I can't see why apple is better then PC.

[mikey.c]

I've been using pcs for years and every one I know with an Apple keep telling me I should get one "there so much better", so I took the plunge and got one, 1st thing I notice is theres no second button on the mouse, that programes seem harder to use, I can no longer have Video chats, and my DVD player is now stuck on zone 1 and I'm in zone 4, I got a vlc and it too will only play zone 1, Apple have actuly locked my imac so nothing will play zone free, I can understand them sucking up to the DVD people but how dare they stop me from chosing to use a different DVD player zone free or not.

I've had 2 diffrent pcs and I've never had trouble, and I've had nothing but trouble and disapointment after disapointment with Apple.

I was going to get a G5 imac but I am thinking of getting a pc instead.

 

[Nermal]

First of all, plug your old mouse into your Mac. You'll be glad you did.

It's interesting that your DVD player is stuck. You should be able to change the region code 5 times without having to use a region-free patch. Unfortunately I don't know how to force a change. Personally I have two drives, so I've set one to 1 and one to 4, that way I can play local DVDs and US imports 🙂

Take a look here for region-free patches, hopefully you'll find one for your drive (look in System Profiler for your drive model).

It's been about 2 years since I switched from Windows to Mac. There was definitely a bit of a learning curve (where's the start menu?) but now that I'm used to it, it does seem better than Windows.

I didn't realise how bad Windows was until I used something better, then tried to go back to using Windows again. What a nightmare! 😱

 

[LeeTom]

I just went to DVD Player, and Help, and typed Region Code. Here's what turned up:

Changing the region code of your DVD drive

Many DVD discs include a region code. The first time you play one of these discs, your DVD drive is set to the region code of the disc. The drive's region code restricts DVD Player to playing discs with the same region code or with no region code.

Generally, the region code of your DVD drive matches the region code of the DVD discs available in the region where you live. However, if you insert a disc with a different region code from the one set for your DVD drive, a dialog appears to let you change your drive's region code.

You can only change the region code of your DVD drive five times. After that, the region code is set permanently and you cannot change it.

You should only change the region code of your DVD drive if you plan to play only discs with the new region code in the future.

 

[plinden]

I've been using pcs for years and every one I know with an Apple keep telling me I should get one "there so much better", so I took the plunge and got one, 1st thing I notice is theres no second button on the mouse

Get a mouse you're comfortable with - a basic, cheap Microsoft optical mouse will work.

that programes seem harder to use

How long have you had your Mac? A different operating system will feel different initially. If you're still finding it hard to use after a couple of weeks, then maybe a Mac's not for you.

and my DVD player is now stuck on zone 1 and I'm in zone 4, I got a vlc and it too will only play zone 1, Apple have actuly locked my imac so nothing will play zone free, I can understand them sucking up to the DVD people but how dare they stop me from chosing to use a different DVD player zone free or not.

I see from your sig you have a G3 iMac. Did you get it second-hand? If so perhaps the previous owner used up all the DVD player region changes allowed.

My own PC's DVD player allows only five changes.

 

[dswoodley]

If by "better" you mean no DVD region limit and two-button mice you may have a point.

For video chats, what's wrong with iChat?

Programs slower? well, an iMac 450DV isn't exactly a speed demon...kind of antiquated, it'd be like running XP on a Pentium II 450mhz...

 

[Manzana]

1st thing I notice is theres no second button on the mouse, that programes seem harder to use, I can no longer have Video chats, and my DVD player is now stuck on zone 1 and I'm in zone 4, I got a vlc and it too will only play zone 1, Apple have actuly locked my imac so nothing will play zone free

I can understand your frustration my friend, and I feel your pain. However coming into a Mac forum and telling us how much our Mac's suck is probably the worst freakin' idea...but it does get our attention.

First of all, the first thing you notice is a one button mouse? are you talking about the first thing you noticed after you were rescued from the deserted island you were on? where you been?

the programes are harder to use. okay, are these the malware or virus type of programs you were used to before that were soooo easy to use in win? yeah, we don't have none of those.

i can't go on, i think if you just chilled out and peacefully looked for all the problems you're having, i think you will be pleasantly surprised. just don't come barging in all gangbusters anymore. 😱

 

[quagmire]

For video chats, what's wrong with iChat?

I think he is still on OS 9. So iChat isn't available. Which I can see his complaints. I hate OS 9( but still better then Windows 98 or whatever was the direct competition for it was).

 

[homerjward]

dont base your opinion on os9. os9 SUCKS. i hate os9 but i love apple because of panther. pick up a copy of panther or even a used copy of jaguar and i'm sure you'll love apple.

 

[dotdotdot]

Or better yet, get a cheap Mac mini w/ superdrive. Or an iBook.

If you want to learn a NEW os, an OLD computer won't help you!

Its like trying to learn Windows XP and how good it is on a Windows 3.1 based laptop. Not happening.

 

[mikey.c]

I think he is still on OS 9.

No i have OSX 10.3.8 , I've been told that its the G3 imac I'm using that wont take webcam, I tryed ichat so I can watch my friends in chat but that didn't work, how ever Yahoo messanger did work (i could only watch my friends). I don't hate Macs, I do think that the fact that there are no viruses and spyware and that sorta stuff is fantastic, I guess I wrote this post as a desperate way to get help, I love my DVDs and its frustrating to be stuck on the wrong zone, although I do have around 20 zone 1 DVDs so all is not lost.
I will try a diffrent mouse and see how it goes.

I used to thing that mac users are snobs and stuck up, just from reading some responces on this forum. but I soon found out that thats not the case at all, that most of you are really here to help, not just here to put people down just for there opinion or becouse they can't spell or have poor grammer.
I think it's sad that people think there better than the rest becouse they can spell correctly. ( these people will find happiness, one day)

I bought this mac with high hopes and high expectations and maybe I havn't given it a chance.

I almost for got, I did have 5 zone changes and was upto the last one when my friend watched a DVD and changed the last one to zone1 not relizing the mistake she made.

 

[Mechcozmo]

No i have OSX 10.3.8 , I've been told that its the G3 imac I'm using that wont take webcam, I tryed ichat so I can watch my friends in chat but that didn't work, how ever Yahoo messanger did work (i could only watch my friends)

Apple's specs page for the iChat A/V makes it fairly clear. Your Mac is too old to do on-the-fly video (like video conferencing).

I used to thing that mac users are snobs and stuck up, just from reading some responces on this forum. but I soon found out that thats not the case at all, that most of you are really here to help, not just here to put people down just for there opinion or becouse they can't spell or have poor grammer.
I think it's sad that people think there better than the rest becouse they can spell correctly. ( these people will find happiness, one day)

Mac users generally aren't snobbish. And we like our spelling because if you go to Edit->Spelling->Check Spelling as You Type in all OS X native applications your spelling is, well, checked as you type.

I almost for got, I did have 5 zone changes and was upto the last one when my friend watched a DVD and changed the last one to zone1 not relizing the mistake she made.

That would be your problem right there...

Oh, and make sure you have a fair amount of RAM in it. OS X likes more RAM. If you only have 256MB in there it will be fairly slow but if you have 512MB of RAM or more then you will be happy.

 

[mikey.c]

I've just been told that I can start from scratch and wipe my computer and reinstall OSX, and that will give me my 5 zone changes back, is this true ?

 

[mikey.c]

if you go to Edit->Spelling->Check Spelling as You Type in all OS X native applications your spelling is, well, checked as you type.

Thanks for that tip, Thats great!

 

[ravenvii]

Well, remember that your machine was from the 90's. That's OLD, my friend. Ancient. Antiquated. History. Like the Roman Empire, you know? OLD?

Ok, maybe I'm exggarating a bit, but still, it's like running Windows XP on a 450 MHz Pentium III. iChat requires a G3 that is 600 MHz or above to use a webcam. You can't go around saying Windows is better than Macs because your outdated machine can't do something.

As for your friend changing the DVD setting, well you can't blame Macs for that either, that's human error. Or are you trying to tell me Windows is imperious to human error?

Finally, the programs are harder to use on Macs? Like what? I hope you're not comparing Paint on Windows to Photoshop on Macs... courting from the rest of your post, you probably are... 🙄

Finally, the mouse? Nonissue. Plug in your favorite mouse. I have a Logitech MX1000 mouse plugged into my Mac, and have used a Microsoft Intellimouse Optical before that.

There. All your agruments burned to dust. *blow* look! Dust cloud! Neat.

 

[cmvsm]

As someone else said, you may want to consider getting a Mac mini which would blow the doors off of your G3 for minimal investment. Lock it down with at least 512MB RAM, 1MB preferred, and it will fly to do whatever you want it to do. The G3 is pretty antiquated and will be chugging smoke to get OSX running.

 

[mikey.c]

As for your friend changing the DVD setting, well you can't blame Macs for that either, that's human error. Or are you trying to tell me Windows is imperious to human error?

I agree with you, it was coused by human error but the fact that it can't be fixed or replaced isn't.

 

[quagmire]

I agree with you, it was coused by human error but the fact that it can't be fixed or replaced isn't.

I believe Windows does the same. So you can't escape it. So you can't just say Macs suck because of the DVD thing because windows does the same.

 

[Mord]

http://www.macos.utah.edu/Documentation/DVDRegionFree/RegionFree_Utilities.html

 

[plinden]

I believe Windows does the same. So you can't escape it. So you can't just say Macs suck because of the DVD thing because windows does the same.

To be fair to him, Apple does appear to have a very restrictive policy on this:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/01/apple_restricting_dv.html

Whether this is worldwide company policy, I can't say.

Anyway, mikey.c, you can't reset the DVD region changes by reinstalling the OS. It has to be done in the DVD itself.

 

[Sun Baked]

Everybody kept telling me how much better Fords were than my crusty old Neon.

So I bought a Ford Model T, and I can definitely say Fords suck.

No air conditioner, no radio, no automatic tranny, and you have to get out and hand crank the damn thing.

Heck my Neon went faster in reverse than this POS goes in top gear.

I can't undstand why everyone says any Ford is better that my old rusting Neon. 😡

 

[PlaceofDis]

Everybody kept telling me how much better Fords were than my crusty old Neon.

So I bought a Ford Model T, and I can definitely say Fords suck.

No air conditioner, no radio, no automatic tranny, and you have to get out and hand crank the damn thing.

Heck my Neon went faster in reverse than this POS goes in top gear.

I can't undstand why everyone says any Ford is better that my old rusting Neon. 😡

hahaha, i see you are stepping up the plate that e left when he became a mod mini huh?

did make me chuckle though...

 

[7on]

You have to swap out the DVD drive to reset your regions.

OWC may have one for your model (and perhaps faster as well)

http://macsales.com/

 

[Abstract]

Well, remember that your machine was from the 90's. That's OLD, my friend. Ancient. Antiquated. History. Like the Roman Empire, you know? OLD?

Ok, maybe I'm exggarating a bit, but still, it's like running Windows XP on a 450 MHz Pentium III. iChat requires a G3 that is 600 MHz or above to use a webcam. You can't go around saying Windows is better than Macs because your outdated machine can't do something.

As for your friend changing the DVD setting, well you can't blame Macs for that either, that's human error. Or are you trying to tell me Windows is imperious to human error?

Finally, the programs are harder to use on Macs? Like what? I hope you're not comparing Paint on Windows to Photoshop on Macs... courting from the rest of your post, you probably are... 🙄

Finally, the mouse? Nonissue. Plug in your favorite mouse. I have a Logitech MX1000 mouse plugged into my Mac, and have used a Microsoft Intellimouse Optical before that.

There. All your agruments burned to dust. *blow* look! Dust cloud! Neat.

Hey Mikey.C, remember in that post when you said that you were surprised to find that many Mac users aren't snobs and were here because they genuinely want to help people out, and not just to put people down?

Well, I apologize for the entire Mac community for most of the replies posted since you said that, especially this ****ers reply (quoted above).

I think that since over a dozen of you have answered all his questions and explained things to him a dozen times already, that he gets the point, so unless you have something witty to say, then don't bother regurgitating the same crap in the same condescending tone unless you have something to add.

Have a nice day, and good luck using your new "used" Mac for the basic stuff. 🙂

 

[ravenvii]

Hey Mikey.C, remember in that post when you said that you were surprised to find that many Mac users aren't snobs and were here because they genuinely want to help people out, and not just to put people down?

Well, I apologize for the entire Mac community for most of the replies posted since you said that, especially this ****ers reply (quoted above).

I think that since over a dozen of you have answered all his questions and explained things to him a dozen times already, that he gets the point, so unless you have something witty to say, then don't bother regurgitating the same crap in the same condescending tone unless you have something to add.

Have a nice day, and good luck using your new "used" Mac for the basic stuff. 🙂

Ooh, personal attack! How exciting!

 

[ozmarky]

DVD playing - zone free / VLC media player

After just getting a G5 I decided I had to sort out the "5 zones & you're out" problem before using the DVD player...

I trashed iDVD & open the discs using VLC media player
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5758

BUT you need a pretty gutsy processor to run it smoothly I think ... from the reviews it can be a bit jumpy, I have no probs on 1.8Ghz / 1GB ram ( as you'd kinda hope!)


or use Region X :

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/13801

( havent tried this one though)

I havent tried burning a DVD yet, although I have used MacTheRipper http://www.ripdifferent.com/mtr/ to save the discs to the harddrive.

from their 'read me' file:

This product is made to backup DVDs you have legally purchased for personal use onto your hard drive. Any copyright infringing activity you choose to perpetrate using this application is illegal, wrong, and beyond our control.

That being said, MacTheRipper (MTR) removes CSS encryption, Macrovision protection, and sets the disc’s region code to ‘0’ for region-free by default, and is capable of removing RCE region protection as well, making an unrestricted copy of any DVD movie you own

hope this helps.

"The tighter they squeeze, the more things slip through their grasp"