I Want A Mac!

[pauleddy]

My old tower PC has finally had it.

I have been looking at Macs for a while, mainly because they look so good and are bug-proof (almost). I already have an Acer laptop, so I am looking for something grand on my home desk.

I have been to the 3 different Mac sellers in Paragon. All the prices seem to be same. Can I haggle in Pantip?

Does a Mac need setting up? One shop said it would be 1 hour. Is that to load the OS?

(The new OS Lion seems to be the new thing!)

As a chalkie, I remember someone telling me that I can get 5-10% off with a certain firm--but I have forgotten where the place is.

I don't play games much, but I need to be able to surf a lot plus access my heaps of academic stuff in Word 2010, plus attach my 500gb external drive for movies etc. There is a very high end Mac with a tower, about 80,000b, for gamers (?). I don't need that, but I don't want a lightweight pussy either.

Any ideas or help appreciated.

Eddy

[nikster]

http://store.apple.com/th

Macs don't need "setting up" but I imagine that some shops want to set up some pirated software for you. Up to you - I wouldn't want them to mess with my system and install a bunch of things I don't want or need. In fact I wouldn't let them touch my pristine Mac

You can get a discount by pretending to be a student at the online Apple store - apparently they'll take your word for it...it's a separate link, been posted many times on this forum...

I'd get an iMac. The Mac Pro has some very high end Intel processors installed that you probably don't need. iMac quad i7 would be fast enough for anything... for Word and internet, any iMac will do. Gorgeous screens.

Apple's choices for desktops are very limited: Mac Pro is usually overkill, Mac mini is pretty good these days but you'll need to connect external storage (its well equipped for that though). iMac is the best choice for most people - unless you really need to use a 3rd party monitor for some reason. iMac is very good quality, they're rock solid and have excellent screens.

Edited October 8, 2011 by nikster

[msg362]

For what you do you shouldn't need an i7,the i5 should be fine. The 24" screen is great. 1 Terabyte disc will give you all the storage you will need for a while. They don't need setting up, they just work but it will take the shop about 1 hour to install Lion and i Life. You can get windows for Mac, authentic copy and of course there are cheaper alternatives as we all know ( I've been using a cheaper version bought in Pantip Plaza for about 4 years, no problems)

Macs are just great, no viruses, great connectivity between the programmes, wireless internet just connects, ( lans just work too!!) they just work ( and they boot up fast)

Go for it, you won't regret it and you will smile every day when you turn it on without worrying

[petertucker48]

You may find this place interesting if you want to buy a good quality second hand unit

:http://www.mac2hand.com/

[pauleddy]

Thx

Everyone has been helpful.

I think I will get the iMac desk-top. Is the choice 21 or 27 inch? What is a Thunderbolt?

The website for mailorder gives ?? 7,000b discount for students and faculty. I am faculty. But, I think they ship from SPore, and I don't know whether BKK shops would give same discount as an equal Apple policy. If mail-order, I am not sure that it would ship with the new Lion OS.

The mail order also offers enhancements eg RAM upgrade. With all the nice things, the 27 inch crept up to 80,000 if I add them on.

Will the MAC just run my existing WORD docs and PPoint and photos and other saved stuff?

Eddy

Edited October 9, 2011 by pauleddy

[nikster]

Some bullet points:

• Sure the new iMac will ship with Lion.
  
• Usually the RAM upgrades in the Apple store are way overpriced. Get RAM from any computer shop after you get the Mac. Take the iMac to the store so they can install and test, that way you won't have problems.
  
• You can only get the EDU discount in the online Apple store. They also have that in the official Apple-owned Apple stores but there isn't one Thailand.
  
• Shipping from SG takes 2 days and no problems regarding customs or anything else. It's basically as if they were shipping from within Thailand.
  
• Get MS Office after you have the machine. Official it's pretty expensive, pirated in any shop it's cheap - up to you. I'd not recommend downloading it from a warez site - there are very few ways to get a virus on a mac but downloading pirated software is one of them. Office / Mac works pretty well.
  
• There's also Apple's version of Office - iWork. If it comes for free with your Mac, cool. If not, it's not that expensive to buy. Whether or not you can use it as a Word replacement depends on how much and what kind of work you do on Word documents. It can open and export Word documents, but if what you do is constantly exchange word documents with others in the company then MS Word is better.
  

[pauleddy]

Great reply, thanks.

yes, I do a lot of to and fro with Word Docs and colleagues. I now have Word 2010, and some colleagues have to use widgets to open from 2007 or 2003. Does mac have its own WP/Office (iWork) which is completely flexible with Word? I wasn't clear on this. Ditto does it have powerpoint-type thing?

I have a Pantip (!) 2003 Office Suite in a dusty old box somewhere. It never had any viruses AFAIK.

The 27inch iMac sounds great, and the resolution is 'higher' than the 21 inch. Will the picture be even better, or is it not worth the difference? I have seen a 27, and it is fantastic-looking, but may dominate the desk!

Are there any upgrades that are 'worth it'? The basic 27 inch is 56,000baht, but the basic 21 inch is 39,000. You mention RAM. I don't do games, but I love speed when surfing and downloading.

I have seen 2 keyboards in the shop. The smaller one seems more fiddly. Does it lack numbers or somethg? Funny, because I think most people have the small keyboard. The mouse is fine---i don't want touchpads.

Thx again

Eddy

[nikster]

There's a full size keyboard, get that - it's USB. The other one is Bluetooth - I think they do a separate number pad for that if you're one of those people who actually use a number pad. Personally, I have no use for it.

If you do back and forth with colleagues in Word, then you need MS Office. And you'll need MS Office 2011 - I don't think 2003 would even work on the latest OS X Lion. Pantip version cheap and cheerful

iWork is compatible with Word but you still have to import and export files to and from word - that would get old really quick.

Check here for the specs - the 27 has much higher resolution, as you'd expect

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

If you can afford it, it's a gorgeous machine.

RAM - yes buy more RAM, but not from Apple. Buy it 3rd party after you've bought the Mac. It's easy to install and the shop will do it for you for free anyway... the more the better.

[pauleddy]

There's a full size keyboard, get that - it's USB. The other one is Bluetooth - I think they do a separate number pad for that if you're one of those people who actually use a number pad. Personally, I have no use for it.

If you do back and forth with colleagues in Word, then you need MS Office. And you'll need MS Office 2011 - I don't think 2003 would even work on the latest OS X Lion. Pantip version cheap and cheerful

iWork is compatible with Word but you still have to import and export files to and from word - that would get old really quick.

Check here for the specs - the 27 has much higher resolution, as you'd expect

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

If you can afford it, it's a gorgeous machine.

RAM - yes buy more RAM, but not from Apple. Buy it 3rd party after you've bought the Mac. It's easy to install and the shop will do it for you for free anyway... the more the better.

[pauleddy]

There's a full size keyboard, get that - it's USB. The other one is Bluetooth - I think they do a separate number pad for that if you're one of those people who actually use a number pad. Personally, I have no use for it.

If you do back and forth with colleagues in Word, then you need MS Office. And you'll need MS Office 2011 - I don't think 2003 would even work on the latest OS X Lion. Pantip version cheap and cheerful

iWork is compatible with Word but you still have to import and export files to and from word - that would get old really quick.

Check here for the specs - the 27 has much higher resolution, as you'd expect

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

If you can afford it, it's a gorgeous machine.

RAM - yes buy more RAM, but not from Apple. Buy it 3rd party after you've bought the Mac. It's easy to install and the shop will do it for you for free anyway... the more the better.

[DMC1]

I have got original MS Office 2011 for the Mac. I had it installed in the iStudio (Central Pattaya) when I bought my new Macbookpro. I paid 4500 baht for the original software.

One thing about MS office for the Mac 2011 as per comment above is it won't work with machines using MS Office 2003. I just got back from a job in Qatar this August with an international Oil & Gas company and they were still using Windows XP with MS office 2003 !! They couldn't open any of my stuff done on my Mac.

Edited October 9, 2011 by DMC1

[pauleddy]

There's a full size keyboard, get that - it's USB. The other one is Bluetooth - I think they do a separate number pad for that if you're one of those people who actually use a number pad. Personally, I have no use for it.

If you do back and forth with colleagues in Word, then you need MS Office. And you'll need MS Office 2011 - I don't think 2003 would even work on the latest OS X Lion. Pantip version cheap and cheerful

iWork is compatible with Word but you still have to import and export files to and from word - that would get old really quick.

Check here for the specs - the 27 has much higher resolution, as you'd expect

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

If you can afford it, it's a gorgeous machine.

RAM - yes buy more RAM, but not from Apple. Buy it 3rd party after you've bought the Mac. It's easy to install and the shop will do it for you for free anyway... the more the better.

[pauleddy]

There's a full size keyboard, get that - it's USB. The other one is Bluetooth - I think they do a separate number pad for that if you're one of those people who actually use a number pad. Personally, I have no use for it.

If you do back and forth with colleagues in Word, then you need MS Office. And you'll need MS Office 2011 - I don't think 2003 would even work on the latest OS X Lion. Pantip version cheap and cheerful

iWork is compatible with Word but you still have to import and export files to and from word - that would get old really quick.

Check here for the specs - the 27 has much higher resolution, as you'd expect

http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

If you can afford it, it's a gorgeous machine.

RAM - yes buy more RAM, but not from Apple. Buy it 3rd party after you've bought the Mac. It's easy to install and the shop will do it for you for free anyway... the more the better.

Great, thanks.

I have just found out that there is a macCafe at Ari, near me. another franchise? their website also shows a demo model Imac at reduced price. They say that Lion comes as a free upgrade on all IMacs, but suspect it is standard now. Is there any danger that small places will have old stock?

It seems also that all of the Imacs have the I-5 processor. The larger MacPros have I-7. Is it worth a special upgrade?

Looks like Office for Mac (genuine) is the biz.

Yes, I can (just) afford the 27 inch, but I don't want to get so many upgrades that it gets to 70,000b.

I am still a bit confused re the keyboard. The USB will use up one of the ports, the Btooth won't? No, I don't use numbers apart from the QWERTY line on top, so I am wondering why I should get the big board. However, the small one looked a bit small. How are they different?

If anyone has had the EDU discount---is it 7,000b for any machine? Or a percentage?

For any keyboard, I will need the English one--but sometimes the partner will want the Thai letters. Does the English keyboard have small Thai letters? If not, it doesn't matter. No big deal.

Thx to all

Eddy

Edited October 9, 2011 by pauleddy