IF I were to convert to the Dark Side...

['Stein]

Ok, I'll admit it. I want an Apple. ;)

I've been a PC user since being introduced to computers way back when.

My question now is, what specs should I be looking at?

First off, I'm set on buying a laptop. That leaves the MacBook and the Pro.

In PC usage, I'm quite a heavy user. Usually I'll have an instant messenger client, iTunes, and the internet open eternally. On top of this, I have photoshop open at times as well.

My main question is whether 2 gigs of RAM will cover me on a 2.33ghz processor?

[John A]

In PC usage, I'm quite a heavy user. Usually I'll have an instant messenger client, iTunes, and the internet open eternally. On top of this, I have photoshop open at times as well.

It sounds like you do a lot of multitasking. I think you'll enjoy the MacBook/MacBook Pro's Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It's supposed to be really good at multitasking. So you'll obviously need lots of RAM. Processor speed isn't quite as critical at this point, because multitasking is more about RAM than about your processor's clock speed.

My main question is whether 2 gigs of RAM will cover me on a 2.33ghz processor?

It should be. My MacBook only has 512 MB of RAM, which is a little bit less than I would like it to be, so 2 GB will be perfectly adequete for what you need.

So now that leaves you with several things:

• Do you ever play games? MacBooks suck at gaming, so get the MacBook Pro if you want to do any real gaming.
• How big do you want your screen to be? The MacBook's only come in 13" models, whereas MacBook Pro comes in 15" and 17".
• Intel Core 2 Duos are inside both MacBooks/MacBook Pros, so unless you need really, really fast clock speeds, the MacBook's 1.8 Ghz Core 2 Duos should be perfectly fine.

['Stein]

Do you ever play games? MacBooks suck at gaming, so get the MacBook Pro if you want to do any real gaming.

Not so much, although I'll always have the ability to use my PC for that.

How big do you want your screen to be? The MacBook's only come in 13" models, whereas MacBook Pro comes in 15" and 17".

That might be a small issue. I've tested the 13" before, and they seem fine to me. However, I might be looking at the 15"

Intel Core 2 Duos are inside both MacBooks/MacBook Pros, so unless you need really, really fast clock speeds, the MacBook's 1.8 Ghz Core 2 Duos should be perfectly fine.

Excellent.

Processor speed isn't quite as critical at this point, because multitasking is more about RAM than about your processor's clock speed.

:o Shows how much I know about hardware...

Joeprogrammer, thanks for the response. :)

[Junyah]

I see you're using photoshop ... are you going to be an aperture user also?

Go for the max! I keep kicking myself in the tail for not maxing out. My band invested in Logic Pro and Protools, Final Cut Pro, and I use Aperture, Illustrator and Photoshop CS2, I went from 1g , 2gs and I'll be getting more .. we have a Macbook Pro for gigs and a imac 24'' We do alot of preproduction work so when we go to the main studio we have our ideas set and we use up less studio time. Get a big HD also .. When we were recording we ate up a min of 30gig for a couple of songs a day.

['Stein]

I see you're using photoshop ... are you going to be an aperture user also?

Actually havn't thought that far in advance. ;)

Go for the max! I keep kicking myself in the tail for not maxing out.

That's the main thing I'm worried about right now! That's what I did on my most recent PC as well. However, for this one, money won't be as much an issue, as I won't be paying. :)

Thanks Junya for the insight!

[Junyah]

I also try to keep a current PC functional. There is a few programs I use that are not available for my PPC macs. On the new macs I have parallel/win xp on one of the g4's i have iemulator and win98 and 2000. I know what you mean .. I got my personal ibook from my employer .. prior to that i was running a dell laptop and macmini with a KVM switch. The macbook pro and the imac "24 were collective purchases .. the band decided not to pay ourselves for a couple of gigs and we bought the computers and firewire mixing heads...

Looks like its gonna be a tool for work ... you know good car mechnics and carpenters get the best tools so you deserve good tools also

[Dani]

Well remember with Bootcamp, you can natively dual boot any Intel mac with Mac OS X and Windows XP.

[Junyah]

Stein and Dani,

A friend of mine at the other park system would be telling us "Luke the force" ... she's a biologist but she has a collateral consolidation or duties so she works on the computers at her park .. She always ask me to leave the dark side.

we have so many choices ... decisions, decisions, iemulator, virtual PC, Parallel, and Bootcamp. It has my head spinnning ////

[John A]

we have so many choices ... decisions, decisions, iemulator, virtual PC, Parallel, and Bootcamp. It has my head spinnning ////

Of all of them, running Windows XP on Mac OS X using Boot Camp will be the fastest way because it's running natively. In fact, it runs just as fast (or faster) than their PC equivalents. Parallels Workstation for Mac is the fastest emulator, although it will slow down significantly when playing games. Some of other choice, especially the free emulators, are quite a bit slower, and should only be used if you can't afford Parallels.

Hope this helps

['Stein]

Hello,

I have one more question, if you all don't mind.

Should I just wait until Leopard arrives? I noticed in one of joeprogrammer's post that it's due out in January/February?

Anybody concur?

Thanks.

[John A]

Hello,

I have one more question, if you all don't mind.

Should I just wait until Leopard arrives? I noticed in one of joeprogrammer's post that it's due out in January/February?

Anybody concur?

Thanks.

It depends. If you really need a new computer, and you can't wait, I'd say go ahead and buy a new Mac. In fact, I'm not terribly impressed by the features Leopard has to offer.

If this isn't urgent, maybe you should first check out Apple's website on it:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/index.html

If you can see yourself wanting these features really badly, then save yourself ~$100 by waiting. But if not, waiting that long simply to save a tiny bit of money isn't really going to be worth it.

Hope this helps

[Junyah]

You know after that iTunes 7 fiasco .. i' gonna wait a couple of months after the release of OS 10.5 to switch. I say get it and do the transition and get used to it and then if you want .. get the new OpSys once they work the kinks out. Is your employer gonna pay for upgrades ... i so write it in your work budget. I had to get on my soapbox the last quarter. but I got them to budget to replace one new computer bi-quarterly for two years and software upgrades eveery quarter. this way if I know murphy's law ids in effect the should equal 1 computer a year and software upgrades every 6 months.

[Junyah]

Hohohoho and I don't mean street woman .. Ya'll have a great holiday. . See ya next year ... I'm going to have a hawaiian style christmas away from computers for awhile.

Mele kalikimaka and Hauoli Makahiki

['Stein]

...If Apple is the Dark Side, then I'm now Darth Vader. :)

15" Macbook Pro and loving it.

[Junyah]

Stein,

How do you like OS X and ilife? Did you load X2 Programmr tools on it? Have you been using the terminal/unix? did you go for dual boot or parallel and XP?

I'm running the latest vers. of parallel ... but for the xp applications i use (Prop. DB, Delorme GPS, Arcview and pathfinder GIS) . I'm not noticing a time lag. I selected Parallel so I wouldn't have to reboot.

For the rest of my computer needs I use just the mac side .. Aperture/Photshop, Final Cut Pro, and Digidesign Protools and Logic Pro.. The new macs are kinda a Photo/Video Studio and Recording Studio fro my band and hula group. I still use Garage BAnd, Imovie and iPhoto for quick fixes.

It Just Works!!! Welome to Enlightment Da Darkside Way...Happy New Year!

[John A]

Did you load X2 Programmr tools on it?

Don't you mean Apple Developer Tools? There is an editor called X2 Programmer editor, but it's not available for Mac...

I'm running the latest vers. of parallel ... but for the xp applications i use (Prop. DB, Delorme GPS, Arcview and pathfinder GIS) . I'm not noticing a time lag. I selected Parallel so I wouldn't have to reboot.

@'Stein: If you don't have Parallels already, you may want to hold off buying it if you need virtulization software. VMWare Fusion has been released as a public beta, and once it becomes final, it will likely be just as good if not better as Parallels, given its sucess on the PC platform. Who knows? It might even be cheaper.

For the rest of my computer needs I use just the mac side .. Aperture/Photshop, Final Cut Pro, and Digidesign Protools and Logic Pro.. The new macs are kinda a Photo/Video Studio and Recording Studio fro my band and hula group. I still use Garage BAnd, Imovie and iPhoto for quick fixes.

Yeah, there's not that much Windows can run that Mac can't. And I hate running Windows apps in an emulator, and avoid it like the plague. Maybe someday Wine will become reliable enough to replace emulators, or Apple writes their own - eliminating the need to run Windows at all.

It Just Works!!! Welome to Enlightment Da Darkside Way...Happy New Year!

Is it just me, or do I feel that Microsoft is the Dark Side, and us few Apple fans are the Rebellion... :p

['Stein]

How do you like OS X and ilife?

It's been heaven so far.

Did you load X2 Programmr tools on it? Have you been using the terminal/unix? did you go for dual boot or parallel and XP?

Well, I'm not too much of a programmer, so I won't be loading any programming tools on this one. But yes, I will be dualbooting with XP, but I havn't set it up yet. I think Bootcamp will be in near future.

It Just Works!!! Welome to Enlightment Da Darkside Way...Happy New Year!

:)

@'Stein: If you don't have Parallels already, you may want to hold off buying it if you need virtulization software. VMWare Fusion has been released as a public beta, and once it becomes final, it will likely be just as good if not better as Parallels, given its sucess on the PC platform. Who knows? It might even be cheaper.

That's a good point. I actually have a copy of VPC '04 that I might try out (it was bought for a computer not used much).

Yeah, there's not that much Windows can run that Mac can't.

Amen!

Is it just me, or do I feel that Microsoft is the Dark Side, and us few Apple fans are the Rebellion...

:) I now know why people contiune to use Apples.

Thanks everybody for the advice.

[Junyah]

Yup! Stein and Joe,

I tink I've gone over to the dark side also. I love my intels macs. I gotta admit ... I was a mac basher 3-4 years ago. But tho old 7100/80 in the kids room kept teasing me .. no bsod, no drivers, no hassles... It started with a G4 mini and Da OS and I was eatin my words .. Change is a good thing...your know I have the old 71, Mac mini, and ibook still ... and the Macbook proimac in the studio. And they are all running great..I did pull off the iemulator on the G4's .. and i'm thinking of running the macbook pro with just OS and taking off the parallel .. I found a GPS program Route 66 and it seems to work with my delorme bluetoo and trimble gis rig. So the only one mac that is spltting the shores is the imac. Oh! My year old PC is gathering dust except for when the kids wanna surf or play games or skype their friends. I'll run it till its dies then I won't replace it. I don't consider myself a fanatic .. just practical..

Good News .. I bought my daughter a macbook for XMA .... the macbook converted hear in one nite ... she gave her toshiba Noteboook to my nephew wihtout even batting an eye. Can I be arrested for converting a minor over to the darkside? As I type she's converting all f her friends to the dark side.