MAC PEOPLE I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT MY MAC

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

Mac people-
My cousin is selling me his older iMac for $300 (good deal, no?), and is even loading Photoshop, acrobat, pagemaker, illustrator, itunes, etc. on to it...

The questions I have,
1. Will my digital camera that is compatible with my PC be able to hook up to the Mac too? Is there any way to do that?
2. What is a fairly inexpensive printer for a Mac? I want to be able to print photos, graphic art well and clear.
3. I have a Zip drive on my PC- are Zip disks interchangable between PCs and Macs (if the Mac has a Zip drive)?

Thanks :)
ps- I'm continuing using both computers, but the Mac will primarily be for my graphic art. So I need your help.

[MrBenchley]

1. Check out

MacMall.com or MacWarehouse.com...both have excellent bargains on printers.

I supect zip disks will be interchangeable...most PowerMacs read other formats...

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

2. Thank you!

Also, what browser should I use? MSIE?

[ikojo]

8. Microsoft said they will

no longer support Internet Explorer for the Mac. I would suggest using Safari. I think you can download it for free from the apple.com site.

Also, ask whether OS X is installed in the computer you will be getting. I don't think Safari will work with any other Mac OS

I LOVE MY MAC

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

12. I think OS 9

Since it's older.

[zizzer]

14. A warning!

You will want to update that OS if it hasn't been done already. Be careful though and check the version numbers loaded and ONLY install the correct update. If you try to update 9.2 to 9.2.2 with the update to update 9.1 to 9.2.2 it will FUCK your computer up.

Just get those version numbers and read the destructions carefully.

Zizzer

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

16. it's 9. something

Not exactly 9.

[iluvchicago86]

19. I second the vote for safari

OS X is also quite great, but if you want to consider buying the best i would reccomend waiting until the fall which is when, I heard, that the newest version will be released. I am glad you will be using a Mac because it really is such a superior machine. And safari as a browser is simply lovely. Good luck with your new machine;-)

[Bandit]

3. Usually you can download the drivers necessary for Mac.

If not you may have to buy some new hardware but well worth it.

[MUAD_DIB]

4. Well...

1. Will my digital camera that is compatible with my PC be able to hook up to the Mac too? Is there any way to do that?

What kind of mac is it? Does the camera come with software?

2. What is a fairly inexpensive printer for a Mac? I want to be able to print photos, graphic art well and clear.

Some HP models are okay, but the less expensive ones ($80-150) suck at text and imported eps files.

3. I have a Zip drive on my PC- are Zip disks interchangable between PCs and Macs (if the Mac has a Zip drive)?

Yes, provisionally. Most Macs will read pc formatted disks.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

7. type of computer...

It's an "old style" (with the color casing) iMac with OS 9 I think. I don't have the specs for it.

The camera is a Nikon Coolpix 2500, but not sure if it's Mac software or not?

[zizzer]

15. Yes then it will work.

The Imac has USB and so do the Cool pix. Just drop in the install disk (I believe) and it should work.

Zizzer

[jpak]

18. You can plug the USB from your camera into the keyboard

USB port (there are two of them - one for the mouse and one free).

an icon for the camera card will appear on your desktop.

open up the camera card file and drag your pictures into a (new) file on your iMac

you should also really try to upgrade to OSX if you can

good luck!

[BigMcLargehuge]

5. answers to your questions

1. Yes as long as it's USB or Firewire compatible (OS9 views it as a drive so youy can just drag your pics off. OSX automatically launches iPhoto when you plug the camera in)
2. Lowest model Epson can be had for less an a hundred bucks
3. No, but there is a driver to load on a PC to make Mac formatted Zips readable. It's at the iomega site in the support area, and I think vice-versa. I've only ever had to make discs compatible from Mac to PC so I am not certain about the other way.

300 bucks is a great deal for an older iMac.. If you look at prices for used ones at powermax.com or smalldog.com they generally run between 500 and 550 bucks for the Rev A 233 Mhz models.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

10. Yeah

I felt bad, I think he lowered the price since I'm family- but he seemed OK with it.

[ForrestGump]

6. Good deal!

Congratulations....

1. The iMac should have Firewire as well as USB conenctions so, eitehr way, the odds are good that your camera will link up and drivers are usually downloadable from the Web

2. I think a good printer is the Epson 777, or whatever model they're up to now - inexpensive, reliable, and does a good job.

3. Yep, Zip disks from PC are totally readable on Macs, though the same's not true when going the other way (another Mac advantage that Windows has never yet copied, though I believe software's available to let PCs read Mac disks). You can use the iMac to read and write on to PC Zip disks with no problem. You can also reformat the Zips to Mac, if you prefer, but then it won't work in your PC.

Good luck!! You've got some nice programs aboard, too, so have fun.... :-)

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

9. Thanks

We use the programs and Macs in school for our graphic arts and photography classes , so I'm familiar with them- I just didn't have enough $$ to buy the programs, which cost an arm and both legs. :)

[alfredo]

20. I have OSX on an old iMac, a rev B. It works well. Didn't need drivers for

my Canon, it worked automagically. Really, OSX is the way to go for multimedia.

Is this iMac slot or tray loading?

And Yes, get RAM.

[BigMcLargehuge]

11. and one little tip

MAX OUT THE RAM... Especially if it's running OS9 because you have to manually manage the memory used by each program and nothing sucks more than having five hours of photoshoppery vanish because a shortage of RAM locked the machine up.

I speak from experience.

I have 390 Megs in my G3 350 Mhz iMac (Don't do image work with it)

And 768 in my G3 400 Mhz B/W Tower (use photoshop and Illustrator in classic mode)

Both machines run OSX and OS9.

You might want to look into an external HD too, USB or Firewire (If the iMac supports it, anything under the DV doesn't) because the HDs are skimpy.

[zizzer]

13. Some answers...

1. Will my digital camera that is compatible with my PC be able to hook up to the Mac too? Is there any way to do that?

Depends on the Mac and the camera. If the Mac has USB AND the camera has drivers you should be able to load software from the camera manufacturer. Also, you may be able to set the camera to save pictures in a format the Mac understands even with out the drivers and sotware. Look up the camera and the Mac and see what you find. You may also want to see if you can find a "card reader" to move the images from the card instead of from the camera itself. If it's one of the old floppy disk cam's and you have an IMac it will NOT work.

2. What is a fairly inexpensive printer for a Mac? I want to be able to print photos, graphic art well and clear.

Again, if the Mac has USB most any printer on the market will work. This is not a big deal. If it's an older mac try to figure out what sort of printer port it has and get a printer to match that.

3. I have a Zip drive on my PC- are Zip disks interchangable between PCs and Macs (if the Mac has a Zip drive)?

Maybe...? If the Zip is an external Paralell port Zip drive the answer is no...unless you buy an adaptinator. If it's a USB device you should have no problem HOWEVER the disks will not go from one to the other. Mac disks for the Mac and PC disks for the PC.

Zizzer

[frylock]

17. buy a wintel box!!!

damn.. I have been waiting soooooooooo long to get that off my chest!!! :bounce: