^Thanks. Overall I like it, screen is very big, nice and the only 'force quits' I have is a silly "I Spy" game for my son. It is too small for the screen and if you take the mouse pointer off the game onto the desktop that is showing it will lock up the game. I've had 1% the amount of popups compared to a PC and no viruses. I do like the fact that the PB fan rarely ever turns on. I've really enjoyed iTunes although I know you can have that on a PC as well. Regarding my Windows only software via Virtual PC, it is not that great. My mapping software (Street Atlas) performs well, however I cannot copy and then paste in Word for Mac. To do it I have to paste in Microsoft Word in Virtual PC, save to my flash card and reopen in Word for Mac. For now I'm not going to sell it. I would like a mouse and keyboard, and honestly I don't care if it's wired or wireless. Any recommendations?
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Ongoing New Apple Owner Questions
- Thread starter Advance The Man
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How can I use the 'F' keys in Word without having to press the 'fn' key?
For instance I use the 'F2' key in Word to search for a word. When I hit just the F2 key it brightens the screen. To do it correctly I have to hold down the fn key + F2. Is there a way to turn off standard Apple keys?
For instance I use the 'F2' key in Word to search for a word. When I hit just the F2 key it brightens the screen. To do it correctly I have to hold down the fn key + F2. Is there a way to turn off standard Apple keys?
gekko513
macrumors 603
A lot of people seem to like the Logitech MX 500 for a wired mouse or the Logitech MX 1000 for wireless. Both can be found at the online apple store and most other places. Then there's the Logitech MX 900 which is wireless Bluetooth. These Logitech mice have lots and lots of buttons which can be customized.
Personally I like few buttons. I like the Apple mouse or a mouse with at most 3 buttons (2 buttons plus a clickable scroll wheel). At work I use the 3 button Microsoft Optical mouse by S+arck and I'm quite happy with it, but the buttons have very little resistance so if you sometimes make accidental clicks with other mice, you will probably find that to be a problem with the S+arck mouse.
Personally I like few buttons. I like the Apple mouse or a mouse with at most 3 buttons (2 buttons plus a clickable scroll wheel). At work I use the 3 button Microsoft Optical mouse by S+arck and I'm quite happy with it, but the buttons have very little resistance so if you sometimes make accidental clicks with other mice, you will probably find that to be a problem with the S+arck mouse.
mkrishnan
Moderator emeritus
Advance The Man said:
System Preferences -> Keyboard and Mouse pane -> Keyboard tab.
Check the box marked "Use the F1-F12 keys...." at the bottom. Then, the keys should act as function keys without Fn and will perform their OS X function (screen brightness, dashboard, etc) with Fn. 🙂
I've been wanting an Ipod Shuffle. But just realized there is no lcd display. I already have an iRiver that is great, but am I right...only Ipods can utilize the AAC format that Apple uses with iTunes?
gekko513
macrumors 603
Some players can play AAC files imported from CD just fine, but only iPods can play files from iTunes Music Store.
However, I didn't find any iRiver players that said they could play AAC on iriver's own site.
Even if the iRiver isn't listed on that page it is still possible that you can use it with MP3 files on your Mac, just not integrated with iTunes.
If you're going to use the player mostly for exercising the iPod shuffle is best even if it has no screen. The shuffle controls are easy to use without even looking at the player which is a huge advantage when exercising. Also it's much easier and more convenient to manage which music you want to listen to in iTunes before you start the workout instead of trying to locate workout friendly music on a tiny display during your workout.
However, I didn't find any iRiver players that said they could play AAC on iriver's own site.
Even if the iRiver isn't listed on that page it is still possible that you can use it with MP3 files on your Mac, just not integrated with iTunes.
If you're going to use the player mostly for exercising the iPod shuffle is best even if it has no screen. The shuffle controls are easy to use without even looking at the player which is a huge advantage when exercising. Also it's much easier and more convenient to manage which music you want to listen to in iTunes before you start the workout instead of trying to locate workout friendly music on a tiny display during your workout.
mkrishnan
Moderator emeritus
If you want to buy music from Apple's store, the situation is still that *no* player that is not an iPod can play this music, unless you go through some rigamarole like burning it to CD and re-ripping it. 🙁 So you're pretty much stuck with iPod/Mini/Shuffle. I exercise with a full size iPod, but I recognize that isn't acceptable to a lot of people... it seems to work for a lot of runners, oddly, but everyone else seems to hate it! 😀
(There are two separate issues involved... Apple by default encourages encoding with AAC -- and many, but not all, non-iPod players cannot play AAC at all. But the second issue is that the iTunes music store files are *protected* AAC files. No non-iPod player can play these files as is.)
(There are two separate issues involved... Apple by default encourages encoding with AAC -- and many, but not all, non-iPod players cannot play AAC at all. But the second issue is that the iTunes music store files are *protected* AAC files. No non-iPod player can play these files as is.)
^Thanks for both Ipod/iTunes comments.
Regarding using your Ipod for exercising. I've read that the constant movement will ruin the microdrive (hard drive) in short order. Is this true? My exercise is running, so it will get jolted. I was thinking if it wasn't for that I'd get a mini.
Gekko, agreed I don't typically ever look at my iRiver for what song is playing, etc. I only fast-forward to the next song. So I agree it's not that important to have a LCD.
Regarding using your Ipod for exercising. I've read that the constant movement will ruin the microdrive (hard drive) in short order. Is this true? My exercise is running, so it will get jolted. I was thinking if it wasn't for that I'd get a mini.
Gekko, agreed I don't typically ever look at my iRiver for what song is playing, etc. I only fast-forward to the next song. So I agree it's not that important to have a LCD.
mkrishnan
Moderator emeritus
Advance The Man said:
That's definitely a valid question. I think that whether this becomes an issue or not depends to some extent on how you hold the iPod while exercising, and what kind of exercising. The big iPods have a memory buffer (I think about 32MB) that caches songs and acts as a sort of skip protection. Anything you do that makes an iPod skip is definitely bad news, so you can use it as a sort of yardstick, although you can probably damage it by motion without making it skip.
On the one hand, I do not have an exact number, but I would estimate that I've run somewhere in the 300-500 miles total range with my iPod so far. It's about 1.5 years old, and so far it is doing fine. It has actually never skipped, AFAIK. Occasionally (very rarely), it will just stop playing a song in the middle and advance to the next song, but this has never seemed correlated to how much I was moving at the time. And also very rare. I think that's just bugginess in that iPod revision....
When I run, I hold it in my hand. This seems to really work for some and not others. I think that this position actually relatively minimizes the jolting to it, because when you hold something in your hand while running, you tend to swing that arm less. I wouldn't do jumping jacks holding it in my hand though! 😉 Anyway, I have run a full marathon once and several 15-20 mile training sessions that way without difficulty.
I guess if I were buying one specifically to use exercising, though, I would like something more like the shuffle or the other smallest flash MP3 players. I think if you get the shuffle, you basically have to use it with a different mentality. Either you have it hold one playlist (or a few), and you change the playlist frequently with the computer, or you give it some kind of smart playlist and shuffle music on it. I don't think you could effectively use it like an iPod, in the sense of a music library, even though it can hold a good handful of CDs. Meh, typical Apple...their products are amazing if you can convince yourself to do things their way. 😉
External Hard Drive
Could someone give a recommendation of an external hard drive that will work with both Mac and Windows? I need to save approximately 300 gb of files off a work PC that I will need to access from both my PB and my PC from home. I also may want a personal one strictly for home videos, pixs, etc. that would almost exclusively only be used with the Apple PB. Thanks.
Could someone give a recommendation of an external hard drive that will work with both Mac and Windows? I need to save approximately 300 gb of files off a work PC that I will need to access from both my PB and my PC from home. I also may want a personal one strictly for home videos, pixs, etc. that would almost exclusively only be used with the Apple PB. Thanks.
Mitthrawnuruodo
Moderator emeritus
Get a 400 GB 3.5" IDE Seagate Barracuda with a USB2 (or maybe USB2/FireWire Combo) 3.5" IDE enclosure. It should be very easy for you to put the disk into the enclosure. Format the disk in FAT/VFAT and you will be able to read from and write to the disk from basically every computer in the world... 🙂
I'm not really tech savvy. I did a google search and several pop up, but appears to be just the hard drive. What vendor sells them ready to go with usb/firewire, enclosure, etc?
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
I need to transfer a bunch of songs I copied from my CD collection from my Power Book (itunes) to my PC (via itunes). It's probably around 600 megs and I wanted to use my CD burner on my PB. I put a blank CD-R in the PB and it does nothing. I was hoping it was going to 'walk' me through it. It does on my PC. Suggestions on how to do this? I am also going to copy my purchased songs from my iTunes account on the PB over to the PC iTunes.
Mitthrawnuruodo
Moderator emeritus
In iTunes preferences -> Burning -> Chose Data CD.
Then make a playlist with all the songs you want to burn to (the data) CD, insert a blank disk (say ignore or open iTunes if Finder prompts you) and click the Burn Disk icon in the top right corner of the iTunes window.
(If the playlist is bigger than one CD it will ask if you want to abort or burn on several CDs, chose the latter and it will spit out the finished disk(s) and ask for more untill the entire playlist is burned...)
Very easy, but no wizards... 😉
Then make a playlist with all the songs you want to burn to (the data) CD, insert a blank disk (say ignore or open iTunes if Finder prompts you) and click the Burn Disk icon in the top right corner of the iTunes window.
(If the playlist is bigger than one CD it will ask if you want to abort or burn on several CDs, chose the latter and it will spit out the finished disk(s) and ask for more untill the entire playlist is burned...)
Very easy, but no wizards... 😉
faintember
macrumors 65816
Alright...i have a few questions...
I have had my macs for a few years now and am quite comfortable doing what i do (audio editing, music composition and live audio processing) but i am wondering about a few things now.
Q#1: I would like to do a clean install of the OS soon (currently running 10.2.8 on my Ti PB 1Ghz, 512ram) and upgrade to Tiger. What is the best way of backing up my hard drive without spending money? (hey i am broke, grad students dont get paid squat!) I was thinking about using my iMac as just a back up for my PB while i am installing OS 10.4. Will this work? If so how should i go about it? (i do have a router connecting the computers, but backing up 32 gigs would take a LONG TIME)
Q#2: Doing lots of audio editing/intensive processing I was wondering what scripts i should be running, and how often? I do repair disk permissions at least every month (more often before performances that use the PB).
Q#3: My iMac. Its an G4 700Ghz, and i really want to re-install the OS on it, HOWEVER...my system disk for it has been lost in moving around a few times in the past years. I tried the PB disk, but of course it wouldnt work, so is there any way around this legally without buying another system disk?? Basically i want to wipe that hard drive so that if i decide to sell it i wouldnt have to worry about any info being easily-accessable on the hard drive.
Q#4: Ram... i upgraded the iMac from 256 to 768 and didnt really notice ANY performance upgrades (the ram is good and has been checked). So i am wondering if i should bump my PB to 1gig (512 currently), as certain programs i am running (max/msp) can really easily eat 100% CPU. This is an expensive move for me if i do the upgrade, also where to buy? I know Crutial, but thats for rich people (which i am not..see above:student/musician)
Thanks for the help yall. I love these forums and the site.
I have had my macs for a few years now and am quite comfortable doing what i do (audio editing, music composition and live audio processing) but i am wondering about a few things now.
Q#1: I would like to do a clean install of the OS soon (currently running 10.2.8 on my Ti PB 1Ghz, 512ram) and upgrade to Tiger. What is the best way of backing up my hard drive without spending money? (hey i am broke, grad students dont get paid squat!) I was thinking about using my iMac as just a back up for my PB while i am installing OS 10.4. Will this work? If so how should i go about it? (i do have a router connecting the computers, but backing up 32 gigs would take a LONG TIME)
Q#2: Doing lots of audio editing/intensive processing I was wondering what scripts i should be running, and how often? I do repair disk permissions at least every month (more often before performances that use the PB).
Q#3: My iMac. Its an G4 700Ghz, and i really want to re-install the OS on it, HOWEVER...my system disk for it has been lost in moving around a few times in the past years. I tried the PB disk, but of course it wouldnt work, so is there any way around this legally without buying another system disk?? Basically i want to wipe that hard drive so that if i decide to sell it i wouldnt have to worry about any info being easily-accessable on the hard drive.
Q#4: Ram... i upgraded the iMac from 256 to 768 and didnt really notice ANY performance upgrades (the ram is good and has been checked). So i am wondering if i should bump my PB to 1gig (512 currently), as certain programs i am running (max/msp) can really easily eat 100% CPU. This is an expensive move for me if i do the upgrade, also where to buy? I know Crutial, but thats for rich people (which i am not..see above:student/musician)
Thanks for the help yall. I love these forums and the site.
mkrishnan
Moderator emeritus
faintember, regarding question #4...
A) If you go to dealram.com you can identify compatible ram and get competitive pricing from multiple suppliers.
B) My experience, and a lot of others concurred when Tiger first came out, is that Tiger seems to swallow about 128 MB more memory than Panther, under typical usage. What this means for me is that when I do memory intensive stuff (run PS and iPhoto together, for instance, without closing down other apps), I run into beachballs more quickly on Tiger than Panther. This is on 640MB, which I found very comfortable under Tiger. In Panther, I wish I had more memory, but really only when I'm using Photoshop. Right now I have Terminal, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Safari, Adium, iTunes and Word running, and it isn't a big deal. But I find that PS and iPhoto both need enough memory to make it a big deal. In Panther, I probably would've shut down just Word as a concession to doing that work, but in Tiger I usually quit everything else except Mail and Safari....
OTOH, I don't know what your usage profile is, but if you were able to upgrade from 256 to 768 and not notice a difference, I suspect you don't do much multitasking. If you keep the same MO in Tiger, you should be okay on 512....
A) If you go to dealram.com you can identify compatible ram and get competitive pricing from multiple suppliers.
B) My experience, and a lot of others concurred when Tiger first came out, is that Tiger seems to swallow about 128 MB more memory than Panther, under typical usage. What this means for me is that when I do memory intensive stuff (run PS and iPhoto together, for instance, without closing down other apps), I run into beachballs more quickly on Tiger than Panther. This is on 640MB, which I found very comfortable under Tiger. In Panther, I wish I had more memory, but really only when I'm using Photoshop. Right now I have Terminal, Address Book, iCal, Mail, Safari, Adium, iTunes and Word running, and it isn't a big deal. But I find that PS and iPhoto both need enough memory to make it a big deal. In Panther, I probably would've shut down just Word as a concession to doing that work, but in Tiger I usually quit everything else except Mail and Safari....
OTOH, I don't know what your usage profile is, but if you were able to upgrade from 256 to 768 and not notice a difference, I suspect you don't do much multitasking. If you keep the same MO in Tiger, you should be okay on 512....
If there's enough space on the Mac that you're not upgrading, I hear that putting a firewire cable between the two of them is a nice way to quickly transfer large amounts of data, although I've never needed to do it. Look up "firewire target disk mode" on google to see how you can make the Mac that's being backed up look just like another hard drive, from which all the data can be backed up quickly. You can get the cable you need for a couple of dollars online...
Here's a link that describes (and sells) that cable:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=102559
As for the memory upgrade, it sounds like a waste of money - it won't have a dramatic effect on the CPU usage you mention. Instead, it would make switching between certain programs quicker. I'll echo what mkrishnan says: Tiger undoubtedly uses more RAM. If you get a beachball when switching apps, and if you can hear your hard drive churning, more RAM could help, otherwise I'd be tempted not to bother and to save for your next upgrade in a couple of years.
Here's a link that describes (and sells) that cable:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=102559
As for the memory upgrade, it sounds like a waste of money - it won't have a dramatic effect on the CPU usage you mention. Instead, it would make switching between certain programs quicker. I'll echo what mkrishnan says: Tiger undoubtedly uses more RAM. If you get a beachball when switching apps, and if you can hear your hard drive churning, more RAM could help, otherwise I'd be tempted not to bother and to save for your next upgrade in a couple of years.
faintember
macrumors 65816
Thanks mkrishnan.
My idea of multitasking is having safari open with about 20 tabs, word and itunes. The thing is sometimes i do have many programs open (Logic, with Reaktor and Absynth used as plugins as well as some other VST plugins running as well.) But during these types of events the computer still seems a bit too slow and quite honestly scares me that it is going to lock up one or more programs.
The ram question comes from a program that i built on my mac (music program) that peaks and holds at 100% cpu on my PB, but only peaks and holds around 80-84% on the university's PM G4 1Ghz with 1gig ram.
[edit] .thanks to you too andylane....
i am gonna look into that firewire cable, and the iMac has plenty of HD space for the copy...
Sounds logical about the ram...I was oogling that 17'' PB but i think i am gonna wait until we get some more info on these new intel chips. Besides that purchase would be next summer at the earliest.
My idea of multitasking is having safari open with about 20 tabs, word and itunes. The thing is sometimes i do have many programs open (Logic, with Reaktor and Absynth used as plugins as well as some other VST plugins running as well.) But during these types of events the computer still seems a bit too slow and quite honestly scares me that it is going to lock up one or more programs.
The ram question comes from a program that i built on my mac (music program) that peaks and holds at 100% cpu on my PB, but only peaks and holds around 80-84% on the university's PM G4 1Ghz with 1gig ram.
[edit] .thanks to you too andylane....
i am gonna look into that firewire cable, and the iMac has plenty of HD space for the copy...
Sounds logical about the ram...I was oogling that 17'' PB but i think i am gonna wait until we get some more info on these new intel chips. Besides that purchase would be next summer at the earliest.
How do you check your % peak of ram on your cpt?
Regarding Ram, the reputable less expensive websites mentioned multiple times here are great. No reason to pay crucial prices.
Regarding Ram, the reputable less expensive websites mentioned multiple times here are great. No reason to pay crucial prices.
faintember said:
faintember
macrumors 65816
I dont know how to check it (max ram usage), but i figure if the CPU is at 100% then my ram is prob maxed as well. (but i am prob wrong)
NOTE: the program has a built in CPU meter, so that is what i am basing my CPU readings off of. When i opened the Apple CPU meter it was also maxed. 😱
Basically the program that 100%'s the CPU is recording a audio sample (.aiff format, not longer than 1000 ms) then is playing back those audio samples in a sequential, logic based method depending on what the computer hears via a mic that is dedicated to one instrument. So basically the computer is:
1) Listening and recording short audio samples (16 samples in all)
2) Making decisions regarding the probability that certain samples will be played (again listening to live audio input to make the probability decisions)
3) Playing those samples
and
4) Further manipulating the live audio (triggering FM synthesis, Granular synthesis, pitch modification and panning in 8 channels) NOTE: panning + one other operation (FM, Granular, Pitch mod) and the recording/playback of short samples and their calculations are the MAX amounts of processes going on at any one time.
The program does run, and i have streamlined some redundancies in the program to help out CPU usage, as the program will run now, but sometimes likes to distort the audio output, or certain processes seem to "hang" for a moment, then proceed as supposed to.
I dont know if this will make sense to anyone else....
If i can sell my iMac i will prob upgrade to 768 at least anyways...ehh
Anyone want to buy an iMac???? 😉
NOTE: the program has a built in CPU meter, so that is what i am basing my CPU readings off of. When i opened the Apple CPU meter it was also maxed. 😱
Basically the program that 100%'s the CPU is recording a audio sample (.aiff format, not longer than 1000 ms) then is playing back those audio samples in a sequential, logic based method depending on what the computer hears via a mic that is dedicated to one instrument. So basically the computer is:
1) Listening and recording short audio samples (16 samples in all)
2) Making decisions regarding the probability that certain samples will be played (again listening to live audio input to make the probability decisions)
3) Playing those samples
and
4) Further manipulating the live audio (triggering FM synthesis, Granular synthesis, pitch modification and panning in 8 channels) NOTE: panning + one other operation (FM, Granular, Pitch mod) and the recording/playback of short samples and their calculations are the MAX amounts of processes going on at any one time.
The program does run, and i have streamlined some redundancies in the program to help out CPU usage, as the program will run now, but sometimes likes to distort the audio output, or certain processes seem to "hang" for a moment, then proceed as supposed to.
I dont know if this will make sense to anyone else....
If i can sell my iMac i will prob upgrade to 768 at least anyways...ehh
Anyone want to buy an iMac???? 😉
Nermal said:
WOW that is amazing! I LOVE not having to do the windows thing, press + followed by three numbers. Jesus, apple, i LOVE you, macrumors i LOVE you.
By the way, I am running an iBook G4 purchased last Nov. i am thinking of purchasing some RAM for it and i was wondering if these prices were any good? I am purchasing RAM because now that i have updated to Tiger EVERYTHING runs much slower, beach balls galore, AND my iBook heats up much faster than ever before (i dont think increased RAM would fix that)!
So i was thinking of purchasing a 200 PIN DDRSO-DIMM upgrade 512MB for 55.99 or should i splurge ( i'm not sure if its necessary) for a 1GB for 139.99?
Thanks for your input you guys!