wondering if i could get some advice,

my cousin has an older MacBook, prtty sure she bought it in summer of 2007.

anyways i'm helping her buy a eHDD and i wanted to see if it was worth getting the firewire cable to help with transfer speeds.

i think her macbook only has firewire400 but all the cables for sale are 800.
or if i could, i'd prefer eSATA because i heard that's the quucjestm but i dont' think it has a eSATA port.

what should i do guys? thanks

Go with Thunderbolt it's the fastest!!!
:nyan:

Just go with USB 2.0

first time hearing that Office aren't the same ... I have been using PC since Dos, W 3.1, 95, 98, ME, now 7 so I am very used to how windows function and the last thing I want to do is plunk down a chunk of money for a Mac just to find myself hating it :P not to mention with PC I "trial" softwares for a long time... is that something available for Mac?

what differenciates a Mac from a PC for doing the tasks that you do for school?? And I do agree with you that the lack of game support is a plus :)

I've done some googling and a lot of users mention Mac just works the way things are supposed to. Any owner care to share some examples so I can understand what that means?

I go to school, and a lot of my homework/crap is online. I open up tons of notes/tabs of stuff I'm studying/youtube tutorials on the stuff I'm doing .. and when it's bedtime I just close the macbook and leave it plugged in. Take it to school, open it, and every things there like I never closed the mac. With windows it takes a while to reload everything etc. etc.

I find the OS is a lot more efficient ... I can go days without turning off my macbook pro, and when it's exam time (like right now) My mac goes days without restarting .. last time I restarted was sometime last week, and it's still just as snappy/quick etc.

For the average user, the macbook is just easier. You can leave it plugged in 24/7 without the battery dying from overcharging, you can just close the lid and put it to sleep and it barely uses any battery (over night in sleep mode, I lose maybe 3%?). Open it up, and within 5 seconds every things there.


I've got 4 pc's in my house, and just this one mac. I do agree for office style stuff like excel a PC is much easier, but you can dual boot windows 7 and it works very well if you install it properly.

Never thought I'd say this, but I love my macbook and I think my marks are actually higher now because I'm much more organized with it (iProcrastinate is a sick calendar app!).

hm, i'll drop by apple store to play with the demos. Does the late 2011 13in still overheat?

Also looked at craiglist for a used one, and there were so many postings stating that their machine is new, only opened to see if machine works... are these legit? what are some tips for buying a mac off CL

Windows sleep mode is the same. I can close the led and it goes to sleep. Open and everything resumes instantly. Not really something that's specific with mac.

However I do see that it's definitely more efficient in the battery department.

I cant decide between the 13" $1249 macbook pro and $1299 macbook air (128gb). This is going to be a gift to my mother.

This will be her main computer. She mostly uses the computer to check her email, surf the web, MSoffice and streaming movies to the TV. My mother is not very tech savvy and has never used OS X. However, I do like the fact that she could learn how to use it at the Apple store.

Some questions:
-Is it possible to stream from the macbooks to the tv via HDMI?
-Could you watch 1080p or 720p quality videos?
-My friend's 2010 macbook pro battery stopped working. How reliable are these laptops?
-Which screen in terms of quality and viewing angle is better?
-I've read that the MBA is just as fast as the MBP due to the SSD? Is this true?
-Will this turn my mother into an 'Apple fanboy' due to the fact that she has a ipod touch and iphone? :D

I would get the MacBook Air.
1. Better resolution screen than the 13" Pro.
2. Screen doesn't have the extra glass, so it's not as glossy and reflective.
The only reason against the MBA is if your mother has a lot of files and doesn't know how to manage her data.


You will need to buy a mini display port to HDMI adaptor if you want to connect any MacBook to a TV. I picked mine up from DealExtreme.

My 2009 MabBook Pro battery is still going strong. I get 5 hours on a full charge.

Yes, if she has iDevices with iOS 5 it will turn her into a fanboy, especially if she starts using iPhoto and iCloud.

If it's her main computer, I would probably pick the Pro over the Air.

Does she need it to be portable? Most people I know who buy laptops end up using it as a gimped (with the same $ spent) desktop by buying/hooking it up to a 20+ inch monitor. Basically, they can't stand working on such a cramped screen which makes them strain their eyes for extended periods of time. If you are a road warrior or take all your school notes digitally then you got no choice but to use one, else I would suggest considering a base 21' imac, more power, more space, dedicated vid ram, beautiful 21" 1080p (Air -1440x900, Pro13 -1280x800) screen to watch all your 1080p shows, acceptable speakers etc.

However, if she MUST get a laptop then go for the Air, she does not need all the extra features (if any at all, for her needs) of the Pro. If you gonna go portable might as well get the most "portable" option.

You can easily pick up a TB-> HDMI adapter + 6ft 1.4 HDMI cable from Monoprice for about $15 Shipped to your door.

For only $5.70 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Mini DisplayPort | Thunderbolt to HDMI Adapter w/ Audio Support | Mini DisplayPort to HDMI / DVI / VGA Adapters

Looking at maybe picking up a refurb 2011 macbook pro 13.3" I5. Any feedback on this model? I read some heating issues but was wanting to get some people's input as whether there any other pro or cons with this model.

It is priced at $979 (currently out of stock-refurb store) but do you guys think there might be a further price drop coming any time soon?

I just bought that exact model a few weeks back, early 2011 model refurb... no complaints, no over heating, no freezing or shutdowns. This replaced a 13" core 2 duo mac book pro, in comparison the i5 does run hotter and i can actually hear the fan drone when powered on, its quiet but its there.

I think at $979 its a good price, i was waiting for the late 2011 models, the low end 13" wasn't much of an improvement, a small cpu clock speed increase and hard drive bump. Could care less since i replaced the hard drive and ram anyways (750gb 7200rpm & 8Gb RAM). Education pricing on the new model is $1150, regular price is $1250. An extra $200 for a 200mhz boost wasn't worth it to me. I don't think Apple will drop the price further, they usually don't. What ever you do make sure you get a model with thunderbolt, don't bother with 2010 models that don't have the new interface.

Do you guys think the 1.7 Dual Core i7 in the Macbook Air can take Premier Pro CS5.5? I'll be doing a lot of video editing coming up soon and want portability. Not too sure if the Intel HD 3000 will take the brunt of it. Either that or spent 30% more buying a 15 2.2 i7 Pro.

dont use a macbook air to do video editing. Get the 15 inch or 17 inch pro.

same as above, go with 15 or 17". you will want the quad core, bigger screen and discrete graphics for GPU accelerated tasks.

Also recommend buying at least 8GB ram.

or buy the refurb 13" the older one has decent graphics from nvidia

Thanks Skholla. Ya I think I might just pick one up. Considering their refurbs are basically new...I think $979 compared to 1150 is worth the savings.

got 8GB of mushkin apple ram from ncix for under $50. also picked up a hitachi travelstar 7200rpm 750GB hdd for $140.

the mid 2009 and late 2010 macbook airs had nvidia graphics... but they have core 2 duo chips and lack thunderbolt... best bet is to go with a current model that has an i5/i7 and thunderbolt. same applies to 2009/2010 macbook pro 13" models.

Bought the 15'' MBP (refurb) early 2011 model a few weeks ago and I absolutely Love it (coming from a Windows 7 user). Think I'll leave some notes on my personal experiences with it so far.

I'll quickly list out a couple pros/cons vs the Win7 System that I have noticed.

PRO:
- Super easy to navigate.. I've got about 6 different window desktops loaded up right now that I can easily swipe through with 4 fingers.. can NOT do this on Windows
- TRACKPAD* I would pay a couple hundred bucks for this thing ALONE to be on any other type of computer, it makes using the device SO much more convenient and fast
- Most window applications are available on the mac (windows office 2011 etc.)

CONS:
- no paint =( .. makes it hard to 'prntscrn' and crop photos quickly.. (does anyone have a solution for this?)
- magic mouse is pretty good for websurfing and other tasks that doesn't require too heavy precision.. but I don't find it that great for gaming (can probably fix with a new mouse)
- can't see my hard drive anymore...
- removing programs now doesn't give me peace of mind anymore because I can't go into the 'add-remove programs'.. I just move everything to the trash bin..

On a side note..
- PS CSS5 etc. do NOT use it on a 13'' screen.. I personally have a hard time understanding how people can even do word processing on a small screen like that.. 15'' minimum!
- I was with a buddy a few days ago, we were trying to start up heavy programs to see who would load faster (he had the latest MBA 13'').. his loaded up faster, even though he had a slower CPU/GPU combo.. his SSD is noticeably faster than my 5200rpm HD
- his computer cost 500$ more than mine... he has 256G SSD vs my 5200rpm 500G.. he basically paid double for speed and got half the space (space more important than speed for me)
- SSDs have a pretty bad rep of breaking down a year or so into their use.. haven't seen apple specific reports, but if you google SSDs.. it's an issue for a lot of people

CMD+SHIFT+3 to 'prntscrn' and save image on desktop.
CMD+SHIFT+4 and select what you want. it will the selection as image on desktop.

^ i figured that part out already, but is there a 'paint-like' program out there that makes cropping photos quicker? I'm currently using paintbrush and it takes me about 1-2 minutes to crop an image from my desktop, whereas in paint I could do that in under 30 seconds

i don't believe ssd's fail any more than mechanical hard drives. manufacturer's are also very good with firmware updates to remedy issues or even improve performance. i.e. sandforce controller; crucial m4. google will show ya.

unless ur using a mb air, going ssd shouldn't be a compromise because you can get an optical drive->2.5" drive kit and drop in the ssd. m-sata ssd's are also an option for certain laptops, not sure if any macbooks have any free slots.

- double click to open the screenshot in Preview, select the area you want, press cmd-k to crop, close/quit and call it day, done in 5 secs. If you must use a different app then try Seashore or Pixelmator.

- magic mouse look cool but it blows, grab a logitech instead

- by default all drives/volume are hidden from the desktop and finder sidebar. open the Finder (aka windows explorer), go to Finder menu > Preferences, under General check the items you want on your desktop, under Sidebar do the same

- removing programs is quick/easy and works, support files (if there were any) will remain, same with preference/settings files. good thing if you plan to reinstall, if not then these may take up some space, maybe a few 100kb or maybe gigabytes if its something with fonts/loops/clips/etc. in this case you can use an uninstaller tool if available, Adobe has one for the CS suites, also give this a try… http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/25276/appcleaner

- 13" screen works fine for word processing, for working on video/graphics projects then go larger or connect to an external monitor. My first mac laptop was a 12", then a 17", 15", 13" and now another 13". I love the size for portability

- a last gen SSD can be double the speed of conventional hard drive, latest gen SSD can be 4x the speed

- ditch your 5400 rpm drive, they are too slow. go with a WD black drive or the new 7200RPM hitachi travelstars, i just got a 750gb on myself. The Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive is pretty good too. Also you can ditch your optical drive and install a second hard drive. Maybe a large HDD for storage and a smaller SSD for OS/apps

- I have never heard of SSDs only lasting 1 year