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What cool things can/shall I do with my MBP?

H

Herb Dorklift

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 4, 2010
23
0
I'm new to Macs, not new to computers, but new to "owning" one.

I say "owning" because I've always had one, but it's just been "there" if you see what I mean.

This time round I spent a lot of money and just got the basic 2.4ghz 13" MBP, and I want to get my money's worth of owning a good computer!

I already got Spotify (friend sorted me out with an invite, unlimited listens! Amazing), and I'm checking out Garageband (I'm a musician).

So what other cool things can/shall I do with my new purchase? Just little things, like anyone got any cool wallpaper sites, or any hidden options in Safari that are benficial?

Stuff like that :)

Thanks.
 
You could get into a helicopter fly up a good skiing mountain and use the MBP as a snowboard to get down the hill. That would be cool and definitely land you lots of youtube fans.

If you want something boring but convenient get BetterTouchTool to make real use of your touchpad.
 
you can use the mbp to deactivate bombs, you know, the usual.

no but really how are we supposed to know what cool things you want to do to your mac?
 
It wasn't a question about what do I want to do, it was what neat stuff is available.

:rolleyes:
 
Congrats on the new machine!

For Safari, I highly recommend you check out Apple's Safari Extensions page https://extensions.apple.com/

I use AdBlock and ClickToFlash and couldn't be happier. The internet is so much snappier without the Ads and Flash.

There are a lot of other cool plug-ins there too that might interest you.. and they're free!

GarageBand is a great program and I use it daily as a sketch pad for new songs. You may want to consider getting a digital audio interface for your Mac to take your recording to the next level. You have the FireWire port on your machine so this would be a great use for that. I use the Apogee Duet http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php which I love much and more than suits my needs. However, I would recommend a different unit if you plan to record multiple sources at once.

Some sort of Midi Controller (or many midi controllers) also helps a WHOLE bunch.

And don't forget to utilize Time Machine for back-ups. It is super simple and only requires you buy an external hard drive for the back ups. Back-ups aren't necessarily cool, but they are a life saver when something goes wrong.

Other uses for my Mac are as follows:
-my entire media library in iTunes
-my entire photo collection in iPhoto
-Delicious Library 2 to catalog all physical media and gadgets in my house. http://www.delicious-monster.com/
-DJ set up using Traktor http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/dj/traktor-pro/
-work stuff in Parallels (I work in Windows environments)
-music production in Logic
-organization (finally) of all my contacts in Address Book application
-easy way to keep a calendar in iCal
-iWeb to easily make a website
-wired to my TV to watch Hulu and Amazon Unbox the way it should be seen.
-and more!

So many cool things to do on this machine that I am on it over 10 hours a day...
 
lol
I would recommend to throw Safari off the dock and get Chrome/Iron, Opera or Firefox.
Then get betterTouchTool and add at least a threefinger up swipe to trigger CMD+W. That is extremely convenient. Threefinger down opens a new window in finder, a new Tab in every browser and so on.
And enable the threefinger middleclick for browser other than Safari.
And do with tiptaps everything else you use often.

I also think macports is a must have it is just so convenient. I hope this app store Apple is working on offers free apps and the convenience of shell support.
 
Herb Dorklift said:
So what other cool things can/shall I do with my new purchase?
Click to expand...
In order to get the full Mac experience, maximum enjoyment, and benefit from your new laptop, the very best thing you can do is learn OS X. Far too many get wrapped up in adding on or modifying the system while failing to discover all the great features already built in.

To bypass learning all the functionality of one of the very best operating systems, is to cheat oneself.
 
Use it as a media server via PS3
DJ with it using Serato
Gaming
Website creation


just a few things.
 
you say you're a musician, but what do you play/do most? are you a singer? guitarist? pianist?

if you're a guitarist, definitely check out guitar rig by native instruments. if you're into dj stuff get idrum from izotope.

definitely take some time learning os x and terminal to see what cool things you can do that are built in.

try googling about terminal, it can do all sorts of awesome things (like enabling hidden settings or changing the look/function of your computer): http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=best+mac+terminal+commands&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

definitely install clicktoflash, html5 audio and youtube5 for safari. vlc for media playback. onyx to unlock hidden settings and do maintenance on your machine. alfred is a great free application launcher. pixelmator if you like photoshop.

steam is good if you're into gaming. istat pro (2 is free), dropbox, transmission and unison to download torrent/newsgroup stuff. adium if you use chat programs.
 
Great question. I just received my MBP 13" yesterday. I have downloaded Google Chrome. Besides that, I want to just get used to OS X as I am coming from a PC.
 
wirelessmacuser said:
In order to get the full Mac experience, maximum enjoyment, and benefit from your new laptop, the very best thing you can do is learn OS X. Far too many get wrapped up in adding on or modifying the system while failing to discover all the great features already built in.

To bypass learning all the functionality of one of the very best operating systems, is to cheat oneself.
Click to expand...

you just read my mind!
I hate helping out my friends when they cant get their stuff to work, using all sorts of crap software for the simplest tasks, that OS X could do for them.

edit: added a permanent link to your post in my signature.
 
Last edited:
Hi!

Huge difference between using and owning something; are you into customising it? I thought this was one of the best things about having a computer for the first time- being able to change and install things. Wallpapers, icons, its all good- hey, its your computer you can't go wrong! (bet you also find out a fair bit about how a mac works by bonding with it like this:D

If you're liking the spottify, have you come across lastfm.com? Its amazing- free music that can learn what you like, and find things you like that you've never heard before.

If you're after some hidden beneficial safari options maybe try Safari>Safari Extensions Gallery there's some quite useful things there and similarly if you go :apple:>Mac OS X Software there's a load of free apps for you.

Don't know about you but the only mac software in the local shop is anti-virus/office (I mean, RLY) so its good to know useful places to get software (also cnet downloads I find very good if I need a program for something) and if you do go to :apple:>Mac OS X Software there's some widget action to be had. Yes, F4 is a dreary place on your new computer but you can have all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff on your dashboard- hope you enjoy your new computer!
 
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