quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Don’t get a Mac! Seriously, if you’ve never used one, don’t start now.

My daughter and I just spent 45 minutes trying to move pictures from one folder to another...

Respectfully, that is an issue with the "CKI" (Chair/Keyboard Interface - i.e. user).


I have roughly 40 years of Microsoft/Windows experience from DOS 3.0 to Windows 11. I also have almost 20 years of Mac. I used to be rabidly anti-Mac until I actually used one.

Mac is definitely the better experience and a pretty easy learning curve. I absolutely abhor having to use a Windows computer these days and thankfully it is a rare occurrence since I retired.


The info the OP failed to provide is what is your budget? Hard to make any recommendations without that info.


For "basic" computing, the Mac mini will definitely do everything. I'll second what 4MUL8R posted about a good monitor, keyboard, mouse. I have an 8 year old 32" LG 4K monitor that is amazing. It is now in service with its third computer.


If you have an Apple Store nearby, I would recommend going in and checking them out. If you decide to make the switch, they will provide free training to help you with the transition.

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
Why would you spend 1200 bucks on an imac to do basic computing? makes no sense to me

That's because you don't have 30 years of IT experience.

ok so what is the reason then? I love the apple products that i use but I am sincerely curious about why?

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
Why would you spend 1200 bucks on an imac to do basic computing? makes no sense to me

That's because you don't have 30 years of IT experience.

ok so what is the reason then?

He's given us no other information on what his exiting system is, so clearly it's more of a tool than any kind of interest. Go ask your wife how many liters her cars engine is, to get the best analogy. that means he could be using a 20" 1080p monitor and an old membrane keyboard and cheap mouse.

the iMac being an all in one solves all of those issues as well as having a serviceable keyboard and mouse. as 911Boss pointed out Windows has become an absolute shit show with 11. Apple will keep it updated and the hardware on them at this point will run well effectively forever as the M4 in there is at a performance threshold we may never hit with typical use.

got it

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
what is standard use? if you donthave a video/music/picture collectin I would get one of the zillion minis that they sell on amazon
something like this!!

https://www.amazon.com/BOSGAME...TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Big fan on the mini's as well. Get a good monitor (I prefer widescreen) and velcro a mini to the back of it. Clean desktop, plenty of power for regular daily use. Most of the benefits of an AIO without the need to throw away a perfectly good display when it's time to upgrade again.

I say this contemplating the demise of my 2017 model 27" iMac. It still works fine for what we want to do, but I feel like we're on borrowed time.

Mac Mini M4. $599. Order a 1 TB external hard drive at the same time, or two of them, so you can back it up on the reg.

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
Respectfully, that is an issue with the "CKI" (Chair/Keyboard Interface - i.e. user).

I'm sure that's true, but my 18 year old daughter just pulled out her 5 year old Dell Latitude that randomly crashes to create a video slide show of the graduating seniors for her high school graduation ceremony rather than keep banging her head on her new MacBook Pro M5 Pro with the Apple software bundle.

Must be genetic.

There is usually a shortcut to accomplish many tasks. This may help.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102650

Ok guys. the last computer was bought with the last round of windows 7 OS. So it has been while. Family gave us an Older Lenovo with an AMD E1 processor (WINDOWS 10). I know Lenovo's are good But we are having issues getting it to work right. Thought it needed updates since it has been run in 4 or 5 years since it was operational. Does not want to cooperate to this point. If you have suggestion on it please let m know.

Don't really want to get into another OS like Mac or Apple. Budget is as little as possible or most bang for buck.

Thanks guys.

I am certainly not an expert, but I'll give this a shot. The AMD E1 processor is a basic one designed for budget laptops and netbooks. Could it run Win11? Maybe (you need to check), but more likely at the bottom end. I personally believe you would be better off investing in a new, much more capable Win11 or Apple product. However, if you still want to stick with the Lenovo, I suggest ensuring you have 16Gb of RAM (minimum), replace the HDD with a 500Gb SSD, and install a fresh copy of Win11. Get a 1Tb stand-alone SSD to handle data, photos, video, etc., or something like a QNAP TR-002 for basic redundancy.

I am running a Dell small form factor desktop, Intel i5 processor, 16Gb DDR4 RAM & Win11. Has a 256Gb PCle SSD C: drive and an internal Samsung 1Tb SSD E: drive for storage. I run two Samsung monitors. Nothing here is blinding-fast speed, but it's simply a home office setup. I don't game.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
Why would you spend 1200 bucks on an imac to do basic computing? makes no sense to me

That's because you don't have 30 years of IT experience.

ok so what is the reason then? I love the apple products that i use but I am sincerely curious about why?

Personally, I got used to multiple monitors and quality input devices on X Windows/NeXT/and Macs long before these were commonplace on Microsoft platforms. Even waaaay back in the day when MS-DOS's main "competition" was from CP/M systems, I far preferred the latter (not to mention BSD, and to a lesser extent System V) shells.

So much of ones choices are informed by what one already has learned that much else seems insignificant. Why retained learning is more valuable than learning itself only Mother Nature knows for sure, maybe just because an open (but well-stocked) mind is preferable to an empty one.

I will, grudgingly, admit that MS OS's have come a long way from the early MS-DOS days. But I absolutely resent how Microsoft did it, by "borrowing" from open source developers and distributions without even giving credit or retaining the developers naming, instead branding it as their own in-house developed IP, and charging a pretty price for it. Examples include SMB -> "netbios," LSAT -> "active directory," and many other community-developed facilities. Only very reluctantly giving back to the open source community. Contrast with Apple, who do just as much "stealing" but do respect copylefts and other developer-imposed restrictions on their code. Apple also gives significant funding back to the community, and respecting their users' privacy concerns.

I wouldn't bother with anything with an E1 and I say that as an AMD fan.

with the new information you've provided, the unit Ronin posted would fit your needs and what you're looking for exceptionally well.

After some family consultation and going through this thread I have a couple of questions. Budget around $800, Under $1000. . Leaning toward Imac. Will probably need a new monitor. Nothing crazy. Limited space. Do the imac's com with usb and sd slots, etc.
How about specific model recommendations and places to buy online. This would be a new os for us. Wife is good at reading directions on new stuff

Thanks guys and gals.

iMac has a couple of USBs but I don't think they've ever had an SD slot, but USB to SD dongles are common enough. but the iMac M3 4 Port would be the one to aim for.

Thank you all. Ordered the mini mac m4 with 512-16
For a little under budget from Costco. I appreciate all the thoughts, suggestions and advice. Appreciate you Jay.

This might help with the transition…

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Thank you all. Ordered the mini mac m4 with 512-16
For a little under budget from Costco. I appreciate all the thoughts, suggestions and advice. Appreciate you Jay.

Anytime brother!

Good job on getting a new PC, there's no reason to get an older PC and trying to run the new OS from anyone Mac or Windows.


Now you could take that old PC and run Linux on it and it would probably do pretty well, did that to my dads laptop as it was slowing down to a crawl especially with all the Win updates.

With Linux it's quick looks like windows and all he does is check his bank balance, order groceries and read the news when he's not on his iPad.

This is something we're now going through so I'll simply provide my testimonial to the quality of Apple products. We are just now retiring our IMac desk computer and Macbook Air. They are both nine years old and still functioning flawlessly. The only reason we're replacing them is that Apple stopped supporting with security fixes the machines' operating system. (Both machines are maxed out in terms of updating the operating system.)

Needless to say, we bought another IMac and Macbook Air.

And this part is interesting: I dug out our old invoices on the 2017 machines. The new Macbook Air with twice as much RAM and SSD storage was $150 cheaper than the 2017 version. The new IMac with a bigger screen also with twice as much RAM and SSD storage, and all the other bells and whistles was only $125 more than its 2017 predecessor.

I bought a MacMini recently to have a dedicated desktop computer. I have a 4K LG monitor that was $250 at Costco. I’ve used windows computers when needed for work but the Mac systems are vastly better and more secure IMO. Have had acNac since 1984.
I’ve was using a MacBook Air with a dock but prefer the Mini dedicated desktop for serious work. I have another LG monitor I can easily add if I want.