Jumping off the PC wagon at home and looking to buy a G5. MacMall and MacWarehouse now have a presence in Illinois...thus 6.75% sales tax. Anybody have any other sources that will give away the farm (i.e. free extra memory, free shipping, free this...and, of course, free that) and are not located in Illinois?

I believe that these Apple retailers are not able to compete price-wise against Apple...so they give you a bunch of freebies to make up for it. That's why it is nutso to go to Oakbrook and buy from the Apple store. MacWarehouse used to be the place to go, but they were purchased buy CDW. MacMall opened a shipping facility in Illinois.

Anyone dealt with any other source and been happy with it?

I switched a couple years ago (15" Powerbook) and have never looked back since! I think you'll love the G5 iMac.

As for who to go through, I bit the bullet and went to the Apple Store. The price was higher but I didn't have to pay shipping and I got my machine right away. I have not yet dealt with any other sources, but would be interested in how your purchase goes.

No offense to my PC user pals out there...but for home application, Mac seems to make all the sense in the world. In a traditional business setting...perhaps not. I find them easier to use and more............."fun".

There is nothing as fun as trying to keep up with a 9 1/2 year-old that, despite repeated admonishments, loves to download stuff. Lots of stuff. Stuff about GameCube cheats, Sonic the Hedgehog, wallpaper of all sorts.

Viruses? What viruses? I've had 'em all...firewalls and virus scans are no challenge for my kid.

I like computers that work perfectly fine when a program stops responding...and also quits and restarts the frozen program without a hassle. The power of X!

Well, should you happen to be taking a non-credit adult continuing education class at the College of DuPage, you're eligible for a student discount...
www.apple.com/education

Alternatively, go to...
www.sitelink.net
...and scroll down to almost the bottom. Check out the links for "Vendors" and/or "Vendors - Catalog"

--Ted E.

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MacMall seems to have the best deal....even though they charge Illinois sales tax. They are very knowledgable and helpful...and they throw the store at you. All you have to do is fill out 15 different rebate forms. And for Illinois customers...or all customers in states where they have a presence...they give an additional cash rebate to soften the sales tax blow. And there is free shipping....memory upgrade...free this....and, of course, free that. The Apple Store, while nice to visit and touch, is not competitive at all price-wise. Best Buy...I believe...no longer has Apple products (Apples' decision, I believe). Not to mention I can't stomach going there...nor would I buy anything from them. They are really expensive on everything...which is why their name confuses me.

Clamato, a couple things:

1. Check apple.com, they have good deals on their "certified refurbs" that I've heard are as good as the new ones.

2. Got in an email, that seems to have diappeared now, a coupon for $30 off a $300 purchase. Every little bit helps, right? I think that if you signed up for an account at apple.com you'd get the same email.

FWIW, I've been considering selling my PC and getting a G5 Powermac, mainly for video editing (I do VHS to DVD transfers), but I haven't been able to find a nonbiased source of comaprison between the two.

jdeare, have you tried CompUSA? They sell both Macs and PCs so they probably don't care which they sell as long as they get money. I went there when looking for my Powerbook and they were pretty non-biased to me.

Don't forget the new Fry's in Downers Grove... on Finley south of Butterfield.

--Ted E.

mmmmmmmmmmmm Fry's......I think that was the only thing holding my dad back from moving here...now that there is a Fry's he is gung ho....My husband has even become a fan.

Already did the deal with MacMall. Best deal, best free stuff, best rebates, free shipping, help with obtaining the 10,000 rebate forms that need to be filled out...and, unlike the people that I have seen at the likes of Best Buy and Fry's...they knew what they were talking about. The computer will show up at my front door without having to navigate crowd's or (no offense to you high-schoolers out there) having to deal with an hourly worker that has no earthly idea what the hell he is talking about...with the possible exception of knowing how to push extended warranties.

I understand why people enjoy the P.J. McFunster retail experiences such as Fry's and BB, but they aren't for me. Give me a lower price and knowledgable service anyday.

Ted,

The correct Web address is http://sitelink.net (not .com).

Oops. Exactly. All fixed. Sorry! --TE

Another fantastic Mac news and info site is http://macsurfer.com.

Oh, and the best iPod site is http://ipodlounge.com.

If anyone wants to know the latest on what's happening with anything Apple-related (Macs, iPods, etc.), these sites are where you want to go. Apple's stock increased over 300% this past year, so it's on very solid ground.

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Clamato,

CompUSA on Butterfield Rd. has an excellent Apple rep who works weekends there. His name is Ray, and I believe he's a Glen Ellyn resident. Also, CompUSA has an excellent Mac technician named Walt. Ray and Walt are well-versed with Macs and Windows PCs -- and they both prefer Macs.

GENuke,

I couldn't agree more with you about Mac OS X. It makes computing a pleasure instead of a headache. I didn't really care one way or the other about Macs versus Windows PCs until OS X came out. Now there's no contest, as far as I'm concerned. I only wish Steve Jobs would swallow his pride and have Apple ship a two-button mouse with its Macs, but a $20 Microsoft WheelMouse Optical fits the bill nicely and cheaply.

May I recommend the 10-button (plus scroll wheel) Kensington Turbo Mouse?

--Ted E.

Here's a highly respected technology columnist whose articles appear in the Daily Herald business section each week:

Walt Mossberg's Personal Technology Column Archive
ptech.wsj.com...

His January 20 column is called "Mac Mini Makes Switch Attractive."

Check out his December 9 article called "Security Issues Plague Windows-Based PCs, Impairing Ease of Use." This is a major reason why there's been such a backlash against Windows lately.

I see that his September 23 review of the iMac G5 isn't listed in the archive, but I've located it via a quick Google search. It's called "Apple's Latest iMac Is Elegant, Powerful, Surprisingly Affordable." Here's the Web address of the article:
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20040923.html

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Ted,

I don't care much for trackball mice like the one you mention. I prefer my 8-button Logitech MX500 mouse, which looks and feels much more like a regular mouse while also being nifty for taking advantage of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther's wonderful Exposé feature.

www.logitech.com...

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I forgot to include the Web address for the Microsoft WheelMouse Optical. Here it is:

www.microsoft.com...

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One thing I've noticed that a lot of people don't know about Macs is that there are Mac versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. There's also a Microsoft Outlook equivalent called Microsoft Entourage that comes as a part of selected editions of the Microsoft Office suite for Macs. Personally, I don't even bother using Entourage since I'm perfectly happy using the Mail, Address Book and iCal programs that are included with Mac OS X.

A lot of people also don't know that, for example, a document created in the Windows version of Microsoft Word will open right up on a Mac and vice-versa. The same thing goes for Excel and PowerPoint.

Here's where you can learn more about the Mac versions of Microsoft Office:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/

Looking for a Mac equivalent to the Windows-only ACT! software? Look no further than DayLite:

http://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/

The Mac version of Microsoft Office doesn't include the Microsoft Access database software, but FileMaker Pro is every bit as powerful and more user-friendly. It's also available for both Windows PCs and Macs.

http://filemaker.com/

quote:

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I don't care much for trackball mice like the one you mention.

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Whatever. To each hizzerher own. My point is simply that those who think Macs have only a "one button mouse" option are very, very wrong.

--Ted E.