iMac 20" Core Duo -- Buy or not?

[GuyJean]

Darwiin Remote:

DarwiinRemote is a tiny software which reads data from and sends data to Nintendo Wii Remote

Inputs
3-axis acceleration sensors
all buttons except power button on/off

Output
4 LEDs

Force Feedback
DarwiinRemote allows you to control other applications by using Wii Remote

GJ

[mr. sparkle]

I saw that last night too, very slick.

That's freakin' INSANE.

Well, I'm really glad I bought the software and am definitely motivated to upgrade to the next version. How SIMPLE is that?

I wonder how long until Apple buys Parallels...?

I don't know about Apple. I wouldn't doubt that they have long ago figured out how to switch Operating Systems at the flick of a switch. I wouldn't be surprised to be integrated in with "Spaces" which makes total sense.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/spaces.html

Man, if they come out with Leopard at MacWorld, then that would be HUGE. I do know that MacWorld is a lot larger this year as they once again are opening up the North Hall at Moscone Center. Prob'ly 'cause the South Hall is gonna be filled with iPod crap like last year.

My real hope is that they come out with the Quad Core2 Duo rigs. Talkin' SWEET speed with FC Studio. Yep, MacWorld has the potential to be huge this year.

C'MON STEVE!

[mr. sparkle]

GB, have you seen how massive those things are? That's the main reason I got the 15" instead.

BAD ASS DUDE. I want one. (drool).
I wanna collect sports cars, plasma screens and Macs.

I'm gonna keep my iMac for the kitchen. It's gonna be suspended!
Install a Mini in the Bath.
Another Mini in the Bedroom.
Mac Pro with a 30 in the Living Room: Kona 3, KBOX, Quadro FX vid card
iTV unit and a Projector or Plasma
To Go Mac Book
Gotta Gig Mac Book Pro Full On

So I only need 6 more Macs to reach nirvana.

[mr. sparkle]

They better buy it before M$ does. Remember Virtual PC?

Anyway, I think I'll get a Macbook. I need a portable.

Then I'll save my money and get a Mac Pro beastie *drool*

Any word on Parallels running on a Macbook? Or would I need to go pro?

AO, yep. Parallels will work on any MacBook. If you get the black one, I think it's $250 extra so beware of that ripoff. I suggest to get a better white one with the savings. 1 GB of RAM would be good if you can afford it. A DVD Burner is pretty nice to have as well.

A Mac Book Pro 15 would be a better "value" since it has a dedicated video card in there. It'll run Leopard and video apps more smoothly. You'd get a couple of more years out of it because of that alone. Lurk and GB are SET for the next few years minimum.

I've gotten a good 4 years out of my G4 Titanium Laptop by buying just a bit more than I could've afforded. Same thing with the G3. It was top of the line PowerPC in 1999 and still runs Tiger.

[Greji]

[quote="GuyJean"]:D You have a nice system, GB.. And a good plan. I had the same idea]

It's supposed to be here by the first of next week or so. GJ, it will be a good chance to come over and check it out. After which, you can buy the beer!

Good plan deshouuu?

[GuyJean]

It's supposed to be here by the first of next week or so. GJ, it will be a good chance to come over and check it out. After which, you can buy the beer!

Good plan deshouuu?

Yeah. Your address still the same?

International House o' Happy Finish
2-46-8 Watashitachi Masterbate B1
Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo 106
JAPAN



GJ

[gomichild]

I think I will be picking up my new Macbook tomorrow - the Boy has stolen the Powerbook for recording....

And in Black - I don't care about the extra charge for a colour I prefer.

Was hard to decide between them (the Macbook and the Macbook Pro) - but in the end portability is a big issue and the smaller size works better for me.

(Just wanted to share in the Mac love...)

[GuyJean]

I think I will be picking up my new Macbook tomorrow..

I think you'll be verrry pleased.. My work paid for a new Macbook, and it's a screamer. It even handles FCP 5 pretty well.. I think it's the lowest one can go, as far as video editing, but it works like a charm so far:

Macbook (200,000 yen)
2 GHz
2GB RAM
100 GB HD

+

LaCie External HD (20,000 yen)
250 GB
USB 2 (Yes, I know USB video capture = bad, but no issues)

+

Panasonic NV-GS500 Camera (60,000 yen)
3CCD

=



GJ

[gomichild]

heeee!

Actually I don't do much video editing yet - I *waits for the gasps* prefer to shoot on my Hi8 camera and have yet to decide on what to use to get the footage into the puter.....

[Greji]

Yeah. Your address still the same?GJ

Yup!

You did forget the Zipcode: U812

[GuyJean]

I *waits for the gasps* prefer to shoot on my Hi8 camera and have yet to decide on what to use to get the footage into the puter.....

What's Hi8? ]ADS Pyro A/V Link video input adapter - FireWire[/URL]

.. I bought it to transfer analog video from an old Sony Hi8 camera to my Mac for burning onto DVD. Hooks up in less than 5 minutes with all cables included to connect your camera to the computer. (S video, RCA Video and stereo audio RCA's, 4-Pin DV, Component Video)...

You did forget the Zipcode: U812

OU812?

GJ

[mr. sparkle]

I think you'll be verrry pleased.. My work paid for a new Macbook, and it's a screamer. It even handles FCP 5 pretty well.. I think it's the lowest one can go, as far as video editing, but it works like a charm so far:

Macbook (200,000 yen)
2 GHz
2GB RAM
100 GB HD

+

LaCie External HD (20,000 yen)
250 GB
USB 2 (Yes, I know USB video capture = bad, but no issues)

+

Panasonic NV-GS500 Camera (60,000 yen)
3CCD

=



GJ

Yeah, the only thing that you won't be able to run well are the Video Card related apps: Motion is the main one. But all ProApps are going to increasingly rely on the GPU aboard the Video Card, which MacBooks do not have.

MacBook users pushing the envelope and trying to run Studio eventually buy more powerful Macs, as the performance increase you get with the GPU are too much to pass up. Casual surfers like GC won't even notice though.

[Greji]

What's Hi8? ]ADS Pyro A/V Link video input adapter - FireWire[/URL]

OU812?

GJ

Recently changed from 4Q2!

[gomichild]

Casual surfers like GC won't even notice though.

You mean casual surfers who spend 10-12 hours a day on a computer, designing, coding, making animations and editing audio?

[mr. sparkle]

You mean casual surfers who spend 10-12 hours a day on a computer, designing, coding, making animations and editing audio?

Sorry I didn't mean to make assumptions about yer digital life young lady. I'm glad the MacBook is working for you.

[FG Lurker]

Well, I have found a way to fix all the problems I have been having with OS X. I am going to wipe it off the MacBook Pro and install Windows XP. I'll probably move to Vista later this year, but maybe not. I just want a machine that works without workarounds and arbitrary limitations.

OS X is very slick and I'm sure I'd be a lot happier with it if I wasn't trying to integrate it into my existing workflow.

Anyone want to buy a license for Parallels or Dave v6?

[FG Lurker]

Figured I'd provide a few more details.

1) Keyboard navigation on the Mac is pathetically bad. Things can be remapped and hacked to improve the situation but this takes time to do and of course is no longer consistent with MacOS or other Macs.

2) Accessing Windows machines over the network is really poorly implemented. Yes, this can be fixed with Dave (bought it), at the cost of $119.

3) A lot of apps do not have Mac versions. This can be sort-of fixed with Parallels (bought it) at the cost of $80. Means having to switch between two OSes and two sets of apps/windows.

4) Cross-platform Remote Desktop (aka VNC et al) sucks. Apple's Remote Desktop does support VNC, but the performance is extremely poor. Also special keys, right-clicking, and clipboard can not be shared between an Apple and a controlling Windows machine. Special keys and clipboards don't work from Windows to a controlling Mac either either. This can be fixed (not sure how well) by using Timbuktu, at the cost of $200 plus $100 to $150 more for each additional machine.


Lack of fully working multi-platform remote control options (both to and from the Mac) were what finally killed the deal for me, but having to fork over $120 just to be able to see a Windows share without littering it with resource forks was annoying too. The shitty keyboard support was annoying but I could have lived with it.

I'm still happy with the hardware, and it wasn't a bad deal really. Even though I have wasted $200 on software I don't use any more it is still cheaper than the equivalent ThinkPad would have been. That said, I doubt I will buy another Apple down the road unless they fix the lack of docking station.

It's been an interesting adventure but I don't have any more time to invest trying to hack this thing to work... I'll install XP tonight and be productive immediately.

[GuyJean]

Figured I'd provide a few more details..

Too bad it didn't work out, but it's good you posted the main issues you ran into; it'll help other 'switchers' prepare and might help motivate Apple to address some of them..

GJ

[FG Lurker]

[quote="GuyJean"]Too bad it didn't work out, but it's good you posted the main issues you ran into]
If Apple fixes the keyboard, networking, and remote access issues then I'll give OS X another shot.

I'm sure I am not the only one who has these problems... I liked the idea of OS X due to it's BSD base and slick design. However anyone who works in a Windows dominated area (which is the vast majority of people!) is soon going to be stuck in a world of pain. This is something that Apple needs to address if they are serious about expanding their market share.

[FG Lurker]

XP is up and running and I have most of my needed apps installed.

It certainly runs warmer than OS X did. However I really don't care, it works and I can be productive!!

[GomiGirl]

The built-in firewall of OS X is damn tough and can keep most nasties out but prudent folks use a sniff-&-announce firewall, the favorite and easiest is LittleSnitch.
LittleSnitch will tell you when crappy applications like PhotoShop try to "phone home" to the mothership. It also announces/blocks spyware-like trojans, worms, and other network parasites from sending information over the Internet.

Am having trouble with little snitch - any advice Taro???

[Charles]

Am having trouble with little snitch - any advice Taro???

What's the problem? I could probably help.

[Greji]

What's the problem? I could probably help.

Wowsies! Gomi, don't tell Charles you're an Aussie until after he fixes your problem!

[Charles]

Wowsies! Gomi, don't tell Charles you're an Aussie until after he fixes your problem!

Macs overrule.

[Greji]

Macs overrule.

[Taro Toporific]

Am having trouble with Little Snitch - any advice Taro???

Little Snitch sometimes conflicts with other firewalls that are built into anti-virus solutions including pop-up blockers especially Adblock.

• 1 Get a clean new copy of Little Snitch,
• 2 Unplug from the Internet and BACKUP your data.
• 3 Turn off everything else related to firewalls, antivirus and anti pop-ups,
• 4 Uninstall the old Little Snitch,
• 5 Clean reinstall the newest Little Snitch,
• 6 Set Little Snitch preferences to the highest, most strict level of firewall security
• 7 Reconnect to the Internet and slowly test to see if everything is working
• 8 One by one, turn on your antivirus and anti pop-up software checking to see if one particular program is hinky,
• 9 Buy me a glass of cheap red wine if Adblock was the cause of your problem (cause it causes problems on my OS X setups).

[GomiGirl]

Thank you my friend.

9 Buy me a glass of cheap red wine if Adblock was the cause of your problem (cause it causes problems on my OS X setups).

When are you coming into the new bar??? Just been renovated and we now have a good (cheap) wine list.

Araku Bar review - Shameless self promotion

[Charles]

Little Snitch sometimes conflicts with other firewalls that are built into anti-virus solutions including pop-up blockers especially Adblock.

• 1 Get a clean new copy of Little Snitch,
• 2 Unplug from the Internet and BACKUP your data.
• 3 Turn off everything else related to firewalls, antivirus and anti pop-ups,
• 4 Uninstall the old Little Snitch,
• 5 Clean reinstall the newest Little Snitch,
• 6 Set Little Snitch preferences to the highest, most strict level of firewall security
• 7 Reconnect to the Internet and slowly test to see if everything is working
• 8 One by one, turn on your antivirus and anti pop-up software checking to see if one particular program is hinky,
• 9 Buy me a glass of cheap red wine if Adblock was the cause of your problem (cause it causes problems on my OS X setups).

Antivirus software, firewalls, and reinstalls? Are you sure you're talking about Macs here?

Macs don't need antivirus, there are no Mac viruses and no malware. Macs don't really even need firewalls, since all the ports are closed unless you open them, and even then, most open ports operate in stealth mode and don't respond to pings. Firefox and Adblock are crap, Safari with PithHelmet works better. Little Snitch is not very useful except for stopping apps from phoning home under circumstances we're not allowed to talk about on FG.

Here is my suggestion for an alternate procedure.
1. Turn all that crap off.
2. Now that you don't have all that crap in the way, try to see what the real problem is that needs to be solved.
3. Fix that problem.