[ Mac] New Users

[fishbowlhead]

Seeing as theres quite a few of us mac users on here now whats the chance of making a sticky thread my good mods?

Would be handy for the future.

[ne0star]

I use their PS3 equivalent (MediaLink) and it works really well. They have ZERO tech support though, you have been warned! lol

I bought Connect 360 years ago when it was a bit cheaper. It was worth it just for streaming photos to the big TV via the 360.

Nice one, cheers chaps. I will just stick with that then. So far it seems to do what it says on the tin with zero hassle so fingers crossed I wont need to contact them.

Is there anyway to get it to display album artwork?

[eASY aDDICT]

Agreed, maybe even a nice mac subforum under Technical services..

[JP]

Regarding Mail - open up its preferences screen, go to the accounts tab and click the + button at the bottom left.

Thanks. Again, I was really expecting it to be fr more complicated than that. I'm going to have to get myself in the mindset of think that's how it should so that's how it will work instead of expecting whatever I do to create a conflict somewhere.

No easy answer on burning DVDs John. I tend to use DVD- to do the same thing you're talking about. BTW, if you want to convert the PlayTV mt2s files to something that can be played on a PSP or DVD then i recommend VisualHub. Now discontinued but there is an open Source version (source code only at the moment but I can build it for you if you like).

Thanks for the hint. The PS3 is our main DVD player now, does it play DVD- discs? To be honest, I wouldn't have any idea how to build it from the source code so I'd appreciate that.

Is there anyway to get it to display album artwork?

I'm using Medialink and that shows album covers without any problems so I imagine the 360 version does the same.

After buying it though I don't think it'll get used that much as the Mini seems to do what I need it to do and it's with the PS3 by our AV equipment. Apart from perhaps copying files between the two it's not going to be used for much.

[Richard.John]

Yes, we should a have a Mac subforum.

[muddy]

Yes, we should a have a Mac subforum.

seconded (or thirded, but you get the idea)

[Richard.John]

Let's pray and hope we get one.

[Lyris]

Got my Macbook Pro this morning (old model). THIS is what I wanted back when I bought (and returned) an iMac in January 2005. I'm really enjoying the hardware, the OS, and the cleanliness of all the software written for it.

And Vista runs superbly on it, too. They are both great OSs.

[EJG1980]

Out of interest, where did you get your MacBook Pro from. I've been very tempted to get a Mac for ages but I don't want one of the new glossy screen models.

[Brad]

Got my Macbook Pro this morning (old model). THIS is what I wanted back when I bought (and returned) an iMac in January 2005. I'm really enjoying the hardware, the OS, and the cleanliness of all the software written for it.

And Vista runs superbly on it, too. They are both great OSs.

Oh, and you were doing so well until that last statement lol!
Vista might run great right now but give it a week to get its updates and service pack installed and watch it turn to utter crap. I use Vista at work and my first week of using it was fine but now, after about 6 weeks it's a bloody nightmare.

[fishbowlhead]

And Vista runs superbly on it, too. They are both great OSs.

Get ya coat, no no dont look back, just leave


In all seriousness though theres a vast difference between the two, not just the interface but down to the basic code used to program them.

Windows will fall over and pretty much become 60% less effective within mere weeks or months. Not to mention the constant barrage of spam, spyware and viruses which also damage it day in day out.

Leopard on the other hand will still be working just as effectively 3 years down the line.

[Digfox]

^ Sorry to wade into the above, but that's surely stretching things a little too far?

I don't care what computer or OS I own, but have to own a WinPC platform in order to have a complete range of games to play (Steam, HL2, TF2 etc).

This PC I'm on now is an install of Vista Home Prem. 64 from June 2007 and is still flying along on a C2D, 8800 series GFX, 4GB Ram. Now I admit I am a farely expert windows user so I know to run a good AV and Firewall (ESET Smart Security) but I can also think of other examples i.e. My 'not very good with computers' parents on a <1 year old Vista 32 Laptop install, who are coping just fine without Vista 'becoming 60&#37; less effective'.

Again I don't care for an OS, and would probably agree Leopard is a nicer OS, more user friendly and maybe doesn't need AV and Spyware protection. But I do think Vista is an improvement on XP with regards to security and novice users enjoying better protection. And in this sense only I just want to pick up on your earlier statement.

PS. The new Macbooks do look lovely, and if I had a spare &#163;1k I'd love one as a second Computer, but in today's climate I can't warrant it.

EDIT - Hope this doesn't come across as too agressive, not meant to.

[Lyris]

Out of interest, where did you get your MacBook Pro from. I've been very tempted to get a Mac for ages but I don't want one of the new glossy screen models.

I got a great deal on US eBay through a friend. In the US, Microsoft's Live.com are running a promotion where you can save 25% on any PayPal payment (up to some sort of huge price) if you search through them, so I got a new condition, lightly used machine for about $1100 (with AppleCare through to 2011 and a case).

Vista might run great right now but give it a week to get its updates and service pack installed and watch it turn to utter crap. I use Vista at work and my first week of using it was fine but now, after about 6 weeks it's a bloody nightmare.

I've been using Vista for years now and still can't understand the criticisms surrounding it, most of them seem to be related to the annoying dialogue box you have to turn off. It needs maintenance, sure, but I always take care of Windows installs (something I agree shouldn't be necessary) and reap the benefits.

Windows will fall over and pretty much become 60% less effective within mere weeks or months. Not to mention the constant barrage of spam, spyware and viruses which also damage it day in day out.

Hmm... is this from experience? Are you sure you haven't been watching a few too many of Apple's commercials? It might be because I'm what the Windows people call a "power user" (read: nerd) but I have no issues with any of the above on my own Vista system (well, systemS).

My biggest issues with Microsoft's stuff is how inconsistent and pasted together the appearance (and probably the underlying code) is. It's petty, but those kind of things do bug me. Things like the Add Fonts dialog box being about 20 years old, the complete lack of consistency when it comes to the look and feel, etc.

But, you can't run TMPGenc or MTI Correct on Mac OS, so it's a good thing I really like both OSs.

[fishbowlhead]

^ Sorry to wade into the above, but that's surely stretching things a little too far?

I don't care what computer or OS I own, but have to own a WinPC platform in order to have a complete range of games to play (Steam, HL2, TF2 etc).

This PC I'm on now is an install of Vista Home Prem. 64 from June 2007 and is still flying along on a C2D, 8800 series GFX, 4GB Ram. Now I admit I am a farely expert windows user so I know to run a good AV and Firewall (ESET Smart Security) but I can also think of other examples i.e. My 'not very good with computers' parents on a <1 year old Vista 32 Laptop install, who are coping just fine without Vista 'becoming 60&#37; less effective'.

Again I don't care for an OS, and would probably agree Leopard is a nicer OS, more user friendly and maybe doesn't need AV and Spyware protection. But I do think Vista is an improvement on XP with regards to security and novice users enjoying better protection. And in this sense only I just want to pick up on your earlier statement.

PS. The new Macbooks do look lovely, and if I had a spare &#163;1k I'd love one as a second Computer, but in today's climate I can't warrant it.

EDIT - Hope this doesn't come across as too agressive, not meant to.

Oh no not negative, i was just speaking from experience thats all. While im not a power user persay, i could never code a security program for example, but i do know what not to download and what firewall and spyware programs work and dont work.
Ive just found that windows tends to degrade to the point where your computer feels old before its time.


For me it was when i first got my mac out the box and within 5 mins being set up and online. It was a very strange feeling not going through all the rubbish of installing firewall, antivirus, anti spyware before doing anything else. Its was certainly a nice feeling though realizing that you dont really need the programs to begin with, well not on a mac anyway.

[Brad]

Vista hasn't been out for 'years' ;-)
*awaits the 'I was a beta tester' response*

A lot of people moan about Vista just because they've heard it's crap. True.

I moan about it because I use it (64 bit version) and it really is crap. It's worse than XP. In turn, XP was worse than Windows 2000 (Microsoft's best OS IMO).