On the spending of money

[jhetley]

Okay, we are contemplating the purchase of a new computer here -- having to wake up my machine by poking it with a stick has a certain resonance and appeal, but I have to think that when simple plastic parts start to break with age and use, other and more important bits may have passed their MTBF ratings. We bought this machine in 1998...

So, looking at iMac computers (and if any Mac users have suggestions or warnings, I will welcome them) and totaling up the cost, including new software. And the office all-in-one printer is getting cranky, no longer accepting faxes, thank you. Well, it receives them but won't print them, which looks remarkably similar from my end of things. It appears to believe it has transparency media loaded, and declares that an unacceptable mismatch. Will print okay from the computers, and as a copier, but... And when I replaced the ink cartridge the other day, and went to print an alignment page, "alignment failed." So.

This starts to look expensive.

Meanwhile, the wind howls outside, with chill factors well below zero. No ski runs today, and maybe no walks.

Comments

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

llioness, my machine that was put together in early 1999 has a failed hard drive and therefore Alaric is looking to upgrade the entire machine. He's already bought new RAM for it and a new hard drive and it got a hand-me-down chip (that was bought in 1999 but went in to his machine first.)

I think the total to rebuild the machine from the motherboard up was $412 dollars. That included RAM, motherboard, chip, and big hard drive. He's got a graphics card squirreled away in the attic already. Monitor is still good.

[otterdance.livejournal.com]

I've been using Macs since there were Macs! Right now I'm working on the new MacBook Pro laptop, which I can also use as a desktop with plug in keyboard and wireless mouse. Best of both worlds. You definitely want to run the OS X. I think the current version is called Tiger. It comes built in. Have you been to the Apple website?

As for software, I must confess to being a long time Microsoft Word fan. It has it's quirks, and the new versions do way more than I need to and I have to go in and turn off some of the features, but it remains the most powerful word processing package.

[wood-dragon.livejournal.com]

There is an article today at the cbc website about changing to a Mac. (One sec... http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/moving-mac.html)

I'm also contemplating moving to a Mac.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

This, being a Dell machine, contains a number of non-standard parts. And all components are outdated enough that we would be doing a "gut remodel", similar to the Pigeon Loft. As noted, even the case is failing. Simpler to build a new machine from scratch.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. "Windows guy since back in the early Triassic" sounds understated, from my point of view. I used to be the office IT guy by default*, in the era of DOS.

*Because I was willing to RTFM...

[wood-dragon.livejournal.com]

Because I was willing to RTFM

I hear you. One office I worked in used a Foxpro for DOS database to track donations. (Once the programmer realized I knew the basics of programming, he would call and talk me through making fixes and compiling them.) My then-boss decided that while the rest of us used PCs, he needed to use a Mac.

I got very good at juggling both systems and RingTFMs.

mac lurker here....

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

Another advantage (if you want to think of it that way) is the XP runs fine on the machine as well. So some software may not need to be replaced. Two schemes for this and can talk of advantages of each if you are interested.

I do my animation on a MacPro but we brought in two labs full of iMacs a couple of months ago. Students can find ways to break things that the ordinary human cannot and these have performed flawlessly. You will not regret switching.

Re: mac lurker here....

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I looked into both Boot Camp and Parallels. Since I only need to transfer Word files and Quicken bookkeeping, the extra cost of either form of dual-boot software _and_ a retail version of XP* doesn't seem justified. May also get Photoshop Elements, or just keep using the older version on my laptop.

*My WinXP software is an OEM "restore" disk, and thus won't install on another machine.

However, talk away...

Re: mac lurker here....

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

Didn't know if you had any software that you needed to transfer. In terms of transfer of files the only thing you need to remember is to make sure the three letter file extension is on all files. Mac side doesn't care but Win still loves that DOS legacy, then transfer is a no-brainer.

I must confess that I only have Parallels on my computer so I can play Win only games. I like the fact that I can be running other Mac apps and just have a Win window on my desktop. Win apps can show up in the dock etc. Don't like the "has to be one or the other" experience that you get with Bootcamp. We tried both at school because the PTB see this as a way of maximizing their purchase for us art types. They can use the lab to teach MS Word or something when we don't need the computers.

For everything else I just use the mac version of the software. Many venders will allow cross grading (switch from Win to Mac) for a nominal fee if the other version isn't already on the CD/DVD you purchased.

I must admitt that I like the ability to run OS X, Win and Linux apps all on the same computer but I'm a geek so it really is a case of just doing it because I can more than because I need to.

I get a lot of questions from students of the "what should I buy" sort. I always have to say that the Mac is worth the money. As an animator I need fast so I replace things every two years and people are still using my old G3, G4 and G5. My old SE finally died (my step mother was using it to play solitaire) and I retrieved it to use as my office doorstop.