New to iMac.....reassurance needed.

[Fonzo]

Hi all.

I am a total newbie to iMac.
If some of the questions I hope you will answer and help me with....seem.....or are stupid.....please be patient

I am not a business user and have bought the iMac for home use...internet....photos......learn how to capture family videos......music......email.

I have purchased an iMac 21.5 retina 4K display.
3.6GHz quad-core Intel core i3 6mb.
Le cache
8Gb of 2666MHz memory.
1 TB 5400 tpm hard drive.

I think it is the 2019 model?.........can anyone confirm that for me please.


First stupid question.....is this a suitable model for my basic needs listed above?

Not opened the box yet.........need some reassurance from experienced users before I pull the tab on the box.

I have ordered the iMac for Dummies book to help me with the learning process.

If you feel you could help me out here I would extremely great full to you.

Thank you all.

 

[PaBear]

Fonzo,

Welcome to the world (or should it be universe) of Apple Mac. I made the jump in 2010.

I found Dummies books a little limited. There are others published by Peachpit and Minute Help Guides. It is worth reading several.

My preferences for more than a few years have been the Missing Manuals by David Pogue, published by O'Reilly. They are massive tomes and there is one for each iteration of the MacOS plus another for iWork. Priced around US$25.00.

Good hunting.

 

[Fonzo]

Hi PaBear

Thank you for taking the time to reply.....much appreciated.
I take on board your comments re the Dummies book.
Is there a particular book that is relevant to the machine I have bought....or are they pretty generic and cover all Mac OS.......I am a total tech numpty
But trying to get to grips with it all.

I have moved across from windows 7 to the Mac so very unsure of myself.
No computers when I was at school.....self taught

 

[PaBear]

First, GET THAT BOX OPENED!
Setting up is straightforward and the system will take you through the steps.
Once you are set up, go to the little Apple symbol in the top left of the screen & click on it; go to 'About this Mac". There you will find the details of your Device incl the OPS (probably Mojave) and the Version installed (mine is Mojave 10.14.4) description and vitally the serial number. Write these on a card for quick reference.
Look at all the tabs which, for example, tell you how much memory and on-board storage you have. You have a generous amount of each already.
You won't need many accessories but you must get Time Capsule or equivalent external storage. This makes frequent automatic back-ups of what you have in a program called Time Machine. Absolutely essential.
Let us now how you progress.

 

[Fonzo]

Hi PaBear.

Will do.

Your kind reply is just what I was looking for and is so much appreciated and VERY helpful.

Could you please recommend a good and reliable external storage that works well with the Time Capsual please?
I have read some pretty awful reviews on some and being a newbie.....it is a mine field.
Would like a 4TB if you know of one

I asked in another post if Bitefinder is a good add on for security......internet banking etc?

I see your mention of Mojave......bought a book from Smiths........macOS Mojave in easy steps.....any good in your opinion?

Excellent help thank you.

 

[PaBear]

External storage is pretty cheap. I believe Apple have stopped selling their own Time Capsule but any computer outlet, real shop or Amazon etc, ought to be able to supply. Since you have a large on-board disc storage you ought to choose a capacity well above that for your external storage - maybe 2 Tb upwards. Look at the Apple store website. Search Time Machine for assistance on setting up.

I don't have any working knowledge of BITDEFENDER anti-virus so can't comment. UK price around £30 I believe. I have used Norton Symantec for years on all my devices, 3x MacBook, i-Mac, i-Pad, i-phone. Some say that being always on the Norton app slows down the processor but again, I cannot comment usefully. I did use McAfee on Windows and Kaspersky once. No negative comments.
However, beware of 'free' security downloads. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

You mention buying a Mojave book in Smiths (WHS I assume). I have always bought the Missing Manual/Pogue books on line, usually with Amazon. Very good prices last couple of times. I have not seen MacMojave in Easy Steps.

Incidentally, an AppleCare subscription is worth having.

 

[Fonzo]

Bear.

All great help and information....thank you for investing the time.
I will send away for the Missing Manual/Pouge Books for sure.
Will also have a look at the AppleCare subscriptions.

As soon as I am up and running I will contact you with that progress report

I am half way there.......actually opened the box now......thanks to your help.

 

[Lufbrarunner]

I moved to Macs about 4 years ago after using PC's and windows for about 30 years. Luckily the learning curve is not too steep, just take your time and work through it. You can always ask questions on here if you get stuck. It takes a little while to grasp all the differences between macs and PC's as sometimes the Apple way seems a little counter intuitive, but you will get there.

Now get stuck in

 

[Fonzo]

I moved to Macs about 4 years ago after using PC's and windows for about 30 years. Luckily the learning curve is not too steep, just take your time and work through it. You can always ask questions on here if you get stuck. It takes a little while to grasp all the differences between macs and PC's as sometimes the Apple way seems a little counter intuitive, but you will get there.

Now get stuck in

Oh I’m stuck in now

Thank you for your feedback luff .

 

[Fonzo]

Hi PaBear.

Well I now have the Mac up and running and was happy and glad of the on screen prompts.
So far have been looking around and getting used to the actions on the computer and the mouse.
Managed to get the WiFi set up and added my printer which is working well with the Mac.
Connected by Earhart’s net wire so I am guessing internet is all o.k

Looking through the App Store I came across a virus and adware app named Antivirus zap £9.99
Have you any experience or opinion of it......is it worth a look at to buy do you think?

iCloud has transferred my music and photos across and I have upped my storage to 1TB.

Still not sure on what ext back up drive to buy.....or just leave it to iCloud?

It’s been emotional thus far.........and I must have drank gallons of coffee

Will keep plugging away and keep the progress reports coming.

Still need to look at the Care Package you mentioned.

 

[Lufbrarunner]

For external storage, I have a couple of these docking stations a pile of drives, ranging from 500gb to 2tb that can be swapped in and out as I need. I have drives for 'photos', 'Code', "web site stuff', and 'Office docs' etc. each disk also has a backup copy. I also have a 3tb airport time capsule to back up the iMacs and the MacBookPro.
The disks are all Seagate or Western Digital, which have not given me a lot of trouble. Stick with a reputable 'Name' and you should be OK. Although it is true to say "It's not will a drive fail, but when". keep your data in multiple places to avoid loss.