Planning to buy an Apple iMac

[dangerman]

I've decided to buy an iMac once the new model comes out. I'm looking for advice from people I respect as to what I should buy. I guess some of the things I wonder about are:

Is Applecare worth it?

Should I get an extended warranty?

Should I get an after market mouse?

Software recommendations?

What spec do people recommend?

And anything else I might not have thought of.

By way of background I'm a lifetime PC user. I have never owned a Mac, but have played around a little with a friends. I don't need a laptop as I have a 5 year old Windows laptop which I can continue to use when needed. I really like the look of the big iMac and definitely want to buy a desktop machine.

Thanks in advance.

Dangerman

[smc]

Heya.

Applecare is worth it. Applecare IS the extended warranty. I would go with the apple wireless mouse and keyboard. If you can wait till macworld 2009 they are supposed to be refreshing the mini line. Otherwise I would get a new macbook, you'll wish you did even though you have the windows laptop. I was a lifetime Microsoft user till about 6 months ago. I've been working in IT for almost 20 years. It sure makes using the computer at home relaxing, I don't have to deal with the same stupid problems as at work.

[slay]

I've decided to buy an iMac once the new model comes out. I'm looking for advice from people I respect as to what I should buy. I guess some of the things I wonder about are:

Is Applecare worth it?

Should I get an extended warranty?

Should I get an after market mouse?

Software recommendations?

What spec do people recommend?

And anything else I might not have thought of.

Buy way of background I'm a lifetime PC user. I have never owned a Mac, but have played around a little with a friends. I don't need a laptop as I have a 5 year old Windows laptop which I can continue to use when needed. I really like the look of the big iMac and definitely want to buy a desktop machine.

Thanks in advance.

Dangerman

Yes, Applecare is worth it, because macs do break from time to time and then it gets really expensive. My first iMac had problems after 3 weeks.

Though I would wait to get extended warranty until the initial warranty is almost over (because maybe you decide to sell it or whatsoever). It doesnt hurt you in any way. Initial warranty should cover 1 year, I think.

Buy Applecare on EBAY (!) not through apple. That saves you about 300$ or more.

The current mighty mouse is crap, if you ask me. Its a real good mouse, but the trackball attracts dirt like a dirtmangnet. After a while it gets stuck and by that time you got so used to it that it bugs the hell out of you.

Software: Transmission, Final Cut, Adium, Office for Mac 2008, Skype, iLife, Gragebuy or iSale.

DO NOT buy RAM extensions from apple. I reapeat, DO NOT. I remember someone here spending a fortune on it. You can get 1GB of RAM for about 10Euros. Apple will charge you 100 or more!

iMac is great, but be sure to buy the big one, the smaller one has an inferior LCD screen which is really ugly IMO

[dangerman]

Thanks to those who have answered so far.

I like the idea of adding less expensive Ram but worry about voiding the warranty.

Any more tips would be appreciated.

[andreww]

Adding ram won't void the warranty. Don't buy ram from apple, but be careful what you buy. Macs can be extremely fussy about ram, and it can cause some annoying issues.

[dangerman]

Adding ram won't void the warranty. Don't buy ram from apple, but be careful what you buy. Macs can be extremely fussy about ram, and it can cause some annoying issues.

Thanks Andreww. Great to know I can save myself some money.

[Pugwash]

Applecare can be worth it, but you don't need to buy it when you buy the iMac. As for saving $300 by buying it on eBay, seeing as it costs $169 for an iMac, I'd take that price with a pinch of salt.

RAM used to be hideously expensive from Apple, but is now about the same price as from elsewhere. Get it from Apple if you don't like opening your computers.

As for the mouse, you may like the Apple one, but this is something you can decide after you've tried it for a week.

Software? Get Launchbar. If you're doing Web work, get Coda. Try the iWork trials on the Mac and if you like them, buy them. Text editor? BBEdit. You will need VLC and Handbrake if you're ripping DVDs and to round out the video playmack experience, get Perian.

On top of that lot, the professional software you should get depends on what you want to do with it.

Spec? That depends on what you can afford. You need the 24" though.

[coolfire]

Applecare can be worth it, but you don't need to buy it when you buy the iMac. As for saving $300 by buying it on eBay, seeing as it costs $169 for an iMac, I'd take that price with a pinch of salt.

RAM used to be hideously expensive from Apple, but is now about the same price as from elsewhere. Get it from Apple if you don't like opening your computers.

As for the mouse, you may like the Apple one, but this is something you can decide after you've tried it for a week.

Software? Get Launchbar. If you're doing Web work, get Coda. Try the iWork trials on the Mac and if you like them, buy them. Text editor? BBEdit. You will need VLC and Handbrake if you're ripping DVDs and to round out the video playmack experience, get Perian.

On top of that lot, the professional software you should get depends on what you want to do with it.

Spec? That depends on what you can afford. You need the 24" though.

If there's anyone who can give advice on apple stuff, it's puggy...

[slay]

Applecare can be worth it, but you don't need to buy it when you buy the iMac. As for saving $300 by buying it on eBay, seeing as it costs $169 for an iMac, I'd take that price with a pinch of salt.

Well, for my Macbook Air I saved roughly 300$. For an iMac you still save 70 or 80$ and there is NO difference between buying if off ebay or off apple.

RAM used to be hideously expensive from Apple, but is now about the same price as from elsewhere. Get it from Apple if you don't like opening your computers.

Oh [censored]! 2x2GB RAM costs 150$ at apple, not even 30$ when you buy it yourself (I'm talkin about branded RAM, GeiL, Corsair, Kingston etc.)

Spec? That depends on what you can afford. You need the 24" though.

True, the smaller one has a shiddy display

Btw. I never needed VLC, Quicktime & Perian works fine for me (plays almost everything). If you download lots of underground porn from Kazaa or whatnot, you will probably need VLC

Edited December 21, 2008 by slay

[dangerman]

Thanks all and especially Pug.

Any thoughts on Parallels and Fusion?

I think I need to read up on some Mac forums to finish doing my homework.

[slay]

I have VMWare Fusion, works good. I wouldn't trust those programmes with a bootcamp partition though, one of them (don't know which one) messed up my bootcamp partition once. From there on I only used Fusion images on my harddrive, no more bootcamp

[vric]

Is Applecare worth it?

Should I get an extended warranty?

If you have a Credit card which extend the warranty of everything you buy.. then no.

I would go with Applecare for a Macbook. For an iMac, I don't see anything that could break easily after the first year. So I would save my money.

If you DO go for AppleCare, don't get it from Apple. You can find it in other store or even Ebay for much cheaper.. and yes, it's legal, it work and everything.

Should I get an after market mouse?

I hate Apple keybord/mouse.. They "look nice" (I don't quite like them) but fact is there is much better combo on "PC side" that 100% work with apple. Go with Logitech

Edit: Almost forgot... Mac are now PCs.. Yep.. no need to buy "mac memory" or "mac hard drive".. Any PC part will work fine with the newest Mac. (yes even memory isn't as picky as it was 2 years ago)

[vric]

Thanks all and especially Pug.

Any thoughts on Parallels and Fusion?

I think I need to read up on some Mac forums to finish doing my homework.

I use Parallels.. Found it work quite well when I need to do some basic work in Windows.. for more advence Windows need, use Bootcamp. (Parallels can use Bootcamp Partition)

[Pugwash]

Btw. I never needed VLC, Quicktime & Perian works fine for me (plays almost everything). If you download lots of underground porn from Kazaa or whatnot, you will probably need VLC

You need VLC if you rip DVDs using Handbrake.

As for Virtual Machines, I used both VMWare Fusion and Parallels head-to-head and VMWare Fusion won.

[slay]

If you have a Credit card which extend the warranty of everything you buy.. then no.

I would go with Applecare for a Macbook. For an iMac, I don't see anything that could break easily after the first year. So I would save my money.

I had problems with my iMac! A few of the cables inside were internally damaged or whatever, it took them 3 logic boards and 2 new hard-drives to finally listen to my tip that it MAY be one of the cables and not the hardware.