send a "Panther" coupon with my new Imac.
For buying a G5 in the future all rests on my impressions with the Imac, and since it's not here yet... I can't comment on it, but it's the only design i loved from apple. That's why I chose the Imac.
For buying a G5 in the future all rests on my impressions with the Imac, and since it's not here yet... I can't comment on it, but it's the only design i loved from apple. That's why I chose the Imac.
OSX-Devlinite
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Well my imac has finally been shipped...Should be here in 2-3 business days with fedex. Hopefully, by thursday!
Ricky
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Let me just give my two cents about the whole G5 vs. iMac thing. I use an iMac flat-panel at home, 800 MHz... Got it before the new ones came out, but whatever.
Good choice, going with the extra RAM. I will be putting at least another 512 MB in mine fairly soon (Another thing to put in my to-do list ). Now then.The iMac works great with Photoshop. I have actually neglected installing the updates for it yet (another thing on my to-do), but it's a great little machine and will take on all your Photoshop requests and keep up with you pretty well. I consider myself a graphics professional, too; I use many of PS 7's more advanced features and my iMac keeps right up with me at the base configuration. That extra 425 MHz difference, along with the extra RAM, will be plenty. And I think that extra screen real-estate will be lovely as well.
You got a sweet little machine there.
The G5 would be nice, yes, but the iMac was a good choice for home.
OSX-Devlinite
Registered
No good news
Checked Fedex tracking.... stuck at airport customs all day.
So it should definitely come friday... or Fedex will be late, which is almost impossible!
Checked Fedex tracking.... stuck at airport customs all day.
So it should definitely come friday... or Fedex will be late, which is almost impossible!
OSX-Devlinite
Registered
Well it finally came today...
As I was confident of my timing calculations... Fedex came at the same time I went upstairs to open the door
The box and everything inside was well done, nice and neatly packaged, without any waste of space. I frankly, couldn't believe they were able to cram the imac in there.
The software that came with it was crap. Free app trials and Tony Hawk pro skating 4 full.
Anyways, after putting the power plug, mouse and keyboard I booted up to OSX. I must say Imac is very sexy and well designed, except for the mouse and speakers sometimes distorting from static (solutions for this?). I love the widescreen LCD though!
It asked me for registration stuff, i quickly entered and selected my way of connecting to the net. it right away found my cisco access point and was already connected to OSX from boot. I also set up my networking for file sharing with my PCs, it found my network group, and everything, but asking for a pass. Neverthless, networking is really easy. Big bonus.
I must say I felt like a monkey while trying to get things done on OSX.
Couldn't find the CD eject button eventually noticing it was conveniently on the keyboard. Heheh, I even tried pressing on the Imac logo under the LCD screen on the Imac, thinking it probably had some kind of sensor like the G4 cube to open up.
Another discovery was right click tasks which couldnt be done because of the 1 button mouse, that was a real pain in the ass. Then figured out, you can simply press and hold button to get the extra option for dock items, but not for files such as copy and paste. I really hate using ctrl + mouse button... I prefer PC style 2 button mouse configuration with scroller. The mouse doesnt feel right and is a dissapointment for me.
I also figured out the Finder, what I found neat was applications were all bundled into 1 icon. No hassles, very easy to manage.
The OS itself is fast and stable, but not as fast as my XP machine.
For instance, web browsing is slower on OSX... even if I use IE or Safari...its like going on half the speed of my DSL. That was a downside.
But multi-tasking was a breeze. I web browsed while I was watching a DVD... No lagging whatsoever. I will do more testing on this.
At this time, i forgot that I didnt isntall my extra 512MBs of ram, and realised even without it, OSX still ran quite smoothly.
I also installed WC3 TFT and tried that on max resolution with max settings. It peforming as well as a pc for such a high resolution with only a Geforce FX 5600. One problem was OSX nvidia drivers doesnt seem to let you modify options for OpenGL which is another dissapointment. What if I want to use anistropic filtering, AA or disable vertical sync?
On the net, I snooped around and found couple of free OSX apps which were nice. Such as Jedi Knight 2 Irc.
MSN messenger looks much nicer on OSX, but alot less features... MS should update it, but i guess they dont care...
I tried Office X and Appleworks, they seemed too messy and complicated... so I didnt bother trying them out extensively.
That was pretty much my day with my new Imac. Oh and no Panther coupon
Didn't try Adobe yet...
If I can summarize my first impressions... From scale to 1 to 10. I give the Imac for its cost an 8. It's a good machine but didnt excite me as I wanted. Maybe it was because I was getting frustrated in finding how things get done. I also felt restricted and limited. Was very hard to find free or pirated apps for OSX that were worthy.
My judgment will change as I use it more extensively, this is just first day impression.
As I was confident of my timing calculations... Fedex came at the same time I went upstairs to open the door
The box and everything inside was well done, nice and neatly packaged, without any waste of space. I frankly, couldn't believe they were able to cram the imac in there.
The software that came with it was crap. Free app trials and Tony Hawk pro skating 4 full.
Anyways, after putting the power plug, mouse and keyboard I booted up to OSX. I must say Imac is very sexy and well designed, except for the mouse and speakers sometimes distorting from static (solutions for this?). I love the widescreen LCD though!
It asked me for registration stuff, i quickly entered and selected my way of connecting to the net. it right away found my cisco access point and was already connected to OSX from boot. I also set up my networking for file sharing with my PCs, it found my network group, and everything, but asking for a pass. Neverthless, networking is really easy. Big bonus.
I must say I felt like a monkey while trying to get things done on OSX.
Couldn't find the CD eject button eventually noticing it was conveniently on the keyboard. Heheh, I even tried pressing on the Imac logo under the LCD screen on the Imac, thinking it probably had some kind of sensor like the G4 cube to open up.
Another discovery was right click tasks which couldnt be done because of the 1 button mouse, that was a real pain in the ass. Then figured out, you can simply press and hold button to get the extra option for dock items, but not for files such as copy and paste. I really hate using ctrl + mouse button... I prefer PC style 2 button mouse configuration with scroller. The mouse doesnt feel right and is a dissapointment for me.
I also figured out the Finder, what I found neat was applications were all bundled into 1 icon. No hassles, very easy to manage.
The OS itself is fast and stable, but not as fast as my XP machine.
For instance, web browsing is slower on OSX... even if I use IE or Safari...its like going on half the speed of my DSL. That was a downside.
But multi-tasking was a breeze. I web browsed while I was watching a DVD... No lagging whatsoever. I will do more testing on this.
At this time, i forgot that I didnt isntall my extra 512MBs of ram, and realised even without it, OSX still ran quite smoothly.
I also installed WC3 TFT and tried that on max resolution with max settings. It peforming as well as a pc for such a high resolution with only a Geforce FX 5600. One problem was OSX nvidia drivers doesnt seem to let you modify options for OpenGL which is another dissapointment. What if I want to use anistropic filtering, AA or disable vertical sync?
On the net, I snooped around and found couple of free OSX apps which were nice. Such as Jedi Knight 2 Irc.
MSN messenger looks much nicer on OSX, but alot less features... MS should update it, but i guess they dont care...
I tried Office X and Appleworks, they seemed too messy and complicated... so I didnt bother trying them out extensively.
That was pretty much my day with my new Imac. Oh and no Panther coupon
Didn't try Adobe yet...
If I can summarize my first impressions... From scale to 1 to 10. I give the Imac for its cost an 8. It's a good machine but didnt excite me as I wanted. Maybe it was because I was getting frustrated in finding how things get done. I also felt restricted and limited. Was very hard to find free or pirated apps for OSX that were worthy.
My judgment will change as I use it more extensively, this is just first day impression.
I'm glad you got your iMac now. Believe me: Coming from Windows there just _are_ some differences that you'll get used to over time. About the mouse: Just use your PC's USB mouse, if it's a USB. It'll work out of the box. Even the right-clicking.
If you want better instant messenging, use iChat AV. It's currently in beta, you can get it from Apple's site, if it isn't installed already.
The RAM will certainly speed things up further for you, so you might wanna include that in your further tests. ;-)
About pirated apps: We don't welcome that in here... If you _have_ to get your software illegally, just don't talk about it. Talk about software instead of pirated software.
You said: "But multi-tasking was a breeze. I web browsed while I was watching a DVD... No lagging whatsoever. I will do more testing on this."
That's what we're trying to say. ;-) You can also have Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign open in the background while watching a DVD and browsing the web. The only speed impact you will see from time to time is that large applications will take a bit to come back to the foreground if they're hidden, as Mac OS X puts their RAM usage onto the harddrive after a while.
If you want better instant messenging, use iChat AV. It's currently in beta, you can get it from Apple's site, if it isn't installed already.
The RAM will certainly speed things up further for you, so you might wanna include that in your further tests. ;-)
About pirated apps: We don't welcome that in here... If you _have_ to get your software illegally, just don't talk about it. Talk about software instead of pirated software.
You said: "But multi-tasking was a breeze. I web browsed while I was watching a DVD... No lagging whatsoever. I will do more testing on this."
That's what we're trying to say. ;-) You can also have Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign open in the background while watching a DVD and browsing the web. The only speed impact you will see from time to time is that large applications will take a bit to come back to the foreground if they're hidden, as Mac OS X puts their RAM usage onto the harddrive after a while.
May I suggest a book to help speed you on your way:
Mac OS X for Windows Users: A Switcher's Guide by David Coursey.
The mouse; the subject of countless flame wars on these and other forums. Some people actually like the one button approach.
I selected a Logitech optical mouse. Works fine in OS X.
The browser: check out what you can find at http://www.mozilla.org . I use Camino.
Office X: Well you must not have had to use Office XP. Talk about confusing. I find Office for the Mac easier to use and less confusing.
Adobe apps: these are available in 30 day trial versions. You will like being able to drag all those palletttes over to one side of the wide screen and have your document open on the other side.
Mac OS X for Windows Users: A Switcher's Guide by David Coursey.
The mouse; the subject of countless flame wars on these and other forums. Some people actually like the one button approach.
I selected a Logitech optical mouse. Works fine in OS X.
The browser: check out what you can find at http://www.mozilla.org . I use Camino.
Office X: Well you must not have had to use Office XP. Talk about confusing. I find Office for the Mac easier to use and less confusing.
Adobe apps: these are available in 30 day trial versions. You will like being able to drag all those palletttes over to one side of the wide screen and have your document open on the other side.
About Office v. X: If you're used to Office 2000 or XP on the PC, it shouldn't be too hard to find your way around. All features are found in quite similar places, I find. The new palettes, imho, rule... If I had a use for it, I'd buy it. But Panther's TextEdit opens and saves word files easily, so I use that.
OSX-Devlinite
Registered
I probably will never use Ichat, cause I need a .mac account (must pay for it) or AIM which I dont use. I'm a MSN guy.
I am in love with new office 11. Very well done and rich with features...
I don't know if MS will release it for OSX, but it wont matter cause I have it on pc.
In the meantime, is there any cool free apps for OSX? I really got nothing to do on it... I just stare on the screen and play with the dock.
I noticed a problem, I dunno if its OSX or the apple mouse but sometimes I have to click the mouse button 2-3 times to get a response.
Oh and I accidently pull the power plug while logged in OSX. Does that harm the OS, in anyway?
Also, how do I make my icons look big? Not the dock ones, the one's i put on desktop. I usually see them real big in OSX screenshots.
Do i need a special app to burn isos or bins? Does Apple have a built in DVD/CD burner software? Or do I have to get one? Which is the best? I heard about roxio burn and toast...
How do I uninstall programs? I simply delete the icon or folder of the app from finder? Or is there a more proper way to do it?
I am in love with new office 11. Very well done and rich with features...
I don't know if MS will release it for OSX, but it wont matter cause I have it on pc.
In the meantime, is there any cool free apps for OSX? I really got nothing to do on it... I just stare on the screen and play with the dock.
I noticed a problem, I dunno if its OSX or the apple mouse but sometimes I have to click the mouse button 2-3 times to get a response.
Oh and I accidently pull the power plug while logged in OSX. Does that harm the OS, in anyway?
Also, how do I make my icons look big? Not the dock ones, the one's i put on desktop. I usually see them real big in OSX screenshots.
Do i need a special app to burn isos or bins? Does Apple have a built in DVD/CD burner software? Or do I have to get one? Which is the best? I heard about roxio burn and toast...
How do I uninstall programs? I simply delete the icon or folder of the app from finder? Or is there a more proper way to do it?
hulkaros
The Incredible...
Originally posted by OSX-Devlinite
I probably will never use Ichat, cause I need a .mac account (must pay for it) or AIM which I dont use. I'm a MSN guy.
I am in love with new office 11. Very well done and rich with features...
I don't know if MS will release it for OSX, but it wont matter cause I have it on pc.
New Office will be released for OS X maybe sometime next year, at least according to MBU @ MS...
In the meantime, is there any cool free apps for OSX? I really got nothing to do on it... I just stare on the screen and play with the dock.
Browse here:
http://www.macupdate.com/index.php?os=macosx
and here:
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
If you give us some examples of paid software personally I may have a similar free app to propose you...
I noticed a problem, I dunno if its OSX or the apple mouse but sometimes I have to click the mouse button 2-3 times to get a response.
Check the bottom of the mouse... It has a sensitivity dial jog... Play with it
Oh and I accidently pull the power plug while logged in OSX. Does that harm the OS, in anyway?
I would worry A LOT MORE for the hardware in general Anyways, this is 50%-50%. Was the OS X doing anything while you pulled the plug? Be extra careful with cables and this is not only for your computers but with ALL electronic devices
Also, how do I make my icons look big? Not the dock ones, the one's i put on desktop. I usually see them real big in OSX screenshots.
Click anywhere on Desktop or any open window and then select from the top menu the View and then the Show View Options (or press the Command-Apple key- & J)... Enjoy!
Do i need a special app to burn isos or bins? Does Apple have a built in DVD/CD burner software? Or do I have to get one? Which is the best? I heard about roxio burn and toast...
Use Disk Copy in order to burn almost anything... If you are careful you will notice that you are able to burn multisession CDs too, contrary to common knowledge As for other burning Apps: Roxio has ONLY Toast and different versions of it... I think someone confused you with the Roxio Burn! 2 other GREAT burning apps (to me) are Dragon Burn for OS X and FireStarterX... Still, in the two previous sites that I gave you, you can find others as well...
How do I uninstall programs? I simply delete the icon or folder of the app from finder? Or is there a more proper way to do it?
For example you want to delete Roxio Toast which has other folders and apps inside its main Folder:
You just Trash the main Toast folder
If it is an app that you want to remove, say Safari, you just Trash the Safari...
Nothing funky here! Just Trash the app or its main folder and BOOM! The application is no more!
I probably will never use Ichat, cause I need a .mac account (must pay for it) or AIM which I dont use. I'm a MSN guy.
I am in love with new office 11. Very well done and rich with features...
I don't know if MS will release it for OSX, but it wont matter cause I have it on pc.
New Office will be released for OS X maybe sometime next year, at least according to MBU @ MS...
In the meantime, is there any cool free apps for OSX? I really got nothing to do on it... I just stare on the screen and play with the dock.
Browse here:
http://www.macupdate.com/index.php?os=macosx
and here:
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
If you give us some examples of paid software personally I may have a similar free app to propose you...
I noticed a problem, I dunno if its OSX or the apple mouse but sometimes I have to click the mouse button 2-3 times to get a response.
Check the bottom of the mouse... It has a sensitivity dial jog... Play with it
Oh and I accidently pull the power plug while logged in OSX. Does that harm the OS, in anyway?
I would worry A LOT MORE for the hardware in general
Anyways, this is 50%-50%. Was the OS X doing anything while you pulled the plug? Be extra careful with cables and this is not only for your computers but with ALL electronic devices Also, how do I make my icons look big? Not the dock ones, the one's i put on desktop. I usually see them real big in OSX screenshots.
Click anywhere on Desktop or any open window and then select from the top menu the View and then the Show View Options (or press the Command-Apple key- & J)... Enjoy!
Do i need a special app to burn isos or bins? Does Apple have a built in DVD/CD burner software? Or do I have to get one? Which is the best? I heard about roxio burn and toast...
Use Disk Copy in order to burn almost anything... If you are careful you will notice that you are able to burn multisession CDs too, contrary to common knowledge
As for other burning Apps: Roxio has ONLY Toast and different versions of it... I think someone confused you with the Roxio Burn! 2 other GREAT burning apps (to me) are Dragon Burn for OS X and FireStarterX... Still, in the two previous sites that I gave you, you can find others as well...How do I uninstall programs? I simply delete the icon or folder of the app from finder? Or is there a more proper way to do it?
For example you want to delete Roxio Toast which has other folders and apps inside its main Folder:
You just Trash the main Toast folder
If it is an app that you want to remove, say Safari, you just Trash the Safari...
Nothing funky here!
Just Trash the app or its main folder and BOOM! The application is no more! 
MikeXpop
iEye
Originally posted by OSX-Devlinite
In the meantime, is there any cool free apps for OSX? I really got nothing to do on it... I just stare on the screen and play with the dock.
Yes, many!
MorphX, an application that allows you to make one picture morph into another picture in a quicktime movie. Very powerful, and extrememly cool. The fact that it's free and only half a meg big just adds to it's awesomeness.
VLC Media Player and mPlayer. Both for either watching .wmv's (WMP for mac is horrendous) and for watching divx movies. People here have different preferences about either one
OmniWeb, a great browser. It's missing some basic no brainer features (tabs, one click pop up blocking), but it's customizable beyond belief. For example, any url with a variable in it you can use to your advantage. If you want to search on google for puppies, you can configure your browser so you just have to type "google puppies". You can also set this up with sites like FedEx (tracking codes) and dictionary.com.
OSX-Devlinite
Registered
Thank you for tell me about the apps. I will look into them soon enough.
Well even though i wasn't that excited about the Imac, my mom seems to love it alot.
She loves the design and told me why i never bought a computer like this, cause she hated my pcs, with their wires and bulkiness.
She doesnt know how to use a computer, but she seems to be comfortable to understand OSX. I taught her how to get on the the .net, and I may say the google on safari browser was a key for newbie success. My mom loves it. I also showed her how to import her cds to Itunes library, even i was astounded how easy it was and I showed her how to use the Music radio. The OS seems to fit in harmony with Iapps. BTW, MS will be releasing WMP9 for OSX soon...
She on the Imac right now and she is very happy with it. So i guess one of us is getting a good deal out of it.
And as for me, I am downloading Halo final for PC. The irony of it all, since it was suppose to be an exclusive mac title!
Well even though i wasn't that excited about the Imac, my mom seems to love it alot.
She loves the design and told me why i never bought a computer like this, cause she hated my pcs, with their wires and bulkiness.
She doesnt know how to use a computer, but she seems to be comfortable to understand OSX. I taught her how to get on the the .net, and I may say the google on safari browser was a key for newbie success. My mom loves it. I also showed her how to import her cds to Itunes library, even i was astounded how easy it was and I showed her how to use the Music radio. The OS seems to fit in harmony with Iapps. BTW, MS will be releasing WMP9 for OSX soon...
She on the Imac right now and she is very happy with it. So i guess one of us is getting a good deal out of it.
And as for me, I am downloading Halo final for PC. The irony of it all, since it was suppose to be an exclusive mac title!
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