thinking about a macbook
im thinkin about getting a macbook or a ibook g4 as my new laptop. im a windows xp user and have been looking at macs because i need a new laptop and it looks like macs have waaaaaaaaaaaay more benefits than pcs. the only concern i have is if ill be able to downlload and install everything i have on my pc on a mac (ie limewire, aim, applications like that and my creative zen mp3 player) im lookin to go as cheap as possible and have enough storage for music and some videos. and since ive read you can install winxp on the new macbooks then that may be what i want? not sure here i need some advice and guidance as im totally new to macs. also can you run winxp on the older ibook g4? any advice would b appreciated especially geared toward how the operating system thing works with having windows and Mac os and how those applications as i mentioned before are compatible and whats not compatible. thanx
Comments
First off - welcome to the World of Mac! You'll thank yourself later for the switch, but now you need to find some hardware. You talked about either an iBook G4 or a Macbook. The MacBook is the more recent model and comes with Intel's Core 2 Duo processor as opposed to IBM's G4. In short, it'll be a lot faster than the G4. You might be able to find a used G4 through a refurb or eBay, but I highly reccommend buying from Apple directly and going with the MacBook. You'll spend more, but have the most recent thing with more storage and power - especially if you wanna drive Windows every now and then.
You mentioned running Windows XP. To run Windows NATIVELY, you'll need the MacBook, because it has an intel processor. You can run Windows virtually on the G4 through QMU or Virtual PC, but virtualization can be slow and tedious. I think you'll find that XP will be a good safety valve to have for those troublesome few programs that you can't get for Macs, but you'll definitely stay on OS X for a good portion of the time.
General applications like AIM or lImeWire can be found for Macs, but the Mac also has a few neat programs worth checking out (iChat for your IM's, iPhoto for picture organization, iTunes of course for your music, etc...) If you tell us what kind of stuff you'll be using the laptop for, we might be able to reccommend some programs to you that you could try out.
As far as your Zen ... I'm not sure if it'll work or not with the Mac. Creative and Apple aren't exactly friends and I doubt one would supoort the other's hardware. If you get a new MacBook, then you might be able to use the Zen when booted into Windows.
I'm sure there's more that you'd like to know. Post back with any other questions that you have. Oh, and if you're a teacher or a college student, you do get a discount on purchases from Apple.
Chris
Okay, let me see if I can point you in the right direction and I'm sure others will come along and add some advice as well...
First off - welcome to the World of Mac! You'll thank yourself later for the switch, but now you need to find some hardware. You talked about either an iBook G4 or a Macbook. The MacBook is the more recent model and comes with Intel's Core 2 Duo processor as opposed to IBM's G4. In short, it'll be a lot faster than the G4. You might be able to find a used G4 through a refurb or eBay, but I highly reccommend buying from Apple directly and going with the MacBook. You'll spend more, but have the most recent thing with more storage and power - especially if you wanna drive Windows every now and then.
You mentioned running Windows XP. To run Windows NATIVELY, you'll need the MacBook, because it has an intel processor. You can run Windows virtually on the G4 through QMU or Virtual PC, but virtualization can be slow and tedious. I think you'll find that XP will be a good safety valve to have for those troublesome few programs that you can't get for Macs, but you'll definitely stay on OS X for a good portion of the time.
General applications like AIM or lImeWire can be found for Macs, but the Mac also has a few neat programs worth checking out (iChat for your IM's, iPhoto for picture organization, iTunes of course for your music, etc...) If you tell us what kind of stuff you'll be using the laptop for, we might be able to reccommend some programs to you that you could try out.
As far as your Zen ... I'm not sure if it'll work or not with the Mac. Creative and Apple aren't exactly friends and I doubt one would supoort the other's hardware. If you get a new MacBook, then you might be able to use the Zen when booted into Windows.
I'm sure there's more that you'd like to know. Post back with any other questions that you have. Oh, and if you're a teacher or a college student, you do get a discount on purchases from Apple.
Chris
ok, it sounds like mac would be a good choice. ill be using it for music downloading, internet surfing, videos, online instant messaging, doing some papers for school (ie word powerpoint excel documents), and i also need to be able to view pdf files. (not sure if pdf and mac are friendly, i thought i read somewhere they weren't) its a fairly wide spectrum and all the media features in os x seem like theyll be more than what i need and im excited about that. my brother and i make mountain bike videos so it sounds like well be able to be real creative with that.
also my printer. just thought of this. its on a printserver on my home network so will i be able to install all the drivers for the printer and printserver and get that up and running without having a cow? will i just need the disc with mac drivers on it?
also one other scenario i wanna get straightened out. say i boot the laptop into windows mode(providing i got a copy of windows and installed it) could i do anything that i do with my windows pc now with the mac? or are some things restricted? if anyone could give me a full background on how to use windows on the mac that would help a lot as i want something to be abe to fall back on.
one last thing:it looks like i would want to get the macbook as windows is a pain to run on the ibook as you said. so say if i got a refurbished or very lightly used macbook on ebay(just because of the lower price, otherwise id get a new one) would any of the qualities of the laptop be worse than new or would there be any major drawbacks from doing this as long as i got all the original hardware and everything? basically i want to know how long they last compared to a pc. when pcs get old they start having problems and what not. i just want to know if this happens to macs also.
edit:
Can a Creative player work on an Apple Mac?
It isn't officially supported, but some kind folks out there have written freeware applications to get your Creative player working with Macs. XNJB provides support for the Zen players, and requires OS X 10.3 or 10.4 (check the site for full details). MuVoHelper solves some problems with getting the MuVo to work optimally. The iTunes Zen plugin should support all Zen players. Note if the link to the plugin is broken just Google "iTunes Zen plugin" to find other sources. Also note there's no guarantee that these programs will work with the Mac, so if you have issues you should address your problems to the developer(s) of the relevant program.
just found this on creative's website-looks like the zen will be safe. not too big of a deal if its not though.
ok, it sounds like mac would be a good choice. ill be using it for music downloading, internet surfing, videos, online instant messaging, doing some papers for school (ie word powerpoint excel documents), and i also need to be able to view pdf files. (not sure if pdf and mac are friendly, i thought i read somewhere they weren't) its a fairly wide spectrum and all the media features in os x seem like theyll be more than what i need and im excited about that. my brother and i make mountain bike videos so it sounds like well be able to be real creative with that.
Macs come with a built-in media viewer called "Preview." It allows you to view PDF, JPEG, BMP, etc., etc. on the fly. Adobe Reader is also available for download on OS X. I personally find Preview snappier that Adobe Reader, but it's all about what works for you. The main thing is that you spend a few days just looking around at the software that comes bundled with the Mac. Read the documentation and find out if it suits your needs. You have 90 days of phone support on a new Mac - use it - it's usually pretty good.
also my printer. just thought of this. its on a printserver on my home network so will i be able to install all the drivers for the printer and printserver and get that up and running without having a cow? will i just need the disc with mac drivers on it?
Networking a printer can be tedious and I'm not quite sure how to help this. You should be able to still tap into the printer from the Mac, but you'll need the software for the printer and instead of choosing it as a USB device, you'll choose it as a networked device when you install. Probably best to get a little more information about what kind of printer before you get detailed help on the install.
also one other scenario i wanna get straightened out. say i boot the laptop into windows mode(providing i got a copy of windows and installed it) could i do anything that i do with my windows pc now with the mac? or are some things restricted? if anyone could give me a full background on how to use windows on the mac that would help a lot as i want something to be abe to fall back on.
If you boot into your XP partition, your Mac is running Windows natively - meaning you'll have the same OS use that you'd have on a Dell, you'd just be running on Mac hardware. You could run PC games, etc. while booted into Windows. To use this feature, yo'll have to download Boot Camp from the Apple website and install it. It'll make you burn a drivers disk so your bluetooth, WiFi, etc. work in Windows. Be advised that it's in beta stage right now and Apple offers no official support outside the documentation; however, it's rumored to be part of the new operating system, which is rumored to be out sometime in Late Winter - Early Spring 2007
one last thing:it looks like i would want to get the macbook as windows is a pain to run on the ibook as you said. so say if i got a refurbished or very lightly used macbook on ebay(just because of the lower price, otherwise id get a new one) would any of the qualities of the laptop be worse than new or would there be any major drawbacks from doing this as long as i got all the original hardware and everything? basically i want to know how long they last compared to a pc. when pcs get old they start having problems and what not. i just want to know if this happens to macs also.
Since the MacBook is fairly new, you're probably not going to save much by buying one from eBay - you might actually pay more. You can get a refurbed MacBook from Apple for $899 right now, so that would save you some money. Be careful - refurbs can be tempting, but they're refurbs for a reason. My suggestion is still to buy a new one from the store. You pay a little more, but it hasn't been broken before ... and if it show up DOA, they'll just ship you another one. PC's "age" much more quickly than Macs do. I just recently sold a working PowerPC Mac that was purchased new 8 years ago for something around $100. I have a G3, G4 and G5 iMac all still kicking in my house. The G3 was manufactured in 1999 and I purchased it used off eBay in 2004. Starting to show it's age, but still a very reliable machine.
I suggest that you go check out an Apple store or a Fry's if you live close to one. Play around with them. OS X and the Mac can be frustrating if you're totally new to it, but as long as you're willing to take a day or so and learn how to use everything, your transition will go smoothly. The important thing is not to be afraid to ask for help either here, on the Apple support forums or by calling tech support. People switch every day and most of us are willing to help keep your head above water.
macmall, apple, macconnection, amazon etc, where's the best place to buy and also gives you a good deal???
i m also considering a macbook actually two, one for both my wife and i and when seethru gets a unit for the macbook i'll get one, but where to buy
macmall, apple, macconnection, amazon etc, where's the best place to buy and also gives you a good deal???
bought macbooks (1gb, 2ghz,120gbhd white) from apple, the "deal" at macmall was for a macbook with 2gb ram, i only wanted 1gb, buying from apple even with tax was nearly the same, also macmall so called rebate required you to apply within 20 of shipping notice, and you had to download the form--that blows, so for most it's not much. i did get my shuffle's from them but the ones for my wife i had engraved at apple. i bet they buy the 1gb version slip in there own ram and charge apple ram prices.
XNJB provides support for the Zen players, and requires OS X 10.3 or 10.4 (check the site for full details). MuVoHelper solves some problems with getting the MuVo to work optimally. The iTunes Zen plugin should support all Zen players. Note if the link to the plugin is broken just Google "iTunes Zen plugin" to find other sources. Also note there's no guarantee that these programs will work with the Mac, so if you have issues you should address your problems to the developer(s) of the relevant program.
just found this on creative's website-looks like the zen will be safe. not too big of a deal if its not though.
Thanks for the XNJB tip john, I searched endlessly for the Zen itunes plugin but no joy: this works fantastically on my Macbook with Osx 10.4.