Welcoming my self to mac

I just bought a Macbook yesterday and I must say I am impressed. Technically I am not "turning to the dark side", asI still have my trusty Toshiba A100. I do however like the apple OS a lot better than windows.

I got the cheapest newest macbook since thats all they had.
Its got the 1.83 GHz core 2 duo, 60 gb HD, 512 RAM etc etc...

What I have read is that this version has the stripped down version of the C2D, is that true? Apparently its only got 2 mb L2 cache instead of the standard 4. It is still very fast, and I imagine that once I upgrade the ram that will help alot.

Is the step up version worth the extra 200 bucks?? In my opinion yes since you get the full blown C2D, 1 GB ram, 80 GB HD, and a superdrive. So I may return this unit and exchange it for the better version.

Oh and uhh...is there any unecessary applications that are installed? im talking about the crap that dell or toshiba preloads the computers with.

 

There really isn't a "stripped down C2D". The T7200 and up are the only notebook processors to feature the 4mb cache. Everything under the T7200 has a 2mb cache, don't worry, you didn't get one pulled on you.

 

luks like a gud machine to me all u gotta do is jus increase te ram by adding another 512 dimm and all is fine
enjoy the mac mate
cheers,

 

Given you got a white MacBook, you are really turning FROM the darkside - in so many ways ;-)

The model you have is fine for most everyday business and school uses and memory and hard drive are easily upgradeable in future. Unless the pretty small difference in processor speed and cache is important to you, the model you have with some extra memory should serve you well.

Unlike its underlaying Unix, OS X likes a lot of memory. I found my original 1gb quite fast compared to a PC of similar configuration and while it did not look like I was consistently consuming all that memory and paging a lot, there was a large performance increase when I went to 2gb, and I noted doing the same activities I was consuming about 1.25gb of RAM so I must have been doing some swapping before.

I do tend to run a lot of apps so 1gb may be fine, but 512 is a bit low in my opinion. Also its important on the MacBook to have two matched memory modules so whatever upgrade you get, think to the future.

 

There's a very good reason why half of all new macs sold last year (including mine!) were sold to people who have never owned a mac before. And I'm NEVER going back to windows again, ever.

 

Anyway excellent choice. You're going to enjoy it.

 

i sure am.....every second. although it is kind of annoying not to have things like windows media player, or when i try to watch avi files and they wont play. Ive been sitting at my school library for a few hours now, installing apps that I need.

I downloaded mac versions of messenger, media player (although it wont play my avi files for some reason), and this thing called VLC media player, which actually worked well with my avi files.

Could someone explain to me how the icons on the desktop work. Everytime I download or install an app an icon appears and when I move the icon to trash the app wont work anymore. I like to have nothing on my desktop.

Also if somebody could list some good tips about using mac that would be appreciated as well. ie, i JUST found out about the F9 key and how it enables you to see all open windows at the same time, allowing you to choose.

Although this mac os is very nice, I still feel like I need to have a windows system as a "safety net" if you know what I mean. If something important didnt work with a mac, Id run it on on windows. Ultimately I would like to have this mac as my main workhorse but Im just not completely convinced........yet.

 

lol Macs are somewhat different from Windows. When you install an app, in fact you are just mounting a disk image (dmg), just like when you mount an ISO image in Windows using Daemon Tools or similar programs. So, you must actually copy the app to somewhere - usually the Applications folder. Then you can trash the dmg if you want.
It is actually very easy to install and uninstall apps this way.

Good luck with your mac!

PS. as for some of your other questions: VLC and Mplayer are good alternatives. You might try Perian which will allow Quicktime to play loads of different codecs. There is no crapware installed - there is a trial of MS Office 2003 and iWork 2006 that you might want to remove, but it is worth looking at. Also, GarageBand is a big program that might not be very useful if you're not into music.

 

can someone help me out with transferring all my music to my mac? I have itunes on my pc with all of my music, what is the easiest to transfer all of them?

 

ok i got an external hardrive and that worked out.

Just want to note that as soon as I plugged in my printer via usb...the mac didnt do anything so I assumed it didnt work. Then I tried printing and wow it worked. It had all of my printers info and everything, amazing.

 

Whoa, no more annoying "USB device detected ","USB Printer found", "stop whatever you doing and see this dialog box" quirks.

 

Yeah, it took me a while to get used to that too. No beeps, buzzes, popups, dialog boxes, install processes etc most of the time. You just plug something in and it works. Sweet.

 

Hey for messengers if you have multiple messenger accounts get Adium. You can have multiple accounts open at the same time, and especially if you have AIM, it doesn't take up as much memory.

 

Here, I'll tell you how to transfer your music:

Firstly you'll need the following.
-Itunes on both machines.
-Your music FILES, you have to go do some digging...usually under my music->itunes music or whatever in PC.
-An iPod or flash drive or some kind, or an internet connection on both machines.
-A good couple of hours.

Transferring purchases:
-Open itunes
-Plug in your ipod
-go to file->transfer purchases from "ipod"

Transferring files:
-Open itunes.
-treat your ipod as a disk drive if you're using an ipod. Go to your ipod on itunes and tell it to enable disk use or something like that. If you're using a flash drive, don't worry about this.
-Load your songs into your ipod as if you're loading something into your flash drive. Highlight all, and drag into your ipod.
-Plug your ipod into your macbook, open itunes.
-Go to file->import, pick a song, and click "choose." Repeat (only this step) until all songs have been imported.

 

What's the closest thing to the GOM Player? I am currently using that but if I switch to Mac, it won't be able to run on OS X.

 

Ok I am returning my macbook...but I will be ordering a new C2D MPB though!!! Yep, I am totally convinced now, I love mac. I am also going to sell my toshiba A100 and put it towards the mbp. Ill prolly run windows on it too so that is the safety net for me like i said.

Pretty excited now...havent bought something this nice in a while (besides this current macbook).

Just a question. Should I get the glossy screen or not?? Does it make a big difference to the colors? Reviews say the new mbps have brighter matte screens and portray life like colours. Ill be wathcing a lot of movies and such...but my campus computer store doesnt stock the glossy screens.

If I wanted a glossy screen Id have to order from apple for the 2200 price. My comptuer store has the atte screen for 1993.

 

I recommend glossy to anyone but those who are professional photographers where they need the highest possible color accuracy. The glossy is much nicer to look at. It does over saturate a bit, but all glossy screens do that. It makes movies and games look a lot better. It's also easier on the eyes. The glossy screen on these units seem to have much less reflection than say, the Sony Vaios. With those, it's like looking into a mirror if you have any light in the room. Not so with the mac glossys.

I would talk to your campus computer store and get the number for their mac contact. Every university has someone that they deal with when they get their prices and such. They should be able to help you get a glossy instead of matte display. At the same cost.

glad you enjoy it! I felt the same way when I got mine. It took me a while to get used to how things are installed as well as get used to the one button mouse thing. But with the two finger right click... I love it more than any trackpad unit I've used on any laptop.

 

Matte is better for sitting in the cafe and working. Glossy has more of a WOW! effect, but I expect this to become old soon as everyone has it.

I recommend Matte. Especially considering that the matte screens on the MBP are the best you can buy for money - super bright and brilliant to look at.

Personally, I initially thought glossy looks a lot better but now the WOW-effect has subsided and I find them looking a bit cheap, like you turned up the color too much on the TV... maybe that's because I see glossy screens everywhere.

 

ToshibaDude,

I just ordered my MBP earlier this week, it's in anchorage Alaska right now, so almost here

I compared quite a few times the matte vs. glossy (at 5th ave. apple store.) Coming from a glossy screen, I may have been jaded, but you can't go wrong with that choice. Quite difficult to notice the differences, but there is an inherent richness in color in the glossy vs. matte.

Good luck with your purchase

I'll probably sell my MBP in the summer when the 12/13" ones get announced at WWDC

Regards,
dolo

 

I talked to my campus computer store and they agreed to order me a glossy mbp for the same price as the matte screen versions. should be here this week. im having second thoughts now as the new platform (roseetta, or santa rosa?) is coming out soon...but after doing some research its not all that its cut out to be. im sure the c2d mbp will serve me well for a while. i see other students using old old dell laptops and i say to myself, **** im a spoiled little brat.