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

I got to much computer, now what?

Mr. Chewbacca

Mr. Chewbacca

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 27, 2010
892
92
Dallas TX
I still don’t think I wasted my money because I love this machine. Up till 2 years ago I had not given Apple any thought. A computer was just a machine to do work and while I am pretty good at I didn’t like it. Then I got an iPhone and immediately got hooked on Apple. I love this new MBP, OSX is such a great OS. I’m still learning how to use it.

I got more than I need because I want to grow into it. I have been digging into Aperture (Awesome) and movie has been fun. I have a few games but not into gaming so it seems like a waste. I’m 36, a banker, like the outdoors and have a love of science.

I remember laughing at people that got a $3,500 machine to check facebook and yahoo and with the exception of iMovie, Handbrake, and Aperture I am suddenly that guy!

Now what? Any suggestions? What can I get into? I prefer something that could be considered somewhat productive but to be honest I’m not sure what that means. What do you do with your Mac?
 
You are paying for that large display, which will be great with Aperture, and a speedy processor which you will see the difference quickly with Handbrake. I don't see it as "too much computer" unless you are using it as a portable since it is intended as a desktop replacement.
 
I use my Mac for programming. Mostly C++ stuff, but want to get into Obj. C, too. Granted, a netbook could probably handle the type of programming I do, but I like having the extra horsepower when needed...haha.

If you edit any HD video in iMovie, you will appreciate the extra memory and power, though. I suggest freelancing as a weeding videographer in your free time if you want to make the investment worth it. ;)
 
WesCole said:
I use my Mac for programming. Mostly C++ stuff, but want to get into Obj. C, too. Granted, a netbook could probably handle the type of programming I do, but I like having the extra horsepower when needed...haha.

If you edit any HD video in iMovie, you will appreciate the extra memory and power, though. I suggest freelancing as a weeding videographer in your free time if you want to make the investment worth it. ;)
Click to expand...

That sounds cool! I dont think I would try to sell it but it would be fun to film some kind of event for a friend... good one!

Dont get me wrong, I dont feel like i wasted a single penny. I love this machine, I;m just rying to find some ideas of what I can do with it. For now I'm OK for now with photo/video editing but looking for a new "hobby"
 
Mr. Chewbacca said:
That sounds cool! I dont think I would try to sell it but it would be fun to film some kind of event for a friend... good one!

Dont get me wrong, I dont feel like i wasted a single penny. I love this machine, I;m just rying to find some ideas of what I can do with it. For now I'm OK for now with photo/video editing but looking for a new "hobby"
Click to expand...

You could always do a little folding@home when you're not using it. It's a good cause...


Folding@home
 
I would concentrate on your love for science.

google around and see if there's any software or program you can use for your particular interest.

You can pretty much run your life out of mbp so, keep using it and usage will come.
 
acedickson said:
You could always do a little folding@home when you're not using it. It's a good cause...


Folding@home
Click to expand...

Funny you mention that. I'm a senior biochemistry major in college (graduate in 2 weeks!) and I just did a project in my computing class with Folding @ Home. My group set up some old 2.6 GHz Pentium 4 Dell's we had laying around the physics lab and ran Ubuntu on 2 of them and Puppy Linux on the other 2. We tracked the points they accrued and showed which OS could get more points in a month. It was a cool project and we had fun. Ubuntu won by the way. It was close though. The old P4's were only able to scrounge up 4000 points in a month. Haha, some of those folding farms do as much as 60,000 in a single 24 hour period. Crazy.
 
Learn how to use Adobe Suite..

Learn how to create websites.

You'll be surprised how much people and small business need websites and website upgrades. ;)
 
kobyh15 said:
Funny you mention that. I'm a senior biochemistry major in college (graduate in 2 weeks!) and I just did a project in my computing class with Folding @ Home. My group set up some old 2.6 GHz Pentium 4 Dell's we had laying around the physics lab and ran Ubuntu on 2 of them and Puppy Linux on the other 2. We tracked the points they accrued and showed which OS could get more points in a month. It was a cool project and we had fun. Ubuntu won by the way. It was close though. The old P4's were only able to scrounge up 4000 points in a month. Haha, some of those folding farms do as much as 60,000 in a single 24 hour period. Crazy.
Click to expand...

Those farms have an incredible number of machines in their group but that's interesting that you guys only got 4,000.


Mr. Chewbacca said:
I did that today, so cool!! thanks for the idea!
Click to expand...

Cool, glad to give you a new idea for your machine.
 
WesCole said:
If you edit any HD video in iMovie, you will appreciate the extra memory and power, though. I suggest freelancing as a weeding videographer in your free time if you want to make the investment worth it. ;)
Click to expand...

Thats already being done (see below)

2006-01b.jpg
 
Mr. Chewbacca said:
I still don’t think I wasted my money because I love this machine. Up till 2 years ago I had not given Apple any thought. A computer was just a machine to do work and while I am pretty good at I didn’t like it. Then I got an iPhone and immediately got hooked on Apple. I love this new MBP, OSX is such a great OS. I’m still learning how to use it.

I got more than I need because I want to grow into it. I have been digging into Aperture (Awesome) and movie has been fun. I have a few games but not into gaming so it seems like a waste. I’m 36, a banker, like the outdoors and have a love of science.

I remember laughing at people that got a $3,500 machine to check facebook and yahoo and with the exception of iMovie, Handbrake, and Aperture I am suddenly that guy!

Now what? Any suggestions? What can I get into? I prefer something that could be considered somewhat productive but to be honest I’m not sure what that means. What do you do with your Mac?
Click to expand...

I use my Macs in the following order of importance (most to least):

* OS X :)
* graphic design
* web design
* fractal art creation (using Ultra Fractal and Crossover Office)
* MS Office support (via Parallels 6)
* Sound/music creation (Logic Studio, the BEST DAW for the money that I've found)
* Unreal Tournament 2004 gaming (via Parallels 6, runs without a hitch)
* 3D Rendering (Bryce 7 Pro, Poser Pro 2010, Live Interior Pro)
* Flight Simulation (X-plane 9)
* The Sims 3
 
I had an iMac, and ended up getting a Macbook pro because i wanted the portability. I love it so much and i use it 24/7 and bring it everywhere lol.

I posted an ad on craigslist to root peoples androids phones, (its like jailbreaking an iphone, but a different process, and really in depth) and figured since i have the macbook i could do a couple. I thought it would be cool to do a few and charge a couple bucks to help people out. Its quite a daunting process to root a phone, so i figured a couple people would call.

Well, its been a little over 6 months, and ive done about a hundred phones for about 40 bucks each, give or take. Its awesome because its really easy for me, its quick, people love what they can do to their phones now, and its extra cash. Not a ton, but my work blows right now, so anything helps.

Im happy to have been able to buy a computer and make the money back rather quickly. It was just a toy for me, but ive made the money back and then some.

I havent done any phones in about a month or so because i need to repost the ad :p
 
Get used to Apple upselling you to the next model, for that one pesky feature. For me, I ended up spending $1000 more for a backlit keyboard and 2" of screen.
 
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