More Mac please, but what to buy, need Expert advice :)

enatlrg · Mar 8th, 2009, 12:33 PM

I'm new to Mac's and I love my MBA. I have the new 1.8ghz/128ssd model, it's become my main machine ... best computer I've owned and I'm liking OS X a lot.

Now, we're trying to decide how to set up our Computers and Network, I'd like to make some changes.

My new MacBook Air is easily fast enough for 90% of my work. I have an HP Desktop at home that I use for downloading torrent files, drawing in Publisher, light Photoshop work, back ups etc, it doesn't get used much except I'm often downloading something, so I need a stationary machine, I really enjoy typing on the MBA and using the trackpad, so I try and use it for everything, at my Office, home ... anywhere.

My wife is currently using an LG P300, for for home and work, communication, invoicing, bookkeeping, light design, and surfing. She likes notebooks so she can take it to the office or around the house.

All the computers are networked and everything is working, but the wife would like a new notebook, the HP always has some small nagging problem but it does the job. I'd like to set up the ideal home office ... we're due for a refresh, the question is to go all Mac or not ...

I want to have a Desktop for movie downloading, back up, network/printer server, running Windows/Publisher when need be. I've thought of buying an iMac, with the hopes setting it up to download is easy, and networking, printing, and running Windows OS so I can use Publisher, that would be ideal.

My wife REALLY likes my MBA but is a little nervous to try the Mac OS ... she's asked a LOT of questions, lol, her biggest concern is not being able to open up and work in Publisher at her leisure, it's a good idea we find a program like Publisher for the Mac ...

The 'ideal' system for us could be me with my MBA and a get a new iMac for downloading, backup, base station etc. I'd use it instead of my MBA when I'm at the desk probably. Plus I'd buy a MBA for my wife. I'd get her the 24" Apple Display too. Plus I'd get the Time Capsule and the package would we complete! We'd sell HP Desktop, LGP300 and have only the iMac and 2 MBA's...

Another possibility is me with the MBA, an iMac at home which I'd use in conjunction with my MBA and in stead of the MBA my wife could get the 13" Macbook, more power, storage etc, but, she's very intrigued by the thin MBA... who isn't? I'd still get her the monitor.

Is that move worth it? Any ex-windows users out there who've made a similar move? So, what to do? Leave our system as is or make a move and do one of the two options above.

Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks.

Genius @ Your Door · Mar 8th, 2009, 01:53 PM

Go with that all Mac option. You will be MUCH happier.

In terms of Publisher, Pages is an amazing piece of software that can do most desktop publishing and it comes with iWork.

You can also use Boot Camp to put Windows on both machines or use a a virtual machine like parallels to run your windows programs.

If you need anymore help, send me an email. Its what I do for a living.

geniusatyourdoor@gmail.com

G-Mo · Mar 8th, 2009, 02:16 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by Genius @ Your Door
	In terms of Publisher, Pages is an amazing piece of software that can do most desktop publishing and it comes with iWork.

Pages really is not a substitute for Publisher. There is no Publisher for Mac, the "most popular" native Mac application is probably InDesign.

Genius @ Your Door · Mar 8th, 2009, 02:27 PM

It really depends on what you are doing with it. I would agree with InDesign would be the higher level replacement for it. For basic stuff though, Pages seems to do the job nicely.

enatlrg · Mar 8th, 2009, 03:02 PM

Thanks.

Would you buy to go with the MBA?

So far I bought the 24" ACD, I really like it.

Still I'm considering exchanging the ACD and getting the new 24" iMac. Reason being in a way I'd like to keep my Air separate and not attached to an external display, I really like typing on the Air, its Touchpad and the screen is great. True, when I hook up to the 24" ACD it's beatiful and the Apple BT keyboard is alright, but for whatever reason part of me wants to get the iMac and use the Air along side of it ...

Or, I could go all out and keep the ACD to use with my Air when I like PLUS buy the iMac. In that case I'd sell my HP desktop and 24" HP monitor I have. BUT if I did that I'd loose a benefit I'm getting from the HP desktop which is HDMI ports. This is one thing that's more of a challenge with the mac because I also hook up to a 37" Panasonic Vierra for movie watching. So my HP desktop has the 24" monitor and my 37" TV attached to it.

A lot of computers, eh? They're all used hard for our business and entertainment as well. I was cruising along fine with an x301 ... then I had to try the MBA and I'm hooked, I love that that computer! So, now with the addition of the 24" ACD I'm thinking of the iMac as well. The HP has it's quirks, non working USB ports, had to reinstall the OS a few times, so I won't mind getting rid of it. But how to hook up the iMac to the Panasonic, it has no DVI port.

From a minimalist viewpoint I could probably get by with just my Air as my main machine, and use an external hard drive for extra storage / back up. Then when I required the use of a large monitor or to run Windows App's I could use the HP desktop. In one way this 'could' be the least aggravating too, my TV already hooks up easily via HDMI, the HP monitor on the desktop is good, then just use the Air when I'm away from my desk. (Plus I have to get my wife a new pc regardless of what I do, realistically a 13" MB will suilt her, it's small/light but has the power and peripherals she needs.

From a 'maximalist' view I could keep the ACD for my Air, add the iMac as my desktop, sell the HP or give to my wife to use at her desk and get her the MBA ! PLUS replace my Linksys dual band $200 router with Time Capsule and the whole system would be complete. I'd install windows on the iMac ... is all that worth the cost and effort ... I don't know.

It's not a matter of cost, we're a low overhead busy company and I haven't redone our computer set up for some time now ...

What would you do?

Genius @ Your Door · Mar 8th, 2009, 03:36 PM

I would get in touch with me through email and I can be a lot more use to you if you are looking to update your systems at work.

geniusatyourdoor@gmail.com

chas_m · Mar 9th, 2009, 05:33 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by G-Mo
	Pages really is not a substitute for Publisher. There is no Publisher for Mac, the "most popular" native Mac application is probably InDesign.

You're not going to casually mention that the price difference between Pages and InDesign is ~$800?

Really?

To the OP: Publisher is GARBAGE. Harsh words, I know -- but it doesn't play well with ANYTHING, even other Microsoft apps. Publisher is *so* hated in the graphic arts community that even mentioning it will get you escorted out of most respectable print/graphics establishments.

Contrary to G-Mo's post, Pages (part of iWork 09) is your best bet for a replacement for Publisher. It does word processing and desktop layout very well, though it's totally different than Publisher, it can do most of the same things (all the elegant things, none of the ugly tacky things). Pages is not difficult to get into and there are some excellent video tutorials on Apple's site and elsewhere on the web. There's a 30-day free trial of it available from Apple. Give it a spin (if she decides to go with Macs, that is).

gtgt · Mar 9th, 2009, 06:23 PM

WIth out a doubt, go all mac. Try to use all mac software. Don't load windows on your mac and force yourself to find the mac equivalent. Pages will fit your needs. I find that when you stick to all mac products including the router (time capsule) it all works great together. I own a small ad agency and am constantly going on my work computers from home and vice versa using "back to my mac" and screen sharing (built into Leopard). No issues at all, I believe it's cause I use the mac router and not Linksys or d-link. Any way, I have 24" imacs with 24" displays hooked up as a second monitor and it's sweet. btw, you can hook up your imac or MBA to you tv, no problem. I just sold my MBA for a new Macbook as it didn't have enough power for me and kept over heating. Do you have the new MBA? I hear that's much better than the 1st gen. one I had.
chas_m is right Publisher = GARBAGE!
If you must run windoze on the imac, use VMware not Paralells. I have both and VM seems to work much better for me.
Just think of that sweet set-up...
1 MBA, 1 24" imac, 1 macbook, 1 apple tv, 1 time capsule, all wireless running at "n" speeds. Not sure if the 24" ACD is necessary but what the heck, y not. You will not be sorry, and you wont look back.
enough said.

enatlrg · Mar 9th, 2009, 08:04 PM

Thanks everyone for the tips, they're very helpful.

The odd thing about me and Publisher is I use to do do initial rough drawings of a product design or part.... I'm in the Product Design/Manufacturing business ... years ago when Publisher first came out I used it as my 'rough sketchbook' when done I'd save as a PDF ... it worked so I never changed.

The reason I use it is because you can (easily) click anywhere on the page and start a text or diagram box, also there's lots of line styles and shapes just enough there to allow me do something quick in black and white and print ... it's the simplicity I enjoy.

I'm trying a trial version of Swift Publisher right now, so far it looks to be lacking in shapes, line styles, and how you fill or don't fill in objects etc etc ... Publisher was kind of one click ... agreed not a great program but so simple ...

Can anyone recommend other software, I have Pages already, I like more than word for a word publisher already but to use it to make a drawing and text boxes all over a page isn't quite as easy and it's more limited in features I think.

Thanks again!

wslctrc · Mar 9th, 2009, 10:05 PM

I agree, go all Mac. We were die hard pc users for 15 years and then Nov.07 we bought a new 20" 2.4 Imac for my wife for our business. This led to me buying the new 24" 2.4 for our business as well.We bought the 500g Time capsule for back ups and wireless internet and I bought a used Ibook for each of my teen daughters . At this point I had sold my wife's pc, my pc and both pc's that my daughters were using. Since then both daughters have been upgraded to new macbooks, 1 black and 1 white , my wife bought a macbook pro selling the Imac and then found it too heavy to carry around. She gave me the macbook pro and I bought her the air ( she loves the keyboard as well ). I sold the 24" Imac and we all love the portability of the laptops. I just recently picked up a 12" powerbook for my work truck to keep tabs on the job sites and customers and just use the pro around the house/office. I kept an IBM T40 around just in case because I refuse to put windoze on my mac, I tried it and had nothing but problems.
I will never go back to pc's as a main computer.
The software end we have Ilife, Iwork, Toast, Moneyworks Express, Office for mac, Photoshop elements, and a number of MacHeist apps.

Mar 8th, 2009, 12:33 PM	#1
enatlrg New Neighbour Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3	More Mac please, but what to buy, need Expert advice :) I'm new to Mac's and I love my MBA. I have the new 1.8ghz/128ssd model, it's become my main machine ... best computer I've owned and I'm liking OS X a lot. Now, we're trying to decide how to set up our Computers and Network, I'd like to make some changes. My new MacBook Air is easily fast enough for 90% of my work. I have an HP Desktop at home that I use for downloading torrent files, drawing in Publisher, light Photoshop work, back ups etc, it doesn't get used much except I'm often downloading something, so I need a stationary machine, I really enjoy typing on the MBA and using the trackpad, so I try and use it for everything, at my Office, home ... anywhere. My wife is currently using an LG P300, for for home and work, communication, invoicing, bookkeeping, light design, and surfing. She likes notebooks so she can take it to the office or around the house. All the computers are networked and everything is working, but the wife would like a new notebook, the HP always has some small nagging problem but it does the job. I'd like to set up the ideal home office ... we're due for a refresh, the question is to go all Mac or not ... I want to have a Desktop for movie downloading, back up, network/printer server, running Windows/Publisher when need be. I've thought of buying an iMac, with the hopes setting it up to download is easy, and networking, printing, and running Windows OS so I can use Publisher, that would be ideal. My wife REALLY likes my MBA but is a little nervous to try the Mac OS ... she's asked a LOT of questions, lol, her biggest concern is not being able to open up and work in Publisher at her leisure, it's a good idea we find a program like Publisher for the Mac ... The 'ideal' system for us could be me with my MBA and a get a new iMac for downloading, backup, base station etc. I'd use it instead of my MBA when I'm at the desk probably. Plus I'd buy a MBA for my wife. I'd get her the 24" Apple Display too. Plus I'd get the Time Capsule and the package would we complete! We'd sell HP Desktop, LGP300 and have only the iMac and 2 MBA's... Another possibility is me with the MBA, an iMac at home which I'd use in conjunction with my MBA and in stead of the MBA my wife could get the 13" Macbook, more power, storage etc, but, she's very intrigued by the thin MBA... who isn't? I'd still get her the monitor. Is that move worth it? Any ex-windows users out there who've made a similar move? So, what to do? Leave our system as is or make a move and do one of the two options above. Any advice much appreciated! Thanks.

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Mar 8th, 2009, 01:53 PM	#2
Genius @ Your Door New Neighbour Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 21	Go with that all Mac option. You will be MUCH happier. In terms of Publisher, Pages is an amazing piece of software that can do most desktop publishing and it comes with iWork. You can also use Boot Camp to put Windows on both machines or use a a virtual machine like parallels to run your windows programs. If you need anymore help, send me an email. Its what I do for a living. geniusatyourdoor@gmail.com

Mar 8th, 2009, 02:27 PM	#4
Genius @ Your Door New Neighbour Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 21	It really depends on what you are doing with it. I would agree with InDesign would be the higher level replacement for it. For basic stuff though, Pages seems to do the job nicely.

Mar 8th, 2009, 03:02 PM	#5
enatlrg New Neighbour Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3	Thanks. Would you buy to go with the MBA? So far I bought the 24" ACD, I really like it. Still I'm considering exchanging the ACD and getting the new 24" iMac. Reason being in a way I'd like to keep my Air separate and not attached to an external display, I really like typing on the Air, its Touchpad and the screen is great. True, when I hook up to the 24" ACD it's beatiful and the Apple BT keyboard is alright, but for whatever reason part of me wants to get the iMac and use the Air along side of it ... Or, I could go all out and keep the ACD to use with my Air when I like PLUS buy the iMac. In that case I'd sell my HP desktop and 24" HP monitor I have. BUT if I did that I'd loose a benefit I'm getting from the HP desktop which is HDMI ports. This is one thing that's more of a challenge with the mac because I also hook up to a 37" Panasonic Vierra for movie watching. So my HP desktop has the 24" monitor and my 37" TV attached to it. A lot of computers, eh? They're all used hard for our business and entertainment as well. I was cruising along fine with an x301 ... then I had to try the MBA and I'm hooked, I love that that computer! So, now with the addition of the 24" ACD I'm thinking of the iMac as well. The HP has it's quirks, non working USB ports, had to reinstall the OS a few times, so I won't mind getting rid of it. But how to hook up the iMac to the Panasonic, it has no DVI port. From a minimalist viewpoint I could probably get by with just my Air as my main machine, and use an external hard drive for extra storage / back up. Then when I required the use of a large monitor or to run Windows App's I could use the HP desktop. In one way this 'could' be the least aggravating too, my TV already hooks up easily via HDMI, the HP monitor on the desktop is good, then just use the Air when I'm away from my desk. (Plus I have to get my wife a new pc regardless of what I do, realistically a 13" MB will suilt her, it's small/light but has the power and peripherals she needs. From a 'maximalist' view I could keep the ACD for my Air, add the iMac as my desktop, sell the HP or give to my wife to use at her desk and get her the MBA ! PLUS replace my Linksys dual band $200 router with Time Capsule and the whole system would be complete. I'd install windows on the iMac ... is all that worth the cost and effort ... I don't know. It's not a matter of cost, we're a low overhead busy company and I haven't redone our computer set up for some time now ... What would you do?

Mar 8th, 2009, 03:36 PM	#6
Genius @ Your Door New Neighbour Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 21	I would get in touch with me through email and I can be a lot more use to you if you are looking to update your systems at work. geniusatyourdoor@gmail.com

Mar 9th, 2009, 06:23 PM	#8
gtgt Full Citizen Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 148	WIth out a doubt, go all mac. Try to use all mac software. Don't load windows on your mac and force yourself to find the mac equivalent. Pages will fit your needs. I find that when you stick to all mac products including the router (time capsule) it all works great together. I own a small ad agency and am constantly going on my work computers from home and vice versa using "back to my mac" and screen sharing (built into Leopard). No issues at all, I believe it's cause I use the mac router and not Linksys or d-link. Any way, I have 24" imacs with 24" displays hooked up as a second monitor and it's sweet. btw, you can hook up your imac or MBA to you tv, no problem. I just sold my MBA for a new Macbook as it didn't have enough power for me and kept over heating. Do you have the new MBA? I hear that's much better than the 1st gen. one I had. chas_m is right Publisher = GARBAGE! If you must run windoze on the imac, use VMware not Paralells. I have both and VM seems to work much better for me. Just think of that sweet set-up... 1 MBA, 1 24" imac, 1 macbook, 1 apple tv, 1 time capsule, all wireless running at "n" speeds. Not sure if the 24" ACD is necessary but what the heck, y not. You will not be sorry, and you wont look back. enough said.

Mar 9th, 2009, 08:04 PM	#9
enatlrg New Neighbour Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3	Thanks everyone for the tips, they're very helpful. The odd thing about me and Publisher is I use to do do initial rough drawings of a product design or part.... I'm in the Product Design/Manufacturing business ... years ago when Publisher first came out I used it as my 'rough sketchbook' when done I'd save as a PDF ... it worked so I never changed. The reason I use it is because you can (easily) click anywhere on the page and start a text or diagram box, also there's lots of line styles and shapes just enough there to allow me do something quick in black and white and print ... it's the simplicity I enjoy. I'm trying a trial version of Swift Publisher right now, so far it looks to be lacking in shapes, line styles, and how you fill or don't fill in objects etc etc ... Publisher was kind of one click ... agreed not a great program but so simple ... Can anyone recommend other software, I have Pages already, I like more than word for a word publisher already but to use it to make a drawing and text boxes all over a page isn't quite as easy and it's more limited in features I think. Thanks again!

Mar 9th, 2009, 10:05 PM	#10
wslctrc Full Citizen Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 459	I agree, go all Mac. We were die hard pc users for 15 years and then Nov.07 we bought a new 20" 2.4 Imac for my wife for our business. This led to me buying the new 24" 2.4 for our business as well.We bought the 500g Time capsule for back ups and wireless internet and I bought a used Ibook for each of my teen daughters . At this point I had sold my wife's pc, my pc and both pc's that my daughters were using. Since then both daughters have been upgraded to new macbooks, 1 black and 1 white , my wife bought a macbook pro selling the Imac and then found it too heavy to carry around. She gave me the macbook pro and I bought her the air ( she loves the keyboard as well ). I sold the 24" Imac and we all love the portability of the laptops. I just recently picked up a 12" powerbook for my work truck to keep tabs on the job sites and customers and just use the pro around the house/office. I kept an IBM T40 around just in case because I refuse to put windoze on my mac, I tried it and had nothing but problems. I will never go back to pc's as a main computer. The software end we have Ilife, Iwork, Toast, Moneyworks Express, Office for mac, Photoshop elements, and a number of MacHeist apps.