my apple dilemma

FTM · 17 Jun 2010 at 15:57

I am now 40 years old and my pc gaming days are behind me, if I want to play games I fire up the 360 and play with friends online, much easier, no complications.

I feel my room with the pc has become a dark cluttered place full of wires, and heat/noise from my pc. (I wear headphones as the 4870 I have is so noisy! I would have to turn the speakers up unacceptably loud for my missus)

my wife is happy for me to have an imac (we have both seen the 27" now and think it is a thing of beauty), and she now wants an ipad after a visit to the apple store.

the dilemma is much like anybody at this time of year....will I regret jumping in and buying now when there may be imminent upgrades?

anybody think that the ipad might get a refresh with an sd card slot or usb port?

I want to make the imac the main storage for photos and for a shared itunes directory for both of us, would this cause any problems or will the ipad want its own itunes directory (we dont use auto sync for music, we have an ipod each as well so we want to be able to use the main itunes library to supply the music to all 3 portable devices)

so its really about making the imac the source of all our media and having the ipad being able to access what my wife wants wirelessly over our network.

I am tempted just to buy, for what we want the devices for I suspect any changes will make little or no difference.

and do people leave their imacs on 24/7? its simply not possible with my current pc

Marky · 17 Jun 2010 at 16:03

When buying a Mac, it's a good idea to check the Mac Rumor's Buyers Guide. Scroll down to the product you want to buy, and it'll give you an idea on whether or not it's the best time to buy.

In regards to the iPad - I'm almost 99% certain it'll have the same product update schedule as the iPhone (I.e. A new one will be released every year).

But if you are looking to get one - there's no better time than now - the product is new, and Apple hardly ever reduce their prices.

Fr0dders · 17 Jun 2010 at 16:11

Exactly the same situation im in, bar your age.

The quality of the graphics on the 360 / PS3 has tempted me away from the PC and into the living room. The experience of sitting in a nice comfy sofa, with a pad, and using your home cinema surround sound, and a nice big 40 " 1080p tv is more enjoyable than playing a game on a PC

As a result, i havent touched my PC games in at least a year, and the PC is now just used for browsing the internet, and doing photo / video work with my home movies etc..

Something that a mac with imovie09 does consumately better than a PC.

So im breaking down my PC, selling the lot and buying an imac.

Macrumours says there is a new one comming, but they've already made the big revisions with the introduction of the 27 " screen. I dont forsee the upcomming new model being drastically different.

If your worried about having a new model out in a few months, then wait.

If your not bothered about having the latest and greatest and just want a good imac, buy now.

bigredshark · 17 Jun 2010 at 16:22

iMac wise, if you're going for the higher end 27" then you're already getting an i5 or i7 so the spec bump is just going to be a speed bump for all I can see. If you're think of a lower end one then it could matter as the core 2 duo parts could do with a refresh. Then again, the prices might take a hike after a refresh, various factors are conspiring to make that seemingly the usual outcome at the moment...

FTM · 17 Jun 2010 at 16:57

I will be getting the i7 powered model, I might as well get the best I can at the time as I suspect it will have a longer life than an annually updated pc that I have been used to

bigredshark · 17 Jun 2010 at 18:15

Well in that case I wouldn't worry too much, it's going to be good for 3+ years I would think for average usage. All I can see changing with that model is a slight speed bump or a slight price drop (and maybe something left field like HDMI out...).

There's always something new round the corner, that's a good machine now, I'd go for it if I was in the market...

Spit · 17 Jun 2010 at 19:40

I was you 3 months ago FTM. I had enough of my PC and broke it up and sold it. I got rid of my net book and now have a 27" iMac i7 8gb with an iPad to replace the net book.

Best thing I ever did. Love the Mac and considering I have been using windows for 15 years did not have any issue changing to the Mac.

With the change to apple gear I am more inclined to use my computer for creative purposes as well as pleasure.

I just put my Mac to sleep and it pops into life when I need it. In 3 months I have not had one crash. Awesome.

Just go for it.

theheyes · 17 Jun 2010 at 19:42

FTM said:
and do people leave their imacs on 24/7? its simply not possible with my current pc

It's not very green but if you're going to leave a computer on it may as well be an iMac as the power consumption is typically quite low for a desktop computer (screen off).