Before I take the Mac leap (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Pratt]

Like most my recomendation would normally be to buy when you're ready and enjoy it instead of waiting...but IMO if I were in your shoes I'd buy a new harddrive and install it in your PC to hold you over till the refreshed models come out. When they do buy a new iMac and take that harddrive and install it in an external USB or Firewire shell. You're going to want an external drive for Leopard anyway for its backup utiliy among other things.

I'll also plug Tomoto Torrent

 

[Ken Chan]

...last week Wednesday

 

[Carl Miller]

Thanks again everyone!

I've got the Tomato bookmarked..will definitely give it a try.

My external HD back up of my drive is good. I used it to load my Dell notebook with the esssential programs and files that I use regularly so when my current HD crashes, I'll be ok. The clicking is definitely a sign it's about to go, I'm amazed it hasn't happened yet.

Are there any particular sites that are good for buzz about the new line? Of all the things Carlo mentioned, what interests me most about waiting is a possible increase in RAM capacity. Having it at 3GB seemed a little odd to me and I remember there being some drawback to upgrading it to 3GB.

Just to clarify...NAB is the event which will probably give me the best idea of what's coming down the pike for the new line?

I guess there's enough reason to wait it out as long as I can, though I was looking really forward to having it next week. The idea sort of got me excited about computing again.

 

[Citizen87645]

macrumors.com

Subscribe to the RSS and you're set!

 

[Ted Todorov]

I seriously doubt that NAB is going to see the release of any non-pro hardware (and they just upgraded the MacPro, so I doubt they'll do it again a week later). Mostly I suspect there will be announcements about video related software.

WWDC in June on the other hand will see the release of Leopard and very likely some new hardware as well. Of course new iMacs are just as likely to appear on any random Tuesday...

 

[DaveF]

Leopard delayed to October...what's the speculation on hardware refreshes?

I'm befuddled now as to whether I should buy new system now, or continue to wait for potential late-Spring hardware updates.

Carl, what's your plan now?

 

[Carlo_M]

I doubt the product refreshes will be pushed back. Word is that Leopard had a few kinks to iron out, hence the delay. But Apple has not historically delayed hardware as well as software (unless of course the hardware is buggy, which I haven't heard).

Bottom line, if you really need the machine, buy now and enjoy. Even when the new products come out, you'll still have a fine machine.

If you can wait until WWDC in June, I would counsel to do so. Even if they don't release right then, they should announce by then. If WWDC comes and goes without a word, then I suppose the hardware has been delayed as well. It would really surprise me if that were the case, though.

 

[Carl Miller]

I have no idea!

From what I've read, there's no concern about current Macs being able to easily handle the requirements of Leopard so in that sense the OS isn't a concern.

The only area of hesitation I have in buying now is really the RAM. I'm told that a 20" iMac with 3 Gig RAM will do me just fine for a long time to come but I can't help but be curious as to whether they're going to add RAM capacity.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

it will be fine, but would you really need more than 3GB of ram if the iMac offered the capacity?

if ram capacity is all you are worried about, just buy the thing now.

i like azureus for torrents on my mac mini.

CJ

 

[Yee-Ming]

I bought my MBP in June last year; initially I wanted the MacBook, but it was on a two-week delay, then my friend pointed out that the MBPs had just had a speed bump, with the entry level model now with a 2.0GHZ CPU, so the older entry level model with a 1.83GHz CPU (but all other features the same) was about S$600 cheaper (US$400 or so). No harm asking.

As for torrents I use Azureus. Seems to work fine; I was going to look at Tomato since our esteemed 'boss' Ron recommends it, but my iMac runs OSX 10.3.9 and apparently it needs Tiger. Oh well.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

all torrent applications are the same, but some have more features than others. I'd pick any of the popular ones, even though most people never use the majority of the features.

CJ

 

[Carl Miller]

Well, I took the plunge and ordered the iMac today. After taking in all the info here and researching a bit more on the side I decided to take a pass on waiting and went for it. The new iMac, even if it's not the latest and greatest 4 months from now will be more than enough for my needs and a giant improvement over my current system.

Hopefully I'll have little trouble adjusting and it'll "just work" for me too.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Carl,

Good Man! Welcome to the club!

Please post a full review of your experiences once you receive your iMac.

 

[Carl Miller]

I'll definitely do that Ron!

And thank you to everyone here for answering my many questions...it's much appreciated.

 

[McPaul]

Great job Carl!! Welcome aboard. We're all anxious to hear what your thoughts are.

I also use azureus for torrents, but don't think I've ever downloaded a torrent, nor really know what it's for. but it's free. and I have it.

 

[Carlo_M]

Congrats. I don't think you'll regret your purchase (unless of course, they release it tomorrow). Several months is quite a while to wait, especially with no promise that something new is coming, only speculation, so I don't blame you for pulling the trigger.

Which iMac did you buy? And from where? (if I may be so bold to ask...)

 

[Carl Miller]

Thanks Paul. I'm really looking forward to starting my Mac experience and will be sure to report on it....not to mention asking some questions here I'm sure as well.

I use Azureus now on my PC and it's a good program but it seems bloated to me. I think it's mostly java based and that may be why but I don't know for sure.

Carlo, thank you as well. I'm going to do what someone here suggested and do my best to ignore the next 6 months of product and pricing changes if any.

I chose the iMac 20 inch, brought the RAM up to 2GB, HD to 500GB took the better video card of the two because the price difference was negligible, wireless mouse and keyboard and took the apple care. I wasn't 100% sure what to do with the apple care as I'm not generally one who buys extended warranties but several people strongly recommended I take it so I did...Increasing the RAM to 3GB was pretty expensive so I opted not to do that despite the upgrade issue I might face if I ever decided I wanted or needed 3 GB

I bought from Apple.com and used my wifes education discount (she's an adjunct professor for a local college) and got a little discount. Looks like 5%. We have an apple store in a mall 30 minutes from here, but not even buying a Mac could make me set foot in the mall.

 

[DaveF]

Carl, That's a nice system. That was my plan until I realized I actually wanted a laptop. Like the others, I look forward to your review / comments on the transition.

 

[Carl Miller]

Thanks Dave. I thought about a laptop but decided I wasn't ready to make a laptop my primary computer. I don't know why. Resistant to change I guess.

Does anyone know if I'm going to have a problem plugging my Seagate External HD (used for backing up my PC files) into the Mac? I thought I had all this covered and just today read something about the Mac won't be able to recognize it because the partition is too large?

It's a 250GB HD and I didn't do anything to it as far as partitions go. I just plugged it in to the PC and backed up the entire drive of 80 GB using Bounceback Express which came with the drive.

I've read conflicting reports of this partition limitation being a thing of the past, and still a problem. No info specifically answering the question at apple.com that I could see.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I've had no problem with 500 gig hard drives on my Mac... initially PC formatted, then reformatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

- Steve