Just ordered my first mac

[ZMRoach]

so i was at work and i got a call from my dad saying merry x-mas and to order a laptop i want. so as soon as i got home i ordered a 15" Macbook Pro with 2.6ghz, 2gb ram, the 200gb 7200rpm hd, and glossy screen. after doing that with my own money i ordered 4gb of ram from owc, a wireless mighty mouse, an incase laptop sleeve, and iWork 08.

now my question is, what now? anything i've forgot? software i should download immidiately? this is my first mac so any suggestions are appreciated.

i dont know how i'll be able to wait... should be here between this thursday and next tuesday!

 

[jbg232]

Well, if you want to go all out you could buy tons of stuff. Examples:
1. External hard drive for Time Machine
2. Applecare warranty
3. Printer
4. Airport Extreme
5. Apple TV
6. Mac OS X: Leopard The Missing Manual by David Pogue
7. DVI to Video Adapter
8. Photoshop
9. Parallels
10. Windows XP SP2 (just a suggestion if you need to run windows apps)
11. Lojack for laptops (to prevent theft)

Things to download (everyone will probably disagree with this somehow):
1. Onyx Settings Changer
2. AppZapper
3. Firefox and Camino Internet Browsers
4. Synergy iTunes Controller
5. Memtester Memory Tester
6. Mac The Ripper DVD Ripper
7. iStat
8. Zip/Stuffit/Rar Extractors (Not Stuffit)
9. Roxio Toast/Popcorn

You really need to look at the guide to switching to mac on this website.

 

[chrisgohcs]

applecare is a must.

 

[ZMRoach]

how long do i have to get applecare?

 

[David G.]

Get Applecare any time while the 1 year warranty provided is valid.

 

[ab2650]

now my question is, what now? anything i've forgot?

Yes! Get your dad the biggest thank-you card you can find! My folks bought me my first Mac and I still remember it to this day. On a more serious note, I personally couldn't live without:
PhotoMechanic
iWork
Photoshop CS3
Coda

(but I'm a photographer and web developer, so...)

Hardware wise, I really like my eyeTV and massive amounts of storage on my ReadyNAS.

Finally, take a look at the software bundle as a promo on MacUpdate (for the next 20 hours). $49 and it has a buncha good stuff in it! I bought my MBP right when MacHeist was going on and it really got me into some of the software they offered in their bundle.

 

[taylorwilsdon]

Forget lojack, get real insurance on your computer. That way, you don't have to waste time waiting for them to track down your computer (unsuccessfully) you can just get a new one.

If you need windows apps, a license and a copy of parallels or vmware is in order.