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Got the green light for a new PB...questions 'bout software

S

SteveMcQ

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 5, 2005
56
0
Well, I'll be putting up an order for a 15" PB within the next few days. I had a question about the software bundles.

How is iWorks? I read a brief rundown of the options, but I wanted opinions on it. I gotta decide whether to go with the Apple backed productivity pack will suit me or if I'll have problems converting files between the similar Microsoft offered one.

Also, there is a photo editing program pre-installed on PBs right? I wasn't looking to do heavy photo editing, but just to get me by if I'm on the road and can't transfer to my PC.

Thanks.
 
Congrats on your new PB.

Appleworks should work fine with Microsoft Word & Excel documents. NeoOffice is another free alternative to Microsoft Office for better compatibility. For simple photo editing and organization, you will find iPhoto very useful which is included in your iLife '05 pack.
 
SteveMcQ said:
Well, I'll be putting up an order for a 15" PB within the next few days. I had a question about the software bundles.

How is iWorks? I read a brief rundown of the options, but I wanted opinions on it. I gotta decide whether to go with the Apple backed productivity pack will suit me or if I'll have problems converting files between the similar Microsoft offered one.

Also, there is a photo editing program pre-installed on PBs right? I wasn't looking to do heavy photo editing, but just to get me by if I'm on the road and can't transfer to my PC.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
iWork: I really like Keynote 2, even though I miss some features that powerpoint has and keynote doesn't. But overall I like Keynote better. Pages isn't really all that great. Much easier to embed pictures than word, but most definitely not even close to work in creating complex documents with reference managers and what not. So if you just want to do simple, more graphically focused articles, papers whatever Pages would probably be good, but at least for me word is much better for what I need. Is iWork worth it? Don't know, depends on the money you have, but like I said I definitely like using Keynote 2 so for me it was worth it, but definitely look into OpenOffice and NeoOffice as ghostee and fayans suggested.
 
You can use Preview to edit pictures as well. I would also recommend downloading graphic converter. It is free and allows for a lot of photo adjusting and editing and converting between resolutions and formats.
 
ghostee said:
Another alternative office suite worth mentioning is OpenOffice 2.0.

Grats on your new PB, that's a mighty fine machine.
Click to expand...

Woah, I didn't realise it was out of beta.

When I first ran 1.9 on my machine I was so blown away by how nice it looked.
 
Thanks for the responses. Trying to figure out the final configuration right now and I've got a few more questions:

What's the final useable HDD space on a 120GB drive after the OS and other pre-installed components?

For the productivity package, it looks like the two free options listed are really great alternatives. Is there something I'm missing out on (never having had a chance to use iWorks) that I should know about? Something intangible that makes the programs work really well. It's only $49 addition with the Student Discount, so is that even worth it?

Trying to decide right now whether to go with a 512MB stick and buying another 512MB stick from NewEgg. iPhoto will likely be the most system-intensive program I'll use so I think 1GB should be plenty for me. Unless you guys suggest differently.

Thanks again for the help.
 
congrats

good choice on the 15"

been checking out the pb15" in the shops and have to say that the screen looks terrrific.

the 17" is supposed to very bright, or brighter, but the 15" i saw, tho perhaps a bit darker, had great contrast and black text looked really black.

veryyyyy nice.

gogogo 15" i say. anybody seen actual brightness and contrast specs on the 2 pbs by any chance?

:)
 
I am no fan os Microsoft but i suggest you buy Office. In the end if you are gooing to exchange documents with PC's it is your best bet.

I have it and it makes my life a whole easier, I've never encounterdd any significal problems with it. Also sooner or later you are going to use a spreadsheet and in that respect there is nothing better than excel...
 
I would also recommend office. It makes it easier to trade documents among friends, and there's no Excel-like program in iWork. It's a bit more expensive, but worth it.
 
2 gig of third party RAM will run you about $180 or so as a point of reference. Apple wants $500 to TAKE BACK 512 meg and replace it with 2 gig, insane. (Well, it's better than the $800 they were trying to charge before the PB changes...)

I purchased 2 Kingston modules and they're humming along nicely for me. Remember there aren't a lot of DDR2 manufacturer's yet so the field is not quite so dilluted with crappy RAM like DDR...of course there are crappy assemblers still so...But if you stick with known brands like Kingston, Crucial, OCZ, etc you should be fine. Save the money for software and accessories. As for 1 gig vs. 2 gig, I couldn't say, I jumped right up to 2 gig on my 15" PB from 512 meg, figured it was worth it for the relatively low price of RAM...
 
You'll be fine using the stock application bundles for most of the needs you've indicated.

AppleWorks is very simple to use for most text drafting and printing.

Text Edit is also a very handy editor.

I use Graphics Converter for most of my photo editing and much prefer it to
iPhoto or Preview.

Since you have education discount capabilities, I'd check with your school purchasing agent to see what they can do on bulk pricing for MS Office for Mac. It really does help to have full MS Office compatibility.

iWork's primary benefit is Keynote.
Pages is much like Pagemaker for desktop publishing.

You should also check out VersionTracker and MacUpdate and look through
the numerous free and shareware applictions available.

Welcome
 
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