imac - networks -dvd country codes - dead pixel

[muzh]

Hello community.

I just got a new17" iMac this week and I have 3 big questions.
1. My DSL internet connection (PPPoE) goes through my XP PC and a second lan card connects to the iMac. I thought everything would connect automatically, but I evidently have to set the IP address on the mac. The mac can't find the server. All the sites on the web suggest I buy a hub or router. They are much too expensive where I live, and anyway I can't afford any new hardware after this purchace. Any good XP-OSX networking sites out there?

2. We tried out the dvd player tonight and were confronted with the country code problem. We can take out DVDs from our local library for free, but the collection is a mixed bag of US, European, and Pacific Region disks. I guess PC users or stand alone devices have ways around this problem. What about iMacs? I read on one mac site to keep away from country code cracks on the mac as it could destroy the DVD device. What is the scoop?

3: There is a dead pixel in the middle of the screen that always shows blue. It only bothers me when I am working on a dark background. Is this usual for TFT mac screens? Should I ask for a refund?

Thanks for any and all suggestions,
MUZH

 

[hvfsl]

Firstly about networking, microsoft has info on how to setup internet connection sharing to work with Macs/Unix/Linux. Just search the Microsoft support site to find it. You should not have to enter any IP addresses or anything on your Mac since WinXP should do it all automatically. Also I have a cable modem and tried to share the connection using a win98 PC. But my cable company could detect this and it would not work, so I now use a router and all is fine.

There are two solutions to the DVD region problem (same for PCs and Macs).
-One is to get the program videolan from www.videolan.org .This is a DVD and Media player avaliable for free on every system. It allows you to play DVDs from any region. But the program is still in development and you may encounter problems with it (although it works fine on my PBG4 550). This is the safe solution, but is for OS X only.
-The second way is to go to http://www.wormintheapple.gr/macdvd/ .Where they have info about making the Apple DVD program work with DVDs from different regions. Although this envolves doing stuff to your system that could void the warranty and/or damage your Macs DVD drive. So only do it this way if videolan does not work.

Lastly about the dead pixels, this is considered normal to have a 'few' dead pixels on tft screens. So you cant have a refund. One solution is to massage the dead pixels (it might be a loose connection), I have heard this works for some people.