h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

My PC is about 6 years old, chugging along OK with Win98. But I'm very tempted to get an iMac.

Shall I give in to temptation or not?

There's an old adage that says you should always buy the best you can afford at the time. Go for it, not sure about Mac though.

Seen the new miniMacs? not only cheap but also incredibly small - only problem is - you don't get a keyboard or a screen with them.

Depends on what you want it for. If it's for going online, office work and dabbling with creative stuff then Macs are perfect. If it's for the latest games you're still better off with a PC as they take ages to appear, if at all, for the Mac.

If I get anything it'll be a mac. To get a flat screen it'll be cheaper to get an imac than minimac plus monitor.

But is this giving in to 'toys for boys' syndrome? And I'm a girl !

Why be sexist about it

It's probably the result of being the only female in the household .

Not necessarily. You can get sub-£150 17" TFT monitors these days, and usb keyboards/mice can be picked up for very little money. That way you can pick up a souped up Mac Mini with 1Gb RAM and a DVD burner for less than the cost of the base model iMac.