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New to Imac

i am new to imac and am looking at buying a second hand one. anyone got any tips? what to look for? what specs are best for occassional gaming and mainly watching online tv, facebook and email on a budget without compromising power too much.


how do i use the basic functions any tips or pointers? comparison to pc (which ive been using for 20 years, its all going to be very different!) on a pc to open programs you go into start menu and click on the program and then press'x' to close. any open programs are on the taskbar. how does this compare?


thanks

iPhone 4, ios 5 icloud imessages

Posted on May 11, 2013 5:48 AM

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22 replies

May 11, 2013 6:50 AM in response to Baileysqueen

Rather than buying second hand especially when you don't know anything about Macs I'd recommend buy an Apple refurbished computer. You can save money, get the same warranty as a new machine and it's elgible for AppleCare service.


Switching from a PC to a Mac does take some adjustment but it's not that bad, most people acclimate after a couple of weeks pretty well. I'd also recommend bookmarking and using:



Why you will love a Mac



Find outMac Basics

May 11, 2013 7:04 AM in response to Baileysqueen

Baileysqueen wrote:


I would do but the cheapest apple refurb is a thousand pounds. They go on ebay second hand for about 5-600 base price for the min specs I want. Quite a difference in price.


Is it possible to add AppleCare ?

Nope! unless the machine is less than 1 year old. That's the difference, when you buy used you have absolutely no idea what you're buying. When you buy refurbished you can buy with confidence.

May 11, 2013 8:08 AM in response to Baileysqueen

If you do decide on a used machine, keep the following in mind:


If the operating system on it (Lion 10.7 or Mountain Lion 10.8) is not the one the Mac originally came with, the license for those two is not transferable and is tied forever to the seller's Apple ID. The seller is supposed to wipe the hard drive and reinstall the original system so the buyer can purchase their own OS license ($20).


So, if the original OS was NOT 10.7 or 10.8 but one of them is installed now, make sure you get at least the install DVDs from the seller (would most likely be either 10.6.x Snow Leopard or 10.5.x Leopard) so you can wipe the drive and reinstall or tell the seller to wipe the drive and reinstall the original.


Without that, you would never be able to reinstall the system if there was a problem.


FWIW: the buyer protection is a very long and frustrating process; I used it once and will try to avoid it. It also helps if you use your own credit card through Paypal (not theirs) - that gives you an extra layer of protection and your credit card company will advocate for you.

May 11, 2013 8:30 AM in response to Baileysqueen

Like earlier posters, assuming you are from the UK ...


1. Check out the Apple offers in terms of refurbished models.

2. If you have a Stormfront store near you, they sell both new and refurbished models and are worth checking out.

3. WZZZ's advice to avoid eBay is worthwhile. Add to that Amazon and Gum Tree and any other service of the kind.


You may be new to Macs but until it has arrived, the nitty gritty of using it should not be considered. Just look forward to a whole new and pleasing experience.

May 11, 2013 8:43 AM in response to Baileysqueen

You can buy AppleCare, which extends the coverage another 2 years, if you buy it before the end of the first year of the warranty. That is, assuming it has the Apple warranty. UK law in matters of warranty may apply.


Don't be in such a rush to upgrade. Snow Leopard is a fine OS and still being supported by Apple for the time being. You can always upgrade later to Mountain Lion if you want to--that is, if the Mac you bought will support it. One step at a time.


Message was edited by: WZZZ

May 11, 2013 8:56 AM in response to Baileysqueen

For me nothing I can't easily live without. For you maybe. Get used to Snow first then decide. Apple advertises "Over 200 new features." Many gimmicks and unnecessary crap. But really this isn't the time to get into this. Once you get acquainted with Snow, you'll have a much better understanding of what it is you might like about upgrading.


http://www.apple.com/osx/

May 11, 2013 9:08 AM in response to Baileysqueen

Many reckon that Snow Leopard is the best version of OS X. Lion and Mountain Lion also guzzle more RAM.

For a while I had a MacAir with only 2gb of RAM that came with Snow Leopard installed. I foolishly upgraded it to Mountain Lion and immediately saw a big performance hit, like it was running on three cylinders.

Swiftly re-installed Snow Leopard and everything was good.

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