599 replies to this topic

[Johnboy007]

I've had my MBP for over three weeks now and have a pretty good understanding of how to use it all. It hasn't frozen or crashed a single time. If I ever have to restart it, it doesn't take 30 minutes for everything to load up and work properly. It's elegant but is possibly more powerful than enormously bulky HP desktop. My one complaint is that it doesn't have much of a hard drive, but I knew that going in.

I'm not much of a Windows hater (Vista doesn't bother me much), but I definitely like the Mac better (really looking forward to Leopard).

[Professor Dent]

Glad you are enjoying it, John. I have found that crashing OS X (getting the kernel panic) isn't as easy as getting a blue screen of death on Windows. The PowerBook I'm using now is just shy of 2 years old & I've never had a kernel panic on it unlike the Dell XPS 600 I bought a little over a year ago - I've seen about 10 blue screens of death on it. Now, I have crashed programs in OS X but never the whole OS.

On the hard drive, just get an external to use. I prefer FireWire but USB 2.0 works fine. This is especially helpful if you are using iMovie. It gobbles gigabytes of space for it's temp files plus I've found it works better on a 7200 rpm drive vs the internal 5400 rpm drive.

On an unrelated note, the aura of anticipation about the Tuesday event is upon me. It's not like I need another computer but a new iMac is very tempting.

[Johnboy007]

On the hard drive, just get an external to use. I prefer FireWire but USB 2.0 works fine. This is especially helpful if you are using iMovie. It gobbles gigabytes of space for it's temp files plus I've found it works better on a 7200 rpm drive vs the internal 5400 rpm drive.

That's what I had planned on doing. I don't need one right now, but sometime around Christmas I'll probably need one.

That, and Leopard.

[Professor Dent]

So, anyone else catch the press event today (or the running text of it like I did from Engadget)? The new iMac looks sweet but not sure about the new keyboard. I need to get to an Apple store & check everything out firsthand.

So much for my comment about iLife '08 being tied into core animation in Leopard. I was glad to see an update to iWork - mostly just Keynote but Pages seems to have some nice enhancements. Looks like there are some good reasons to upgrade. I already bit the bullet & got both iLife & iWork from apple.com. They are scheduled to be here by the weekend & I'll post an update after I get them installed & give 'em a test drive. I'm curious to see what kind of performance I get out of them on my G4 Powerbook.

[Robinson]

So, anyone else catch the press event today (or the running text of it like I did from Engadget)? The new iMac looks sweet but not sure about the new keyboard. I need to get to an Apple store & check everything out firsthand.

I agree. I'm still using my iMac G4 (the one that's sorta like a lamp). I'm looking to upgrade to a G5 (I use Final Cut, AfterEffects & Quark) but I don't want to shell out a whole lot of dough for a tower and display.

I'll hit the store this week and ask the staff if the new iMac (especially the 24" model) will work well w/ Final Cut Studio 2.

Notice how the new iMac looks like the iPhone?

[zencat]

I'll be snatching up iLife 08 tomorrow and I'll have a look at the new iMacs. I was expecting a more radical redesign, but these look so great, why change what works. But I may stick with my Mac Mini for now, because it also works.

[Johnboy007]

So, anyone else catch the press event today (or the running text of it like I did from Engadget)? The new iMac looks sweet but not sure about the new keyboard. I need to get to an Apple store & check everything out firsthand.

Based on the Apple site photos it looks like the MacBook keyboard. I hope it isn't, because I didn't like the one I tried when looking at laptops. It's awkward and a bit ugly.

[darkpath]

I had been thinking of replacing my wife's eMac with a mini; but I might hold out for an iMac instead.

The one thing that really still argues in favour of the mini, however, is that I have a pair of 20" CRT monitors. I suppose I could see about selling the both of them and rolling the funds into the iMac purchase.

[Sbott]

I've been using iWork 08 for a week or so now and its excellent. I'm a huge fan of Keynote and the new changes (not that many) are great and have kept it far ahead of Powerpoint, in terms of ease of use and presentation style. I really enjoy Keynote it doesn't do as much as Powerpoint, but it does the things you do want to do and does them far better.
Pages is really improved, so much so that I no longer have to use Word.
Haven't used Numbers much but its very easy to use and looks very powerful.

[Sbott]

Just wondering if anyone has a .Mac account and what there thoughts are about it - is it worth the money and what are the most useful features about it?

[darkpath]

Just wondering if anyone has a .Mac account and what there thoughts are about it - is it worth the money and what are the most useful features about it?

I have a .Mac account, and I am partial to it; however, if you already have web server and offsite backup capability through other means, then I don't know that you really need it. It's not unreasonably priced for what you get; but if you don't mind the foregoing the built-in linkages in the OS and various Apple software, then you can probably find a cheaper solution elsewhere.

[Sbott]

Just wondering if anyone has a .Mac account and what there thoughts are about it - is it worth the money and what are the most useful features about it?

I have a .Mac account, and I am partial to it; however, if you already have web server and offsite backup capability through other means, then I don't know that you really need it. It's not unreasonably priced for what you get; but if you don't mind the foregoing the built-in linkages in the OS and various Apple software, then you can probably find a cheaper solution elsewhere.

Thanks for the info darkpath, very useful.

[Sbott]

Does anyone have an iPhone and if so how do you feel about the price-cut?

[Righty007]

What does everybody think about the new iPod Touch? I think it's awesome but I'll probably wait to get it since I have a new 30G iPod.

[Johnboy007]

If it's the same thing as the iPhone minus the call feature, I'll pass. The all-metal one is more appealing and seems less lazy.

[zencat]

Does anyone have an iPhone and if so how do you feel about the price-cut?

The $100 Apple store credit helps.

[Professor Dent]

I'll be picking-up the 16GB iPod Touch when they hit the streets. The 16GB of storage is awfully small but the interface is just too cool to pass up plus video & my photos will look great on it. I did take a serious look at the 160GB iPod Classic because I could begin to put a lot of my music into lossless format & have it fit comfortably on the iPod (yes, I still buy CD's ). The new metal enclosure & interface look great.

I don't have an iPhone but the $100 rebate from Apple is very nice. I've been stung by the early adopter tax more times than I'd like to admit. Although, if it's any consolation zencat, I would have probably already bought one if it was on Verizon. Come to think of it, I bought an 80GB iPod in May to replace one that died last November. I held out as long as I could for the Touch & just couldn't wait any longer. That 80GB iPod now sells for $100 less than I paid, has a metal enclosure, cool interface, etc. Maybe Steve will give me some kind of rebate too.

[darkpath]

I've just finished upgrading from an 2nd generation Apple Airport base station (the first of the gloss white flying saucers) to the current Apple Airport Extreme. In the process, I've been able to mothball an ancient Asant

[darkpath]

The new iMac has turned out to be every bit the lovely machine I'd hoped; but it's been something of a tease as well. It turns out that the X Server disc I have is too old to be bootable by the iMac, so the installation I was hoping to be able to do, through the prescribed procedure of Schoun Regan's Mac OS X Server Essentials seems to be a bust. I'm working on an odd work-around.

[zencat]

Having a total nightmare experience with .Mac and their email only "help". My view of Apple is a little less rosy these days.

[Sbott]

I didn't want to hear that I've just bought a .Mac account, so far no problems though.

[Sbott]

Only 2 days to go until Leopard is released, would love to know what people think about it, I also wonder who will be the fastest to load it?

[zencat]

Got mine pre-ordered via Apple's special delivery on the 26th guarantee.

[darkpath]

Sadly, in my case, Leopard breaks my company's remote access solution, so I have to be a late adopter (it will be the first time since MacOS X Public Beta!!!).

On the bright side, I will be using Leopard full time at work starting quite shortly, as I will need to be able to support it.

[Professor Dent]

I debated hard on Leopard but decided to hold off until I read some performance reviews. I have a G4 PowerBook which meets the minimum specs but I'm just being a little cautious. Plus, I'm debating if I should just upgrade to a MacBook Pro anyway.

On an iPod note, I picked-up a 16GB Touch a few weeks ago & I love it. You do need nice album art so Cover Flow is useful. Photos look great on the screen. I put a few movie trailers on it (Casino Royale, Borat, & The Simpsons) & the video performance is excellent. It wows everyone who touches it. It is in need of a firmware update. Cover Flow is a little buggy & does crash it occasionally (the crash is just like hitting the home button). I have a few other minor interface gripes - like not having access to the volume control in Cover Flow. Outside of that, I'm very satisfied. The bar just got raised for portable music/media players.

[Righty007]

Who here has the new OS? What do you think of it?

I hope to get if for Christmas.

[Johnboy007]

I'm holding off until Christmas when the initial bugs are fixed.

[darkpath]

I'm trying to find out if we've gotten a copy in-house yet, as my work MacPro will be backed up and partitioned as a dual-boot once we have it.

[zencat]

I have mine in hand. But it can take a few hours to update so I can't load it right now. At the end of the day.

[Professor Dent]

While I said I was going to wait, I read some reviews yesterday & then decided to go ahead & order it. I'm doing the erase & install option so I'm backing-up my Home folder now & will be installing soon. Looks like I have a few hours yet.