Just received my first mbp 15" any advice?

[bartz73]

Hi All

Just received my MPB 15" 2.0GHZ 4GB Hi Res AG today!! I am after some tips and advice before i unbox it etc. i am Mac virgin

Is there anything i should install or download?
Is it easy to transfer itunes from windows laptop to MBP?
Any useful tips on usung the ioerating software?

Any advice would be greatly received...

 

[Mackilroy]

As far as software goes, you'd like gfxCardStatus, as it allows you to force the machine to use either the HD 3000 or HD 6490, whichever you prefer. So if you're not doing anything that needs a dedicated GPU you can simply run off the integrated chip.

I've heard it's fairly easy to transfer iTunes information, but I've never done it so don't quote me on that.

As far as using OS X goes, my best advice would be to just try different things – commands, actions, whatever – as while OS X and Windows are similar in many ways there's lots of small differences.

 

[un.titled]

The first thing I did with my new MBP was calibrate the screen. Usually the coloring is off (Ex. mine was too red). I didn't notice how bad it was until I switched back and forth between profiles.

System Preferences > Displays > Color tab > Calibrate > Expert Mode (Though it's really easy). Just follow the onscreen directions.

Have fun.

 

[Orlandoech]

I recommend;

MenuTunes
BetterTouchTool
SuperDuper
Chronosync
Handbrake
DaisyDisk
TotalFinder

 

[awer25]

The first thing I did with my new MBP was calibrate the screen. Usually the coloring is off (Ex. mine was too red). I didn't notice how bad it was until I switched back and forth between profiles.

System Preferences > Displays > Color tab > Calibrate > Expert Mode (Though it's really easy). Just follow the onscreen directions.

Have fun.

Thanks - never knew about that. On mine the color was pretty close to perfect, but the gamma was way too high.

 

[ratzzo]

Enjoy is the main advice.

There are also some great apps that might come in handy, such as: BetterTouchTool (with included BetterSnapTool), smcFanControl, gfxCardStatus, ScreenShade, Caffeine, Chrome/Firefox, ..

 

[yusukeaoki]

istat pro is a must have.
it tells you the CPU, RAM, temp, fan speed and all that.

 

[daynel]

Is it easy to transfer itunes from windows laptop to MBP?

I got my new mac last night, transfering my itunes from mt old pc to my new mac was the easiest thing ever.

heres how

**From iTunes, go to Edit then to Preferences

**Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab, select the checkbox next to ‘Keep iTunes media folder organized’ then close the preferences

**Go to the File menu, then to Library and select ‘Organize Library’

**Now you need to locate your iTunes library. Do this by navigating from the Edit menu to Preferences, and back to the “Advanced” tab

**You will see the iTunes library location specified here,

**Copy that entire iTunes folder to a portable harddrive

**On your mac, move the iTunes folder into the Music folder in Finder

**Open iTunes. Should be instant, but may take a few mins depending on how big your library was

 

[dusk007]

BetterTouchTool, gfxCardStatus, Alfred, VLC are the only must haves I can think off the rest is subjective.
Replace Alfred with spotlight put spotlight on option+space you will hardly ever use it again.

I recommend Opera or Chrome over Safari. I wouldn't pay for MS Office 2011 (it still sucks). Just yesterday I replaced finder with pathfinder which is worlds better. In finder I always felt like being forced to use some inferior crap software like Internet Explorer 7 on Windows.
I removed istat and only use smc fancontrol it also shows you the CPU temp and that is really all you need to know if at all. istat is nothing more than some geek's toy with no actual use. It does interfere though with HDD sleeping. If when not monitoring hdd it seems to read out smart data and keeps the hdd from staying asleep.
If you need Skype download some old 2.8 Version. The new interface is well there are no words for it. No Idea what they were smoking when they did this.

Whatever else you need depends on what you do with the thing. The 4 on top are true must haves. BTT just needs some configuring and allows you to do so much more with the touchpad. Alfred is like spotlight but it remembers what you want and it works so fast as a launcher that you can even switch applications faster with it than with Exposé or tab+CMD. Unless you are really slow at typing it is a must have. VLC there is no question about it I think, plays everything and has 100 times better interface than quicktime. gfxCardStatus is a must have since Apple is too incompetent to get graphics switching right themselves. Being on Intel only helps a lot with temps and battery.

 

[dagamer34]

iStat Pro and iStat Menus for monitoring your computer. Adium for IM. Perian for better QuickTime codecs. Growl for notifications.