New MBP User - A Few Questions

[TheCookie]

Okay, so I've had my MBP for about a month now, and I've come up with a few questions that I'm hoping someone can help out with...

1) My girlfriend and I both have MBPs. When they're open, it's easy to tell them apart as mine has a marware wrist protector on it. When they're closed, however...

So I want to decorate the top case of mine, personalize it in some way--but without doing anything that would be permanent (hurt resale value and prevent me from changing my mind down the road). So I'm thinking decals of some kind.

The question: is there any way to know for sure what will and will not leave residue/discoloration on the MBP case?

2) I've read a lot on here about battery life potentially being a problem. I've also read that calibration of the battery can be good for it. I'm at 28 cycles (I have no idea what that means) and 97% battery health after three weeks. How do I know when I need to calibrate it? More importantly, how does one calibrate his or her battery? I did a search, but maybe I missed it somewhere?

3) I've custom-added the iStat Pro widget, which is great for checking on the health of my beautiful MBP. Are there any other must-have widgets out there that anyone would recommend?

4) When I use MS Word, I use Paste Special a lot. In windows, there was no shortcut for that, but you could hit Alt to access the menus, then E to access the edit menu, then S to choose Paste Special, which acted as a shortcut. Is there any comparable way to get to Paste Special (still lacking a labeled shortcut path) in Word:mac 2008?

5) Have I asked enough questions?

 

[philgilder]

1) rather than decals, you could try an invidibleshield. it is nearly clear, protects the mbp and gives it a glossy look, which could be used to distinguish them

2) a cycle is how many times the battery has been discharged and charged fully. (so for example, using the battery until 70% is remaining, recharging, using again until 40% is remaining, and recharging, and then using it until 90% is remaining, and then recharging, is one complete cycle, as all the 'used' power adds up to 100%)

calibrate every month or so. the battery health may fall or rise. to do one, use the mbp on battery only. then, the battery will run out, let it sleep for 5 hours, and fully recharge it again

3) i personally dont use dashboard

4) yes, probably. open system preferences > keyboard and mouse > keyboard shortcuts > add a new one (little plus button)
add app (use the drop down, then other) then type the name of the menu title, as it appears in word, and add your shortcut. this should work

5) have you? i dont know... you can always come back and ask for more, just dont ask easy ones, or get lazy and not google it or search apple 🙂

 

[bbbensen]

You could get a GelaSkin.

I had one for my iBook, and I have one for my iPod Video.

Linky.

 

[TheCookie]

You could get a GelaSkin.

How do these work with the backlit apple logo? I'm imagining a strange circular glow coming from the center of the skin, and don't really like that image, but I'm not sure how thick they are?