So I took the plunge

[JC86]

after not having used a mac since i was ten, I finally took the plunge today and picked up the new macbook today. I have now officially either seen the light or joined the dark side.

First off, I must say, this laptop is rock solid . . . i haven't had other macbooks to compare it to but compared to my other pc laptops, there really is no comparison, the aluminum shell really does feel like a solid block of metal and you don't feel that 'give' i sometimes get on poorly constructed pc laptops. styling wise, you've all seen the pics by now so all I will say is that it looks very clean.

As a PC user for as long as I can remember, OSX is giving me a lot of trouble. I need to relearn all the the keyboard shortcuts and functions. I'll have to give that some time. Speaking of which, I was studying the keyboard shortcuts but can't figure out the key that is represented by the slanted line with the dash on the top right corner. . . which button is that supposed to be?

The whole Apps installation is also giving me some trouble. I tried to install shockwave for safari and apparently it all went as planned but then i couldnt find an adobe folder in the applications folder. . . did it install? The window did say that it installed successfully . . .oh well. Same thing with perian, downloaded, opened installed successfully and then couldn't find it in the applications folder. Safari is also a work in progress for me as I have been a firefox user for the past few years. . . I might download and go with FF still but i wanted to give safari a try just to see what hte hype is all about . .. so far, from what I can tell, it loads fast but renders some webpages awkwardly . ..

one last question, is 99% the max battery charge it can hold. I read the in manual that when the battery is fully charged, the magsafe connector light turns green but i've plugged it in since this afternoon and the charge is at 99% now and the light is still amber and not green . .. is this normal or do I have a faulty batter/charger?

That's it for now, if you guys have any questions about the macbook, i'd be more than happy to answer some questions but bear with me, i'm a complete noob with OSX.

 

[aphex]

Welcome to the Fam!

Not all apps/plugins will end up in Applications, only well, Applications will end up there. Shockwave plugin was likely installed into the Application Support for Safari in the Library folder. No need to find it really though, I would just go check out shockwave's site to see if it plays ok. Perian isn't an Application per say, its a Preference Pane so it will show at the bottom in System Preferences.

As much as I like Safari, I always end up back in Firefox, it just works better for me.

As for the battery, let it charge overnight and see if its still amber in the AM. I recall mine taking awhile when I first got it to turn green, but if by morning its not green we can walk you through resetting your PRAM and doing a battery reset.

I've been tossing around the idea of upgrading/crossgrading my white 2.2ghz macbook for a new macbook. The LED screen and aluminum casing really has peaked my interest, not to mention the better video would likely help me out in iMovie.

 

[suklee]

Originally posted by: JC86
As a PC user for as long as I can remember, OSX is giving me a lot of trouble. I need to relearn all the the keyboard shortcuts and functions. I'll have to give that some time. Speaking of which, I was studying the keyboard shortcuts but can't figure out the key that is represented by the slanted line with the dash on the top right corner. . . which button is that supposed to be?

Option Key: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Option_key

More shortcuts: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343

 

[JC86]

So I called Apple support today about the 99% battery charge and amber light on the power adapter and they said it was normal and that I should completely discharge the battery once and recharge it fully and the green indicator light should come on, I'm in the process of discharging the battery as we speak and hopefully it should work out.

On another note, I've read about people complaining about the chiclet keyboard but so far so good for me, the spacing is a little off from my MS keyboard but I assume that has as much to do with the size of the keyboard as anything. I just need to get used to not using my left pinkie and ring finger to press ctrl+alt+del. My muscle memory just moves in that area whenever i need to access keyboard shortcuts.

 

[alfa147x]

congrats !

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: JC86
So I called Apple support today about the 99% battery charge and amber light on the power adapter and they said it was normal and that I should completely discharge the battery once and recharge it fully and the green indicator light should come on, I'm in the process of discharging the battery as we speak and hopefully it should work out.

On another note, I've read about people complaining about the chiclet keyboard but so far so good for me, the spacing is a little off from my MS keyboard but I assume that has as much to do with the size of the keyboard as anything. I just need to get used to not using my left pinkie and ring finger to press ctrl+alt+del. My muscle memory just moves in that area whenever i need to access keyboard shortcuts.

I love my "chiclet keyboard" it what kept me from buying the macbook pro

 

[TheBiggmann]

You wanna report back on battery life firs chance you get?

 

[JC86]

well . . since I had to drain the battery the first time in order to get a fiull charge, I played a dvd . . . i timed it on my iphone and till when it went into forced sleep mode and it lasted 2 hours 53 minutes . . .keep in mind, after the movie finished, i changed the brightness to full brightness to drain the battery quicker (it was on half brightness, a setting I forgot to adjust prior to dvd playback). so for the last 30 minutes or so, it was on full brightness. . . I would guess that under normal web browsing/word processing and half brightness, 3-3.5 hours should be attainable.

Speaking of which, is there any way set up profiles for screen darkness to auto change based on plugged in or batter power like with a pc? while full brightness is nice and all, it's not necessary when i'm using it in class and i'd prefer to not have to manually dial it down every time i unplug my power adapter.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: aphex
The LED screen and aluminum casing really has peaked my interest, not to mention the better video would likely help me out in iMovie.

How would the better video help in iMovie?

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: aphex
The LED screen and aluminum casing really has peaked my interest, not to mention the better video would likely help me out in iMovie.

How would the better video help in iMovie?

iMovie has some effects that are GPU accelerated, as I understand it.

 

[dmw16]

Have you read the New to Mac sticky at the top of their forum? Might be worthwhile given your OS and App Install questions.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: aphex
The LED screen and aluminum casing really has peaked my interest, not to mention the better video would likely help me out in iMovie.

How would the better video help in iMovie?

iMovie has some effects that are GPU accelerated, as I understand it.

I'm fairly certain it's all CPU-driven. Is there a URL from Apple that says any of it is GPU-driven? For Motion and a few other apps I'm familiar with the GPU benefit, but I didn't think that extended to the consumer line.

(For example, check out how with the same CPU there's almost no difference in iMovie rendering times, regardless of GPU in the Mac.)

 

[ViRGE]

Sure. http://www.apple.com/support/i...ials/imovie/im3-7.html

 

[dclive]

Clearly yes it does: "Real-time video effects

Certain video effects will allow you to edit and preview them in real time, without waiting for rendering. You can also make changes and see them instantly. They render in the background and leverage your computer?s GPU to accelerate the process to save time for saving and exporting. These effects are listed under the category Quartz Composer. Note that the ability to use These effects in real time depends capabilities of your computer."

It would be helpful for the Mac rags to highlight this, because the overall impressions from "http://www.macworld.com/articl...hmarks.html?lsrc=top_1" (check the table, iMovie section) is there's no benefit. Fooey Macworld.

Good catch. Any ideas on how much of a speedup and how few or how many operations actually can take advantage of this? Seems MacWorld can't find the benefit.

 

[ViRGE]

I don't use iMovie, so I really don't know how much of a benefit it stands to gain.

 

[dclive]

I wonder if it's just so small and so specific to just a few effects that it's not significant. I'd think Apple would highlight it if the difference was significant, but in doing a bit of googling I can't find any more mention aside from Apple's brief blurb.

 

[BullsOnParade]

QUICKSILVER get it learn it love it. It takes some forcing to initially incorporate it into your UI behavior but it is an amazing utility.

Download Link
http://www.blacktree.com/

Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBvFUhTqKK4

 

[LtPage1]

Originally posted by: BullsOnParade
QUICKSILVER get it learn it love it. It takes some forcing to initially incorporate it into your UI behavior but it is an amazing utility.

Download Link
http://www.blacktree.com/

Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBvFUhTqKK4

Seriously, I don't know how I used to live without it.
with respect to the iMovie question:

Even if it made a difference with the old Macbooks, wouldn't the new nVidia chipset negate the difference? The 9400M GT isn't exactly a slouch- my roommate has a new MB Pro, and the integrated graphics run 1080P video without any hiccup whatsoever.