• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Mac Hardware and Software |OT| - All things Macintosh

L

LCfiner

Member
tsurugi no mai said:
They don't have a 15" in my price range. :( My max is $900 right now, and the 13" Air comes out to almost one thousand.
Click to expand...



OK, if your budget is under 1K that changes everything. you definitely need to get something significantly older. especially if you're looking at 15" models. Apple's laptops are nice but they're not really aiming at the under $1K market at all.

Or, if you don't need Apple's build quality and would prefer newer CPU and GPU, you could just get a Windows laptop.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Do you absolutely need 15"? Is it for the resolution or the specs? Because you're definitely not going to find a refurb 15" for that price even on a good day. All the older machines get snatched up before they get old enough to make it that far. I guess your only choice after all might actually be Craig or eBay. Just remember they will not have warranties or the option to get one. So you get what you paid for.

Or as was said, a cheaper Windows laptop, but then again, you get what you paid for. Not to bash Windows, just cheap laptops in general.
 
tsurugi no mai

tsurugi no mai

Member
Going any lower then a 15" is kind of a last resort thing. I want it for the resolution. 11" is way too small, and 13" is pushing it but I might be able to make do with it. 15" is preferred, though. Also, the Air models don't have spacious hard drives or a lot of ram. Windows laptops aren't an option either. Once I got a taste of OS X, I was hooked.
 
C

CrudeDiatribe

Member
jts said:
Now to put my old drive into an optibay caddie = instant fusion drive?

Does it work that way?
Click to expand...

It's not instant, but it can be done (I did it). Has been working great. Small caveat that there's no recovery partition (Find My Mac needs it, for fuck's sake), so I may have that fun ahead of me if I want that back.
 
njean777

njean777

Member
tsurugi no mai said:
Going any lower then a 15" is kind of a last resort thing. I want it for the resolution. 11" is way too small, and 13" is pushing it but I might be able to make do with it. 15" is preferred, though. Also, the Air models don't have spacious hard drives or a lot of ram. Windows laptops aren't an option either. Once I got a taste of OS X, I was hooked.
Click to expand...

To be honest I would just pick up a 13in macbook pro that is 2011-2012. It will be hard to find a 15in pro for that price that isn't 2-3 years old already. You could just save the money for a bit and then try to find a 2011 model on ebay or craigslist if you really must have the 15in.
 
C

CrudeDiatribe

Member
There are a couple of guides available. In a nutshell you back up all of your stuff, like a full Time Machine backup or a cloned disk. You then boot off a 10.8.2 installer and fire up the Terminal. You use the command line disk utility to create a Logical Volume spanning the two disks and then put a file system on it. You then install 10.8.2 and migrate from your backup using Migration Assistant.

The OS is smart enough to figure out which of the two constituent parts is the fastest.

TUSR said:
They've been around for a while. Minus the buzz word.
Click to expand...

No, this a new thing, distinct from a similar technology from Intel, and totally different than the 'hybrid' drives like the Seagate Momentus.
 
T

TUSR

Banned
CrudeDiatribe said:
There are a couple of guides available. In a nutshell you back up all of your stuff, like a full Time Machine backup or a cloned disk. You then boot off a 10.8.2 installer and fire up the Terminal. You use the command line disk utility to create a Logical Volume spanning the two disks and then put a file system on it. You then install 10.8.2 and migrate from your backup using Migration Assistant.

The OS is smart enough to figure out which of the two constituent parts is the fastest.



No, this a new thing, distinct from a similar technology from Intel, and totally different than the 'hybrid' drives like the Seagate Momentus.
Click to expand...
For some reason I always equated the two together. Fushion and hybrids were similar, but not the same. I just had to check and you're 100% correct they're new.
 
C

CrudeDiatribe

Member
sc0la said:
No recovery partition on roll your own fusion drive? I'll pass for now :/
Click to expand...

It didn't get created for me via the install, no. Perhaps this is solved and I missed it? Anyway, I will update the thread if/when I get it working.

FYI, it's straightforward to put your system and applications on a different volume from your user data, have had my Mac towers set up this way for years. That's plan B for this MacBook Pro if the Fusion drive isn't livable, I just wanted to try it after reading about it.
 
3

345triangle

Member
Trojita said:
I'm honestly surprised by the amount of bad reviews the Thunderbolt display has now. It appears to start going bad after a year. I was going to specifically pick a PC motherboard for my next build that uses thunderbolt (There isn't a lot), but I might not get that display anymore and instead just opt for the Cinema Display or a Korean IPS monitor. I wanted the Thunderbolt monitor to use with my Retina Macbook Pro, but it looks like it isn't worth it.

I don't know how much I'd like to have a display that doesn't have a power button.
Click to expand...

so insane that there's no 2012 thunderbolt display update. for $200 more you get a better (albeit 21-inch), more attractive screen with an entire high-end mac inside.

i have a 2012 non-retina MBP with perfectly good innards that are nevertheless just begging for me to hook it up to a thunderbolt display so i don't have to deal with the useless 1280 x 800 screen, but buying an imac for that purpose seems like overkill and buying a thunderbolt display now seems like insanity.

i could just get any random monitor, i know, but i have an MBA as well and the docking function would be super useful to me.
 
R

Redford

aka Cabbie
Oh man, it's amazing to upgrade from an 11'' Air to this 13'' Pro. *looks up at all the headroom*. It was driving me insane.
 
M

Mobius 1

Member
Trojita said:
I'm honestly surprised by the amount of bad reviews the Thunderbolt display has now. It appears to start going bad after a year. I was going to specifically pick a PC motherboard for my next build that uses thunderbolt (There isn't a lot), but I might not get that display anymore and instead just opt for the Cinema Display or a Korean IPS monitor. I wanted the Thunderbolt monitor to use with my Retina Macbook Pro, but it looks like it isn't worth it.

I don't know how much I'd like to have a display that doesn't have a power button.
Click to expand...

I was this close to building a PC with a Thunderbolt mobo, in order to use it and my Macbook with the same display. But the reviews and baffling limitations on the Thunderbolt Display put me off.
 
C

Cetra

Member
Hookay, so my MB Air showed up. LOVING the form factor. However, I'm finding OSX counter intuitive in a lot of way. (This is coming from a lifelong Windows user.) It seems to me that some basic stuff is kinda of.. not quite hidden.. but tucked away in odd places. I'm finding it difficult to discern what Apps I have running. Is there a system try or task bar like thing here that I'm missing?

Also, WTF at the maximize? Sometimes it maximizes, sometimes it hides everything but the title bar under the dock. Sometimes it makes it fill half the screen. It's so weird and inconsistent.

Also, DAT TRACKPAD. My god, I'll never be able to use another laptop for that reason alone.
 
C

CrudeDiatribe

Member
Dark Sun Cetra said:
Hookay, so my MB Air showed up. LOVING the form factor. However, I'm finding OSX counter intuitive in a lot of way.
Click to expand...

Indeed, it needs to be learned like you did with Windows back in the day.

Dark Sun Cetra said:
Is there a system try or task bar like thing here that I'm missing?
Click to expand...

The Dock can be set to indicate what's running. This was the default until 10.7 or 10.8. Check out the Dock pane in System Preferences: "Show indicator lights for open applications".

You're about to discover that lots of applications on the Mac run with no windows open (which has been the norm for document-based applications on the Mac since Multi-Finder shipped in '87).


Dark Sun Cetra said:
Also, WTF at the maximize? Sometimes it maximizes, sometimes it hides everything but the title bar under the dock. Sometimes it makes it fill half the screen. It's so weird and inconsistent.
Click to expand...

Hahahaha, welcome tasty primate Windows-person.

The green button is not maximize, it's zoom. It toggles between the size you make a window and a best-fit for the content. Except when it does something else (iTunes!).

In apps that support it, you can put a window or application in Full Screen mode with the diagonal arrows in the upper right of the window. Use three-finger swipe to switch between these screens (or ctrl-left or ctrl-right). Some applications work differently in Full Screen (composing an email in Mail becomes modal, for instance, as on iOS).
 
L

LCfiner

Member
Dock shows you what apps you have running (there should be a light under running apps). If there isn't, go to dock preferences and check. I can't remember if 10.8 has the option to remove the light or not.

you can use cmd+tab to cycle through apps like on windows. most people I know use mission control to view open windows, though.

the maximize button isn't a maximize button. it's a "size window to fit contents" button. so that's why it doesn't maximize (unless the window contents are large enough to warrant a huge window)

one thing to keep in mind is that OS X was not designed to have stacked, maximized windows on top of each other so, for a long time, there was no button dedicated to making a window take the full size of the screen. then they developed a dedicated full screen mode in 10.7, but that uses a separate button on the title bar and creates a separate desktop "space" for the app. the green button remains a "fit window to content button" almost always (itunes is a notable exception).

it can take a while to get used to OS X if you've been using windows for a long time but, for the most part, I find a lot of the decisions OS X made about window and app management to be better for me. They're different, but I don't think they're worse.
 
J

Jill Sandwich

the turds of Optimus Prime
RCLJw.png
The full screen button is the Mac version of Maximize

Swipe between full screened apps with a three finger flick

More gestures here
 
C

CrudeDiatribe

Member
LCfiner said:
it can take a while to get used to OS X if you've been using windows for a long time but, for the most part, I find a lot of the decisions OS X made about window and app management to be better for me. They're different, but I don't think they're worse.
Click to expand...

I think in most cases they are better. The only thing I wish the Mac would steal from Windows is renaming files in open/save dialog boxes.

Speaking of which, Dark Sun Cetra, start drag & dropping things. You can drag images off websites, text from one application to another, etc. If you want to overwrite a file that's not anywhere near the current path in the Save dialog, drag the file in. Drag files into the Teminal. Drag documents onto applications' icons to open them (holding command key before the document touches the icon will force the application to try to open it).


Ken Masters said:
Really been looking forward to iTunes 11 but in the Tim Cook era you never know with deadlines
Click to expand...

Really? As if Steve Jobs-era Apple never delayed anything (
white iPhone 4? lol
).
 
K

Ken Masters

Banned
Jill Sandwich said:
Doesn't seem like a big revision to me. It's still iTunes with a rejigged interface.
Click to expand...

It's apples most important software and its getting a complete visual overhaul coupled with some new useful features, seems like a big deal

Another reason I'm so anxious is because I do use iTunes a lot
 
L

LCfiner

Member
Visually, the new itunes is a huge overhaul. conceptually, it's not. it's still a store, organizer, sync station, app manager, etc.

The people who want Apple to split things up will not be happy. Luckily for me, I am not one of those people. I don't want 3 open apps to handle music purchases, organization and app searching. I just want each module to function faster and work better with each other. No one knows how that'll turn out with the new itunes. fingers crossed.

@CrudeDiatribe. I agree. heck, one of the reasons I like Windows 7 is because they decided to just riff on the dock (and improve it in some ways with window previews) instead of having the old taskbar like before.

And I like Mac's document based interface (an app can have multiple document windows or be open with zero windows) over the app based window environment in windows (app window houses multiple documents).

little things but it's why I cant move back to Windows full time, despite the fact I spend so much time just in a browser
 
C

CrudeDiatribe

Member
Ken Masters said:
A different color iPhone vs. the biggest revision to iTunes since its launch are not the same thing
Click to expand...

How about an entire operating system? 10.5 was late under Steve Jobs. My point was that you're feeding this hyped-up "Tim Cook is ruining everything" meme, and it's just ridiculous.


LCfiner said:
little things but it's why I cant move back to Windows full time, despite the fact I spend so much time just in a browser
Click to expand...

For me it's a browser and a terminal.

The Windows 7 preview images don't make me jealous because I use Exposé so much; have had it mapped to my extra mouse buttons since 10.3 days; love having the multi-touch gestures for it on the MacBooks now.
 
moniker

moniker

Member
My 2010 MBP decided to crap out on me :(

It froze, and when I rebooted it couldn't find my harddrive. I naturally thought that the hardrive had died but then I tried it in another MBP and it's working fine. I also tried with another harddrive in the faulty MBP and it couldn't find that one either.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
It seems the latest OS X update no longer honors your sleepimage setting. I had it turned off so I could reclaim 8GB of space on my drive that will never be needed because A) I never let my battery completely drain and B) even if I did, OS X is really good for picking up where I left off with no hiccups. So I had it turned off using the trick on the internet. (Google "disable sleepimage") But now it seems it ignores my setting, which is set to 0 for off (Default is 3 for save memory to disk when sleeping) but it still keeps recreating the 8GB image file. Even when I delete it while logged in, it reappears at random. So either they broke it, or they're not allowing this anymore.

So for now I just turned it back on and let it sit there. 8GB used up, but at least I have a 256 now. I'd hate to have 16GB RAM and be losing 16GB of space. Or hell, 32GB RAM. Hopefully by then we have 1TB Flash drives cheap.

Slight bummer. But no big deal.
 
Bitmap Frogs

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
Dark Sun Cetra said:
Hookay, so my MB Air showed up. LOVING the form factor. However, I'm finding OSX counter intuitive in a lot of way. (This is coming from a lifelong Windows user.) It seems to me that some basic stuff is kinda of.. not quite hidden.. but tucked away in odd places. I'm finding it difficult to discern what Apps I have running. Is there a system try or task bar like thing here that I'm missing?

Also, WTF at the maximize? Sometimes it maximizes, sometimes it hides everything but the title bar under the dock. Sometimes it makes it fill half the screen. It's so weird and inconsistent.

Also, DAT TRACKPAD. My god, I'll never be able to use another laptop for that reason alone.
Click to expand...

Worrying about what applications are open is a windows habit that makes little sense in OSX.

For app switching there's better options than using the dock as a taskbar. Heck your dock shouldn't have any icons in it! (Quicksilver forevah!).
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Any rumors about approximately when Haswell will be ready for the MacBook Air refresh next year? Should I expect sometime in the summer?
 
L

LCfiner

Member
Bitmap Frogs said:
Worrying about what applications are open is a windows habit that makes little sense in OSX.

For app switching there's better options than using the dock as a taskbar. Heck your dock shouldn't have any icons in it! (Quicksilver forevah!).
Click to expand...

let the man use the OS for a week at least before bringing up Quicksilver and dumping the dock ;)
 
3

345triangle

Member
Cabbie said:
Oh man, it's amazing to upgrade from an 11'' Air to this 13'' Pro. *looks up at all the headroom*. It was driving me insane.
Click to expand...

non-retina? i have both an 11-inch air and a 13-inch pro and they're basically the same — you get 32 more vertical pixels on the pro, but 86 less horizontal. i mostly prefer the air.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
345triangle said:
non-retina? i have both an 11-inch air and a 13-inch pro and they're basically the same — you get 32 more vertical pixels on the pro, but 86 less horizontal. i mostly prefer the air.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the 13" Air has a larger resolution than the normal Pro, and even more "pixel units" than a 13" Retina Pro at default resolution. If I had a 13" Pro or even a 15", I'd be running that puppy at 1680x1050. Which happens to be the resolution of the 20" ACD I bought in 2005. (Side note, the 13" Air has the resolution the old 17" iMac G4 used to have.) Dem pixels get smaller all the time.
 
L

LCfiner

Member
The_Inquisitor said:
What exactly do you guys use iTunes for? Do you have massive libraries? With iCloud and streaming apps I almost never use iTunes anymore.
Click to expand...

relatively massive (not so massive that iTunes match is disabled). But, yeah, I have over 15000 tracks and I like keeping it local and being able to manage playlists easily. I also use and enjoy the Genius mixes and playlists functions.

I also listen to a lot of music from my computer for a few reasons so playback from a portable all the time isn't a real option.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

INSIDE APPLE'S MASSIVE PUSH TO TRANSFORM THE MAC INTO A GAMING PARADISE
2 3 4
151
17K
RoboFu replied
Apple Sued by DOJ for Illegal Monopoly over Smartphones
2 3 4 5 6
270
19K
PaintTinJr replied
The Mac vs PC War is back on (sprawling newsletter article by Tom Warren about Windows & Arm)
2 3
142
8K
GHG replied
Former Apple XR manager Bertrand Nepveu, says Apple headset will be “Macintosh moment”
2
80
7K
Eddie-Griffin replied
Bloomberg: Apple Pushes Back Mixed-Reality Headset Debut Two Months, to June at WWDC
5
2K
ZehDon replied
Top Bottom