About To Become A Reluctant Apple Owner

[Ornery]

Apple's shipment confirmation showed the order arriving Tuesday and requiring a signature. Got a knock at the door by my favorite UPS driver, with a small 1/2lb. package in his hand. While signing for it, I asked if there was another package on the truck. I thought he might be busting our balls, but he said, "No, why?" We told him we were expecting a whole PC! He looked bummed and said, "Well, now I feel like my whole day was wasted." He's a hoot, but we weren't too happy. Turns out the shipment was just the "Apple Care" agreement :roll:

I checked the order status and the thing wasn't due to ship till 05-05-2005 at the latest, but was still processing. Later that evening, it said it was shipped via FedEx from Shanghai, CN. On Wednesday evening it was in Anchorage, AK! I told my son it would be funny if it could get a travel sticker from everywhere it visits.

Today when I got home after work, he hollered from his room, for me to check the tracking. It said, Left at front door. No signature required - release waiver on file. Then, he popped in the doorway of my den, with the laptop opened and running! :Q

Thank goodness that waiver was on file, or we would have been waiting another day, since he was at school when it arrived.

He said it was fully charged when it arrived, he ran it all the way down, and charged it back up by the time we got home at about 6:00PM. I could see no dead pixels, and everything seemed to be working OK. It came with "Tiger" pre-installed, so I have no idea how different that is from the previous version. It has just been attached to the network via cable, since the wireless access point hasn't arrived yet. There is no hope of getting it to print via the router's print server, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get it to print to the other printer connected to my PC. I'll know for sure tomorrow evening.

Any torture tests I should throw at it to wring out any bugs?

 

[imported_Lucifer]

Just curious, when you say the wireless access point hasn't arrived, are you talking about the Airport base station? This wouldn't be necessary as long as you have a router or DSL/Cable modem with built in wireless capabilities that allows your computer to connect wirelessly for internet access. My sisters iBook is connected wirelessly on our DSL 2Wire modem.

As for bugs in Tiger, if you got the chance to read Anandtechs review of Tiger, they do point out some bugs Tiger has. I haven't used Tiger yet, so I can't help you there.

 

[Ornery]

DI-713P Wireless 802.11b Router Broadband +ACCESS Point 3PT Switch Refurbished for $31.99

• The D-Link DI-713P is a broadband IEEE 802.11b compliant wireless gateway. The DI-713P provides the ability to share a broadband connection as well as a print server function. The D-Link DI-713P allows a DSL or Cable Modem connection to be shared through either its three local 10/100 Ethernet ports or via its integrated Wireless IEEE 802.11b component. The DI-713P is equipped with a bi-directional LPT port to support a direct printer connection. The DI-713's integrated Router and Firewall provide NAT, DHCP, and packet filtering services between the local network and the Internet.

It arrived today and worked flawlessly, till I tried to access the print server using its port driver, which I had downloaded from their site, for WinXP. No dice! I was NOT happy! Finally found the following solution:

You may print without the D-Link Printer software in Windows 2000/XP

So, the new (refurbished) $32.00 Router/Switch/Printserver/Wireless Access Point is working fine. The Powerbook can see and be seen on the network, and can access the Internet with a very strong connection from anywhere in the house. The last problem to tackle is accessing our printer connected to my PC. It returns the following error, no matter what we've tried:

• NT_STATUS_BAD_NETWORK_NAME

I may have better luck getting it to access the print server via TCP/IP! We'll try again later, but it's time for family pizza/movie night. "Ladder 49" is all cued up... later, gang!

 

[Ornery]

We finally got it to print, and using our router's print server no less!

We used TCP/IP and a "GIMP/CUPS" print driver for our HP 895C printer.

 

[LordMorpheus]

an architecture school requiring mac?

Because all the professional architecural programs are mac only, like Autocad, etc. etc.

Oh, wait . . . .

 

[Ornery]

The college of Design Architecture Art and Planning offers eight undergraduate degrees covering twelve creative fields: Digital Design, Fashion Design (including a Design Track and a Product Development Track), Graphic Design, Industrial Design (including a Design Track and a Transportation Track), Architecture, Interior Design, Art History, Fine Arts, Urban Planning, and Urban Studies. Undergraduate programs combine rigorous disciplinary focus with the UC General Education Program. Graduate Degrees include: Master of Arts in Art History, Master of Arts in Education, Master of Community Planning, Master of Design, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Architecture, and Master of Science in Architecture. A PhD program is available from the School of Planning in Regional Development Planning.

Computer Requirements vary, depending on the program. For instance, Digital Design requires the Powerbookand Industrial Design requires a Dell Precision M70. Either one is worth more than the other four PCs on our network combined!

 

[Excelsior]

I hope he enjoys the powerbook. Good luck.

 

[Ornery]

This is the first portable we've EVER owned, so that's cool in itself.

I'm trying to extend the range of the wireless. Anywhere in the house is OK, about half the signal bars displayed at worst, but as soon as I step into the porch it pukes. That's about 40' in a straight line, but through several walls. Can I connect some kind of external antenna to this wireless router?

Edit: Holy crap, repeaters cost far more than our refurbished router!

 

[Excelsior]

You could get a 802.11g+b router.

 

[0roo0roo]

heck, frys has sales on g routers for like what? 20 bux all the time. linksys g routers on sale in hotdeals i believe. sweet 3rd party firmwares and power boosting for that one.

 

[Lorn]

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (where I will be attending) requires the purchase of a brand new Powerbook. Along with this, we are delivered free of charge a very large suite of software which includes the entire Adobe CS 2 collection, Macromedia Studio MX and applications from Apple which include the Final Cut Studio applications. The software package itself is worth more than the actual computer, so that's easing some of my pain in purchasing the laptop after purchasing my G5 in December. I'm sure they require a certain type of laptop to ensure that all students are on the same page when it comes to hardware, that when problems arise they can be fixed, and that software updates are readily available.

 

[RichieZ]

Originally posted by: Ornery
This is the first portable we've EVER owned, so that's cool in itself.

I'm trying to extend the range of the wireless. Anywhere in the house is OK, about half the signal bars displayed at worst, but as soon as I step into the porch it pukes. That's about 40' in a straight line, but through several walls. Can I connect some kind of external antenna to this wireless router?

Edit: Holy crap, repeaters cost far more than our refurbished router!

powerbooks just have crap wireless range in general, probalby due to the aluminum case. When I upgraded from an ibook to my current powerbook I definelty noticed a loss in reception. And both pailed in comparison to my X31.

Its a minor issue tho, I've almost stopped using my thinkpad in favor of my powerbook, only things like VS.net, SQL server, and GMAT study programs force me to use my thinkpad. You can look into using virtual PC7 on his powerbook, I have it and using windows 2k it runs decent.

 

[Ornery]

I'm beginning to see that the adapter plays as great a role as the access point. Never thought about that. I can see where a repeater would solve that problem, though.

I appreciate the help from some people. But, the nitwits who post that X router can be purchased at X store for next to nothing, knowing that a wireless unit has already been purchased for ONLY $32.00, complete with a required print server, are REALLY no fvcking help at all, especially since they supply no link to these wondrous vapor hot deals!

 

[Go3iverson]

I never liked laptops until I got my first PowerBook. I've since upgraded to the new 17" 1.67GHz PowerBook from Apple and love it! The 17" screen makes the 15" just seem like a toy. You might be best served to look into an external display for the PowerBook as well. Especially when working with graphic files, having the extra space will be a big help. Even if they're just able to use the larger display for the graphics and keep all their 'fun' apps displayed on the PowerBook (like Safari, Mail, iChat) they'll be more productive as opposed to continually moving out of the app and back in to check on various items online.

Just my $0.02.

They're good machines. I run enterprise level networks from mine without issue.

 

[Ornery]

My first instinct was to buy the 17", since it's only a couple hundred more, but he nixed that because it's too bulky to tote around. That's another item I have to purchase. A backpack/notebook sleeve combo. I think the Brenthaven looks like the standard, but I'm sure there must be a cheaper knock off somewhere.

He's got an HP a530e desktop here, with a 19" HP P930. If he can use that, I'll throw a serious graphics card and more memory in there before it leaves here.

We're now waiting for his student number, so we can order the Adobe software for it...

 

[exilera]

For a design school, you'd think they would have a website that doesn't look like garbage.

That's all I'd like to contribute, since I don't know much about Macs

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Ornery
We finally got it to print, and using our router's print server no less!

We used TCP/IP and a "GIMP/CUPS" print driver for our HP 895C printer.

Ahh, cool, I'm glad to see that there was a CUPS driver for it. How was the setup process? I don't have a print server with me right now, so I'm curious as to how Tiger handles it.

As for your other concerns, your link about the router pretty much sums up what you can do for range. The 15" AlBooks have a good singnal range, so if it's dropping out, you're either just too far out, or maybe there's someone farther out in the neighborhood using 2.4ghz equipment.

Oh, and just get the Brenthaven bag, I've had one for 2 years now, and at this rate it's going to last for a lifetime.

 

[Ornery]

How was the setup process?

Well, I'm not going to be much help in describing that. My son kept opening the dialog boxes that were looking for settings, addresses and drivers. I just kept telling him what to plug in. The thing that worked best, was to allow it to "find" the printer over the network. We had to prompt it to look at certain addresses on the network. From there it was just a matter of getting the right drivers for it. I really only glanced at what dialog boxes popped up. I wanted him to handle as much as possible on his own. I only intervened when he threw up his hands in frustration.

He's the one who got it set up on the network. The wizard kept screwing up something, so he manually configured it, and it finally connected. We got the WEP encryption configured right away, but seeing how the signal barely gets out to the porch, there's probably nothing to worry about anyway! If I see a deal on a Bridge / Repeater, I'll grab it. I'll go $25.00 or so, and that should take care of the range OK.


...you'd think they would have a web site that doesn't look like garbage...

If the kids who put that together, were under any constraints, I know how it could get balled up. One of my web clients gives me his wondrous designs in MS Publisher format, and I have to match that to HTML as best I can. It SUCKS, but it's their money. I notice the school's web team did a decent job with the DAAP E-Brochure.

 

[Go3iverson]

When I had to roam the streets with my laptop, I had a 15" PowerBook with a Marware case, which I thought was great. Very light, easy to care for, just all around nice case to use. For my 17", since I may be traveling a great deal soon and feared accidentally dropping the laptop, I got a Zero Z5-SI, which is a really nice, heavy duty case. I could see it getting a little heavy after a while, but the shoulder strap keeps it feeling pretty light.

 

[TerryMathews]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
You're familiar with the not-quite-SDRAM, too, eh?

Apple moved the key 1 pin over. They grew up and don't do that anymore, though. All their memory is, presently, standard, off-the-shelf stuff.

Um, what Mac are you talking about? I've dealt with Macs for a long, long time and I've never known of a Mac that supported adding RAM, that used a non-standard format - barring the IIFX.

The 1-pin-over RAM I think you're talking about would be from the x500-x600 generation of PowerMacs (eg 7500,7600,9500,9600). That's standard RAM though, it was buffered (registered) EDO or FPM DIMMs. 5V stuff. Unusual, but standard. For example, Sun Sparcs used it as well.

 

[SouthPaW1227]

Originally posted by: Ornery
My first instinct was to buy the 17", since it's only a couple hundred more, but he nixed that because it's too bulky to tote around. That's another item I have to purchase. A backpack/notebook sleeve combo. I think the Brenthaven looks like the standard, but I'm sure there must be a cheaper knock off somewhere.

He's got an HP a530e desktop here, with a 19" HP P930. If he can use that, I'll throw a serious graphics card and more memory in there before it leaves here.

We're now waiting for his student number, so we can order the Adobe software for it...

I'd get a BooqBag (booqbags.com) love that style

And dang...i'm sorry but there's no way I'd pay over $1,000 for that suite when you could..............

no way

 

[Futher]

I go to RIT and they practically require a mac laptop for their design program. I bought a 17" powerbook, and it's pretty amazing for my design and animation needs... I guess because all you can do is work on a mac. Software is going to going to be a kicker as well if your son doesn't know of any other means to get software.