Moving files from PC to Mac

[smokey982]

I went to Best Buy this afternoon to buy a camera for my wife for her birthday next week. And I ended up spending an hour or so playing around with a Mac computer. I was shown some really cool things from the onsite Apple specialist and I think he's just about talked me into buying one. But I got to thinking on my way home, how will I get my files (pics, music, documents) transferred from my PC to the new Mac? I have an external hard drive that I use for backing up these files. Can I plug that external drive into the Mac and transfer them that way? I'm still on the fence about buying it, but man that 27" HD monitor is SWEET!

 

[lparsons21]

Take a look at the Apple site and do a search on migrating from Windows to a Mac. Apple has some good writeups about it.

That said, most data can just be copied straight over, although file locations will have to be a bit different.

And yes, that 27" iMac is very sweet! I've had mine for quite some time now and don't regret upgrading to it at all.

 

[smokey982]

So you feel the BIG jump in price for the Mac over the PC has been worth it? That price is the only reason I'm still on the fence.

 

[smokey982]

Also, how long have you had yours? Have you noticed any decline in performance over time similar to how PC's become sluggish over time?

 

[lparsons21]

I made the switch to Apple back when OSX first came out in BETA, ran it on a Strawberry iMac of the day. I've never regretted switching over.

I bought my 27" iMac January 2009, it is the 3.0Ghz Core-2-Duo model. It has worked flawlessly since new, as did the 20" iMac that I had for a couple of years. I use it for the usual internet things, plus I do music engraving with Finale and Sibelius as well as some other music related things. I've also done a couple of short videos with iMovie.

Performance on this one has been superb and I've never had it get sluggish over time. I am still running the same overall system I was the day I bought it with updates and upgrades to the OS as they have come along. IOW, this HD has never been reformatted, nor has the OS ever been reinstalled. Often, the OS upgrades/updates result in better performance.

Now to the price issue. Yep, you'll pay more for the Apple computers, but that is because Apple doesn't build to the lower end of the consumer market, that's a conscious choice by them. But one of the good parts is that when/if you decide to sell yours to get a new one, or a refurb, you can usually recover a significant % of the original cost. My 20" iMac sold locally for $800 after 2 years, I had paid about $1K as an Apple refurb when I bought it. That isn't uncommon at all.

One thing you might want to consider is where/how to buy one. If you look at Apple's online store, and scroll down to the lower left side, you'll see a link to 'special deals'. These are Apple certified refurbished models that carry the full Apple warranty and are eligible for Applecare (extended warranty) if you want it. If the model you are looking for is there, you can save a fair amount of money. I've bought almost all my Apple gear there, the 27" iMac was the exception as it was new to the market at the time. The only difference I have ever seen with the new vs refurb was that the refurb came in a plain box instead of the multi-color one. Well, that and saving a bunch of money!

I recently bought a MacBook Air there for $849. It is the current model that sells for $999 new. Can't tell the difference!

Here's the link to the 'special deal' on the 27" iMacs :
iMac 27" - Apple Store (U.S.)

Hope that helps.

 

[smokey982]

That helps a lot. Thanks for the info.

How often does Apple come out with the new IMacs? I noticed this one came out in July 2010. Should I wait a few months for the latest and greatest?

 

[harshness]

How often does Apple come out with the new IMacs?

If you feel compelled to ask this question, you'll go broke trying to keep up with the Joneses.

Apple will make it clear when you "need" to upgrade and at that point anything you buy now will likely be worthless.

The iMac is the ultimate pizza box computer. Most Pee Cee laptops are more upgradeable.

 

[lparsons21]

LOL! 'likely be worthless'?

Like my 20" iMac that sold for 80% of the refurb price I paid for it? Apple computers tend to hold value in the used market longer than their wintel brethren.

And no, the iMac is not less upgradeable than most PC laptops. But then it actually doesn't matter because the bulk of the computer market never upgrades computers at all outside of a bit more RAM on occasion. I sold and service wintel boxes for many years into the business and school market, with a small smattering of personal sales, and can almost count on the fingers of one hand the computers that got upgraded over the 20+ years I did that.

 

[smokey982]

I have no desire to keep up with the Joneses, but the last thing I want to do is buy one and the "new" version come out a month later for the same money. But I don't know anything about a Mac, that may not be possible with a Mac.

 

[lparsons21]

That helps a lot. Thanks for the info.

How often does Apple come out with the new IMacs? I noticed this one came out in July 2010. Should I wait a few months for the latest and greatest?

As Harshness noted, if you wait for the latest and greatest, you'll always be waiting.

I look at what I want/need at the time and buy accordingly. For my useage, I don't need the latest and greatest as the software I use just doesn't tax the system hard. I can do music engraving on a lot less computer than I have now and most other music software is that way also, which is also true for the internet apps I use. And I can do video creation as well on this 2 year old box that I can do on the newest and fastest, just a little slower during rendering.

IMO, if you are a die-hard geek and love playing with the innards and such, then I wouldn't think an iMac would be a good choice. OTOH, if you just want to use the computer to accomplish whatever tasks you want it to without a lot of fuss and no worries about malware, then the iMac makes a superb choice. I'm in the latter group.

 

[smokey982]

Well I made the Mac plunge tonight and bought the 27" IMac. I'm just now getting to play with it. I can already tell I have a LOT to learn.

 

[lparsons21]

Congrats on your purchase. I think you'll find that learning the 'apple way' won't be daunting. Yes, they do things a little differently, but I found it easy to learn as most do.

There is a Yahoo group for iMacs that seems to attract a lot of new to Apple people, and plenty of long time users too. You might consider joining. Here's the link to it : iMacChat : Your iMac, your greatest replies, daily!

 

[lucavex]

I don't mean to stoke Mac vs PC hate fire...

But I will never, ever, ever own anything built by Apple. Be it an iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. Any iProduct is worthless to me. It's a personal choice, and I don't hate on anyone who owns Apple products. Heck, my best friend is an Apple user. I'm just a geek and I build my own PCs so Apple doesn't appeal to me in any way.

I feel you could've gotten a new PC with just as big a monitor for less money and no new learning curve, but I really do hope you'll be happy with your purchase.

I'm gonna put these two cents on the floor and back away slowly now.

 

[lparsons21]

If I was still a geek that liked building my own, I wouldn't have Apple either. Heck, for lots of years I professed a deep, abiding hatred for all things Apple.

But then I saw the light!!

 

[Pepper]

Or do it the über-geek way. Build your own, then convert it to a hackintosh. I guarantee countless hours of "fun" with such a project.

Done right, you have a machine that can run OSX, and Windows, and various Linux.

 

[lparsons21]

I can already do that on my iMac. No need to go back to building my own...

 

[lucavex]

I had a lot of "fun" trying to load Slackware onto one of my older builds.

I see no reason and/or need to load OS X onto any of my boxes.
I'd use a variety of different Linux builds before I'd venture into OS X.
Not to say that it's a bad operating system, much to the contrary. I just don't have a need for it! I run Linux when I want to play around and just generally be stupid.
I run Windows when I need to be productive.

 

[lparsons21]

The first time I looked at Linux, it was Slackware. In those days if you didn't have a SCSI CDROM, then you had to make a stack of floppies to install it with. Documentation was horrible and I think it took the better part of a day to make the floppies, install and configure. It seemed like no matter what install you did, you still had to go get yet another tarball to get things right!

Lots of fun back in the day...

These days I just want to use the computer to do some things and not futz around with it in the process. OSX fills the bill nicely for me.

 

[stuartpeterson]

It should be like this. The iMac is not less upgradeable than most PC laptops. But then it actually doesn't matter because the bulk of the computer market never upgrades computers at all outside of a bit more RAM on occasion.

wypall x60

 

[lucavex]

It should be like this. The iMac is not less upgradeable than most PC laptops. But then it actually doesn't matter because the bulk of the computer market never upgrades computers at all outside of a bit more RAM on occasion.

wypall x60

It does matter to those of us that DO perform major hardware upgrades on a regular basis.
Also, I don't know why you posted a link of paper towels, was it some misguided reference to people in this thread crying? Because if it was, you're way off target pal.

Nobody in this thread is crying, just a few mature folks having a lighthearted discussion of their computing preferences.