A few questions

Doomy

Doomy

Doomy

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23 Jun 2007
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Just sold my main pc for £750. I still have a htpc for my pc needs which is beefy, desktop was just taking too much space so with money i was getting a laptop. Now Mac keeps invading my mind. With bootcamp it would seem silly not to seeing as I am becoming more and more unimpressed with games (I still have a Wii, 360 and PS3).

I need something that does internet nicely, usenet reading and extraction/repairing comfortably. Its not for games. Im looking at the new macbook's (Air overpriced and underspecced, Pro's overpriced). The specs seem to go up to 2.2ghz cores and slightly different sized HD's. The £700 comes with CD writer/DVD rom and is 2Ghz. It seems like the one I want to go for, bootcamp in my mind will cover my essential PC apps (newsleecher, winrar, quickpar etc).

Am I doing the right thing? Bored with windows, becoming less bothered about games (if I get desperate the HTPC is there). Is the base new macbook model going to annoy me without a DVD burner? All my movies are 1080p/720p and played file style and would probably just be viewed on PC. How fast is the N coverage of the WiFi Airport thingy? Will it deal with my 24MB broadband connection unlike my 54wifi on an old laptop (i have the new netgear N router).

Loadsa questions and more to perhaps follow, I do apologise. SOMEONE STOP ME! :)
 
There's some great Usenet apps on the Mac.

Might be worth trying OS X out before ditching it for Boot Camp straight off the bat. Come to mention, all those uses (UnRAR'ing, repairing and extracting) can be done by some great apps on OS X, even a command-line if you're hardcore enough :cool:

If you're going to get the MacBook then I'd say the extra for the DVDRW is going to become invaluable. It might seem like you won't need it, but it would give you the option to be more flexible.. then again, you might decide to use the WiFi to stream files?!

One thing to note about WiFi.. it depends on the other devices that are connected to the network. The MacBook would fly along if connected on it's own (or with other 802.11n devices), but as soon as a g/b/a device joins it'd slow to the legacy speeds your used to (this is a general networking point, not a Mac thing!)

Also, broadband speed is not relative to the WiFi performance. It's more down to strain of streaming large / HD files on the network (between devices), than the net speed.

Finally, the MacBook can handle most HD sources natively, so don't feel limited to watching them on your PC :)
 
You should try out OSX before using boot camp for sure, if your not gaming which you basically can't on the MacBook then OSX can do everything windows can do well near enough. You can also use a program like VMWare Fusion or Parallels, this will allow you to run windows inside OSX. You should take a look at those if you need windows for a specific program.

For Usenet, there is some pretty good apps out there for OSX. I use Unison for downloading off newsgroups it also has .nzb support. I use MacPar Deluxe for repairing files using .par files. It also extracts the file once the files have been checked/repaired, Its a great app.

Also I would look into getting the MacBook with a DVD-RW drive as you might need it. If you know you won’t be burning any disks then get the £700 one. And just upgrade the ram which you can buy from OcUK, I would suggest 4GB if you plan on keeping the MacBook for a long time. You should look into getting a external hard drive for any other files you need.
 
EVH said:
There's some great apps on the Mac.


If you're going to get the MacBook then I'd say the extra for the DVDRW is going to become invaluable. It might seem like you won't need it
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I disagree. His HTPC probably has a DVD writer and unless he needs it then it is just more cost. I got the entry spec and have never (yet) needed to write DVDs with it.

However, he should run as fast as his legs can carry him to get a MacBook and never bother installing Windows on it as OS X rocks...
 
Well I did it. £700 MacBook, I seriously dont need to burn DVD's. I dont even do it on my HTPC as I am always just loading large film files that are way too large for DVD's.

Its a nice bit of kit. I know broadband speeds arent related to NIC or whatever, I did have an acer which claimed to have a 54mbps wireless adaptor, but in practice it never achieved higher than half of my actual internet connection itself, which was anoying.

So, anything which I NEED? :) Thanks for replies people.
 
Doomy said:
So, anything which I NEED? :) Thanks for replies people.
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Do you carry it around with you (in a rug sack or case?) If so, seek a snug 13.3" neoprene case to carry it around.

Oh and if you want to connect your MacBook to a external display, you'll need either the Mini-DVI to VGA or DVI adaptor, otherwise, you're more or less set to experience something new :)
 
Maybe carry it to work sometimes, maybe on holiday so yeah case is a great idea.

I was thinking mainly software, anything that will impress during this MacBooks trial ceremony? I like music and design so something along those lines would be good.
 
Don't listen to many iTunes bashing monkeys out there - give it a chance on OS X - it honestly works flawlessly, especially when it's a new system, just import your music collection in and let it organise it - I personally like the way it organises.

Do you play the guitar / bass or make noises in general? Try Garageband, comes along with your iLife suite - I got myself an iGriffin cable to connect my guitar straight into my MacBook to make some noises with effects and fun.

By means of design, you mean graphics? You might want to look into Photoshop (but thats universal through out PC and Macs)

Check out skitch - search this forum and seek an invite (I might have 1 left to spare...) - it's a very very cool application, great for a quick "MSPAINT" style edit, screenshoting and hosting.

If you use MSN Messenger often, try out MSN for Mac - exactly the same as PC's except the lack of "Winks" and Video/Audio Conference - if it's not important, then thats your best bet. Otherwise, there's AMSN, Mercury out there for your Video Conferencing needs or try Adium, a decent MSN for Mac, very customisable but many people don't like it due to it being "too different" from how normal MSN works.

That's the first few things I can think off the top of my head whilst procrastinating from exam revision. If you elaborate more on your needs, other members might be able to throw some things in.

Otherwise, check out EVH's sticky and Quicksilver's thread on MUST HAVES.
 
Doomy said:
I was thinking mainly software, anything that will impress during this MacBooks trial ceremony? I like music and design so something along those lines would be good.
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QuickSilver is a must. Adium if you use MSN. Transmit for FTP. Audacity os a good free audio editor or you could go for Logic if you want to do pro stuff. Some other stuff is VisualHub, VLC, Real Player and much, much more.

I recommend you get some more memory from OCUK and unlike me you can have up to 4GB. It is especially important to have more ram if you want to run any of the big boys like Aperture, Photoshop, Final Cut, Logic and so on...
 
Love it. :) I did mean music playing, not creation tho my friend has had fun on garageband tonight with a piano. More playback. itunes seems ok but I remember hating it on pc, I do have an 80GB ipod and the integration seems seemless. Im sure it will bow up later.

Just nice to learn a new OS, havent looked hard yet but is there a scrolloption involving the trackpad? I can right click (go me) but scroll would be nice too.

edit : Oh and when are they going to fix N router wireless access without dropping every 5 minutes?
 
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Doomy said:
Just nice to learn a new OS, havent looked hard yet but is there a scrolloption involving the trackpad? I can right click (go me) but scroll would be nice too.
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What Mohinder said :)
2 finger scrolling on the trackpad is amazing, I do that so often that when I'm using my girlfriend's NEC laptop, I kept trying it and realise it doesn't work! :p

Check Mouse & keyboard settings settings, it's possible to even right click with 2 fingers on track pad + click.

Doomy said:
edit : Oh and when are they going to fix N router wireless access without dropping every 5 minutes?
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I think this is the reason why many people are awaiting for the 10.5.2?
I use G, so perhaps you can connect via G till then?
 
Dr Jones said:
2 finger scrolling on the trackpad is amazing, I do that so often that when I'm using my girlfriend's NEC laptop, I kept trying it and realise it doesn't work! :p
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I'm guilty of that too. :(

You start doing it then wonder what is going down when it's not working! :o
 
I admit to trying to scroll with two fingers and I've long sold my MBP :o
 
Doomy said:
Maybe carry it to work sometimes, maybe on holiday so yeah case is a great idea.

I was thinking mainly software, anything that will impress during this MacBooks trial ceremony? I like music and design so something along those lines would be good.
Click to expand...

Have a look at the sticky - there's a few music program demos/trials there such as Reason, etc.
 
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