New To Apple (Advice Needed) - Page 3

unless u have $ to burn i wouldn't worry about the 30" display. go see one at compusa or your apple store. they are big, and pretty much pointless for anyone besides designers, media pros, and ppl who buy $5000 gaming systems on top of the $3k monitor. i'm not sure offhand if the 23" is dual-dvi or not, it is dvi however which the iBook, and possibly the unreleased MacBook (non-pro), does not support. the iBook currently supports VGA connections. the 12" powerbook does do DVI however. i can't imagine that apple would release a 12-13" solution that didn't have a pro version of it. I'd love to be in a situation to do what you're talking about w/ a small notebook and larger screen as your primary system. i hook my iBook up on occasion to my desktop monitor (19" CRT), KB, and mouse, but largely use them separately as i just drop necessary files over the network to whatever system i'm on. it would be sweet to have a 13" notebook that could adequately push a larger LCD workload.

in any case, many mac users and mac review sites have praised the 24" dell as being a better buy than the 23" apple. there can be as much as a $400 difference in price if u pick up the dell w/ one of their coupon codes. gateway also has a nice 21" model out too, amongst other brands. keep in mind these other brands also have a host of connectors to them which the apples do not have. these other brands would allow you to use an iBook with them as most have DVI and VGA connections.

in any case, just some ideas.

bags? i'd recommend trying to find stores where u can look them over in person. crumplers and ogios usually aren't too hard to find around. look for a bag that has a firm as well as padded laptop pocket. every other bag is padded, but not every one has a degree of sturdiness or rigidity to the notebook compartment that will really help your notebook have a long and healthy life. the crumplers i have seen have a pretty weak compartment imo. just my 2 cents.

here are my 2 cents.

first of all....WAIT don't buy a laptop to take with you to college till JULY (maybe even august...back to school sales ) anyway...now here goes my 2 cents:

Mac vs Windows:
Vista is comming early next year, will be quite an improvement over XP, however, not as much of a leap as XP was over Me. Now that said, a similar thing happened in the Mac world just earlier, where OS9 was quite a difficult and not very friendly OS was dumped in favor of what they call X. Better OS by far. Now in comparison to XP and X. Things are done DIFFERENTLY for the most part, everything from software installation to changing settings, even the use experience is different thanks to the lack of a task bar. However, not that its difficult, but does take time to adjust to. Note all your current software will no longer work (...don't even bother VirtualPC or Wine for OSX) but again, not that its a bad thing, you'll be using DIFFERENT software. What I am trying to say is that one is not better than the other, they are just differnet. One advantage X has over XP is the no need to worry about spyware. Stability wise, from my experience they are pretty much the same, that is work flawlessly most of the time but once in a while they will freeze on you for one reason or another.

The hardware:
I went to the apple store and checked out the MacBookPro, big improvement over the prev-gen Powerbook, but 2 things about it annoy me: 1 mouse button, keyboard. I am not saying that just because I dont like the keyboard its a bad keyboard, its just that that i don't feel comfortable typing on it, see how you feel. I also find myself using the right mouse button quite often, and the lack of it on the touchpad is killing me (yeah i know i can plug in a mouse blah blah blah.... but i am not actually gonna do that if i am trying to use it on the or plane for example where there is no room for a mouse). So what I am saying is go to the store and REALLY play with the hardware, make sure that you feel comfortable using it, and that it feels solid and that you like how it looks. Since you mentioned the ibooks, not sure about the current gen, but the previous (earlier G4/ late G3..the first white ibook) where plagued with motherboard problems. Secondly, being white... not a practical color for a computer since it will show EVERYTHING. Silver/gray is the best color in my opinion.

Why Wait:
Buying now, by the time you need to take it with you it will be outdated. New technology will come from apple, and from other manufacturers, for example the new Turion X2 which will kick all kinds of processor ass, as well as possibly new faster video cards from ATI and Nvidia.

Other things to consider:
I am not trying to discourage you from getting a mac, but do consider other things that you most likely haven't considered before, seeing as you are a former Dell user, you probably are missing out on a a lot. First of all, check out ASUS and MSI laptops, stylish, powerful, and affordable computers. ASUS is also top notch when it comes to quality (if memory serves me right, they used to build the Powerbook for apple). Secondly, lets look at software, if you're tiered of XP fool around with linux, in the recent 2 years (especially over the last 6 months) linux has really become a fantastic and more friendly than ever OS. I've been tracking linux for the last oh 5 years and its better than it has ever been... a lot better. It will be a big change from windows, you'll get more stability, and just as with mac, you'll no longer have to worry about spyware and virses. And (for the most part...thanks to people at Transgaming) you won't ahve to give up your favorite games.

anyway....which ever way you go is up to you. Make a smart move.

I wouldnt go for any out of the bags you picked. But if I had to, i'd say one of the crumpler's designed for 15". Skivvy, if I had to. I urge you to conisder rainsing your budget to a Booq though.

You can save money and gurantee compativlity with anything buy getting a dell 2405 rather than the apple monitor. Its not as a stylish, but looks (screen wise) and functions better.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/P...ctlisting.aspx

the next iBook is very likely to have dvi, becuase apple is moving away fro legacy connector and can provide vga with a dvi-vga converter, like in the macbook pro.

Linux is alright, though Techno-Elf (no offense) doesnt seem like the sorta guy for it. It's annoyingly complex, sometime, and not as easy to use from the get go with little technical skill as windows and osx.

I'd say go for the macbook pro, as the processor is as powerful as a midrange athlon x2- which is a great chip, so you'll have agreat base for whatever.

So my suggestions remain:

Macbook Pro
Booq bag
Dell 2405
External HD if you want.

Bear in mind that I have no been researching this laptop non-stop for around a week now, to make sure I know all about it. If you want a really exhaustive Q&A, pm and we can talk.

Big no-no, if you want to use it for anything involving desing work. Too small, really, too.

If you want wireless internet EVERYWHERE, you have to contact companies who offer that service. I think Cingular offers it. Might be expensive.

Now if you're wanting typical internet, which is using the internet where it's available, but wirelessly, then that's slightly different. It's reasonable to assume that nearly every laptop now comes with a wireless card built in. All you need to get on the internet is, well, the internet. A lot of places have it floating wirelessly, some being free to get on. If you want to set it up at your house, you need to buy a broadband wireless router and connect it to your broadband modem. There are lots of instructions on how to do this. Reception is 100-200 feet or so. It gets weaker the further you get away from the router. But as long as you're within reasonable range, the speed will be the same as being plugged in.

As for bags, pick up a Shinza sleeve. http://shinza.com Rock-solid. This way you can put your computer in nearly any bag (still be safe and don't throw the bag around afterwards).

And abf, this guy isn't the type for linux. Quit suggesting it to anyone and everyone. If he has questions about the basic computer stuff, what makes you think he'd easily slip into installing and setting linux up?

when was the last time you ran linux yourslef? try the latest build of Ubuntu Dapper Drake. easy as pie.

So is google and a bag purchase. Probably some of the easiest things to do, period. But he doesn't seem too proficient in those, either.

I ran linux yesterday, as a matter of fact. I also tried to get my mother running it. It's fine to start with, but people normally want the ease of installation and finding of apps that you get with windows or osx. You can't just dl and exe and have it run perfectly using linux.

In my experience it's easier to get, install and update applications on Debian based distributions than on Windows. But I agree that the OP is probably not ready for Linux.

- Ed

sounds familiar...
read the thread much?

i'm pretty sure Elf sounded ready to jump into Macs and OS X amongst the windows family members, which alludes to her (i'm guessing bc of the pink and powder blue bags) own familiarity with it, so why go on about this?

u've posted this often enough in your "i visited a mac store today and now i'll tell u all about a product i don't use extensively"-posts. post what u want, this just seems pointless to repeat. why not just link to your previous post? i hope it's not related to the other threads which other users have called out your past trolling on. i mean, if u linked to those posts it might invalidate the certitude with which you are trying to speak.

since i've had an ibook coming up on a year and a half, i think i'm somewhat informed in saying your comment might have held more validity if it had taken the form of "Secondly, being white... not a practical color for a computer since it will show EVERYTHING IN MY OPINION."

mine's just peachy. well cared for and it's quite rare that any marks have shown up at all. a few smudges, quite literally a few (perhap 3x), i've had have been wiped away from the palmrest or the external chassis, with my thumb. yes yes, extremely high maintenance, not for the faint of heart!

GPUs, yes we will likely know this summer what apple has in line for the 13" MacBooks and MacBook Pros. didn't she ask for advice on potential apple purchases? um, yeah.

yes, actually u r, as u have done in every other thread where someone asks for mac purchasing advice and u suggest non-apple products.

so, you're not trying to discourage from getting a mac huh? hmm, a neutral and more objective stance might have been. "now that bootcamp is out you can run windows or OS X on your mac, and it's only a matter of time before linux is thrown in the mix too. if u reeeeaaaallllyyy want to try another OS, even tho OS X is a much more polished product than linux, and many argue windows as well, install all 3 and see how u like them." mind u, that's assuming that someone who is at a tech awareness stage of "what's an external drive?" (and that's perfectly fine) would want to mess around with all of this or go w/ a solid option up front with tech support on hand via a phone call or a visit to the apple store. think real hard on that one.

yes, and by all means pay heed to someone who hasn't owned a mac.

so yes, two cents each, from a mac user and an oft mac troller (not always mind u). make a smart move indeed.

APT is the best thing since sliced bread.

lets compare: installing aim client (gaim)

In Windows:
1 - open firefox/ie and go to gaim.sourceforge.net and download exe
2 - run exe, next, next, next, finish.
3 - reboot

In Linux:
1 - open terminal.
2 - "sudo apt-get install gaim"

no searching for programs required...they are all there. 1 command and you got it, no browsing around google, no downloading random files. no BS, no crap.

DUDE! Can you leave ONE thread free from your bullshit linux topics?!?

you'll be perfectly fine with OS X, and if u need a windows security blanket, just install it on the mac w/ the bootcamp software, assuming that dell gave you an actual windows install CD with your purchase. if not, and u decide on a mac down the road and want windows on board as well u can buy a full install online for much cheaper than retail. if so, let us know and we can point u in the right direction.

lol, indeed!

abf seems to treat ppl interested in apples as saying "hi i'm looking at buying an apple and becoming familiar with OS X, and i'm looking for suggestions on which apple hardware i should buy. could u recommend a non-apple computer that runs linux?"

PLaying around in the terminal is fine, if you know the commands. If you just want to dl itunes or whatever, to work with your ipod with no hassle, just try

sudo apt-get install itunes

or try dling the exe and installing it. Not a chance. Just follow these "simple" instructions: http://pag.csail.mit.edu/~adonovan/hacks/ipod.html

I can't even be bothered to do that.


This user wants portability, ease of use and decent performance. Mac wins for ease of use, and the rest is down to choice and budget. Irregardless of what you think, macs arent excessivley pricey. So we say wait for an ibook 13.3, you say... very little, with many words. Bascially trying to stear him/her away from a mac, while admitting that the mac is at least one of the best optins.

Yeah, abf your one of (or atleast sound like) the most experienced linux guys on here. Now theres nothing wrong with that, but maybe you should try to avoid being so repetitive, sure linux is great (I take your word for that because I haven personaly tried it) but for the OP and I its still sounds either complex or "scary".

Maybe you SHOULD write a big long guide explaining you opinions about the 3 OSs and link it in your sig (please be as unbiased as possible). Im thinking something like (Insert name of author here)'s guide about the transition from XP to OSX.

Just a suggestion that would probably save you alot of time and help people with questions, cause they wont have to put up with 3 pages of you and others (pardon the word) bitching about what OS is better.

Now cant we all just Get along?

@ OP,

( someone has probably already said this but Im too lazy to check)

The transition from Windows to OSX seems like an easy one (based on what I've heard) aslong as you keep an open mind and don't try to do things the same way.

quite BS it is. most distros support ipods out of the box. for those that don't, make sure hotplug is working and just install gtkpod and you're in business.

also, if you own an ipod, you're a n00b

What, buying reliable hardware that's easy to use makes me a noob? Yeah, that makes sense.