I called Apple yesterday and this is what they said...

pisces7378

pisces7378

New member
I called Apple yesterday and they were fucking amazingly helpful. I mean of course they were, I mentioned that I was "thinking about" making the switch to buying a Mac. Actually I was just trying to get some information about Macs and why they are so much more expensive blah blah blah. Because if Apple decided to offer like a 25% discount on a Mac computer for all those that were using emagic Logic Audio, then I would just fucking look both ways, hold my breath, and buy a Mac.
Not because I am buying into the whole marketing positioning that Apple is doing (at least not consciously) but because I am moving home from Germany to the US in a few months anyway, and I will be needing to buy myself a new PC anyway. I have been looking into the Carillon PCs and the one that I want is $2,199 and the Mac that I want (which is a fucking Dual 1gHz processor with 2x80GB 7200rpm Hard discs, 512MB RAM, and super Apple CD-RW/DVD/DVD-Writer burner drive) costs only $700 more.
Now granted, $700 isn't just pocket money. But when you think that I will probably not have to upgrade my system for 7-10 years... it sounds sweet to me. Plus, Apple.com has a payment plan that will let me pay $93 a month for 24 months with a small downpaymentl. The PC boys don't offer that kind of stuff.
Now I see that emagic is "giving away" free cross grades to the Apple version... how fucking generous... BASTARDS!!!!

Now my question is... where do you go to buy a Mac? I have seen on their website that they have the eStore. but in my experience it is better to go to a store. There you get a better price. Or is that not tre with Apples? Does Apple give the best price or is there some other on-line store undercutting Apple?

Also... what is the eMac? I knew about the iMac, the Powerbooks, the iPod etc... but the eMac??? It has the G4 processor... but is it worth a look for recording? It is cute, in the fac that it is all in one. And it is about 1/2 the price of the Power Macs G4s. Opinion? Worth a damn for recording... or better for office type applications?

Thanks guys, for not calling me a sell out whore.

I am so ashamed,

Mike
 
Yeah you sell out whore!!!!!!!!
No dude, whatever works for you is good, just analize the benefitsd and the costs of the switch to mac
 
I understand you shouldn't buy a fully loaded system from Apple--to save money, buy a barebones setup from them and put your own RAM and drives in.
 
Go Ahead and Buy a Crapintosh...

>But when you think that I will probably not have to upgrade my system for 7-10 years... it sounds sweet to me.

While the rest of your rationale sounds moderately listenable, you've slipped into dementia with the quoted statement.

7 - 10 months: sure.

>The PC boys don't offer that kind of stuff

That's the stock in trade for most of the major PC makers. They live off those lease deals.
 
Don't buy now. Wait until after the next Mac World (17th) when there will probably be new and/or less expensive hardware.
 
pisces7378 said:


Also... what is the eMac? I knew about the iMac, the Powerbooks, the iPod etc... but the eMac??? It has the G4 processor... but is it worth a look for recording? It is cute, in the fac that it is all in one. And it is about 1/2 the price of the Power Macs G4s. Opinion? Worth a damn for recording... or better for office type applications?
Click to expand...

The emac is basically a durable (ie no LCD) system for schools. If you don't forsee needing PCI, I'd say it'd be pretty decent for recording. However, the Powermacs have a faster system bus, and level 3 cashe, and (I think) faster HDs than the iMac/eMac.
 
Don't buy now. Wait until after the next Mac World (17th) when there will probably be new and/or less expensive hardware.
Click to expand...

If you do it that way you'll never buy anything because something better is always coming "after Macworld". Just bite the bullet and buy what you need/can afford. Sometimes though you can get really sweet deals on the previous generation stuff right after new models come out. Just don't ever get the first model of anything.

I understand you shouldn't buy a fully loaded system from Apple--to save money, buy a barebones setup from them and put your own RAM and drives in.
Click to expand...

Whoopy is right on the money. You can always get more for your money by going this route if your getting a tower. The G4 cases are great to work in. If your getting a laptop or an i/eMac though their cases are quite tricky. Those are not for the "hardware challenged".:D

This is the eMac.
 
M.Brane said:


If you do it that way you'll never buy anything because something better is always coming "after Macworld". Just bite the bullet and buy what you need/can afford. Sometimes though you can get really sweet deals on the previous generation stuff right after new models come out. Just don't ever get the first model of anything.
Click to expand...

Though I would usually agree that the wait until MacWorld tatic is self-defeating, I don't think it's a bad idea in this case considering its only 10 days away. I'm also not sure why a happy LAW user would wan't to switch before Logic OSX comes out except to take advantage of the free xgrade (which lasts till Sept 1, I believe). I also think there's a good case for waiting till 10.2 ships preinstalled as well.
 
No matter how logical you are about it... No matter how satisified you are working with your current system... No computer will last you 7 - 10 years. You simply will not be able to resist the temptation to upgrade. Consider that 7 years ago, a 100Mhz Pentium machine with 32MB of RAM and a 1GB hard drive was the shit. People paid $2000 for them too, and they made music with them. Do you think that there are a lot of machines like that still being used in audio production, other than for a few specific tasks? Why not? 7 years ago people buying new machines were doing everything with them that they wanted to...why should they upgrade? :) Therein lies the crutch my friend! Things are going to change so drastically just in the next 3 years that it's going to be almost impossible to not upgrade.

I'm not arguing against mac. Go for it if you feel like it!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Trebek said:


Though I would usually agree that the wait until MacWorld tatic is self-defeating, I don't think it's a bad idea in this case considering its only 10 days away. I'm also not sure why a happy LAW user would wan't to switch before Logic OSX comes out except to take advantage of the free xgrade (which lasts till Sept 1, I believe). I also think there's a good case for waiting till 10.2 ships preinstalled as well.
Click to expand...

Good points!

I'm kinda glad I didn't get the money to upgrade this past winter because so much cool stuff is happening with Apple right now. I'm also waiting for the whole OSX audio issue to get sorted out. Till then my ol' G3 upped 8500 runs 9.1 beautifully.;)
 
Now granted, $700 isn't just pocket money. But when you think that I will probably not have to upgrade my system for 7-10 years... it sounds sweet to
Click to expand...

i hope thats a typo...cuz u got PC's running way faster then dual G4's NOW A DAY...and u think it'll hold up for the next decade...thats incredibly optimistic...
 
Alright alright... you guys are right. I shake my head myself when I re-read what I said about 7-10 years. Hell, most people have upgraded wives, girlfriends, and sports cars within a 10 year period. But I should be able to squeeze at least 3-4 years out of a dual processor G4 Power Mac.

But... What the hell is "MacWorld"? I am so not a Mac person at the moment. I might buy one and spend a few months getting used to the system differences, but I am not up to speed on anything that is going on over at Apple.
I asked the tech support guy if there would be a G5 to replace the G4 any time soon, and he gave me the tell tail creeky voiced..."Ahhhhh not to my knowledge" answer. Which tells me exactly JACK SHIT. he then went on to explain that he doesn't know anything untill it happens. And that Apple keeps their decisions in the upper ranks and even the tech supporters don't know what they will be supporting until it is released and on the shelves. (Probably a load of bullshit).

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas on WHERE to buy a Mac. I am not against ordering from the Apple website, but I just wanted to make sure that I am not going to be paying a rediculasly higher amount that if I had bought in a retail chain store.

And I am not AT ALL planning on, "jumping at the worm" this soon. I will stay on the PC for the rest of this year and into the first quarter of next year. but around March I am moving back to Atlanta and I will be leaving my PC here in Germany. Therefore I will be needing a new machine by March of next year. I just like to start getting my ducks in a row as early as possible. Pretty hard to do these days. Because by the time March 2003 rolls around, there will probable be a PowerMac G13 or something, or an iMac where the screen just hovers infront of you and the computer part is the size of a MiniDisc player.

Prices?
Online Macs?
MacWorld?

Any hints boys?

Mike
 
If your serious about getting into Macs here's some good sites to get your feet wet:

http://dealmac.com/

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/

http://www.barefeats.com/

http://www.macgurus.com/index.php

http://everymac.com/

http://www.macreviewzone.com/

http://www.macobserver.com/

And , of course: http://64.58.168.25/

I bought my upgrades for my 8500 from Macgurus. They have a great forum with lot's of helpful and knowledgable folks. There's also a lot of good info on their site. It would take days to read it all.;)
 
pisces7378 said:
But... What the hell is "MacWorld"? I am so not a Mac person at the moment. I might buy one and spend a few months getting used to the system differences, but I am not up to speed on anything that is going on over at Apple.
Click to expand...

MacWorld events are expos for software companies etc. Apple usually makes major product announcements at these.

pisces7378 said:


I asked the tech support guy if there would be a G5 to replace the G4 any time soon, and he gave me the tell tail creeky voiced..."Ahhhhh not to my knowledge" answer. Which tells me exactly JACK SHIT. he then went on to explain that he doesn't know anything untill it happens. And that Apple keeps their decisions in the upper ranks and even the tech supporters don't know what they will be supporting until it is released and on the shelves. (Probably a load of bullshit).
Click to expand...

Apple is a very secretive company. They enforce NDAs.

pisces7378 said:

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas on WHERE to buy a Mac. I am not against ordering from the Apple website, but I just wanted to make sure that I am not going to be paying a rediculasly higher amount that if I had bought in a retail chain store.
Click to expand...

The Apple Store is not a bad place to buy a bare bones system. Prices are pretty much the same everywhere for new machines. However, if buying from the Apple Store it pays to shop for additional drives/memory as Apple tends not to have the best prices on these things. Also, they offer educational discounts that you may qualify for.

Apple products are also sold at Compusa stores.

Hope this helps.

Matt
 
Thanks for that link CJ. Very interesting read.:)

I still remain a Mac guy though. Even if I did go over to "The Dark Side" it wouldn't be on an AMD. I've seen too many people pulling their hair out over those chips (my old man included). I'll take stability/compatability over raw speed every time. I also wouldn't feel good investing that much money in a dead-end system (Paris).
 
Teacher said:


i hope thats a typo...cuz u got PC's running way faster then dual G4's NOW A DAY...and u think it'll hold up for the next decade...thats incredibly optimistic...
Click to expand...

Not way faster: a (2) G4 1.0Ghz Mac is roughly equivelant to a (2) P4 2.0Ghz Pentium Win-machine.

Gigahertz isn't always a measure of absolute performance, especially where a RISC processor is involved.
 
SHEESH! HELP THE GUY OUT!!!!

A couple good online places to buy are:

www.macmall.com and www.macwarehouse.com
I always page through these when I'm looking for Hardware systems...
Just take your time and find what works for you...

I find the actual Apple Site to charge close to list on all their products...
I have purchased through there but not often...

Some local places to buy can be places like "CompUSA"...

I've used a number of Macs for recording using specifically Logic Audio Gold...

From Logic 4 all the way through Logic 5 the iMacs, G3's, and G4's all run Logic Audio wonderfully... I've gone from the iMac 266 to my current G3 "Pismo" laptop (400mhz) and have made many albums using it...

USB Audio to Firewire to PCI Audio, the Mac seems to work great with all these cards and systems...

Hope this helps - Happy hunting...

Riverdog
www.homepage.mac.com/riverdog
 
Re: SHEESH! HELP THE GUY OUT!!!!

Eight sites not enough?:confused:

I wanted to give him some info for ammo before he buys. You need to be informed before you deal with MacMall and MacWarehouse. Those places have a reputation for erratic pricing and poor return policies.
 
Re: Re: SHEESH! HELP THE GUY OUT!!!!

M.Brane said:
Eight sites not enough?:confused:

I wanted to give him some info for ammo before he buys. You need to be informed before you deal with MacMall and MacWarehouse. Those places have a reputation for erratic pricing and poor return policies.
Click to expand...

Without a doubt! I meant no disrespect...
I'm so used to tearing into all avenues before making a purchase, I hardly give it a second thought...

M.Brane is right... Be aware of where you're purchasing and what you expect from those suppliers...:D Read through his links - There's cool stuff there!

And good luck!
Riverdog
www.homepage.mac.com/riverdog
 
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