A few questions on the Macbook

[risky74]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post but I've been reading it for a while.

My current situation: I switched to Macs 4 years ago when I got the first Intel iMac. Never looked back and my original Mac is still going strong. My wife wants a MacBook so I'm about to put an order. I don't care that much if there is an upgrade soon since she won't be a heavy user and the current MBs seem to have a plenty of juice (I will just get extra memory and she'll be good for 3-4 years). I have a few questions:

1) I just ugraded my internet to 25Mb/s. My local provider (I'm with Rogers in Canada), in order to get that speed, forced me to get a modem which is also a wireless router. My good old Mac, sitting just beside the router gets close to the speed limit (22-23). However, my work laptop (Lenovo T400), from the same location gets just around 8. The funny thing is that the T400 is n enabled but the Mac only g... Now, before getting that wireless modem from Rogers (it's SMCD3GN), I was thinking about getting Airport Extreme. If I still get it, can I just hook it up through the SMCD one which I have to use? Is there anything I should watch for? I'm not that tech savvy but I think it would be wise to disable the SMCD wireless capability and use it only as a modem? What do you think? Would the Airport extreme offer a better range?
2) How easy would it be to share my iMac iTunes music between the two computers? Is it going to be fairly straight forward if they share the same network?
3) Out of the printers available on the Apple website, how good is that Samsung color laser one? I will still be connecting it using cables. If I go with an inkjet, how are your experinces with Canon PIXMA MP640?

I'll probably have more questions Thanks for your help!

 

[CJS7070]

To answer question two, you can usr itunes Home Sharing to share the library, you just need to have itunes open on the iMac whenever you want to remotely access it.

 

[BlueRevolution]

This is my first post but I've been reading it for a while.

Welcome.

If I still get it, can I just hook it up through the SMCD one which I have to use? Is there anything I should watch for? I'm not that tech savvy but I think it would be wise to disable the SMCD wireless capability and use it only as a modem? What do you think? Would the Airport extreme offer a better range?

I don't know about that particular model, but combination modem/routers tend to be pretty bad in my experience. If you do connect another wireless router by ethernet, I would definitely disable wireless on the modem. Otherwise, you'd get interference from two wireless routers situated so close together.

I don't think the AirPort Extreme is good value for the money, but I guess that's up to you.

2) How easy would it be to share my iMac iTunes music between the two computers? Is it going to be fairly straight forward if they share the same network?

Very easy. It's just a checkbox in the iTunes preferences. Of course, the server (presumably your computer) will have to be running whenever you want to play music from the client (her computer).

 

[risky74]

Thank you so much for such a quick help. I do worry about hooking up two routers since usually one is enough to cause problems for me. I may just start with the existing setup and see if I can get something going with the modem I've got. iTunes are so great that I was hoping for something easy like that.

The problem with buying a macbook (or any new mac) is that is makes you read/research all new models and then you want more and more. 4 months ago I was a content man. Now after browsing the apple website and visiting their stores, I want that 27 inch iMac badly...

Welcome.



I don't know about that particular model, but combination modem/routers tend to be pretty bad in my experience. If you do connect another wireless router by ethernet, I would definitely disable wireless on the modem. Otherwise, you'd get interference from two wireless routers situated so close together.

I don't think the AirPort Extreme is good value for the money, but I guess that's up to you.



Very easy. It's just a checkbox in the iTunes preferences. Of course, the server (presumably your computer) will have to be running whenever you want to play music from the client (her computer).