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Possible switcher needs software advice

M

Mipeha

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
10
0
Brønderslev, Denmark
I am in a position where I need a new computer and am considering purchasing a Mac. Having used Windows PC's all of my life, I am of course a little wary of jumping ship without doing some research first.

My computer-needs aren't excessive, basically all I am going to use the machine for is surfing, organizing and printing family photos, creating simple DVD's from my own recordings and accessing newsgroup downloads. All the heavier tasks I use my work laptop for (they don't allow most software on the machine, but I can always just install and uninstall when done).

So, I need some advice about specific software before I take the plunge:

1) newsgroup download: On PC I use Newsbin Pro - Is Unison for mac any good? other suggestions?
2) Irfanview - Anything similar on Mac?
3) Picasa - will iPhoto be sufficient for my needs, including playing avi files recorded with my camera?
4) winrar (Totalcommander) - diskorder 3.0 any good? other suggestions?
5) creating dvd-movies from recorded mpg's
6) converting video files to dvd (mostly divx)
7) accessing data on and sync with nokia e65 - anybody has any experience to share?

I will greatly appreciate any help from members of this forum. You might help another PC user to convert to Mac ;).
 
2) Irfanview - Anything similar on Mac? - Sadly I haven't been able to find a replacement. I've heard of many Irfanview-like apps, but they're nothing like Irfanview.

4) winrar (Totalcommander) - For opening compressed files, StuffIt Expander will do the trick. I think there's also a "Pro" version that let's you compress files.

5) creating dvd-movies from recorded mpg's - iDVD

6) converting video files to dvd (mostly divx) - There used to be an awesome app called VisualHub, but sadly the developer closed it's doors about a month ago. Luckily, an open source alternative is in the works called TranscoderRedux.

7) accessing data on and sync with nokia e65 - anybody has any experience to share? - Does your Nokia have Bluetooth? If so you can transfer files between it and your Mac in just a few clicks.

I have actually found all of these tasks, plus many others, to be much more simple on Mac OS X than Windows (I was a Windows user of 6 years before converting in October 2006).
 
Mipeha said:
I am in a position where I need a new computer and am considering purchasing a Mac. Having used Windows PC's all of my life, I am of course a little wary of jumping ship without doing some research first.

My computer-needs aren't excessive, basically all I am going to use the machine for is surfing, organizing and printing family photos, creating simple DVD's from my own recordings and accessing newsgroup downloads. All the heavier tasks I use my work laptop for (they don't allow most software on the machine, but I can always just install and uninstall when done).

So, I need some advice about specific software before I take the plunge:

1) newsgroup download: On PC I use Newsbin Pro - Is Unison for mac any good? other suggestions?
2) Irfanview - Anything similar on Mac?
3) Picasa - will iPhoto be sufficient for my needs, including playing avi files recorded with my camera?
4) winrar (Totalcommander) - diskorder 3.0 any good? other suggestions?
5) creating dvd-movies from recorded mpg's
6) converting video files to dvd (mostly divx)
7) accessing data on and sync with nokia e65 - anybody has any experience to share?

I will greatly appreciate any help from members of this forum. You might help another PC user to convert to Mac ;).
Click to expand...

1) I use Thunderbird for newsgroups.
2) I'm not sure if it will do everything you want, but try Photoshop Express. It's web based and free.
3)Picasa will work on a Mac too if you want. iPhoto automatically sorts photos by date and sometimes event. Also I've uploaded .avis to iPhoto but they play via Quick Time when I click on them.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I seems that most of my needs will be covered should I switch to Mac.

Just one thing, though. Are you able to cut stuff out of a movie in iDVD before you finish the DVD project, or will you have to accept any commercials or other irrelevant stuff that has been recorded with it? I am of course not talking about home-videos here, I may also want to use the Mac to record TV when I am out.

But thanks again. I am closer to switching now more than ever. Just have to figure out which Mac to get (should I buy a refurbished one, used, G5 or Intel as my needs aren't that excessive and my wallet isn't bottomless? All those questions).
 
Mipeha said:
Thanks for the replies.
Just one thing, though. Are you able to cut stuff out of a movie in iDVD before you finish the DVD project, or will you have to accept any commercials or other irrelevant stuff that has been recorded with it? I am of course not talking about home-videos here, I may also want to use the Mac to record TV when I am out.

But thanks again. I am closer to switching now more than ever. Just have to figure out which Mac to get (should I buy a refurbished one, used, G5 or Intel as my needs aren't that excessive and my wallet isn't bottomless? All those questions).
Click to expand...

iMovie to edit out commercials.
Check out eyeTV.
Go with an Intel based Mac. Faster for video.
 
Flynnstone said:
iMovie to edit out commercials.
Go with an Intel based Mac. Faster for video.
Click to expand...

I figured as much but video isn't going to be the primary use for it, I will maybe only use this feature a couple of times every two months, so if a G5 machine could do the job (just a little slower than an Intel), I would appreciate the money I could save on buying 'old technology'.

Please remember that this is the first Mac, and I have to learn everything from the bottom up. I will not invest too much at first while I learn the ropes around the Mac universe and see if it's anything for me. I give the machine a year maybe 18 months while I evaluate.

But thanks for the reply anyway. I hadn't noticed that iMovie was part of iLife.
 
Mipeha said:
... so if a G5 machine could do the job (just a little slower than an Intel), I would appreciate the money I could save on buying 'old technology'.
Click to expand...

I still recommend getting an Intel Mac. You kind of get 2 computers for one. You can run Windows on an Intel via Boot Camp, Parallels or VMWare.
I use Parallels for my embedded software work.
 
Mipeha said:
I am in a position where I need a new computer and am considering purchasing a Mac. Having used Windows PC's all of my life, I am of course a little wary of jumping ship without doing some research first.

My computer-needs aren't excessive, basically all I am going to use the machine for is surfing, organizing and printing family photos, creating simple DVD's from my own recordings and accessing newsgroup downloads. All the heavier tasks I use my work laptop for (they don't allow most software on the machine, but I can always just install and uninstall when done).

So, I need some advice about specific software before I take the plunge:

1) newsgroup download: On PC I use Newsbin Pro - Is Unison for mac any good? other suggestions?
2) Irfanview - Anything similar on Mac?
3) Picasa - will iPhoto be sufficient for my needs, including playing avi files recorded with my camera?
4) winrar (Totalcommander) - diskorder 3.0 any good? other suggestions?
5) creating dvd-movies from recorded mpg's
6) converting video files to dvd (mostly divx)
7) accessing data on and sync with nokia e65 - anybody has any experience to share?

I will greatly appreciate any help from members of this forum. You might help another PC user to convert to Mac ;).
Click to expand...

1) unison is good

2) if you just want to browse random pictures, open then in the "preview". Or even faster, just press space button for quicklook. If you are meaning about batch jobs, like resizing many pictures automaticly, you should check automator which is awesome batch job utility (included in leopard).

3) why would you want to play movies in a picture program? I would recommend you to play them outside any program. Use quicktime(with perian) or VLC. Or just use the quicklook feature.

4) leopard can archive and compress .zip files straight from the normal file menu. For more exotic package formats, see "stuffit expander". Also free for unrarrin .rar files is the unrarx.

5 and 6) idvd and for ecoding your files, see program called handbrake..there is many other ways too.

7) No comments
 
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