I'm so glad I switched
Written: Dec 05 '03 (Updated Dec 31 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Quality of Tech Support: |
|
|
|
Pros: Reliable, easy access, Unix.
Cons: Now I want to buy one of the 20" cinema screens....
The Bottom Line: I am happy with my Mac. Try one you might just like it and make the switch. You definitely won't regret it.
|
|
|
| andydg's Full Review: Apple Power Macintosh G4 (M9145LL/A) Mac Desktop |
updated 12/31/03
Having done a bit more with this machine I must say that it continues to amaze me with its ease of use. While mine originally came with Jaguar installed, I went ahead and did a clean install of Panther. Initially I had gone the upgrade route, but for some reason some issues began to bother me. As with any upgrade things never go 100% perfect. I did run it for a while after the upgrade, but felt it best to do a complete clean install. After doing an easy backup of all my files on a second hard drive I ran the installation with the Panther cd's. It ran flawlessly. I chose not to install all the default software, IE, and OS 9 classic. Things went extremely well and in less than an hour it was complete. I dug through the backed up files and pulled my iTunes library out and installed it in its proper 'new' location. Worked right away, as if it had never left.
I completed the rest of the software installs and everything ran great.
Just last week I decided to try out a program that required OS 9 classic. Being that I did not install it, I was contemplating whether or not to do another clean install or just give up. Reading some of the forums and getting answers from other users, I decided to just use the original cd that came with the tower. I ran restore feature to reinstall the OS 9 software and drivers. It installed flawlessly without doing any harm to the existing Panther OS. I am amazed how well it worked, even though I could not find a 'white paper' that outlines this capability. Now I am again able to run older software programs in OS9.
After years of putting up with constant reboots for every software install and blue screens of death I finally made the switch.
It wasn't easy, as I was well on my way in becoming certified MCSE having only two more exams to pass.
It has been almost 6 months now and I do not regret the move for one minute.
I chose the tower model over the others for possible future expansion. I liked the fact that this model allows a total of 2GB of ram, where Apples comparably priced models only allow 1GB. For most this should be enough, even while running Panther. The ease of opening the case via the side latch is excellent. It allows easy access to four drive bays, the memory slots, pci slots, etc. The layout is very clean and tidy. A major improvement when comparing it to the past pc's I used and built. With all the wiring exposed and hanging within the case as if it were never quite finished.
I can't change other's minds as to whether or not they should buy a mac over a windoze pc. For my needs this Mac is excellent. My wife still uses her windoze pc as it fits her needs.
Meanwhile my 3 y/o plays his games on my old pc, though I have to constantly help him reboot the machine when it fouls up.
For the cost, I feel this tower is an excellent buy. One could spend a few hundred more and get the G5 1.6 tower. The other thing to consider is Apple Care when one buys a Mac. I bought mine when I got the computer, as the three year warranty and support cannot be beat. I've used the service a few times to ask some questions and the technicians have always been extremely helpfull and quick to respond. In all those years while using MS operating systems, I never got a direct response from MS for questions I had.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1299
Operating System: Macintosh
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
andydg
|
|
Location: Patterson, Ca.
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.