Don't get anything! :) Just do a complete system re-install on your Dells and everything will be cool.

I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine

Many titles have no Mac port.

If you want cheap, go PC. I built my own gaming beast, and my wife's 3D animation workstation out of parts from pricewatch.com for ~$2000 each, but you could go a lot cheaper. Use free web browser, free Open Office for office applications, only wind up paying for software like Windows (unless I go Linux), Maya, games.

If you want simple, elegant design, never worry about the nuts & bolts of upgrades, etc., zero virus/trojan worries, great 2D graphics, and a few good game titles, go Mac. It's spendy, but if you want fire-and-forget functionality, Mac's the way to go.

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH

For the stated needs you have which appear to be pretty basic....do you want to spend $500-$600 on a PC that will do everything you need and more, or spend twice that to do the same thing?

Apple....they* don't call'em Trophy Computers for nothing.
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*Oh, wait....no, that's just me. %^/

~At times like these I am reminded of the immortal words of Socrates when he said...."I drank what?"

As others have said, more elegant and certainly more care free. I've never had a hassle, but I'm not a gamer.

My kid, who is, is constantly having to upgrade and replace parts on his PC. And I am completely lost when he complains about Microsoft upgrades. I do know that the Fed Ex guy was a regular at my front door with little boxes for the boy. I spent more on the initial purchase, but the kid has spent a lot of dosh on his PC. And the fans drive me crazy...my Mac is quite.

When I would ever use his PC to help him in a search or something..it felt clunky and awkward.

So it is what you want, I guess. Note: my use is music, vids, and research. Never had a problem once.

go the work station route-that way you can upgrade the hardware as you go. You can pick up a good (and big!)used CRT (through Craigslist) for a song these days. The Mac interface IS more elegant-PC's always seem to be more clunky but to say they are "less productive" is a bit of a stretch. On the other hand it's nice not to have to worry about viruses, trojans and the like if you get a Mac.

And Mac's suck for 3D.

I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine

if you really are only looking at the basics (browser, email and word processing) any entry level machine will do what you want. The problem is determining if there's anything non-standard you'll want to do in the next five years. The PC (at least desktop machines) does have more flexibility in that area.

A PC running XP, using Firefox as the browser and a decent antivirus package will have very few problems (unless you have a habit of opening email attachments from Zambia or clicking on anything that looks colorful at web sites). A Mac running Safari will be a similar, with even fewer problems. Most problems I deal with are caused by people doing something they shouldn't, but that's going to be true of any machine.

If you are used to a PC, the Mac will require you to learn a slightly different interface. No big deal, but it will take you a couple weeks to get beyond the basics. As to whether the PC or Mac interface is better, that's a personal preference.

Think hard about what kinds of things you may want to do. Something like video editing will make a big impact on what kind of machine you should look for. Try using a display machine at a store, make sure the monitor looks OK for you, as well as the keyboard and mouse.

You can email me if you have any specific questions.

I blame it all on the Internet

Considering that all you need is the basic features, your choice basically boils down to:

PC: Lower price and greater expandability

Mac: Greater reliability and superior tech support

Personally, I'd go with a PC, but then again I'm computer savvy enough to fix any problems that I run into. If you want your computer to just work, pay the extra cost for a Mac and AppleCare.

As for the two Dells you're having problems with, I used to work for Dell Technical Support, so drop me a line if you want any help straightening them out.

"In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad."~Nietzsche

I would say spending $1200 bucks (cheapest option at your Apple link)on something you can get for half of that to do, essentially, very basic things (internet, word processing, non-hardcore games, items you mentioned above) goes against your "..so most of the high dollar stuff is out" sentiments.

Go PC.

~At times like these I am reminded of the immortal words of Socrates when he said...."I drank what?"

This may be a dumb question. I'm not in the market for a new computer right now, but there's always been one thing that has kept me from considering a Mac: the potential (in my mind, at least, given my ignorance on the subject) for incompatibility with stuff sent to me from folks with PCs or vice-versa. I've never taken the time to look into it to the degree I might have to to feel sufficiently assured that there wouldn't be problems; It's more convenient just to buy a PC and not have to look into it or take that (potential) risk.

Educate me, fellas. Oh, and no partisan spin, please :p

And be sure to get Apple Care.

To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard

Before you chuck out the Dells, why not download and install Linux?

I've been using Mint Linux 5 now for about a month without any trouble to speak of. It's a kind of Ubuntu on steroids.

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.html

Once you burn (as image) the CD, you can boot and you will be given the option to install. It'll give you more or less the same feeling of embarking on a new adventure in computing and you won't have to spend any $US.

Nothing resembles virtue more than a great crime. Saint-Just

... a lot of the time. I need the processing power for my graphics work, but you're not going to need it for the stuff you're doing, so I think it's just a matter of monitor size for you. Go to an apple store and feel it out... does the extra monitor size seem worth it to you? Then I'd say just go for the cheaper of the options within that size.

I have to differ with Z below... I don't think RAM is going to make much difference to you websurfing or word processing. I would suggest you get a separate hard drive that's about 30 or 40% larger than the most you ever expect to store, apps included. Nobody tells you this, but Leopard's time machine needs that much overhead since it stores previous versions of your docs (a real life saver at times, believe me.)

Welcome to the Mac world. It will take you about a week to get used to it, but after that you'll never want to go back. Everything is more elegant and kinder to you.

More Wagster!

Why don't you start a nice, calm discussion about abortion instead?

Guard, protect and cherish your land, for there is no afterlife for a place that started out as Heaven.

I looked at those current prices for the iMac line, and there's compelling reasons for buying any of the 4 models, depending on how much money you can spend. I'm looking squarely at that page myself, but have been with Macs for years.

Spend the extra money for the AppleCare, even though it's expensive. Consider extra ram, 2 gigs may be skimpy. Always buy Apple branded ram, (I've got stories). Score an academic version of Office or Word, and the Adobe Creative Suite line of programs. Also Apple's various creative programs for editing, altering and storing images. There are deep academic discounts for these. Buying programs w/an academic discount often saves you more than the basic hardware costs you.

Consider also looking at used and re-furbished, by Apple and otherwise. If you look carefully on their website, they have a re-furbished section. Get an idea what these things sell for on E-Bay, which will give you a better selection than the Apple Store. The main thing you get at the Apple Store is confidence that it's gonna work fine, and you will only be able to buy latest makes and models that they are choosing to sell.

Easy answer? Spend a little over 3K. Buy the best one on the list, and spend the rest on needed accessories like external drive(s) and more ram. On a budget? Look for a fine monitor by somebody like Samsung or Toshiba with full 1080P resolution, (none of these iMacs have that), and spend the rest on a Mac Mini, and hope you can upgrade. Go to a Mac Mini enthusiasts site. It may be the best bang for your Mac buck. I can see a souped up Mac Mini as a living room media server. I think the kids are doing that.

You'll get by far the best internet and audio/video experience with the 24" with the best graphics processor. The jump up from 20" to 24" is stunning. It'll make you want to beef up your audio, for the minimum of another couple of hundred $, maybe a bit less. I've worked with both and I'm torn as to which size I prefer. At the moment I'm leaning towards 20", as any 1080i or p signal would have to be scaled down anyway to fit on those rather modestly spec'd screens.

Me: We! -- Ali