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first laptop, first mac, windoez switcher. questions! (long read!)
- Thread starter urlostinmyworld
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1. No idea, but I'd assume the black is decently safe and i've heard good things about the cases. As far as light hand sewing, i'm sure it will hold up fine as long as you use a nice strong but thing thread and a thin thin needle to keep the stress on the fabric minimum. I've sewn threw neoprene cases before, it works fine, just a little tedious if you want to keep it on the outer layer of fabric and not all the way through
2. they are pretty decent for the size i've noticed, but definitely lacking. If i were you i'd get a nice pair of desktop speakers to plug in when you are chillin... then again if you are going to college, you may be better off buying a cheaper pair of speakers (I got a pair of pretty decent ones here at a walmart for 15 bucks... i'm sure you can find an ok 2.1 pair) and invest the most of your money into a good pair of noise canceling headphones. This will make your listening splendid AND be great for a dorm and noisiness that comes with it.
3. no idea, but my new glossy SR macbook pro holds up pretty well in lighter uneven lighted conditions. I had a matte which was also good... perhaps a bit better for outside, but as far as the glare and such people complain about, i haven't had a real problem. It's actually kinda nice because glossy concentrates light and you can usually move the glare to an area that doesn't bother you if need be. I think you'll be fine
... also, the contrast on the glossy is pretty nice. I am really liking this screen and apparently the macbooks are pretty close. ALSO... if you are used to a CRT i think this will be a nice change for you. LCDs are easier on the eyes/head (used to get headaches looking at CRTS too long.. becuase of the backlight and occasionally shakiness of them) and I think you won't lose much contrast... the screen willprobably really be impressive
btw... while there probably won'tbe much of an update at macworld, there is a chance that the macbooks will be getting LED backlit screens like the MBPs have... so you may want to wait for that possibility if that interests you. That does increase the battery life.
(still with me? two more!!)
4. not sure about the program you mentioned, but i've had no trouble sharing things with my roommates computers and our PC media center for our tv here with my mac and vice versa, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but i don't know much about other programs etc.
(and finally)
5. I honestly don't game, i'd check on the forums and search for the games you plan to play to see how people get then going on a macbook. there have been a few issues because of the integrated graphics. Guess it depends.
HAPPY MACING!
2. they are pretty decent for the size i've noticed, but definitely lacking. If i were you i'd get a nice pair of desktop speakers to plug in when you are chillin... then again if you are going to college, you may be better off buying a cheaper pair of speakers (I got a pair of pretty decent ones here at a walmart for 15 bucks... i'm sure you can find an ok 2.1 pair) and invest the most of your money into a good pair of noise canceling headphones. This will make your listening splendid AND be great for a dorm and noisiness that comes with it.
3. no idea, but my new glossy SR macbook pro holds up pretty well in lighter uneven lighted conditions. I had a matte which was also good... perhaps a bit better for outside, but as far as the glare and such people complain about, i haven't had a real problem. It's actually kinda nice because glossy concentrates light and you can usually move the glare to an area that doesn't bother you if need be. I think you'll be fine
... also, the contrast on the glossy is pretty nice. I am really liking this screen and apparently the macbooks are pretty close. ALSO... if you are used to a CRT i think this will be a nice change for you. LCDs are easier on the eyes/head (used to get headaches looking at CRTS too long.. becuase of the backlight and occasionally shakiness of them) and I think you won't lose much contrast... the screen willprobably really be impressive btw... while there probably won'tbe much of an update at macworld, there is a chance that the macbooks will be getting LED backlit screens like the MBPs have... so you may want to wait for that possibility if that interests you. That does increase the battery life.
(still with me? two more!!)
4. not sure about the program you mentioned, but i've had no trouble sharing things with my roommates computers and our PC media center for our tv here with my mac and vice versa, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but i don't know much about other programs etc.
(and finally)
5. I honestly don't game, i'd check on the forums and search for the games you plan to play to see how people get then going on a macbook. there have been a few issues because of the integrated graphics. Guess it depends.
HAPPY MACING!
Hi and welcome!!
1. No, that green inner lining does not stain
2. Macbook speakers suck really bad. Voice/video chats are near inaudible in a normal activity environment.
3. The screen is awesome. I lived on it for 6 months in different settings and never had a problem. Outdoors/indoors
4. Yes, networking between a Mac and a PC is awesome. My wife has an old beat up Japanese Windows OS laptop, and it networks with everything fine.
5. Gaming on the Macbook is near non-existent. If you want to do the minimal gaming that it "may" be capable of, despite what parallels says, it isn't enough. Boot camp is the best route, but if you have to buy an OS, I would just scrap that plan.
These are not the best answers, but they are the answers that I wish someone had given me prior to purchasing my Macbook. I recently upgraded to a Macbook pro. You will eventually want to do that. The Macbook is a sweet machine though.
1. No, that green inner lining does not stain
2. Macbook speakers suck really bad. Voice/video chats are near inaudible in a normal activity environment.
3. The screen is awesome. I lived on it for 6 months in different settings and never had a problem. Outdoors/indoors
4. Yes, networking between a Mac and a PC is awesome. My wife has an old beat up Japanese Windows OS laptop, and it networks with everything fine.
5. Gaming on the Macbook is near non-existent. If you want to do the minimal gaming that it "may" be capable of, despite what parallels says, it isn't enough. Boot camp is the best route, but if you have to buy an OS, I would just scrap that plan.
These are not the best answers, but they are the answers that I wish someone had given me prior to purchasing my Macbook. I recently upgraded to a Macbook pro. You will eventually want to do that. The Macbook is a sweet machine though.
Welcome
1) Can't help you here. I use a laptop/backpack carrier.
2) They aren't 'tinny', but they aren't very load even at full volume. They work fine if you are in a fairly quiet area, but they are easily drowned out by nearby noise. If you don't plan on using headphones most of the time, definately plan on getting some decent speakers.
3) Most glare you get can be easily corrected by slightly adjusting the screens position. The only time it can be bothersome is when you have a directional light source pointing towards the screen from behind you.(think accent or track lighting) I've used CRT plus matte lcd screens and don't really find the glossy screen lacking when comparing them.
4) File sharing is easy. In 10.5 Leopard all you do is click on the Sharing icon in the System Preferences and make sure File Sharing on. Then you click on Options and select which type of file sharing you want to use. AFP(Apple File Protocol) is on by default. You would select FTP or SMB for windows sharing. Then all you have to do is add the folders you want to share.
5) Bootcamp is currently the only way for a windows install to make ful use of the graphics card. A windows install via Bootcamp is just like a regular PC install, while Parallels/VMware is an emulated install that runs inside of the running OSX install. I have tested some fairly simple games via Parallels and found them to be unplayable due to the lag/low frame rate. If you plan on even light gaming you will want to go with a Bootcamp install. Just remember that the Macbook uses a intergrated graphics chip, so even under windows don't ecspect the highest performance.
1) Can't help you here. I use a laptop/backpack carrier.
2) They aren't 'tinny', but they aren't very load even at full volume. They work fine if you are in a fairly quiet area, but they are easily drowned out by nearby noise. If you don't plan on using headphones most of the time, definately plan on getting some decent speakers.
3) Most glare you get can be easily corrected by slightly adjusting the screens position. The only time it can be bothersome is when you have a directional light source pointing towards the screen from behind you.(think accent or track lighting) I've used CRT plus matte lcd screens and don't really find the glossy screen lacking when comparing them.
4) File sharing is easy. In 10.5 Leopard all you do is click on the Sharing icon in the System Preferences and make sure File Sharing on. Then you click on Options and select which type of file sharing you want to use. AFP(Apple File Protocol) is on by default. You would select FTP or SMB for windows sharing. Then all you have to do is add the folders you want to share.
5) Bootcamp is currently the only way for a windows install to make ful use of the graphics card. A windows install via Bootcamp is just like a regular PC install, while Parallels/VMware is an emulated install that runs inside of the running OSX install. I have tested some fairly simple games via Parallels and found them to be unplayable due to the lag/low frame rate. If you plan on even light gaming you will want to go with a Bootcamp install. Just remember that the Macbook uses a intergrated graphics chip, so even under windows don't ecspect the highest performance.
All Apple hardware upgrades, including RAM, are notoriously expensive and overpriced if purchased directly from Apple.
I doubled my memory in my Mac Pro by buying the exact same memory from OWC instead of Apple.
Same for hard drives; when it's time to toss more drives into this beast, I'll probably buy from Newegg.
I doubled my memory in my Mac Pro by buying the exact same memory from OWC instead of Apple.
Same for hard drives; when it's time to toss more drives into this beast, I'll probably buy from Newegg.