I used to be a Microsoft fan. Dos, Win 95, 98, 98SE, XP, then I got burned by Vista, then burned by Gateway.

I'm now a happy Apple user with a 15" wide screen Mac Book Pro and a 11" Mac Air.

I recently gave away a 2005 12" Power Book G4 with Super drive that was still going strong on 10.4.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

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Originally posted by LBAR15:
When you get to the point that you just want stuff to work without having to tinker with it, you switch to Mac.

That is as ridiculous as it gets.
More like: if you know nothing about computing and you need training wheels to get you through it THEN you switch.

Sorry but he is 100% correct. I went straight from a blackberry to an Apple phone for this exact reason back in 2010. I tend to modify/mess with pretty much anything I can get my hands on and I know when it comes to something as critical as my phone I need something that just works.
I just replaced my '11 MBP with a new one and I can tell you this, I won't ever go back to a XPS.

just too bad they dont make any cad programs for them, everything I use on a daily basis is windows based.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by LBAR15:
When you get to the point that you just want stuff to work without having to tinker with it, you switch to Mac.

That is as ridiculous as it gets.
More like: if you know nothing about computing and you need training wheels to get you through it THEN you switch.

Hmm, I know a few things about computers. My first “PC” was a 8088 in 1988-89 or so. It rocked 4mb RAM and dual 5 1/4 floppies (back when they were still “floppy”) and used DOS. I bought it from Sears and my introduction to tinkering with computers came from installing a 40mb hard drive in it.

From then, I built all of my computers well into the 2000’s hitting almost every CPU along the way, 286, 386, 386SX, 486, Pentium, AMD K6, Athlon, Opteron, and probably others. Built computers for me, friends, family, coworkers, and my wife’s employer for office use.

OS’s - DOS 3.0,3.1, Windows 3.0 all the way up through Win 10.

I never understood Apple, too expensive for the hardware and emphatically talked shit about it. That was until about 2007 or 2008 when I actually gave it a try. Bought a used Mac Mini that had the same CPU and hard drive as one of my PC’s, same amount of RAM (at equal speed) and comparable graphics (AMD vs. Nvidia). Loaded Windows XP on the Mac and did some benchmarks - Same on the PC.

The Mac Mini beat out the PC by 7-12% in every category. Same for Windows XP.

I was sold. I had grown weary of constantly messing with the PC’s, reinstalling drivers, little to no resale value when upgrading, cost of new generation OS upgrades, etc.

Add in that while MS charges you quite a bit for their Office suite, Apple includes theirs as part of the OS as well as other Apps for photos, video, etc. that are well beyond the “included” MS features.


Went Mac and ain’t looked back. Not exactly someone needing training wheels - Just someone who would rather use the equipment than work on it. Nice to know that when I upgrade every 2-3 years I can expect to sel my used Mac for 50% or more of what I paid for it. Try doing that with PC’s that have a model/product life cycle of 4-6 months. Lucky to get 25% of what you paid after three years.

Yes, up front Apple costs more. Overall cost of ownership though has been far less in my experience, and that has also been a “better” owner experience in usability and integration with phone and tablet. Full disclosure, my entire Apple experience has been since they went to Intel processors. I can’t speak to the earlier Macs.


And as the OP mentioned, nothing easier when it comes to setting up a new machine. Plug in the external hard drive with your Time Machine backup, let it do it’s thing and you are EXACTLY where you left off. Apps, files, email, email folders, documents, etc.

That brings up another thing, Windows has never come close to the truly “hands off” back up efficiency of Time Machine and it’s useability in recovering or accessing deleted files or previous versions of files. Assuming you are backing up regularly, yo cas literally go back in time to what your computer state was on any given month/day/hour.


I am not deriding PC folks, I get that some applications aren’t avail on Mac platform. I use Windows at work everyday and on an enterprise system with two employees dedicated to keeping it going it is quite stable and does what we want it to.

Not trying to convince anyone to switch either. Just pointing out that there are folks who have had experience with Windows and know a thing or two about computers who still choose Mac, including one of our dedicated IT guys at work whose only function is to keeps the Windows “clean” but at home he is Mac.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 911Boss,

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Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
But going forward, I don't see myself ever buying an iMac again - it'll be all MacMinis with external monitors. Easier to upgrade, cheaper, and if you have to evac due to a storm, whatever, you just grab it and go.

After my first iMac (2011), I decided the same thing. I just do not like the "all in one" format. Since then I've had desktop machines only (Minis and a Mac Pro). I am currently using a new 2018 Mini with a 32" monitor, running at 3840x2160 resolution. I've had the monitor for a few years, and one nice thing about the desktop machine format is being able to select just about any monitor, and then use that same monitor with another desktop.

I went to Mac in May of 2015 and I've never looked back.

Posting from an early 2011 MBP. A few minor problems along the way, but I'm a happy camper. I would like to upgrade to a larger SSD HD. 250GB gets full real fast.

I LOATHE PC's!

Our whole family is iPhone/iPad, Apple TV. Couldn't be happier.

Tony.

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Originally posted by henryaz:

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
But going forward, I don't see myself ever buying an iMac again - it'll be all MacMinis with external monitors. Easier to upgrade, cheaper, and if you have to evac due to a storm, whatever, you just grab it and go.

After my first iMac (2011), I decided the same thing. I just do not like the "all in one" format. Since then I've had desktop machines only (Minis and a Mac Pro). I am currently using a new 2018 Mini with a 32" monitor, running at 3840x2160 resolution. I've had the monitor for a few years, and one nice thing about the desktop machine format is being able to select just about any monitor, and then use that same monitor with another desktop.

I’ll not likely buy another desktop iMac either. Currently running a 2016 15” MacBook Pro w/Touch Bar. Sold my 27” iMac and 13” MBP to get it. Pretty much max specs on it, 32mb RAM, 1TB SSD, discreet graphics.

Have a 27” monitor I connect if I need to go desktop mode but 90% of what I do is iPad though. Even better for evac as I have the screen with me.

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Originally posted by 911Boss:
Have a 27” monitor I connect if I need to go desktop mode but 90% of what I do is iPad though. Even better for evac as I have the screen with me.

Yeah my computer is a 2014 MBP with SSD and only 8GB RAM - unfortunately it's the model where everything is soldered in so RAM upgrade is out of the question. This week I am going to do the battery replacement (glued in, conformal battery) which is supposedly not too hard to do yourself. I use an ipad as a second monitor when traveling but use a desktop monitor for work. Nothing I do is really RAM intensive, so it's not a problem but if it becomes one I'll have to get a new MBP.

The company bought me a 2018 iMac desktop but unfortunately didn't splurge for a SSD - so I pretty much never use it and if they look to buy someone else in the company an iMac, I plan to convince them to take mine back and buy me a MacMini as a replacement.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
Posting from an early 2011 MBP. A few minor problems along the way, but I'm a happy camper. I would like to upgrade to a larger SSD HD. 250GB gets full real fast.

I had mentioned earlier that replacing a drive on on iMac was not a task to be taken lightly.

On the other hand, replacing RAM and the drive on your MacBook Pro is easy. I paid less than ten bucks at Harbor Freight for a screwdriver set with a very complete assortment of very small bits.

Ten tiny screws to remove the bottom cover; keep track of them, they are not all the same length. Once the cover is off, the RAM and the drive are right in front of you, no tools needed.

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Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I would like to upgrade to a larger SSD HD. 250GB gets full real fast.

On the other hand, replacing RAM and the drive on your MacBook Pro is easy.

Had the early 2011 MBP as well... with the 5200 RPM 750GB drive and HI res display.
Put in 16 GB of ram and I used the OWC Happy meal kit to drop in a 1TB SSD. The kit came with the SSD, tools and an external USB case to put the old drive in. On the first startup after swapping the drives it came up asking if I wanted to transfer the contents of the old drive to the new drive. Yes I do... Done!

Yeah, I didn't find a SSD / Battery install into a 2012 MBP too hard. Plenty of videos to follow.

However when I swap a SSD, I clone it beforehand with a SATA - USB cable while it's not installed, then boot the computer off it before the install to ensure it works. As long as that all goes well, open it up and install away!

There is always that "fingers crossed" moment when you boot it up for the first time with it all sealed up. The MacMini wasn't hard but you had to disconnect a lot of sensors / wires to get to the HD and reconnecting they all cross and look the same. And that first boot with a new drive and RAM always seems to take a couple seconds longer...

I think the Windows experience has much improved over the years. I just swapped out a new CPU, motherboard, ram and a new nvme drive, and it was pretty painless--software setup itself took less than 30 minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
The only problem I foresee (because I have this issue) with a used Mac is that it won't update apps that came with it (like pages, numbers, garage band, etc) with your new Apple ID. It will keep asking for the original owner ID. It's driving me nuts on my iMac. We bought this as a family computer prior to my divorce. It was set up using my ex-wife's Apple ID. Now it simply won't update these apps. It grays out the Apple ID so that it can't be changed. You may have this issue also.

If you delete these applications (drag to Trash), and reinstall under your own Apple ID (from the App Store), they will be "branded" with yours. You should be able to find other ways to do this, but it is more complicated.

Guys, guys, guys



I didn't want for this to turn into a PC vs Mac pissing contest.

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Originally posted by PASig:
Guys, guys, guys

I didn't want for this to turn into a PC vs Mac pissing contest.

I was just telling my wife the other day how my Mid-2011 27" iMac is still running like a dream.

It's pretty incredible how they can remain this great for so long. It runs like it did on day one and it's almost eight years old.

Of course, the video card went bad on it 1.5 years ago. I yanked the video card and baked it in the oven at 400º for like 12 minutes and she's good as new again (seriously! I posted a thread here on it). Been running like a champ all these months later just fine. With HEAVY video use every day -- YouTube runs for several hours per day.

LOL Mac vs PC. You can always have both. Each has its strong points. No need to stick to one platform.

My wife loves Macs and I can see why. (She also really likes her HP touchscreen W10 laptop) Apple has extremely high quality hardware and is matched nicely with their OS. Apple is far from my cup of tea but I see why some folks prefer MACs. As a back end web systems developer everyone on my team uses a high quality win laptop. The user interface team is about 70% mac users. FYI, there are no fights about which hardware/software system is superior. We need to use stuff that gets the job done.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
A friend upgraded his iMac and gave me his old one, a 2009 model. Set it up today and WOW I forgot what an absolute joy setting a Mac up really is! There’s nothing to it really which is great and the thing runs quite fast and strong for being almost a decade old.

That is impressive. Would you mind me asking what version of the OS it's running and is it still supported? Wondering because I know zip about Apple products and the wifey's Macbook is about six years old. We're wondering when we should step up to a new model.