Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

I did it! I am MAC OWNER, reassure me!

C

Caddy

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 13, 2003
63
0
Chicago
I bought the Powerbook G4, 12 inch. I am afraid of several things, is the screen going to be too small for my purposes?

Secondly, how hard is it going to be to learn how to use a Mac? I've always had super loaded PC's but never have used one fourth of the accessories because I don't know how.

Is the G4 a good thing? where is the best price to buy Airport for this?

thanks.
 
Re: I did it! I am MAC OWNER, reassure me!

Originally posted by Caddy
I bought the Powerbook G4, 12 inch. I am afraid of several things, is the screen going to be too small for my purposes?

Secondly, how hard is it going to be to learn how to use a Mac? I've always had super loaded PC's but never have used one fourth of the accessories because I don't know how.

Is the G4 a good thing? where is the best price to buy Airport for this?

thanks.
Click to expand...

Congrats!!!:D

The screen should be fine since it's 1024 x 768.

Mac OS X is very easy to use, and works sorta like windows.

G4 is good... Airport cards can be found from $60-$100
 
Re: I did it! I am MAC OWNER, reassure me!

Originally posted by Caddy
I bought the Powerbook G4, 12 inch.
Click to expand...
Congratulations on the new addition to your family!
is the screen going to be too small for my purposes?
Click to expand...
No screen is ever big enough, but you can only buy what you can afford and what you are willing to lug around. For a better answer, you'll have to define "my purposes".
Secondly, how hard is it going to be to learn how to use a Mac?
Click to expand...
Funny, we were just discussing that in this thread. Lots of other help is available here at MacRumors and elsewhere on the Internet.
I've always had super loaded PC's but never have used one fourth of the accessories because I don't know how.
Click to expand...
Nobody uses every utility under Windows, and nobody needs them all on the Mac either. You might look through what's available, but that can wait until you are more comfortable with the main applications you will use.
Is the G4 a good thing?
Click to expand...
If you mean the G4 processor chip, yes. If you mean the PowerBook G4, yes.
where is the best price to buy Airport for this?
Click to expand...
Oops, I don't know the answer to this one.
 
Congratulations on the buy! It will take you awhile to get used to the "ease" but rest assured the mac will make you look at the pc and go "why was I on that for so long"

once again, Congrats.

Some places you could check out for an airport card:

macwarehouse.com
macmall.com
 
Airport extreme cards are available from Mac mall for $94:95 as we speak.

Many congratulations on your joining the Mac community and these forums, a seriously good decision.:)
 
Welcome to Mac.
The way I look at it is "we" have an ex-PC user that can honestly compare platforms. We always like to hear comparisons, becasue from them changes can be made for the better. You may find the app load times too darned long in X. You may find that the absence of dll's and such are a true blessing. Speak up! There are lots of people on this fine forum and others that will go out of their way to help you. It's a nice club.
 
Enjoy.

I switched 12/24/02. You will especially like the sleep mode. No more waiting for the machine every time you want to do something or quit.

Now start ripping your CDs so you can wait for the 40 GB iPod.
 
Enjoy it. I eased my way into Macdom with the iBook 500 a year and a half ago. I'm sure within two years (or less) you'll be wanting more power as I do now but nevertheless it's the best money I've ever spent.

Welcome to the league of owners.
 
Thanks all!
Actually it is on its way here now. I haven't gotten it yet.

All I plan to do is word processing and light net surfing. This will probably be the computer I use to do my dissertation. Right now I am typing from a Dell with a 15 inch screen. But this dell, despite the fact that it's new crashes every few minutes. I hate it!

What are DII?
 
Originally posted by Caddy
Thanks all!
Actually it is on its way here now. I haven't gotten it yet.

All I plan to do is word processing and light net surfing. This will probably be the computer I use to do my dissertation. Right now I am typing from a Dell with a 15 inch screen. But this dell, despite the fact that it's new crashes every few minutes. I hate it!

What are DII?
Click to expand...

Caddy - I just switched back awhile ago myself. Fantastic to be on a Mac again. Ahhh - font smoothing is such a wonderful thing. The Mac world has really gotten alot of new energy/vitality as of late. Just talked to my Sis for example who tells me that FCP is quite the favored program for video editing in NYC. There are smaller examples of my seeing more and more Macs around. I was over at Georgetown U. the other day and as I walked through the student union area, I saw a host of iMacs set up as internet terminals. Even PC Magazine has had a lot more coverage (and very, very positive coverage it is!) on the Mac over the past year-and-a-half. A recent article on PC Mag.com had an editor trying to make a movie with his child. After recounting all of the trouble and deadend attempts, the editor reports that his wife asked him, "how to people do this in the real world" to which he and his son are said to have replied in unison "they buy a Mac."

If anything, I'm worried that the next OS revision will have too much metal in the appearence, but that's about it. (If apple is listening, please let users choose!)

ANYWAY - congrats! My mac really brings out my desire to want to create on my computer. Have fun with it!

LG
 
Originally posted by Caddy
What are DII?
Click to expand...
Les Kern was talking about DLLs (letter L, not letter I). In Windows, these are what Microsoft calls dynamic link libraries. They hold sections of program code that get loaded into memory when needed. (Their name isn't quite accurate - they are really dynamic load libraries.) Many DLLs come with each version of Windows. Still more come with software packages (applications) you install.

Shared DLLs (those used by more than one program) have been notorious sources of version control problems in most releases of Windows. For example, you buy software package X that comes with library file SOMETHING.DLL. All is fine. Then you buy software package Y that comes with another version of SOMETHING.DLL. Depending on which version of SOMETHING.DLL is in the Windows system directory and the Windows registry, software package X may stop working or software package Y may not work after installation.

So the lack of DLLs is often a pleasant change when moving from Windows to Mac OS X, Linux, or another operating systems.
 
Originally posted by Doctor Q
...the lack of DLLs is often a pleasant change when moving from Windows to Mac OS X, Linux, or another operating systems.
Click to expand...

-Caddy

Without all the muddle of .dll's, you will find your disk space more effficient (again, no defunct .dll's about), and "uninstalling" applications in OS X is really easy. You throw them in the trash.

Why you need to use Uninstaller in Windows to delete applications is that there was not only the .exe of the application istself, but all of the .dll's and registry entries for it. Hugely complex, and MS does a decent job of hiding it from you. But, I alway thought it a bit funny that you needed an application to get rid of an application in Windows.

However, Apple has no registry entries, has no .dll's, .tmp, or any other flotsam. So, no need for complexity.

This, is really what makes OS X and Apple what it is:

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Apple does it.

Welcome. You're going to love the machine.
 
Re: I did it! I am MAC OWNER, reassure me!

Originally posted by Caddy
I bought the Powerbook G4, 12 inch. I am afraid of several things, is the screen going to be too small for my purposes?

Secondly, how hard is it going to be to learn how to use a Mac? I've always had super loaded PC's but never have used one fourth of the accessories because I don't know how.

Is the G4 a good thing? where is the best price to buy Airport for this?

thanks.
Click to expand...

macs are much easier to use then a PC and to answer your other question, you will find the same price on airport on any site since apple locks the price at what they want.
 
Originally posted by law guy
A recent article on PC Mag.com had an editor trying to make a movie with his child. After recounting all of the trouble and deadend attempts, the editor reports that his wife asked him, "how to people do this in the real world" to which he and his son are said to have replied in unison "they buy a Mac."
Click to expand...

Priceless!

I switched over 2.2 years ago. Best money I ever spent. I love my Mac. Few people love their PC - it's only a utilitarian mindset. Completely different with the Mac, as I hope you'll soon discover.

Welcome to the club.
 
I switched 2 years ago. I love it. I also just bought a 12" powerbook. It rocks. I have had no problems with it at all. But be warned its addictive. In 2 years my household now owns 4 macs. We each have our own now no sharing..... I set up a network with the airport so I can now see what the kids are downloading in thier rooms :)
 
I bought the Powerbook G4, 12 inch. I am afraid of several things, is the screen going to be too small for my purposes?
Click to expand...
Maybe, but you can always attach a larger VGA monitor with the included adapter (at higher resolutions), so I don't see it as a problem.

P.S The adapter also conntects to TVs also, so you can use your powerbook on large-screen TVs too.
 
you don't need to use an Apple base station, you can use a third party BS, although the Apple BS is probably worth it for features. did you order the Airport extreme card installed?

I think it comes with a special adapter for video, you can probably use your PC monitor as a second monitor. So you can have lots of screen space.

I would recommend "The Missing Manual" by David Pogue or another book, while OSX is easy to learn, and use, you may waste a lot of time trying to do things the PC way, and you might miss somethings also.

and for lots of amazing stuff,

http://www.macosxhints.com/

and shareware etc,
http://versiontracker.com/macosx/index.shtml
customizing your UI,
http://www.resexcellence.com/

have fun
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back