seriously? an appointment?



i guess i want that whole chat to them, then look them in the eye and see if they're lying experience, before retreating off and working out whether to buy online (if it's cheaper) or in store!



oh and i think you're right about the i-phone. however, we're getting them at work anytime soon much to my horror.

Indeed - I've been in a grand total of 7 times on a futile quest to get the i-phone to reliably make phone calls and yes, an appointment is required; woe betide if you're late for that appointment by the way - a vaguely geeky looking youth with a wispy beard and a blue t-shirt will make a few swipes on his ipad before advising you that you can't be seen for another couple of hours. "Can you go get a coffee or something and come back later?" "Yes of course but before I do, can I punch you in the face repeatedly until my rage subsides?"



Maybe it's just me.

Being a professional Mac user I've never used Apple stores. I am not the least bit surprised that you have had issues as there is no doubt that the Mac world attracts a certain level of condecending snobbish attitudes. Hoever the same seems to apply to PC's and other gadgets, geeks are always shard work no matter what the situation. This flies in the face of Steve Jobs own philosophy of simplicity and I reckon like every great visionary company Apple will decline without his leadership.



Thankfully for now at least you really don't need the support of Apple Stores to enjoy what are still IMHO the best computer products available. I also think the iPhone is possibly a law unto itself with it's own little clicks and the way it's sold etc is not typical. Apple need to watch themselves that's for sure.



As I say for now the computer side is just fine and you can get really good on line support not that you will need it. I will always offer advise to anyone who wants it, and hands on support but I charge for that (this is not an advert by the way).

Far too expensive and so are the parts when you come to upgrade, I also build my own computer which I really enjoy and you get far more for your cash. Never really got in to MAC's although I've tried OS X on a PC but just didn't get used to it, can't beat a PC as far as I'm concerned. As far as Virus', haven't had one in over 3 years since I moved to Nod32

Have always used PC's but bought an iMac last year. Was running a PC in a different room at the same time, and so I was able to compare and contrast.



In terms of cost, to see if it was good value, I went on the Dell site and tried to assemble a PC of the same spec, with a large monitor (the iMac is 27" screen). The PC worked out more expensive. So Macs are expensive, but only because they are good spec.



Pros for Macs:

1. Look good.

2. Quiet. Silent, in fact, most of the time, just the occasional hard disk chatter when doing stuff in the background.

3. Stuff looks good on the screen because of the high pixel ratio.

4. Seems reliable.

5. App store is a very convenient way of getting software.



Cons for the Mac:

1. Not as much software, and not as much good free software, as for every paid-for PC software, you could easily find a free alternative

2. The Mac version of Word seems a bit glitchy compared to the PC version

3. Some of the native software isn't as good. Microsoft Movie Maker seems to produce better results than IMovie, and IPhoto is good but takes forever to load.

4. It does things differently, which eats up hard disk space. For example, if I understand it correctly, PC's work by links to files, and so if you have photo-organising software, it will generate links to the photograph files. Macs seem to do it by copying, and so I have my pictures in the pictures folder, but if I import them into IPhoto, it seems to copy the pictures, and so they are in two places, which soon eats up the hard drive space.



On balance, I like my IMac, and would get another, certainly over and above a PC of the same spec. The problem is that I could get a PC that would do what I need to do, surf and use Word and store photos and music, for a quarter of the price.

Your entitled to your flawed belief

however you miss the whole point with that statement. Ordinary folk just want to plug and play which simply never happens with a PC. Hence Macs never needs parts upgrades because they arrive fit for purpose and that is the key difference. A mac out of the box will last you 8-10 years without ever needing to be upgraded other than the OS.



As I said on my first post, find me a 10 year old PC that hasn't been rebuilt at some cost requiring some tech knowledge (a triggers broom) and I'll find you the pot of gold at the end of rainbow.



PC's are fine if you have the time and inclination to learn how to run them. Most people who buy Personal Computers just want them to do what they are supposed to do all the time.

Fair comments though I think as you learn you will find better ways of doing certain things.



Wort remembering that Apple main market for years was the Graphic/Print industry. For that reason Macs are generally very belt and braces as there industrial heritage required. Thus certain applications and operations are over secure for the needs of Joe Public. However as is ofton the case what is a weakness is also a strength.



As for iMovie and iPhoto check your settings. The default on these applications is often set much higher than actually required, mess around with jpegs and other compression formats in the prefs until you find what you need.



For example images are usually set to the industrial standard of 300dpi when home users only need 150dpi. Use RGB and jpegs ant medium with smallest preview and you will reduce your file sizes by up to 80% (ie 4mb file will drop to 250kb) and will open much quicker.

think it's a mac book pro for me. nhs discount is 17%.



thanks to all for the advice.

for pc user i cannot reccomend nod32/ESET highly enough. been using that for around 5 years now, and never had a virus. compared with the market leaders in that field it's so much quicker and less intrusive that it's unreal. fantastic product.



still going to plump for a mac i think though.

got the mac.



dead pleased with it. it's rapid.

There's always using Linux on a PC. Works for some, but not for others.



Mine's quick and pretty and all the software's free. Doesn't slow down over time and does what I need.

I like Linux but you can get some of the software on it that I need, such as iTunes, I did duel boot it one time though