I have had my last life savings failure of data. Yeah, I should have backed it all up. But that is irrelevant at this point. So please spare me my own agony...

Is it hard to connect to wireless? Will my 5 year old Sony camera work with it? Will my Samsung MP3 player work? Pardon the rookie questions folks. Also, what processor and or memory numbers are good? I do not edit vids and just have a bunch of pics and watch the usual dvd's and vids online. Thanks

Gremlin.

Ok I use a G5 twin processor desktop because I like to edit videos and you just cannot get better mate. But If I was to get another I would likely go the stand alone G5 with the monitor, CPU etc all in the one box. Its magic as far as cleaning up the mess of wires and cables mate. Max disk size possible of course.

You wont have any issues with the camera. If your MP3 player came with software then it needs to be MAC compatible but there is likely a free download for anything untoward in that department. If not gp get an IPOD.

Wireless is a cinch, no drama at all.

Just get used to doing all your mouse clicking on the left side of the screen.

One bug I have is I have never found the spell checker on this site. It might be here but its hiding good so far.

Kiwi

I don't know how much this will help but here is what i know. In my computer class in school the instructor has a mac and it can see the wireless router but it won't connect. I have seen MACs connect but i don't know how they did it. The biggest thing i can say is get the warranty. You can't take a Mac apart and work on it. You have to send it somewhere. If i were going to buy one i would go with the mid range of 2.0 -2.16 Ghz Macs. My instructor's runs great. I would say the camera would be fine if its got a usb cable. the mp3 player should work fine too. (not 100% sure on either but I have seen Mp3 players work on my instructor's Mac)


Matt

I looove my MAC it always captures wireless signals everywhere and its very easy to connect, I dont think you will be having trobule with camera and such, If you are buying a desktop...I would go with the Mac pro...that thing roooooocks!!!!

Notebook. Thats what I am after. Boy are they high! I never realized how much more money they are than Windoze..

look at the refurbished macbooks...substantially cheaper

I don't own a Mac, but I know plenty of Mac zealots, have worked with them a little bit, and do IT support at my school and try my best to support them (though we don't officially).

Mac's are beautifully built, the build quality is absolutely great, and they're full of neat, useful tricks (using two fingers on the trackpad makes it scroll, etc). The thing that I seem to find with Mac's is they perform beautifully as long as you're doing what Apple wants you to do. Definitely see if you can get one with an Intel processor, it's heaps faster, and the X86 architecture will allow you to run Windows if you need to. Compatibility is getting better, as well, but don't expect the kind of compatibility you'll get with 'doze.

However, they are expensive. People like to say that a Mac Pro is cheaper than a comparable Dell, but let's face it, a Xeon Dell is usually an enterprise level server, whereas the Mac Pro is just a powerful desktop that uses some server components.

And they are a lot less flexible than a PC. You can't build a Mac (though with a notebook, it seems you wouldn't be all that concerned with homebuilding anyway), and the software available is a fraction of what a PC has. There is no brand selection between different Macs. Also, I'd much rather repair a PC. If my mobo dies, I'll order a new one from Newegg for eighty bucks, yank everything off of the old one, and reinstall. You'll have to take yours to the Genius bar and pay a pretty penny for that if it's out of warranty. I've also heard some Mac service horror stories, notebooks being sent back and forth a couple times with nothing being fixed is not as uncommon as it should be.

They're also not as idiot proof as people would like you to think. I've seen plenty of nice new Macs ground to a halt with crapware and important files being destroyed.

If your Samsung MP3 player and Sony camera work without software (plug them into USB and they show up as external drives) then you'll probably be fine with no drivers.

So, I like Macs, and I'm glad they're there to give Microsoft competition, but at this point, I can't ever see myself getting one. I like the flexibility, compatibility, and variety of a PC (If Windows starts to really, really suck then I'll go to Linux, though if you're looking for simplicity then that's not really a good option).

I just couldnt pull that $2500 trigger yet... Maybe when this ones dead and out of warranty...