Photoshop is a grand? Amazon has Photoshop CS2 for $579.99 - about $5 less than the Windows version.

You're going to college now, right? Or have access to someone who is? Have you looked into getting a student discount? A site I found (studentdiscounts.com) has the Mac version of CS2 for $265.99.

Not sure what problems people have with BitTorrent, but I've used a client before without problems. QuickTime doesn't support some AVI codecs without add-on software, but that shouldn't be a problem. Try this:

http://guides.macrumors.com/Watch_AVI_Movies_in_Mac_OS_X

Some of the codecs are commercial, but you'll have plenty left over by not paying $1,000 for Photoshop. :)

What you really need to do is this: Corner J and have him give you a tour of his Mac. He should be able to show you what works and what doesn't. Bring a couple DVDs full of your pirated acquired AVI collection and see if you can get them to work. Odds are extremely good you can with just a little work. If that doesn't work, use Parallels and/or Boot Camp (Parallels will probably work fine).

There's no need to go into this blind if you know someone with a Mac who can show you the ropes. If I were up there, I'd help you myself.

Worst case scenario: You install Boot Camp and have an Apple-branded Windows box, never touching the Mac side again. That could happen, but I bet it wouldn't.

- J

I've already offered my assistance if you need it, and that I would buy the computer from you if you didn't like it (because I need a new mac anyway). If I were you I'd take the plunge. I was reserved about it back in the day when I switched as well, but I eventually did it and I'll never go back.

I'm, also, am not sure where you found adobe photoshop for a grand. I think you may have seen the Adobe CS suite, because you can get an awful lot of adobe apps for a mac for $1000.

Real player for mac (free) plays AVI files, and you found the bit torrent client the other day.

I think you are feeling what a lot of people who are considering their first Mac feel. It's a kind of naseua and phobia of stepping outside the box. The reality is that Apple has gone to great lengths to make the Mac everything a PC is and more. Plus, in all my time owning a mac, I've never had to dump money into repairs.

Obviously I'm biased on this one, but I'm biased for a reason. I've tried both, use both on a daily basis, and Macs are better. That's all there really is to it. And either way, if you are buying a new computer, you are going to spend some money anyway. Why not spend approximately the same amount and get a Mac and PC in one, instead of just a PC. That's essentially what you get with a Mac.

So, I just did some digging on Sonystyle.com, their Vaio desktop lineup is roughly twice as much as the equivelant Apple computers. That's a tough sale considering even at that price they have slower processors, and of course you will have to budget for inevitable PC repairs.

Sadly, if you do end up getting a PC, they will likely be your best bet. I might almost recommend an HP if you do go wtih a PC because you can buy accidental damage insurance for them. I'm not sure that it covers software failure though.

In Price shopping Dell, HP, and Sonystyle.com it doesn't really seem like you can get an equivelant PC for the same price as a mac. In addition your mac can also be a PC with better specs than most of the PCs I came across in the price range you mentioned yesterday. If you are looking for value, reliability, and compatibility, Apple is honestly your best bet.

I new you two would throw some useful info my way! LOL I've been researching the Mac hard the past few days. My biggest concern is the .avi films which are Divx or Xvid mostly and the AC3 audio codec. I'm not really 'too' worried about a BT client, I found several that have good reviews. I guess my fear is I'm gun shy around computers these days. Every time I get one, nothing seems to work for me.

I think I started getting nervous when I began reading this thread:

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=31445

All the tech talk really threw me. Intel Mac, G5, X11...I have no idea what any of this stuff is! It sounds dangerous! LOL The only thing I understood was softsubs (text file subs downloaded seperatly from the movie, usually .ssa or .srt file) and even then I got thrown because there was no mention of hard subs (subs directly encoded into the movie)...*sigh*

I've discovered that I can continue to write my friends in Japan in Japanese, though I'm not exactly sure how the installation process works. In Windows, it's a pain in the ass--for the Mac, some of the things I've read make it sound easier, others more difficult. I'm not sure who to believe. LOL As I understand so far OS X already has the support, so should I assume it doesn't require booting of disks or downloading anything? (I found some sweet downloadable Mac only learning games over at perdue.edu)

And what exactly is an Intel Mac? That's an iMac, right? I want a desktop computer, so that's the one I'd want right?

What sort of IM program can I use on a Mac? Yahoo? MSN messenger? Don't you use both, J?

These sound like silly questions, but I'd really like to know. I appreciate all the info both of you have given me. I'm sure it'll make my decision even easier when the time comes. J, I think we might have to visit the mac store in the very near future. LOL

LOL They aren't dumb questions, they are question from somebody who's new to the world. So first, I read that link, and it wouldn't be that complicated to set up. I find it hard to believe that anything out there for the mac wouldn't be for the PC as well. And truth be told that seems very complicated when you could just download Real Player, which has played all of the anime you've burnt for me just fine. I think DivX worked with them as well.

Next, All macs currently being sold are intel macs. What that indicates is that the computer uses intel processors, just like most PCs. Mac's used to run on IBM processors called Power PC processors. The IBM models aren't available anymore (sigh).

You can use any messenger that's available to a PC. MSN, Yahoo!, AIM, Skype... oh wait... you can't use google messenger... but then again nobody does. You can get other messengers that will communicate with google messenger though.

Basically if it's out there for a PC it's out there for a Mac. With the exception of Financial Software. Quicken for Mac pretty much sucks. That's about the only area that really sucks for mac.

X11 comes preinstalled, but you'll rarely have to use it. We can always test the waters with my mac and see if it will do what you want.

OK, so I missread the first part of your post completely. I'm not sure about codecs on the mac. I rarely have to get under the hood on my mac. Perhaps Jeff would be more helpful with that aspect. He probably knows significantly more about X11 as well. I know that they can use it to control your thermostat!

The problem with trying this stuff out on my Macs is that they are both old school. I don't have an intel Mac. I plan on getting one soon, but not for at least a month or so. I've been holding out for Leopard, but I think I'll break down and buy it anyway. You should probably visit this link for a lot more of the simple questions, and just ask me or Jeff for the ones that aren't addressed here:

http://www.apple.com/getamac/

Thanks J. If I could give you a few CDs I've burned and see if you can play them (sub groups constantly change their codecs) that would make me feel better!

I found this link, which seems pretty helpful. Is this stuff on your mac too?

http://www.redcocoon.org/cab/mysoft.html#sysanchor

Seems you've got all the help you could need! I will throw my two cents in and say, as I did before, I think a mac would be a good thing for you! For what you use it for and your hobbies I think it is a good fit.

I don't know why you guys have so many computer problems. I took the old emachine and invested in some new hardware and it's ok.

Perhaps the cheaper route would be to invest in some good security and maintainence programs? I know I have several and that seems to keep things running well.

Eitherway - As I said before. Look into student discounts. They can be dramatic. I am not sure that I still get one being I've graduated - I can always try if you want. I am pretty sure your school will qualify though. All you need is a school email, a student ID, or some sort of proof you are a registered student. Usually just one or the other. Dell only asked for my school address, which I still have.

Let me know.

Okay, I'll try to talk about what I know about and leave the rest up to J. :)

Chatting:

For chatting, get Adium. It's sort of like Trillian under Windows in that it works with all of the major chat services: Yahoo, AOL, MSN, Jabber, ICQ and a bunch of others I don't even know about. It's also absolutely positively free. I've been using it for a couple of years.

http://www.adiumx.com/

Apple offers their own chat tool as part of Mac OS X - iChat - but Adium is way better in my opinion.

X11 -

This is a geeky Unix thing, used to make it easier to run graphical Unix apps on your computer. You don't need to use it, install it, or even care if it's there. I can't imagine a single thing you'd need it for. Hell, I use Unix daily and I don't use it either.

Intel -

This refers to the type of processor that Macs use - their "brain", basically. In the past all Macs used what is known as a PowerPC processor, produced by IBM and Motorola. Both of these companies had trouble keeping up with Apple's demand, so Apple switched to Intel processors - which are what Windows-based PCs use. There are some pluses and minuses to this, but one side effect is that you can now run Windows on your Mac.

Anyhow, all shipping Macs now run on Intel processors - iMacs, Mac Pros, MacBooks and MacBook Pros. That's the future of the platform.

AVIs -

I don't watch AVIs much (QuickTime and MPEG for me!), but I do know that there are different types and you need what are known as codecs in order to view them. DivX is a very popular codec. Thankfully, there's an official free version and a pro version for $20.

http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/

There's also an official version of Xvid for the Mac.

http://www.xvidmovies.com/codec/

I found an AC3 decoder, here:

http://trac.cod3r.com/a52codec/

The following piece of software may just do everything for you - I don't know:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Software -

In general, there's a ton of software out there for the Mac. Try doing a search for something on VersionTracker or just browse around on there. You may be surprised.

http://www.versiontracker.com/

Language -

I only type in English - and poorly at that! - so I don't know how much help I can be with this, though I do know that Mac OS X is multi-language capable out of the box.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/international/

That link you provided, I think, shows how easy it should be. Select "U.S." from the menu to type in U.S. English, select "Hiragana" to type in Hiragana, etc.

As an aside, you may be amused by this:

http://www.apple.com/jp/getamac/ads/

Anyhow, I think that's about it. Keep asking questions if you have any, though! I'll check in on this thread when I get a chance. If you need me to test anything for you, I can do that too. My iMac is pretty recent and similar to any Mac you would buy.

- Jeff

BTW, J -

> you can't use google messenger...

You can, actually. Google messenger is just a Google-branded Jabber server/client.

http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html

You could use Adium or iChat for this purpose, though it looks like only Google's own tool works with voice calls.

- Jeff

Thanks for all the info guys! I really appreciate it!