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Calling all Mac users

 
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Fullup



Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 183
Location: Under water
PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 05 1:50 pm    Post subject: Calling all Mac users Reply with quote
    

I’m thinking of buying a Mac powerbook. The Win xp pc will be our main workhorse for everyday computing, accounts etc.

We want a laptop for portability but we also want it for manipulating music files (cutting, editing etc) and also for pictures and picture editing. This is one of the main reason for going down the mac route.

Now, we have decided on a 15” screen version, but, do we go for 1.5GHZ with a combo drive or the 1.67GHZ with a super drive.

My current thought is that for writing file/music to DVD could we send the file across our home network to the PC and write it to the PC DVD drive. If this would work that would sort out the drive question. This would leave the processor size. Would the higher size be any better?

Also I have noticed that Apple are bringing out a ‘Tiger’ operating system, is this worth waiting for, or, like may new releases is it best to avoid whilst any problems are ironed out.

What do you think?

selfsufficientish



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 364
Location: Bristol
PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 05 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mac's can be pretty slow and if you are doing a lot of image manipulaiton then you should really go for the fastest possible. As for waiting for tiger, knowing Mac it will have some pretty kick ass features but as you say you will only be using it for Music and Pictures then there does not seem to be much point.

The super Drive is probally a good way forward as you will be able to burn your DVD's straight to the Mac.

When I upgraded to Panther (the present system) I experienced all sorts of problems, including my computer crashing whilst trying to get tickets to last years glastonbury festival The later patches seemed to sort this out and they were out within weeks of release. So it could be worth waiting. However, Apple know they made a mistake releasing panther a bit too soon so I doubt if they will make the same mistake again.

There are plenty of 30 day licence stuff out there for the mac and unlike with the PC I have never had any trouble when using download.com - That's the best thing about MAc's less virus's, spyware and all that.

dougal



Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 05 2:37 pm    Post subject: Re: Calling all Mac users Reply with quote
    

Fullup wrote:
..Also I have noticed that Apple are bringing out a ‘Tiger’ operating system, is this worth waiting for, or, like may new releases is it best to avoid whilst any problems are ironed out.

Tiger is announced already. Buy a machine today, run mature 10.3 and you should be able to get Tiger for "media and handling" charges only. Wait till Tiger (10.4) is in the box, and you'd have to pay the real price for 10.3 ...
Any system software revision can introduce glitches. 10.3.8 has been a goodie. But 10.3.9 (released this weekend) seems 'fussy'.
10.4, Tiger, as well as adding to the user interface, has deep revisions to make even better use of the 64-bit G5 processors - which (last time I heard) were still too 'hot and thirsty' for laptop use.
Particularly with a brand new Rev of an OS, it makes sense to minimise the number of third party "goodies", especially older shareware, to maximise the stability of your system.

Quote:
My current thought is that for writing file/music to DVD could we send the file across our home network to the PC and write it to the PC DVD drive. If this would work that would sort out the drive question. This would leave the processor size. Would the higher size be any better?
OS X includes software for exchanging files with Windows PCs. All current Macs have built-in ethernet to at least 10/100 speeds. And have (or can have) 11g fast wireless - but the PowerBooks (with their metal cases) have distinctly shorter wireless range than the plastic cased iBooks. (Don't know what your "home network" might be)
I doubt you'll notice the processor speed difference. Any G4 over 1ghz is a fast computer. A useful speed boost, when needed, can come from adding extra RAM... OS X likes a LOT. And OS X is especially fussy about RAM, quality, but that doesn't have to mean paying Apple's prices. (Oh and for maximum performance check the Energy Saver control panel)
Its not a simple job to change the hard drive in any current Mac laptop. Be sure you're ordering one big enough.

Quote:
I’m thinking of buying a Mac powerbook. ...
We want a laptop for portability but we also want it for ...

Unless you want to use it "out'n'about" you can save a bundle by getting a Mini and a big, cheap, LCD. The mini is basically an iBook without a battery or screen, and it can drive a much bigger screen than you'd have in a laptop. It takes up almost no room, is easily *trans*portable - and its silly cheap. OK its performance is limited by using a laptop hard drive, but compared to a laptop... its a gift!
BTW, note that if ordering a Mini with an 80gb hard drive, the faster processor is only about £20 extra...

dougal



Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 05 3:27 pm    Post subject: Re: Calling all Mac users Reply with quote
    

dougal wrote:

Tiger is announced already. Buy a machine today, run mature 10.3 and you should be able to get Tiger for "media and handling" charges only.


Its £12
https://www.apple.com/uk/macosx/uptodate/

For those unfamiliar with Apple's ways
*ordinarily*
buy 10.3 get 10.3.x for free download
but everyone pays £90 for 10.4 (then gets 10.4.x updates free)

But there is actually an incentive to buy NOW and get the stable old version, while for £12 instead of £90 you can get 10.4 (and thus the 10.4.x's) - even if you choose not to play with it just yet!
Just don't be too surprised if upgraded hardware appears soonish - there are rumoured revisions soon for iMac, eMac and the G5's, but not yet the laptops.

Gervase



Joined: 17 Nov 2004
Posts: 8655

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 05 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Depends what sort of image and sound manipulating you want to do, but you probably don't need more than a 1GHz processor, and system 10.3 is going to be fine.
I do a lot of both on a venerable G4 Mac with a piffling 450MHz processor running 10.3.9 (as of yesterday's update) and never seem to have much trouble.
For fiddling with music files, there's an excellent piece of shareware called Amadeus which will do most things you'll want to do with sound files.
Picturewise, Photoshop's pretty much the industry standard, but Graphic Converter is pretty useful.

selfsufficientish



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 364
Location: Bristol
PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 05 4:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Gervase wrote:
, but Graphic Converter is pretty useful.
must agree with that, I use Graphic Converter for all of my web images. I think unless you really are into your graphic you don't really need all the features of photoshop.

selfsufficientish



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 364
Location: Bristol
PostPosted: Fri Apr 22, 05 10:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Just had a look at the new tiger product on the Apple site, that automater robot they are bringing in looks about as irratating as #@** paperclip bloke from microsoft.

dougal



Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
PostPosted: Fri Apr 22, 05 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

selfsufficientish wrote:
... that automater robot they are bringing in looks about as irratating as #@** paperclip bloke from microsoft.

???
"Automator" is simply the latest twist on AppleScript, which has allowed batch processing, even within and across applications, for ten years or more... AFAIK, just like AppleScript, if you don't specifically make use of it, you simply wouldn't know it was there... Sure the cuddly robot icon is twee, but the irritation with micro$oft's animation is that it requires determination to suppress it.

Fullup



Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 183
Location: Under water
PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 05 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks for your comments and sorry for not replying sooner caught a yucky bug (me not the PC) and got booted out of work for the week.

Well the order was placed and I have just been informed it has shipped today, should arrive in the next 6-7 days. (Just hope it’s easy to set up)

Thanks again everyone.

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 05 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Fullup wrote:
should arrive in the next 6-7 days


Believe it when you see it.

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