Who here is a Mac user?

[digitard]

I'm thinking about buying an IBook or low end Powerbook so I can go back to school (I almost sold my Viking to do this ... but the gf wont let me since I love paintball).

In any case... due to the stability of macs, and the fact I want to eventually move to a mac platform for editing, I am thinking about saving for a used Ibook or Powerbook since I can easily run Office from it for school reasons (laptop for school) and have the Mac OS platform to learn mac video editing with a tiny bit before determining if I wanna save up for the elusive G5.

I hope tha tmade sense... I'm at work, so I'm typing this between calls.

In any case... anyone have a used powerbook/ibook? lol

But in reality... who here uses a MAC? Any helpful bits of advice to give? Anything to know?

I've been reading a lot at macrumors.com and stuff. The last time I used a mac was in 6th grade. lol.

[WickeDKlowN]

I used my sisters powerbook for a littlebit(nothing more than surfing the web) and I liked it. But thy're too expensive for me...

I know that dosn't help you any, but they are cool laptops.

[digitard]

Yeah they're expensive. But mhz to mhz they blow away a PC in speed... just everythings proprietary and very little can be upgraded, plus its not a gaming platform.

Luckily I'm looking for a solution for school and learning some editing.

[cphilip]

I am on a G4 15" power book right now.

And use a G5 dualy at work....

Everyone gets hit with Virus's but me....

[digitard]

Yeah. Ya gotta love that too.

I think I might try to find a used 700mhz Ibook (12" screen) w/ max ram or something to use w/ just OS X, office and some basic stuff. That'll work fine for schooling and when the time comes G5 bud!

[Kevmaster]

I too have a 15" powerbook. at work we have four 15", two 17" and six dual G5s. I live in a Mac world.

let me say this, they are simply the bEST for video editing and os X is the most stable operating system I've used (98, 98SE, XP and OS 9.0). I love my mac. Wouldn't trade it.

Despite what people say, there are a signifigant number of games for the macs too. and just about every mainstream app is made for mac.

I'll never go back as long as i have a choice

[cphilip]

everythings proprietary and very little can be upgraded, plus its not a gaming platform.

Proprietary is a sort of misnomer anymore. There are companies that make stuff for them. Memory and certain driver boards and stuff. And almost anything Firewire or USB will plug and play into them. Allmost all the Card readers, Side drives, printers etc. do. Auxiliary stuff. And some Graphics cards even although they got about the best one when they come. Some of the best monitors you will ever use too. Not much TOO upgrade realy but memory and storage. And those are easy.

Not upgradable? Not so anymore. They take cards and stuff just like any computer. The old Macs did not as easy but the new ones are easy as pie to upgrade and add too. Even the new iMacs are easy to add memory too.

No... they not gamers. But mainly because no one writes/produces for them.

[digitard]

Yeah I always plan to use a PC for gaming for ease of use, upgradeablility for gaming and so forth.

But... with school, and editing becoming important I know that Mac's are SO much faster in general, and much better editing platforms. In a side by side a dual G5 of MUCH lesser clock speed blew away a dual P4 which is VERY impressive.

I can edit on the PC (premiere, after effects, vegas, etc) but I know the mac platform is MUCH more powerful, and ya cant deny FC is an amazing editnig program.

I hope to have an entry level laptop to learn OSX and go back to school (need a laptop for college) and once I'm familiar switch to editing on a higher end setup.

[gamarada717]

They are great computers for everything except for gaming....I still use my old iMac with OS 9 for video editing, writing papers, and so forth. I have it and then I have a little iBook. When friends come over and want to surf the internet, they work great, and sure I get a lot of "Macs suck" from them, but hey, who gives a damn what others think? Mac people are a breed of their own.

[dre1919]

Macs rock and you should get one as soon as possible. Why? Several reasons really:

1. They're upgradable just like any other computer.
2. OS X is better than any other operating system out there. Faster, more organized, better and more revolutionary things that can be done with it, more secure, etc.
3. The graphics quality is always been a standard Mac has upheld.
4. Their design and external looks are cooler and more attractive than any other computers out there.
5. You can run Windows applications on Mac using the program Virtual PC. It opens a big window that looks just like a Windows environment. Can you do that on a PC? Nope.
6. Everyone has PC's (well, except the smart people) You'll be different rollin' with your fly, new Mac.
7. PC's blow, and so does every version of Windows. Not a fact, but an opinion built by lots of time spent working with both.
8. Macs are more user friendly for those NOT aspiring to be computer programmers.
9. They make a bunch of currently popular games for Mac also, and they run just fine. The trick is you have to know where to find them. You won't find any Mac stuff at all in Wal-Mart, so don't even think that's going to happen. However, if you have a CompUSA or Best Buy, they usually have Mac game versions of current titles. Only difference is you have to pay about $10-15 more on average.
10. You can buy two button mouses for Macs...I use a wireless one at home as a matter of fact. If one button mousing isn't your thing, just go get a USB two button mouse that supports MAC. OS X supports it's use and gives you the appropriate drop down menus.
11. Apple is always pushing the envelope to bring you new and innovative ideas. You aren't getting the same rehashed crap with a slick new look like some computer manufactures.
12. Powerbooks will run and operate with the lid closed, so if you get an external monitor you could literally place it on a bookshefl and simply have a monitor on your desk. That's it...your whole computer right there, with no clumsy tower to stand somewhere.
12. Powerbooks with OS X support dual screen operation. This means you can have your work or whatever your doing on both the Powerbook's screen and a seperate monitor, or stretched wide to cover both screens. This is great for design programs like Photoshop or Illustrator because you can actually drag and drop all your tool palettes over to the smaller Powerbook screen, while leaving the bigger monitor space uncluttered to do your work on.
13. Safari is the default Mac browser, and if you do some research on it, you'll find it smokes most if not all other browsers in speed and working logic. Plus it's laid out very functionally.
14. You will be cooler than most the people you know. Ok, maybe that's not a valid reason...but it's a big possibility.

Hope ya find success with the Mac and enjoy it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and I can try to answer them. Just so people who read this know, I've been working on both Mac and PC for a decade now and I've built my opinions out of all the experiences I've had with both. Mac is definitely the way to go. Or, as Lt. Sam Wineburg would say:

"I'd choose Mac any day of the week and twice on Sunday."

[Python14]

If I had the money for a G5, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. But at the moment, my AMD Xp 3k+ gaming rig covers what I need.

Someday though, Someday.

[LudavicoSoldier]

Rock the Mac! I am on my dual 1.8 G5 right now, and also have a G3 iMac, G3 Powerbook (pismo), and a G4 Digital Audio. I would highly suggest that you get a G4 iBook, or if you can afford it, an Al Powerbook. One thing to consider is that the 12" laptops, while cheap, are severely lacking on screen real estate. Get the 14" screen on the iBook, or the 15" on the powerbook. You will thank yourself when you are editing down a high res. DV movie.

[bofh]

One thing to consider is that the 12" laptops, while cheap, are severely lacking on screen real estate. Get the 14" screen on the iBook, or the 15" on the powerbook. You will thank yourself when you are editing down a high res. DV movie.

I do all my computer work on a 12" Powerbook. The 12" is the God of Portablity. It's roughly the size of half a ream of letter sized paper. It'll fit almost anywhere. it fits in my motorcycle tanks bag. If I need more screen space, I can use the dual monitor port and add a screen.

The greatest part of OSX, is that I can test ksh scripts, or perl scripts natively, open xterms to unix boxes, and run VirtualPC to test stuff in a windows/dos/any x86 OS enviroment. Then turn around and use Final Cut Pro to make any sort of video editing my client wants. It's one mightly flexible platform.

True, there aren't many games out for them, but I don't have any free time to play games really. I'll stick with UT 2004 and starcraft.

[Python14]

I know this is gonna sound random, but how well would a dual 2.5 G5 powermac run Unreal Tournament? or more importantly, Unreal editor?

[LudavicoSoldier]

I know this is gonna sound random, but how well would a dual 2.5 G5 powermac run Unreal Tournament? or more importantly, Unreal editor?

UT 2K4 is godlike on any dual G5...If only I had the money for a 30" HD cinema display...