Ok guys, I am looking at buying either a powerbook

[nadinbrzezinski]

or a macbook in the next few months.

Here are several questions:

1.- I do have a access to the vista machine, so should I put away an extra thou to buy the Pro model? (I do run two fairly intensive 3D apps... ) Or just go ahead and get the macbook, for basic word processing and light Corel Painter use (and GIMP of course)

2.- I have seen way, and I mean WAAAYYYY too many Pro models missing a Del key... now I buy computers to last. The old machine will get new motherboard and get a new life with my nephew, that machine is just oh, eight years old, and my dying Tablet is also about that old. (It has motherboard issues and after eight years...and I must say... vista issues yep looking forward to ditching Vista at least on my box)

3.- Yes, I will bitch about I-works, what were they thinking, no separator line in the middle of columns... But I guess neo will do it... anyhow I may still get a copy of i-works for i-write, light, fast word processor, and I doubt roughdraft will do well under emulation. Speaking off, emulators, yes there is a specific piece of software I am just too much in love with, and was looking at codeweavers, anybody has any experience with that one?

4.- If you are gonna bitch about Vista, let me do it... trust me... I do the IT round these parts and that is the reason why I am looking at replacing my laptop with a Mac. I just shudder when I seat down to install software... will it run? Lets see.

Oh and yes, the difference between machine A and machine B is about a thousand, and I realize it will take me another six months (as long as this one survives that long), to put the money to the side to get it. We don't buy on credit, no way, no how.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. And definitely wait until Leopard is released

damn looking at it, right now, and that releases what in October

[alfredo]

2. Wait for Leopard. Boot Camp will be part of the OS, and so will

virtual desktops. Those come in handy when you have a lot of windows open.

Boot Camp might be the way to go so you can run that special application. Look at Parallels to to see if that would suit your purposes.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. I looked at cross over

and actually tested it on linux running live distro of Ubuntu. I know it installed and I know it 'ran', but take into account this dying laptop barely detects 488 mb on a good day.

Now have spent the afternoon readying about oh... user reviews.

Here, everywhere, and my real concern is durabily

This machine is oh eight years old and the keyboard still works like a charm

I've come across some reports of keyboard keys fading, and have seen way too many DEL keys off on Powerbook pros. (At Fryes and another store)

As to the special app I think it will run under cross over... the rest of the high end apps (like Dreamweaver) it took me six hours to MAKE IT RUN, dang nabit, I will keep running it on that machine.

;-)

I may look at porting Vue (and quite frankly just getting the Mac version), and for that... this is why I'm still debating the Pro version

And yes, holding off for Panther... what is it five days? And I shan't be spending the money for at leaset three more months anyway.

I know the powerbook will run my copy of Corel... so that is not a major issue, I can still use Painter and my Intous tablet

How good is it at Sincying with a handheld PC?

[alfredo]

5. How fast will it run under cross over. that's the question.

The Keyboard issues showed up last year. I'd assume it has been addressed.

I went to the support pages for the MBP and searched for entries about the keyboard. I saw one about fading keys. Saw some problems that were solved with a software update. Do look through their support forums to see if issues have been addressed.


You know there is an iTunes plugin that will make the backlight keyboard "dance" with the music.



If you know anyone running Boot Camp, let them know the beta expires at the end of the month. (Oct)

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. The app is light, and it should not be too much of a

problem with RAM maxed out... I really do not want to put a windows partition on a Mac computer. The point of the exercise is to get as far a I can in my personal box from windows.

Vista has so many issues that it is not even funny

Yep, we got XP when it first came out. It had its issues... but compared to this egg, XP was a mature and ready to deploy OS.

What can I say? Gamer hubby... on the plus side I can scrimp on the laptop side

:-)

[alfredo]

9. The partition is installed automatically. It's no sweat to install.

One thing about Apple, installation of software is very easy. It's just as easy to uninstall. All that is left behind is a preference file and maybe a small file elsewhere in the library. They don't spread crap all over the computer. Some software comes with its own uninstall app. Most of the time you don't need an uninstall app.

From what I understand many of the VM titles treats Windows as just another application.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Yes, but I don't want to install windows

hell Linux created the automatic partition when I installed SUSE on this Win machine.

The beuaty of Cross over is... you DO NOT need a copy of windows...

Yep, it is going to run about fifty, hell that is the cost of a game these days... and if I chose to, I could conceivably also run word 07 on it... now that one, even with 2 megs, I doubt will be very fast

[alfredo]

14. $50 is the cost a a dinner out, and that ends up as something

you flush away.

The newest version of OpenOffice has been released for OSX. It is dependent on X11 though. Neo Office works well, no need to change.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Yes, but if it runs story binder

I will move to pro fantasy's Campaign Cartographer and NBOS... and trust me there are no equivalents in the Mac World... hell even autorealm

And if I decided to run bootcamp or paralells I still need to buy a copy of Windows... that is what? 300 bucks for XP?

lemme see, fifty and if it works problem solved, or 300 and windows partition

That does not mean I will not be getting a copy of XP for the other machine, I just may... but that is a matter for another day.

[alfredo]

18. Hit some of the Mac related forums.

Here's one

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showforum=63

They could help you with questions on the different solutions for VM.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Talked with a Mac person today at the local store

store.

We actually got into the nuts and bolts of it, from an OS perspective.

Hell, we started talking UNIX, LINUX, yes Windows, and System X and WINE.

His advise, which I was thinking of doing, is getting the machine and downloading the demo.

Some programs work like a charm under WINE, and I suspect this one will since it sort of worked under LINUX... and if it works, problem solved... literally that is the only one I have my doubts it will work. Have heard from plenty of folks running my maping sufware under WINE in both Linux and MAC, and they work, though one will need a little tweaking. aka command language (ugh)

It was the kind of talk that the rest of the sales people were just walking away... we talked security, OS, the fact that if I buy today I will have to pay for the new OS, no grace period, things like that. Oh and the last one I didn't quite apreciate but Bill Gates will do the same anyhow. Only in the Linux world you don't pay for updates

;-)

but I don't want to play with command language that much.

As is I was playing with the laptop, the one I am driving to the ground, and managed to speed it up to acceptable levels after doing some things to it, so it should serve me well until I get the Mac, whether this is tomorrow (yes the Motherboard may decide to quit next time I turn it on), or even upwards of a year or so. I like to drive hardware to the ground. Next thing I am going to do is go back other OS tweaks and do that to it. Hmm if I can find how... have not done that in a while. Hmm power using XP, yummy... so my word processor can run well

;-)


Of course maxing the RAM was a given... but I am sure you guessed that one! After all any form of emulation will eat RAM like there was no tomorrow... and the mac book will also run one of my 3D appls no problem.

That made me happy as a camper

Oh on a final edit, been asking questions from them guys... and this is the first really knowledgable person at the store.

I understand... most folks who work retail, I don't care what, really lack knowledge of the product they are selling. This is not Apple, this is the United States...

[alfredo]

20. In some CompUSA's they have an Apple employee running the

Apple store in a store. The one in my Area knows his shit. The other employees except for those in service don't seem to know that much.

It's been a while since I've had to pay for an update. I think they do give consideration for those who bought a Mac within 30 days of a paid update. I wonder it 10.5 will be $129 like the past major updates.

I had Gnome running on this machine until last week. I tried to get KDE running but the .xinitrc file broke Apple's X11.


http://www.macupdate.com/ for software
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/ more software

http://www.macnn.com/ good forums

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. I was told by the Apple store employee they don't

so that means wait for the update, and perhaps for the month of troubles to pass by

;-)

[alfredo]

22. I'm going to buy a new Mac Mini and I will wait for them to

start shipping them with 10.5.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Hey one of us does the

research, many of us benefit, but right at the moment I may be getting a deal breaker... syncing with my hand held PC... if I can't, that will be a deal breaker... to a point.

I hate you Bill Gates

:-)

But I need to be able to sync with my PDA dang it!

[alfredo]

24. Could this do the job?

http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_windowsmobile.php

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Actually that would do the job

thanks...

Will have to bookmark thread for when the Mac gets here, I ain't ordering until the next OS comes out

;-)

And wondering should I let the month of sorrows go by? Far better than the what so far year of sorrows?

[alfredo]

26. Good. Glad I could help. I think you should put on your dancing shoes

and boogie the month away.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Well did a lot of futzing under the hood with

this machine and so far it is working better.

Hell, the on switch or the motherboard might just survive the month.

:-)

Who knows, may survive even longer...

So patiently waiting for them to release an OS... oh and the rumor mill, makes some gaming boards I used to visit look like a damn walk in the park

[alfredo]

28. I've seen some people "improve" before kicking the bucket.

I hope you back up your drive every day.

It will be out before the end of the month. They want to make sure they have that OS on computers they sell at Christmas.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. Bad habit.. I back up my files every day

actually the other reasson why it improved is I did the maintainance it needed, defrag, and removed the TMP garbage...

As is if that drive goes, will not shock me, It is still the original drive

;-)

Eight years out of a drive ain't bad

I also have a full backup on an external drive... my paranoia have had it for oh... what is it... three years now

[alfredo]

30. My back up drive died a horrible death. I am hoping nothing happens

before I get my new machine.

I will be taking the 120 GIG out of this one and use it as back up for the new machine. The Remaining 40 gig will be for Linux or for storing images.

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. I knwo the feeling

one of my external drives died after it fell

Thankfully I have this HD as a backup, a second external drive, and also the win machine has two internal drives, one of which is 'mine,' so I have multiple backups, plus the thumb drive I use for works in progress

I used not to be this paranoid... but these days am truly am

[alfredo]

32. That seems to be the only problems I have with computers. Hard

drives come here to die.

[Poiuyt]

4. If you run intensive 3D apps, then the MacBook Pro might be better for you

Of course, in the old days, I ran 3D stuff on a 300mhz Powermac, so maybe a MacBook would be sufficient. Just put in as much RAM as it will take.

If you are looking for a light fast word processor, check out Bean. I just discovered it and I use it in place of Word most of the time. And it's free!

http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I just talked to the sales people at Small Dog

and yep, since I do have a Vista machine that is a powerhouse. (No, stat wise you'd be looking at the upper end of the Macs to aproach it), I will continue to use THAT one for 3D appps... it will be able to handle my writing and of course Corel Painter no problem

As to a WP... I will probably have to get neo office for the more DTP intensive side of things, and as long as Bean saves in RTF I am fine with it. I will continue to use the Vista Machine for the most intense layout (believe you me, Vista is a dog, but WORD 07 was worth every penny, since it allows me to do some very pretty DTP, that I-works will not, not even on its Publisher side of the shop)

[Poiuyt]

8. I agree that Pages from iWorks is pretty simplistic

I use either Quark or Indesign for my DTP work. And yes, Bean does save in several formats including rtf, rtf with graphics, Word, etc. It doesn't do everything that Word does, but it's fast.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. And for just entering text it may be what the doctor

ordered.

I will not order the Apple machine for a little while still

We pay cash for all these things... and I do not want to deplete the savings account... and when I do, the web specials from Small Dog are actually pretty good.

Hell, I will be maxing the RAM on it...why? Well, if I decide to run any of those intensive progies

By the way, have you tried Scribus? I just don't use it since I swear Word '07 allows me to do what I need it to do... faster.

Hell, I have publisher on that vista machine and I may use it for the next book when I need to lay it out.

Of course those needs may not be there soon, but that's another story

[Poiuyt]

15. Smalldog is a good retailer

They're very knowledgeable and they support left wing radio too!

I have not used Scribus so I can't tell about that. I just mentioned Quark and inDesign because they are both very powerful DTP programs.

BTW, here's a good page on when to buy. It gives recommendations based on if a new model is coming out soon:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Thanks got it into my bookmarks

been readyhing them for the last week or so trying to find out when Panther is commng out, (this month aparently), and for their recomendations

They are neutral on the power book

By the way, here is the proggie I want to run under emulation since I have found it to be incredibly solid

http://www.blackobelisksoftware.com/

By the way, those guys have not answered if their progie runs on emulation or not... and I hope it does. I truly do... or I will have to find an equivalent that can be used on both platforms

Oh and I forgot, I am buying from them becuase of the Thom Hartmann show and quite frankly their specials are pretty good

[moggie]

12. The Macbook is probably due for an update

When you look at where Apple has been heading style-wise, you can see that the plastic-cased Macbook is now out of step. There have been rumours of a slimmer, aluminium-cased Macbook in the pipeline. Maybe right after leopard ships? Or at least in time for xmas?

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Which means faster processor

I am almost willing to bet, and probably more memory