Newbie Questions! - Video codecs, iBooks...

kotatsukotatsu
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hello all, newbie alert, help would be appreciated.



I haven't been a Mac owner for a long time now, not since the dark days of System 7. I switched to PC then, but now am thinking of getting a laptop for when I'm on the road. Seems like a good chance to get back into Macintosh.



I'd be using it for a few things - watching movies, playing emu games, browsing the net/email, and the usual iTunes/digital photo stuff.



Questions..!



1 - I know DIVX is available for the Mac, but I'd also need xVid, and OGM. Have these been ported to OS X?



2 - How would emus run on an iBook? MAME, SNES etc. I wouldn't expect to run the latest MAME games, they don't even work properly on my 3Ghz P4, just the 80s and 90s stuff.



3 - iBook online with a cell phone. How? (total newbie on this front). Bluetooth, 3G phone...? No idea, sorry.





I have a feeling I may end up getting hooked and end up with a desktop Mac too, but one step at a time! Also, is the Powerbook worth the extra cash? Seems a lot more for not a lot more, if you get my meening.



Thanks much.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    XviD is available. OGM is not a codec, but a container format, so I'm not sure what particular codec you're referring to there.



    With a Bluetooth phone listed in the iSync supported devices list, connecting to the internet should work fine. Doesn't have to be 3G.



    The PowerBook has better caches, better display quality, a softer keyboard, etc., so the added price tag is not a rip-off.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    kotatsukotatsu Posts: 1,010member
    Thanks for the reply.



    Sorry, got confused with OGM, codecs aren't really something I know a great deal about. Looking at an OGM movie it looks like it's using ffdShow MPEG-4 and Matrix Mixer.



    Do you know where I can find these, and xVid for the Mac?



    I wasn't aware that the Powerbook had a better display. What are the differences? Higher refresh rate? The GPU is better too I believe, but I'm not sure if that would really make much of a difference for my purposes. I wouldn't try running any games on it.



    Speaking of which, I was tempted briefly by the new G5 iMac. Then I saw what GPU it had. Doom 3 struggles enough on my Radeon 9800 Pro 256Mb. Shame as the machine looks really neat, it just wouldn't play (new) games properly.



    Oh one more thing - does anyone know if the iMac G5 can operate as a display only? ie. could I wire it up as my PC's display?
  • Reply 3 of 7
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    ffmpeg is used by VideoLAN and MPlayer, both of which are available for the Mac.



    http://www.insaneness.com/xvid.html



    I doubt the iMac can operate as a display only, although you technically *can* separate the display from the machine.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    karl kuehnkarl kuehn Posts: 756member
    The G5 iMac is not capable of being used as a monitor only. You could possibly do a lot of hardware hacking and make it so... but you are probably going to ruin the unit to do it. If you are looking to use your WinXP Pro computer through the Mac, then Microsoft does provide a free remote terminal client for MacOS X that allows this, everything would run in a window.



    This is not a good solution for video games, but if we are talking specialized apps, then it might work just fine.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    kotatsukotatsu Posts: 1,010member
    It was just a thought, as I have been looking to get a new flat panel for my PC.



    G5 iMac just isn't quick enough for games, just isn't meant for them I guess. The compromises of such a compact design. I also use around 400gb of HD space on my PC. (which is a relatively compact Shuttle XPC. It overheats nicely when playing Doom 3 - I have to remove the case to keep it cool!)



    A new desktop is some way off though. Soon my decision would be Powerbook or iBook. Is the Powerbook worth the extra cash? Given it would be used for watching xVid/DIVX/DVD movies, email/internet, and playing old SNES/MD/MAME games. No 3D games, no 3D apps.



    Thanks for the advice guys.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    karl kuehnkarl kuehn Posts: 756member
    First off.. if you are really just looking for a games machine, why are you not buying game platforms (X-Box, Game Cube, etc..)? They are cheaper, and there are more games available.... The iMac is fast enough for most games, but it is not a hard core gamer box... Apple has never tried to compete in that market (for good reason).



    The advantages of the Powerbooks over the iBooks are: bigger better screen, faster, take more memory, have a PC-Card slot, allow for "extended desktop" (two monitors not mirroring each other), gigabit ethernet... in general what professionals need.



    The advantage on the iBooks are that they are smaller, cheaper, and have slightly better battery life.



    If you are only going to be using this as a video player, then the iBook will do nicely. As to the emulation/MAME bit... well, that all depends on what you are looking to emulate. N64 emulation on a iBook might work... but is probably pushing the hardware.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    kotatsukotatsu Posts: 1,010member
    Already have every game console you could imagine. But there has been a steady flow of cutting edge PC stuff, - TRON 2.0, Homeworld 2, Far Cry, Doom3, and soon Half Life 2 and STALKER. So it pays to have a high end PC as well.



    I'm tending towards the iBook. For what it will be used for I think it will suffice, and the saving on purchase price is considerable.



    One more question, how easy will it be to network it up to my PC so I can transfer files? Running XP Home on the PC, which has pretty weak networking support, crippled really. Didn't know better at the time, only found out later I should have gone for XP Pro.



    BTW, I'm thinking of the 12" iBook or 12" Powerbook. As compact as possible.
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