IDNetters Forums

Quote from: Sebby on Jan 21, 2009, 21:35:58
Excellent news. IDNet are Mac people, so that's good. I'm looking to get an iMac as well - just waiting for the rumoured new model. :)

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So what do you think of the new prices Sebby ?... Bit of sting isn't it.. Don't know what to do now... Look for an old one
or splash out on the new model. I cannot really justify spending all that much for what I want it for.
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I'm really disappointed, and it hurts me to say that because I was so excited about making the move to Apple. Whilst the "new" iMacs are still no doubt great, they are hugely over-priced, and I can't help but think of them as old technology - I don't know about you, but I was expected LED screens at least, given Apple's trend. I think I'll wait again until the next lot come out...

The $/£ won't be helping, of course.

No doubt that's Apple's justification, but considering the technology is hardly cutting-edge (it doesn't need to be, but that's not the point) they are just so expensive. I am still tempted, but I think I'll wait another year.

Apple make things we want, and they know they can get people to pay for it. You should pop over to America for a long weekend. ;D

Indeed, although I do wonder if they'll suffer this time...

I just wish OLED development would get going. When they become affordable, they should be the best display technology possible.

I've got a 24inch 2.8Ghz old stock on hold in a Cancom store.. Just trying to do a deal on the price... They want me to buy something else with it to reduce the price and seal the deal.

Quote from: Rik on Mar 04, 2009, 14:20:40
Apple make things we want, and they know they can get people to pay for it. You should pop over to America for a long weekend. ;D

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If I could carry the thing I wouldn't mind doing that. Make a mini holiday of it.

Big bag, Alan? :)

Quote from: Rik on Mar 04, 2009, 14:48:58
Big bag, Alan? :)

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The only big bags I've got Rik are under my eyes!!

Snap. :)

Having been using a Macbook for three days now,very impressive piece of kit.Love the keyboard and screen quality,its well made and solid.No problems so far linking up with the local Windows network. The OS is very straightforward. I have got XP running on a virtual box as well but seem to be managing without needing to use it at present. Yes its expensive but no regrets so far. Whether I would buy an imac? not sure its nice to have a cheaper powerful PC to take on the more heavy duty tasks and the gaming if one of the family needs it.

Have you got the address to send mine to, Steve? ;)

R Bean
Bucks

That will find you one day ;)

It would probably find me via Royal Mail. :)

Quote from: Rik on Mar 04, 2009, 14:16:46
The $/£ won't be helping, of course.

I think that is the main reason for the price increase.  At US prices the iMac looks reasonable value.

We'll just all have to move. :)

Indeed. I think I'm going to hold off for a while, at least until Snow Leopard is released. I'm itching to get a Mac, but I just don't want to regret not waiting.

Trouble is, Seb, no matter when you buy, something better/faster/cheaper will be along soon after.

My friend who works for Microsoft swears by his mac now and I admit I really like them, for me there are some IM programs that just don't let me communicate with people and to much software I would need to update, and I use my laptop for a lot of social communication, I think apple make objects we may want but on their own terms over how we use them, and at a over inflated price, I will pay for usability not idolatry. So many people have ipods but creative have great players and with better reviews etc for sound quality, that's more important to me than joining a social circus of "look at my shiny toy" But each to their own, in terms of upgrading I'm on hold now, what works stays and only gets replaced when its broken and cannot be repaired, no more updating to the next best thing, because its inevitably not.

Good points, Gary.  :thumb:

After years of being a magpie Simon I look at what I REALLY need now not what a flight of fancy would want me to have, and things like sound quality on a audio device come first, not the shell its in, some of the best amps are ugly things. My Laptop works it does all I need, it networks with my PS3 so i can play music, via my AV setup and look at my photos on my TV that,s all I need it to do and I dont really need it do do half of that if truth be told, I do not need super fast processors and graphics cards when I don't use them, its to easy to believe we need these gadgets and get in debt upgrading when the old one was actually good enough, and as time goes on I find products are built less well, and even spending more cash is no guarantee of quality any more. I'm happy with what I have and that's a good place to be :)

The one thing I would like, is a full 1080p TV, so that I can take full advantage of the Blu ray format, but I simply can't justify it, only having bought my Panasonic plasma two and a half years ago.  I also made a mistake in buying the Arcam amp last year, as it doesn't support HD audio formats, but it does make standard DVDs sound great.

Despite what I said the other day, I found myself still wanting to make the move to Mac now. So, I've pulled the trigger, so to speak. ;)

I went for a 24 inch iMac - 2.93GHz, 4GB RAM, 640GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 256MB memory, Apple wireless Mighty Mouse, Apple wireless keyboard, AppleCare.

I cannot wait... ;D

You will just have to Sebby  ;D when is the big day ?

Delivery is current estimated for 18-19 March, though I suspect/hope it will be next week some time.

I want a blow by blow description of your transition, Seb. :)

Sure thing. I'm so excited; I'm really looking forward to the world of Mac, and hopefully I won't be disappointed. I'm also excited about a 24" display. You did always tell me it was the way to go. ;)

It is, believe me. :)

QuoteDelivery is current estimated for 18-19 March, though I suspect/hope it will be next week some time.

Hope it is for you Sebby will read with interest..... :thumb:

I love new toys  ;D

Another one moving to the dark side :evil: Having used OS X for 5 days  It offers very little excitement it simply does the job its supposed to . If you feel you are missing something Virtual box seems to work well with OS X. you just need a copy of xp and a license key.

I miss defragging,Windows defender, UAC, spyware and AV software .I have AV on the XP virtual disk

Good luck with it, Seb!  :thumb:

:)x

Thanks, guys. :)

Quote from: Simon on Mar 05, 2009, 11:49:45
The one thing I would like, is a full 1080p TV, so that I can take full advantage of the Blu ray format, but I simply can't justify it, only having bought my Panasonic plasma two and a half years ago.  I also made a mistake in buying the Arcam amp last year, as it doesn't support HD audio formats, but it does make standard DVDs sound great.

I have a full 1080p TV simon and i bought a Sony STRDA2400ES which does true HD, the tv is  a Sony KDLW4500 which has a great picture, I got some Pioneer S V410 speakers, all much cheaper now as new things come out but the amp is gorgeous had great reviews in what hi fi as did the TV and speakers, now that's going to stay for years, I got the Sony BDP-S550 bluray player and I'm happy. I ditched the big tower pc and got a laptop, Acer gemstone 8930 with 4gig ddr 3 ram, 640GB hdd at 7200rrpm and a 18.4" screen with a res of 1920 by 1080 and dual band intel wireless draft N wifi adaptor, with a dual core T9400 2.53ghz processor, it suits me fine for all I will ever use a pc now and I can take it outside in the summer into the garden, it has a built in freeview tuner and bluray drive, this will stay with me till it breaks also, I'm happy with all I have now  and with recession being the catch phrase for the next god knows how many years I am not going to be buying many new gadgets, all I have is all I need at this time, and for the foreseeable future. There is always going to be something newer and brighter and with extra chic but its a money pit getting stuck into that routine, which I spent years doing, its tighten your belts time and as I said the next new thing these days seems worse than the last new thing, I toyed with the idea of a mac but I have all my money invested in windows software, and I cant justify the use of one when I don't need its features. I'll rethink in ten years on Apple as long as they are still not status symbols, possiby  ;)

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 08, 2009, 00:20:25
:)x

Thanks, guys. :)

My Microsoft mate swears by his mac  ;D I just have gotten a bad taste from Apple so to speak, as they are somewhat akin to status symbols and not always with functionality at the forefront, but some MacBooks and pretty much all iMacs and Mac Pros are gorgeous, if i could justify one I would have bought one, but alas I can't, have fun with it Sebby. No registry.......oh you lucky man  :thumb:

Don't think you will be disappointed Sebby. I've had my 24" iMac since Jan 2008 and it has been plain sailing all the way. By the look of your spec, you should have no problems whatsoever.

I do know that there were some batches which had problems with the screens (dead pixels) but I did not experience this with mine. There were some issues with Leopard when it first came out (as with most new OS) but it is really solid now. I reckon it's a good idea to get it now before Snow Leopard arrives - wait for the bugs to get ironed out and then upgrade when it is generally considered "solid".

The temptation is always to keep adding things too! Noticed you have gone for wireless keyboard and mouse, so figured you are going for the really minimal look! If that is the case, then a Time Capsule is really good too, so no plugging in external hard hard drives/cables - works great with backups (Time Machine works and you don't even notice it) + great for wireless.

I'd say the only thing against the wireless keyboards and mouse is the batteries and their usage. I have the wireless mouse (not keyboard) and one set (x2) of Energizer Lithium batteries lasts me 2 months – that's with 12 hours continual use, 5/6 days a week. It's not a big deal really but make sure you have some spares!

All the best for when it arrives. Don't think there will be any turning back once you have used it for a while. :)

Any thoughts on iwork09 or macoffice 2008 Weevil? Obviously familiar with Windows office using mainly word powerpoint and excel. I do not require anything with too many functions but good integration with ilife 09 sounds sensible and the ability to communicate with windows users.

To be honest Steve, I don't have first-hand experience of iWork09 and Macoffice 2008. I have (and do use) older versions but not in any great capacity, so wouldn't like to advise too much one way or the other.

What I would say, is that if you are ok with Office then iWorks should be very easy to pick up. It's made in such a way as to attract Office (basically Pages is Word, Numbers is Excel and Keynote is Powerpoint) users and enable them to get straight into it. iWorks does look nicer (as is the case with most Mac things) and is straight-forward but not sure that when you start digging deeper whether it stands up so well.

If you have a look at Versiontracker and other comparison sites, they both have mixed reactions. I think some find iWorks a bit lightweight compared to Office.

Historically, getting Windows users opening Mac/OSX native software can be problematic (not so much the other way). If communicating with Windows users is vital, I would say the path of least resistance would be to get Macoffice. The good thing is, I'm pretty sure that you can get fully functioning trial versions of both, so this would give you a good chance to compare and contrast the merits of both.

Thanks for the comments. I'm going with Office 2008 because I need Excel. :)

Hi everyone

I've been using a MacBook Pro for 2 years now and don't regret it at all, software updates and installation are so much easier. Can't wait for Snow Leopard to come out.

We still have a PC which my wife uses as my laptop has only a 120gb hard drive, but the good news is I am in the market for an iMac 24in 3.06 with a terrabyte of hard drive space, would definely go for wireless keyboard and mouse.

I just love Apple products mainly because they just work, have had a problem with my battery in laptop but a call to Applecare took 24hrs to send me a new one and the delivery man waited while repackaged the old battery for return, then Apple emailed to say they had recieved it the next day.

That's what I call service.


RogerP 

Thanks for that, Roger.  :thumb:

This thread is just making me more excited! Delivery is still showing as 18-19th March, but my fingers are crossed that it'll be sooner!

It's only a week or so, Seb - use the time to clear some space. :)

I'm away anyway this week, but it would be nice if it was waiting for me when I get back on Friday. ;)

I'll talk to Santa. ;)

:thnks:

Thanks Weevil. Not sure which way to go with the office package. I have tonight tried to import a calender.xls 97-2004 windows file in to Numbers and it doesn't want to know.I have had no issues yet with word.doc files into Pages (trial version)

My iMac has now been shipped and, as far as I can tell, is due to be delivered tomorrow. :fingers:

I've also ordered Office 2008 for Mac so I'm still reasonably compatible. :)

We'll all bate our breath for tomorrow then.  :)

I can't work out whether it's coming straight from China or not. I've got a feeling it is (or was).

Oh, I wouldn't have wanted a Chinese one!  Does it come with prawn balls?

If I'm lucky! :D

Quote from: Rik on Mar 12, 2009, 13:30:43
We'll all bate our breath for tomorrow then.  :)

Good luck with it Sebby, I think you will love it, I was looking at them online, £800 to fit an extra ram was a bit steep, I'm sure you can do that a hell of a lot cheaper yourself, but they look so gorgeous, and a standard they were cheaper than my Acer Gemstone, you will love it, every time I have used one I loved it, I just need Windows for communication as there is no messaging software that uses webcams for macs that talks to live messenger, and also all my software is windows based only, those two things were what stopped me in the end the cost of new software being very prohibitive. I can't wait to here what you think, I doubt you will miss windows at all  :thumb:

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 12, 2009, 13:36:18I can't work out whether it's coming straight from China or not. I've got a feeling it is (or was).

Bet the chips will taste extra good as well  ;)


Edit: markup sorted

What you have to remember about the RAM, Gary, is that it's DDR3, not DDR2 like most PCs. To upgrade to 8GB RAM, you need 2 x 4GB sticks. Even Crucial are charging £650 for that.

Even on my iMac, a lot of the cost will be in the 4GB RAM. Also, you have a 24" LCD, aluminium casing, etc. They're still over-priced, but I reckon they're significantly more expense to manufacture than you might think.

I'm very much looking forward to it. :)

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 12, 2009, 13:42:09
What you have to remember about the RAM, Gary, is that it's DDR3, not DDR2 like most PCs. To upgrade to 8GB RAM, you need 2 x 4GB sticks. Even Crucial are charging £650 for that.

I'm very much looking forward to it. :)

I have DDR3 in mine Sebby, it is expensive, it will be interesting to see how the prices go with the slump in PC sales, the excitement of learning a new OS will be great I bet. They are also built well, having control over the build and software does make for a more reliable machine I think

Six hundred and fifty pounds for RAM?  :o

Quote from: Simon on Mar 12, 2009, 13:50:39
Six hundred and fifty pounds for RAM?  :o

I have 4GB of DDR3 in my laptop Simon and its pretty expensive, its just not a standard yet so they still charge a premium for it

You could buy a pretty good complete PC for that sort of money.  :shake:

Yep, DDR3 is very expensive at the moment.

By the way, if anyone's interested, the new Macs come with a Firewire 800 socket rather than a Firewire 400, and the physical connection is different. I suspect PCs will begin coming with Firewire 800 as well very soon, if not already. I use Firewire to connect my backup drive as it's faster than USB 2.0 in practice. You can buy a Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 cable to solve this issue - I went for this one (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=265546). :thumb:

I'm always amazed that external HD manufacturers haven't opted for Firewire more than they have, Seb, it has clear advantages over uSB (albeit a smaller market).

Once you've done your first big backup with Time machine its set to back up every hour by default . So data transfer speed becomes less important. I am using wireless N and it just occurs unobtrusively in the background.

I have also purchased a very big book by David Pogue called MAC OS Leopard "THE MISSING MANUAL" which is very readable and could also act as a wheel chock and stop a truck from rolling downhill when you've finished with it

My Mac Pro developed a fault recently. Occasionally I would see artifacts on screen. A reboot fixed it. But rebooting a Mac is almost never necessary. The problem got progressively worse until it got to the stage where the screen would either lock-up or just disappear.

I called Mac Support who told me that my Mac was one month out of warranty. Typical! But they asked me to describe the fault and immediately conceded that I had a video card from a batch that was known to be bad. Two days later I received a brand new video card free of charge. Fabulous service.
S

It's nice when a manufacturer stands behind their product, isn't it. :)

Quote from: stevethegas on Mar 12, 2009, 15:39:18
I have also purchased a very big book by David Pogue called MAC OS Leopard "THE MISSING MANUAL" which is very readable and could also act as a wheel chock and stop a truck from rolling downhill when you've finished with it

Already have it - bought it back in December when I was first thinking about getting a Mac. ;D

Quote from: Rik on Mar 12, 2009, 15:41:18
It's nice when a manufacturer stands behind their product, isn't it. :)

I have to say, everything I've read about Apple's after-sales service has been good, which is encouraging.

I wonder if Sue would go for me switching us to Macs?  :evil:

Quote from: Gary on Mar 12, 2009, 13:40:04
Good luck with it Sebby, I think you will love it, I was looking at them online, £800 to fit an extra ram was a bit steep, I'm sure you can do that a hell of a lot cheaper yourself, but they look so gorgeous, and a standard they were cheaper than my Acer Gemstone, you will love it, every time I have used one I loved it, I just need Windows for communication as there is no messaging software that uses webcams for macs that talks to live messenger, and also all my software is windows based only, those two things were what stopped me in the end the cost of new software being very prohibitive. I can't wait to here what you think, I doubt you will miss windows at all  :thumb:

My kids all ways moaned at me about the lack off webcam facility in MSN for OSX and kept booting our iMac into Windows just to use Messenger, that is until I found aMSN which is available for OSX from http://www.amsn-project.net/ . They think it is great and in some ways better than the Windows version.

Useful to know, thanks for that.  :thumb:

Quote from: Rik on Mar 12, 2009, 15:48:04
I wonder if Sue would go for me switching us to Macs?  :evil:

You won't know until you try... ;D

I'll wait until she's back at least. :)

Quote from: Rik on Mar 12, 2009, 15:48:04
I wonder if Sue would go for me switching us to Macs?  :evil:

Only if it was from an anorak

I like my anorak, it suits me. ;D

Quote from: Simon_idnet on Mar 12, 2009, 15:40:13
My Mac Pro developed a fault recently. Occasionally I would see artifacts on screen. A reboot fixed it. But rebooting a Mac is almost never necessary. The problem got progressively worse until it got to the stage where the screen would either lock-up or just disappear.

I called Mac Support who told me that my Mac was one month out of warranty. Typical! But they asked me to describe the fault and immediately conceded that I had a video card from a batch that was known to be bad. Two days later I received a brand new video card free of charge. Fabulous service.
S

I had the same problem in my home Mac Pro. Took me slightly more convincing until I pointed them to the Blizzard bug report about them. This was a year or so ago when they had just started to fail and the common link seemed to be WoW and a new version of OpenGL. WoW was the only thing that took advantage of the multi threaded OpenGL and hence drove the card hard enough for it to overheat. I've had no problems with the replacement card.

Quote from: stevethegas on Mar 09, 2009, 18:33:55
Thanks Weevil. Not sure which way to go with the office package. I have tonight tried to import a calender.xls 97-2004 windows file in to Numbers and it doesn't want to know.I have had no issues yet with word.doc files into Pages (trial version)

Have you thought of trying the free NeoOffice? It is a Mac friendly version of Open Office, I don't do a lot of spreadsheets etc. however it handles most Microsoft Office formats without any problem and will export in the various Office formats.

See http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php (http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php)

Thanks :thumb: Will take a look, All I need is to be able to export to Windows Office 97-2003 for work

Quote from: stevethegas on Mar 13, 2009, 07:06:32
Thanks :thumb: Will take a look, All I need is to be able to export to Windows Office 97-2003 for work

Neo Office is written in Java and has a reputation for being slow - Apple's Java implementation not being one of the best.  Why not use Open Office?  I believe there is now a native version for the Mac and it's free!  WHSmith are selling it on DVD for £10 or so complete with a paper manual, which I think includes the Mac native version.

Quote from: Tacitus on Mar 13, 2009, 10:46:50
Neo Office is written in Java and has a reputation for being slow - Apple's Java implementation not being one of the best.  Why not use Open Office?  I believe there is now a native version for the Mac and it's free!  WHSmith are selling it on DVD for £10 or so complete with a paper manual, which I think includes the Mac native version.

NeoOffice is perhaps slow to open, however in operation I don't find it slow. I have not tried the Mac version of Open Office itself, until Open Office 3 it was apparently difficult to use on a Mac requiring the installation of X11 which is way beyond me!.

Quote from: Najarak on Mar 13, 2009, 10:59:23
NeoOffice is perhaps slow to open, however in operation I don't find it slow. I have not tried the Mac version of Open Office itself, until Open Office 3 it was apparently difficult to use on a Mac requiring the installation of X11 which is way beyond me!.

If you've got Leopard you should have X11 already installed. It is optional but installed by default.

Quote from: stevethegas on Mar 13, 2009, 07:06:32
Thanks :thumb: Will take a look, All I need is to be able to export to Windows Office 97-2003 for work

Will you need any VBA? In one of Microsoft's more brain dead moments Office 2008 dropped support for it although it is coming back in the next release. If any of your work spreadsheets need VBA you'll need to get a copy of Office 2004 instead

Or Windows... :out:

Now why on earth would you want to do that, Lance? :P

I've just installed Sun's Virtual Box and then Windows 2000 Pro (as a Virtual Machine within Virtual Box) on my Mac - I've never seen Windows run so fast!
S

What, not Vista, Simon?  :evil:

I have done the same with XP using virtualbox it certainly flies, I thought about Vista but on the Macbook I've only 2gb to play with and as we know it could use all of that. I could double the memory but as far as I can see 2gb is plenty for me. The activity monitor shows the amount of page outs to the swap file and even with multiple applications open these are very small in comparison to page ins.

Quote from: Rik on Mar 14, 2009, 08:22:28
What, not Vista, Simon?  :evil:

:zip:

At long last, my iMac has been delivered today. Unfortunately, I'm away from home until Friday, so I'll have to wait. It's killing me! :'( ;D

Send it to me, Seb, I'll play and let you know what I think. ;D (I do understand your frustration, though. :()

:)x

So presumably any moment now I'll be finding out how to use my macbook >:D

I will be intersted in any comments regarding memory usage especially if your are running a Virtual Machine. I feel 2Gb is borderline if I give more than 500mb to  a Virtual Device running XP. Certainly I can  have many applications open and have a Virtual machine in a "space" and it still manages photo editing of RAW images although at this stage pageouts are increasing to the swap file.

4Gb ddr3 is £58  from crucial but it depends how I use the machine .Is it sensible to leave applications open in their own "space" or should I use it as I used to run Windows which involved closing applications I'm not using.

Well, I've had my iMac setup for a matter of hours, so everything is very strange for me at the moment. But, as I expected, I'm in love. ;D

First of all is the look of thing... It's beautiful. A 24" screen is absolutely huge; it's going to take some getting used to, although I think I am already! The LCD is so bright and vibrant - it's just amazing.

The machine starts up in no time and hardly audible. Everything is rapid and a pleasure to do, but it's so different to Windows and that's going to take some getting used to. For example, installing and uninstalling is a very different process (much easier on the Mac, but a strange concept to grasp).

I don't think I'll be running Virtual Machine, Steve. Mine has 4GB DDR3. Are you sure 4GB DDR3 is only £58? I thought it was a lot more expensive than that at the moment.

Stop it!  You're tempting me!   ;D  But I think I'll wait for deflation to kick in.  ;)

:hehe:

Its laptop memory Sebby.. I am just wondering if its at a price I can't refuse

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=2E9B2B4EA5CA7304

With regard to virtual machine. XP does run very well indeed inside virtualbox

Ah, well that sounds like a pretty good price to me.

I'm loving this. Just copying everything across. :)

I got a imac 3 years ago migrated from windows (a user for like eternity) it gave me headaches for about 2 weeks and then everything just worked, what ever i needed to do, it just worked, no headaches (a bit like idnet)

but apple kinda lock you in and then you forgive them for setting you free, to be productive, with no hassles

plus every thing on screen looks beautiful, which is nice

So far, everything has been a pleasure. I'm still getting used to the enormous screen. Things I particularly like - it switches on and boots within about 30 seconds and applications open instantly.

I've still got a lot to do today - bringing all my stuff across, getting things setup just how I like them, and getting the Time Machine backup sorted. :)

Worth a read should you be tempted http://sidstudios.blogspot.com/2008/11/virtualboxs-seamless-mode-in-mac-os-x.html

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 20, 2009, 21:13:46
First of all is the look of thing... It's beautiful. A 24" screen is absolutely huge; it's going to take some getting used to, although I think I am already! The LCD is so bright and vibrant - it's just amazing.

Give it a couple of days, Seb, and everything else will look small.

Quote from: Rik on Mar 21, 2009, 11:15:51
Give it a couple of days, Seb, and everything else will look small.

I have to agree with Rik, Using my 2x 24" monitors here at home then going to work using my 2x 22" monitors is weird. 2" doesn't seem a big diff, but it is!

Got any pics Seb?

I'm thinking about getting a mac for graphic work etc.

If it wasn't for adobes high price's i would go fully to a mac but i can't be bothered to spend all that money again for the full packages!

Macs have always been the standard in the graphics industry, Paul, but as you say, there's a heavy Adobe investment to make the change. They did use to offer a 40% discount on cross-platform switches.

Quote from: psp83 on Mar 21, 2009, 11:59:41
Got any pics Seb?

I'm thinking about getting a mac for graphic work etc.

If it wasn't for adobes high price's i would go fully to a mac but i can't be bothered to spend all that money again for the full packages!

I'll take a few pics for you today. :)

Quote from: psp83 on Mar 21, 2009, 11:57:25
2" doesn't seem a big diff, but it is!

I am trying recall where I've heard this said before :whistle:

:rofl:

:pmsl:

I've had to take the pictures with my iPhone as I'm still getting the hang of the Mac, but hopefully these are a good start. :)

[attachment deleted by admin]

Looks sexy, Seb. :)

It's very sexy. ;D

Enjoy, I would. :)

Get a Mac next. ;)

I've already pencilled one in to replace the notebook. :)

:)x

I've now got Time Machine setup. Things are going well. :)

How do you get on with the keyboard, Sebby?

Just in case your now skint  http://www.opensourcemac.org/

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 21, 2009, 16:34:50
:)x

I've now got Time Machine setup. Things are going well. :)

Does that make you Dr Who?

Looks great, Seb!  :thumb:  What's the Time Machine?

So, pardon my ignorance, but is everything enclosed within the actual monitor?

Quote from: Lance on Mar 21, 2009, 16:40:23
How do you get on with the keyboard, Sebby?

Absolutely fine. I must admit I was a bit worried, but it's really nice.

Quote from: Rik on Mar 21, 2009, 16:53:19
Does that make you Dr Who?

I guess so. :P

Quote from: Simon on Mar 21, 2009, 16:54:20
Looks great, Seb!  :thumb:  What's the Time Machine?

It's the built-in backup software. After the initial backup, backups are incremental and so you can restore to a point (Windows System Restore is only settings, but this is everything). It's automatic and requires no user-intervention.

Quote from: Simon on Mar 21, 2009, 17:00:51
So, pardon my ignorance, but is everything enclosed within the actual monitor?

Indeed it is. Check out http://www.apple.com/uk/imac and prepare to be amazed. ;D

I will, when I'm on my PC.  :)

Have you found a decent instant messenger program that supports webcam useage with msn messenger Sebby, I have seen Mercury mentioned, if you use them and any are good can you let us know that's very important to me, my the laptop is a social tool as well as being a pc.

Have a look at this  (http://www.amsn-project.net/) messenger program  Gary, it was mentioned either in this thread or another and the OP commented that the video worked fine on a mac

There's another one here, Gary:  http://adiumx.com/

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 21, 2009, 21:50:19
It's the built-in backup software. After the initial backup, backups are incremental and so you can restore to a point (Windows System Restore is only settings, but this is everything). It's automatic and requires no user-intervention.

Will it backup to an external drive, Seb?

Time machine will backup to external drive (firewire or usb) or another mac running Leopard. The Time Capsule is the guaranteed network backup option its also will act as a router/N wireless access point. It automatically does an hourly backup and then house keeps various daily,weekly and monthly backups

Thanks, Steve.  :thumb:

Quote from: Rik on Mar 22, 2009, 10:26:36
Will it backup to an external drive, Seb?

Yep, it's going to my WD MyBook.

Thanks. :)

Quote from: Simon on Mar 22, 2009, 09:56:58
There's another one here, Gary:  http://adiumx.com/

I don't think that supports video chat on Macs  :(

Cheers people, since getting the laptop my back has got a lot worse (bending forward) and putting it on loads of books is not going to work as typing would be awful, so if I could get a instant messenger program to work it may well be worth me getting one, I was fine with my old Monitor and pc i sat very much upright and the chair is fantastic for that, its a pain that my posture makes or breaks even the damn gadgets I use but I could stretch to a mac if i could use that single feature I always avoided them because of that as I talk to my friends on webcam a lot as i cannot get out, and apart from Sebby and a few people on here everyone I know uses a pc so isight would be useless  >:(

I think you mean iChat... iSight is the name given to the camera. Just because it's a Mac doesn't mean that you can't use the webcam with MSN Messenger.

Quote from: Gary on Mar 22, 2009, 17:36:17
...... I could stretch to a mac if i could use that single feature I always avoided them because of that as I talk to my friends on webcam a lot as i cannot get out, and apart from Sebby and a few people on here everyone I know uses a pc so isight would be useless  >:(

Check out this (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8892337&#8892337) thread over on Apple discussions, which might give you some pointers.

I use the built in iSight camera on the MacBook to chat with someone over on AIM which has always worked fine.  AIM is free but you have to register a username and you then logon using iChat.

I've never used MSN for chat but I believe it is possible.

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 22, 2009, 18:40:58
I think you mean iChat... iSight is the name given to the camera. Just because it's a Mac doesn't mean that you can't use the webcam with MSN Messenger.

Its not because its a mac Sebby, its just that many programs were not given good reviews for macs a while back, I just needed to know what its like nowa days, I got confused about ichat and isight, the firewire isight webcam you can get for macs (not built in one obviously) is fantastic, the pic quality is amazing, its just I'm house bound now, so the mac would need to be able to use the webcam and have decent software so I could chat with my friends, its my only social life now you see, and I talk to people on a daily basis on mine. Thanks for your help  :thumb:

Quote from: Tacitus on Mar 22, 2009, 18:44:15
Check out this (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8892337&#8892337) thread over on Apple discussions, which might give you some pointers.

I use the built in iSight camera on the MacBook to chat with someone over on AIM which has always worked fine.  AIM is free but you have to register a username and you then logon using iChat.

I've never used MSN for chat but I believe it is possible.

Thanks, I'll look into that  :)

Quote from: Gary on Mar 22, 2009, 19:49:44
....... the firewire isight webcam you can get for macs (not built in one obviously) is fantastic, the pic quality is amazing, its just I'm house bound now, so the mac would need to be able to use the webcam........

Not sure from this post whether you have one of the original firewire iSight webcams or were thinking of getting one.  If the latter I would be careful as there have been reports of them not working properly with the later Macs.  Not sure why but some have suggested the power requirements were too heavy. 

I did have my eye on one in a local S/H shop which I wanted to use with the G5, but decided to pass.

Another site that is useful for Macs and WebCams is this one (http://ecamm.com/).  They are very good with USB WebCams for Macs and supply drivers for those for which are not UVC compliant.  The only problem is their list of 'compatible' webcams tends to use manufacturers codes used in the US, which are not necessarily the same as those in the UK.

TBH if you did decide to go the Mac route I doubt you would find any insurmountable problems.  Mac users  are a friendly bunch - a bit like iDNetters - so there's lots of help out there.

The slighty convoluted way would be to use Parallels the virtual device software and then use Windows msn messenger. I think Parallels is the only VM software that currently works with isight camera? I have failed sofar to get isight functioning within Virtualbox XP using the  correct xp drivers from Apple.

Running an additional OS on a mac  seems to work extremely well providing you've got the ram to allocate to it.

Hi

I have found that MS Messenger, Adium, iChat can't be used with Apple webcams as the software does not support it at the moment, iChat is difficult as it will work but only to other Mac users .
Adium website says it's working on it, so do Microsoft although you can use these pieces of software if you want to type everything!!.

Hope this helps

Rogerp

Quote from: RogerP on Mar 23, 2009, 11:21:55
... iChat is difficult as it will work but only to other Mac users .

You can use an AIM login with iChatAV and AFAIK you can connect to other Windows based AIM users.  The problem is that iChat uses the AIM protocols and, though I believe you can do text chat with MSN buddies using a Jabber account via iChat, you can't do video chat. 

There's a thread here (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8998046&#8998046) which may be helpful.

I believe when Windows Live Messenger 9 is officially released support for AV will be added to MS messenger (mac version)

Just a little update... Loving the Mac more and more. ;D

It looks everything.......and more Sebby   :bawl: :bawl: I want one  :thumb:

Shall I tell Wendy or will you, David?

Stupid question time:  Can all existing Windows files be transferred to, and opened with an iMac?  I think one prohibition would be having to replace all of my Windows software, which would be quite a financial outlay.

Most, some may need conversion. As you say, the big cost is in software, for me that includes a lot of fonts.

What format fonts are you using? OS X supports PostScript Type1, Multiple Master, TrueType (Mac and Windows versions), OpenType and dfont

Type 1 - but the Mac and Windows variants have always been different, afaik, and you had to buy for both platforms - at least when I was working.

Surely you could jusst 'make do' though Rik! Or just keep one machine running Windows!

Me, make do when it comes to fonts? No chance. :) I'd have to buy the Gill, Adobe Garamond, Colmcille and Cluny fonts as a minimum. ;)

Stupid question, but how much do fonts actually cost? I'm guessing that you have to buy in families?

I'm out of touch with costs, Lance, but for Gill, say, I'd want Gill Sans light (regular, italic and small caps, Gills Sans Book (R,I,SC), Gill Sans (R, I Bold, BoldItalic, SC), Gill Sans Heavy (R, SC), Gill Sans Condensed (R, I), Gill Sans Schoolbook (R, I, B, BI), Colmcille would be (R, I, B, BI, Alt & Ornaments), Garamond would be (R, I, Semi-Bold, Semi-Bold Italic, B, BI, Bold OSF & Alt). I suspect current prices are in the region of £20 per weight - but that's just a guess.

A quick check suggests the Gill would cost me about $500...

I believe that you should be able to convert them with something like FontForge to use on the Mac. Assuming that doesn't violate whatever usage rights they come with.

Licences prohibit modification, Sadly, Rich, but I might be able to talk nicely to my remaining contacts at Monotype. ;)

I had no idea fonts would cost that much!

Professional ones do, Lance. I spent thousands on them when I was working. :(

Simon, the only files that I've transferred over that are useless are exe files, but that's obvious. :)

As far as fonts go, it doesn't interest me in the slightest! I'm sure the fonts that are already there are fine for me!

But it's those .exe files which cost money to replace, Seb, and it addition to buying the hardware, it could soon mount up.  :)

Well no, not for me at least - the exe files on my computer were free downloads. The only paid program I run is Office, which I've bought for the Mac.

Hi Sebby

One of the better sources for Mac software is here: http://www.versiontracker.com/

Simon

You can, of course, run your old Windows software on an Intel-based Mac using a variety of virtualization software. VMWare, Parallels and VirtualBox will give you a full virtualised Windows machine. You just need to supply a copy of Windows. Or you can use Crossover which doesn't need a copy of Windows as it's a commercialised version of Wine.

Quote from: Simon_idnet on Mar 24, 2009, 14:52:35
One of the better sources for Mac software is here: http://www.versiontracker.com/

Another one is here. (http://www.macupdate.com)  Take your pick - either would be a good choice.

I prefer linux to mac.

more engineer oriantated

Quote from: Simon_idnet on Mar 24, 2009, 14:52:35
Hi Sebby

One of the better sources for Mac software is here: http://www.versiontracker.com/

Simon

Thanks, Simon. :thumb:

Quote from: g7pkf on Mar 24, 2009, 17:28:39
more engineer oriantated

More of a pain to do anything. :P