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corbyone

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I've been lurking for a while and reading lots of posts and well I finally ordered my 1st mac. 😀I ordered a 15 inch macbook pro 2.2 i7 with 750 GB HD, 4gb ram, 6750 1GB, Glossy w/ Lion installed. I'm a computer teacher but always been a PC guy even at the school I work at so other than my ipad and iphone. I am new to the whole mac world. I'm excited and sure will be posting in the future about upgrades (SSD and ram)/ issue (who knows) I may have. I was wondering if there were any tips for 1st time setup?

Also if anyone can recommend must have programs or apps that will help with everyday tasks and functions? Thanks in advance.

-Rick🙂
 
corbyone said:
I've been lurking for a while and reading lots of posts and well I finally ordered my 1st mac. 😀I ordered a 15 inch macbook pro 2.2 i7 with 750 GB HD, 4gb ram, 6750 1GB, Glossy w/ Lion installed. I'm a computer teacher but always been a PC guy even at the school I work at so other than my ipad and iphone. I am new to the whole mac world. I'm excited and sure will be posting in the future about upgrades (SSD and ram)/ issue (who knows) I may have. I was wondering if there were any tips for 1st time setup?

Also if anyone can recommend must have programs or apps that will help with everyday tasks and functions? Thanks in advance.

-Rick🙂
Click to expand...

great apps for me are

handbrake - for ripping dvd's

vlc player - plays all video formats(also its needed to decoded dvd so you can use handbrake)

burn - great for making dvds/cds

caffein - keeps mac from going to sleep or the screen from dimming(good for when you reading some big or watching a video)

iStatPro (great widget for dashboard that gives system info)

hyperdock - (windows 7 like features, hover mouse over any icon in dock to see a preview of the open windows of that app, drap a window to the top of screen to maximize the window, etc)

thats all i can think of on the top of my head that i use, im not currently on my mac
 
Check out "The Missing Manual: Lion" by David Pogue. Chock-full of info and easy to read. I've been a Mac user since 1995 and I always keep a copy handy. The Kindle edition is less than $10.

Essential apps:

1Password for managing passwords, credit cards, software serial numbers... you name it. Web surfing and online purchases are one-click experiences. Secure encryption protects your data. Also works with iOS devices.

Jumpcut is a Clipboard replacement that puts an icon in the Finder Menu Bar. It retains items in the Clipboard instead of replacing the previous clipping. You can decide how many clippings it will save and delete them when you choose to do so. Very Handy!

Cookie makes managing cookies across multiple Web browsers a snap. Designate favorites so you don't have to repeatedly login at your fave websites. Easily delete tracking and other cookies.

ABMenu for accessing your Address Book from the Finder Menu Bar.

DropBox for syncing files across multiple Macs and access to files from iOS devices.

Vienna, a free RSS reader that places an icon in the Finder Menu Bar. It beats any RSS reader that I have tried; I gave up on NetNewsWire when I discovered Vienna.

Witopia's personalVPN to secure online data transfers when traveling and at home. Secure encryption and your IP address is hidden as a bonus. YOur ISP is prevented from tracking your online activity. Also works with iOS and Android devices, as well as Windows. You can use one account on multiple devices for less than $6/month.

Bookmacster for managing bookmarks across multiple Web browsers via the Finder Menu Bar. Sync bookmarks via DropBox or iCloud.

Fantastical for easy access to your calendar items via the Finder Menu Bar. Add events by simply typing the details into Fantastical. It automatically places the info in the proper fields.

DEVONthink, a database on steroids. Similar to Evernote, DEVONthink is much more powerful due to its Artificial Intelligence. If you do research or simply have a lot of files on your Mac it beats Finder file-management hands-down. I do medical research and I could not effectively get the most out of all my data without DEVONthink. It handles and displays just about any file-type out there without having to open other apps, getting data into DT is easily accomplished in a variety of ways and its search function provides results in ways that blows Spotlight out of the water.

Airfoil for streaming any audio (not just iTunes) to other Macs, iOS devices and home audio systems connected to an Airport Express. I use it with Pandora and Spotify.

TimeOut for scheduling automatic reminders to take a break to stretch and give your back/neck/arms a rest.

CheckOff, a To Do list accessible via the Finder Menu Bar.

Most of the above apps are available as free demos, so you can try before you buy. And a few are free to begin with!
 
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text wrangler - a good text editor
Colloquy - irc
realvnc - decent vnc viewer
handbrake & vlc for dvd rip and video convert
skype - voip
seashore - decent image editor
transmission - torrenting
dropbox - cloud file handling
ilife
iwork or libreoffice as an alternative to iwork
icloud - calendar, contacts, reminders
twitter - for twitter
iTerm - terminal client
justnotes - for simplenote notetaking into the cloud
switch - convert different audio formats
 
OP: As a teacher, you may want to browse the app store for things that relate to your occupation.

Pages WP.

iwork (suite of apps similar to Office)

The apps posted above are fine, but more aimed at the fun side of your new Mac.

If you are a digital photo fan, take a look at Aperture too!

Enjoy your new Mac.
 
Thanks for the replies. I will definitely look into most if not all of your suggestions. I was wondering about cases, I already purchased a sleeve to keep it nice but I was wondering about the hard shell type cases. I really like the looks of the macbook pros but if a case would protect it better I'd be wiling to sacrifice the looks a little. Are there any cases that don't trap heat and protect the computer? Which ones are your favorites?

-Rick
 
corbyone said:
Thanks for the replies. I will definitely look into most if not all of your suggestions. I was wondering about cases, I already purchased a sleeve to keep it nice but I was wondering about the hard shell type cases. I really like the looks of the macbook pros but if a case would protect it better I'd be wiling to sacrifice the looks a little. Are there any cases that don't trap heat and protect the computer? Which ones are your favorites?
Click to expand...
The hard cases won't have a significant effect on heat, as most of the cooling is achieved through the fans and vents at the rear of the MBP, near the hinge, which the hard cases do not block.

Some have complained about hard cases scratching the finish. There are many threads with thousands of comments and recommendations on these cases, so searching the forum will bring you a wealth of information.

I prefer to use a sleeve and case, leaving the aluminum bare. I've had my current MBP for 4 years and it still looks new.
 
corbyone said:
Thanks for the replies. I will definitely look into most if not all of your suggestions. I was wondering about cases, I already purchased a sleeve to keep it nice but I was wondering about the hard shell type cases. I really like the looks of the macbook pros but if a case would protect it better I'd be wiling to sacrifice the looks a little. Are there any cases that don't trap heat and protect the computer? Which ones are your favorites?

-Rick
Click to expand...

I had the incase hard shell on for a few weeks but didn't like the bulk so I took it off
 
corbyone said:
Thanks for the replies. I will definitely look into most if not all of your suggestions. I was wondering about cases, I already purchased a sleeve to keep it nice but I was wondering about the hard shell type cases. I really like the looks of the macbook pros but if a case would protect it better I'd be wiling to sacrifice the looks a little. Are there any cases that don't trap heat and protect the computer? Which ones are your favorites?

-Rick
Click to expand...


I purchased a speck hard shell case. It came in the mail today and I really like it so far.
 
I think the iWork package is better than Microsoft. Microsoft tends to freeze up on me every so often and I have to completely turn my computer off and back on.
 
corbyone said:
Thanks for the replies. I will definitely look into most if not all of your suggestions. I was wondering about cases, I already purchased a sleeve to keep it nice but I was wondering about the hard shell type cases. I really like the looks of the macbook pros but if a case would protect it better I'd be wiling to sacrifice the looks a little. Are there any cases that don't trap heat and protect the computer? Which ones are your favorites?

-Rick
Click to expand...


I purchased a speck hard shell case. It came in the mail today and I really like it so far.
 
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