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Mac Hardware and Software |OT| - All things Macintosh

I

Izick

Member
The Real Abed said:
Probably the minority and some people will laugh but I play all games on my MacBook Air with the Magic Trackpad. Minecraft, Portal, ZDoom, and all other first person games. I can not use a mouse. Never have been able to. When I had a normal machine back in the days before the MTP, I would play with a keyboard only and people would tell me I'm an idiot and should be using a mouse too. I tried, but could never get the hang. I'd rather use a controller than a mouse and keyboard. But the Magic Trackpad comes so naturally to me. I am so fast and light on my feet in those games whipping through them like butter. But I seem to be the only one who can do this. I literally have not used a mouse since I got my first MBP. Now I even have a MTP for my Mac mini. I cannot see myself wanting to go back to a mouse.
Click to expand...

Haven't played anything on here yet, but I've always been fine with stuff using the trackpad. Although I admittedly don't do much PC gaming. I even could kick some ass on TF2 though with a pad if I played like spy or engineer.

Fantastical said:
Just bought a new 13 inch MBP for college after my old laptop started slowing down / being a bitch. Scary spending that much money on it, but let's hope it's worth it. First time owning Mac hardware. :)
Click to expand...

Same exact thing but an Air instead of Pro. I felt sick when I bought it. I really like to ration money for gas, which is my real only expense, and spending such a large chunk of change felt crazy. It's absolutely worth it though. Where did you buy it?

Also, doesn't it feel so weird at first? I guess you get so acclimated to how Windows does things that you just don't know. It's really awesome though. The multi touch stuff is absolutely brilliant.
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
Izick said:
Same exact thing but an Air instead of Pro. I felt sick when I bought it. I really like to ration money for gas, which is my real only expense, and spending such a large chunk of change felt crazy. It's absolutely worth it though. Where did you buy it?

Also, doesn't it feel so weird at first? I guess you get so acclimated to how Windows does things that you just don't know. It's really awesome though. The multi touch stuff is absolutely brilliant.
Click to expand...

I bought it at the university bookstore. I really needed a laptop to take notes on / do homework quickly so I just called my mom and bit the bullet when I got the okay. :) (actually I used refund money from a scholarship, yay!)

I'm actually waiting for it to fully charge before using. I JUST got it. :p
 
I

Izick

Member
Fantastical said:
I bought it at the university bookstore. I really needed a laptop to take notes on / do homework quickly so I just called my mom and bit the bullet when I got the okay. :) (actually I used refund money from a scholarship, yay!)

I'm actually waiting for it to fully charge before using. I JUST got it. :p
Click to expand...

Nice! Dude, you're gonna absolutely love it. It's so cool. It's a bit confusing at first, but once you get the multi-touch gestures down and feel around the UI, it's on!
 
D

DMczaf

Member
Oh god I'm a first time Mac owner, damn you Best Buy. I needed a laptop for grad school, and this deal comes up, and it was too good to pass up. I have a Mac, wtf.

I got a 13 inch Macbook Air (128gb model). How long does it take to get the free Mountain Lion download?
 
I

Izick

Member
DMczaf said:
Oh god I'm a first time Mac owner, damn you Best Buy. I needed a laptop for grad school, and this deal comes up, and it was too good to pass up. I have a Mac, wtf.

I got a 13 inch Macbook Air (128gb model). How long does it take to get the free Mountain Lion download?
Click to expand...

Welcome to the club buddy! It feels good, it feels damn good! It's so fast!

I'm trying to do that ML upgrade thing later, so I'll tell you how it goes!
 
M

Majine

Banned
DMczaf said:
Oh god I'm a first time Mac owner, damn you Best Buy. I needed a laptop for grad school, and this deal comes up, and it was too good to pass up. I have a Mac, wtf.

I got a 13 inch Macbook Air (128gb model). How long does it take to get the free Mountain Lion download?
Click to expand...

Wait, you just got it? I got the exact same model more than a week ago, and ML was preinstalled.
 
I

Izick

Member
So, I kind of got excited in the heat of the moment and skipped making the account(s) at the startup when I got the Air. What are those accounts, and can I make them still now? I ask because I think to upgrade to MLion, I need to make one.
 
S

smokeandmirrors

Banned
DMczaf said:
Oh god I'm a first time Mac owner, damn you Best Buy. I needed a laptop for grad school, and this deal comes up, and it was too good to pass up. I have a Mac, wtf.

I got a 13 inch Macbook Air (128gb model). How long does it take to get the free Mountain Lion download?
Click to expand...

Took me about 10 minutes on a fast connection for download and another 10 or so for install. Fairly straightforward and quick
 
C

cnizzle06

Banned
Izick said:
Haven't played anything on here yet, but I've always been fine with stuff using the trackpad. Although I admittedly don't do much PC gaming. I even could kick some ass on TF2 though with a pad if I played like spy or engineer.



Same exact thing but an Air instead of Pro. I felt sick when I bought it. I really like to ration money for gas, which is my real only expense, and spending such a large chunk of change felt crazy. It's absolutely worth it though. Where did you buy it?

Also, doesn't it feel so weird at first? I guess you get so acclimated to how Windows does things that you just don't know. It's really awesome though. The multi touch stuff is absolutely brilliant.
Click to expand...

I kept saying the same thing to my girlfriend while I was in Best Buy making the transaction. "I feel so sick right now spending over a grand." It's not in my nature to drop that amount on one product, or hell, multiple items. I just hope I made the right decision getting the Macbook Pro as opposed to the Air. Gaf seems to appreciate the latter more. It's certainly heavier, but I like having the added space and the rom to fall back on if need be, and again, the potential to upgrade in the future should I ever decided to invest more money into this thing (unlikely). I'm still acclimating to the OS environment. It's kind of confusing. I just did the upgrade process as mine had an older version installed. Now I'm somewhat at a loss for what to do. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
I

Izick

Member
cnizzle06 said:
I kept saying the same thing to my girlfriend while I was in Best Buy making the transaction. "I feel so sick right now spending over a grand." It's not in my nature to drop that amount on one product, or hell, multiple items. I just hope I made the right decision getting the Macbook Pro as opposed to the Air. Gaf seems to appreciate the latter more. It's certainly heavier, but I like having the added space and the rom to fall back on if need be, and again, the potential to upgrade in the future should I ever decided to invest more money into this thing (unlikely). I'm still acclimating to the OS environment. It's kind of confusing. I just did the upgrade process as mine had an older version installed. Now I'm somewhat at a loss for what to do. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Click to expand...

Honestly, you're getting so much quality in either product, I think you're going to be good. I chose the Air because I preferred the form factor and I really don't ever use much space, as I stream video content, and only use Spotify and Youtbe for music. Like I said though, when you're buying an Air or Pro, I think you can breathe easily, as you're investing in something you know will last and work well for a long, long time.

I would also appreciate any general advice given.
 
R

robertsan21

Member
Might be a bit OT, but does anyone know how it is to edit canon RAW photos on an Ipad?

is it powerful enough to handle Raw photos ?

I am about to purchase one for using it in the field. storing photos from my memory card and then editing them there on the iPad
 
G

giga

Member
robertsan21 said:
Might be a bit OT, but does anyone know how it is to edit canon RAW photos on an Ipad?

is it powerful enough to handle Raw photos ?

I am about to purchase one for using it in the field. storing photos from my memory card and then editing them there on the iPad
Click to expand...
Not nearly powerful enough. Don't even know if there are any pure raw editors for it.
 
Represent.

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Finally decided to pull the trigger on a cMBP last night.

128GB SSD, 2.3ghz, 15" Hi Res AntiGlare

Already bought a 2TB USb3.0 external and have 16GB 1600mhz RAM ready to install upon arrival.

Expected delivery: Sept 12-15. DAMN long ass wait.
 
R

robertsan21

Member
giga said:
Not nearly powerful enough. Don't even know if there are any pure raw editors for it.
Click to expand...


hmm ok, thats crap. But I can transfer my Raw photos from my SD card to the Ipad? I guess using the iPad as a memory card dumpster would work great, then I can edit them when I get back home.
 
M

Metaroo

Member
Do you guys recommend anything in terms of cases for the macbook air? I love the little guy, but he seems prone to scratches from pretty much every angle. CNET has this big list of cases for the air, but none of them particularly stood out to me.
 
J

Jobiensis

Member
Metaroo said:
Do you guys recommend anything in terms of cases for the macbook air? I love the little guy, but he seems prone to scratches from pretty much every angle. CNET has this big list of cases for the air, but none of them particularly stood out to me.
Click to expand...

I second this question, I'm almost ready to get a Sena case folio for my 13" MBA. I don't care for the hard cases, and a sleeve will end up forgotten somewhere. It looks like the Folio will fold over backwards nicely enough and not block the vent. It just seems like a whole lot for a case, but I haven't found anything else I like.
 
K

Korosenai

Member
What's the general consensus on here between bootcamp vs. parallels?

Wondering which one I should do, but looking for pros and cons between the two first.

EDIT: And does anyone have a link to a site that offers a student discount for windows 7?

Mr. F said:
I think it depends on what you intend to do with your system. From what I gather Parallels is a good solution if you're working more with documents between OSs, but if you intend to use the other OS for something more resource intensive (games, etc.), Bootcamp would be the better option. I personally use Bootcamp as I use Windows mainly for games and want them to perform as best they can without the baggage of simultaneously running another OS.

I could be wrong, but these were the arguments I commonly saw when I was deciding between the two myself a couple years back.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the fast reply. I've been doing some research and was just looking for some feedback from some gaffer's.
 
M

Mr. F

Banned
NubInaTub said:
What's the general consensus on here between bootcamp vs. parallels?

Wondering which one I should do, but looking for pros and cons between the two first.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on what you intend to do with your system. From what I gather Parallels is a good solution if you're working more with documents between OSs, but if you intend to use the other OS for something more resource intensive (games, etc.), Bootcamp would be the better option. I personally use Bootcamp as I use Windows mainly for games and want them to perform as best they can without the baggage of simultaneously running another OS.

I could be wrong, but these were the arguments I commonly saw when I was deciding between the two myself a couple years back.
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
I'm downloading my free upgrade to Mountain Lion, and I'm wondering if I can get more detailed information on the download process? Right now I can see the little bar in launchpad, but it is seemingly not moving at all. Meanwhile an app that tracks bandwidth usage is going up pretty fast. Can I get more information like the speed it's downloading at?
 
G

Got the Shakes

Member
Fantastical said:
I'm downloading my free upgrade to Mountain Lion, and I'm wondering if I can get more detailed information on the download process? Right now I can see the little bar in launchpad, but it is seemingly not moving at all. Meanwhile an app that tracks bandwidth usage is going up pretty fast. Can I get more information like the speed it's downloading at?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure if you open the Mac App Store and click on purchased it will show you at least how much of the file you've downloaded/remaining and the time remaining.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
NubInaTub said:
What's the general consensus on here between bootcamp vs. parallels?

Wondering which one I should do, but looking for pros and cons between the two first.
Click to expand...
Use both. Parallels can import a Bootcamp drive and run it as a virtual machine so you can use Windows with or without rebooting.
 
A

Anatoli Bacharach

Member
Hey guys, is this normal behavior on my 2012 MBA?

  1. Put it to sleep, either by clicking on sleep or by closing the lid.
  2. The screen then goes black but doesn't shut off, and i can still see and move the mouse pointer there.
  3. Stays at this black screen for about 20 seconds.
  4. Then it goes to sleep.

Is it supposed to be instantaneous? I thought it used to be, right after it got the computer, but i can't remember for sure.
 
K

Ken Masters

Banned
Anatoli Bacharach said:
Hey guys, is this normal behavior on my 2012 MBA?

  1. Put it to sleep, either by clicking on sleep or by closing the lid.
  2. The screen then goes black but doesn't shut off, and i can still see and move the mouse pointer there.
  3. Stays at this black screen for about 20 seconds.
  4. Then it goes to sleep.

Is it supposed to be instantaneous? I thought it used to be, right after it got the computer, but i can't remember for sure.
Click to expand...

The screen should turn off almost instantaneously when you close it
 
I

Izick

Member
mj1108 said:
Very late to replying to this, but CONGRATS!!!!!!!!! I knew you'd love it! :)
Click to expand...

Thank you! It's amazing. Not to spew hyperbole, but I've been using Windows 7 for several years (which is a great, great OS), then Ubuntu Linux, and then Windows 8, which I used for about 3 months of daily, main usage, I can say that OS X and this piece of hardware is what amazes me so much.

I never thought that you could really get pst the basic point and click style of things that Windows does. It wasn't a fanboy thing, I just couldn't imagine what could be improved. Then, after finally using the trackpad's multi-touch stuff, and learning all of it. Wow. That's all I can say. I was a bit worried, because I thought that full-screen apps would slow down "productivity" or whatever you want to call usage speed, same thing with only having a single click pad. The multi-touch features completely blow those trepidations out of the water, and they actually feel like the superior ways of doing things, like by far.

It's just really amazing what happens when the OS is built around the hardware's full capabilities. Windows 8 really is an okay OS, but only because the metro stuff is completely avoidable. That's not a problem, but it kind of makes me feel a bit sad that I have to justify the OS that way. It's not great, and it's barely good, only because it's new features are easily avoided. I don't know, I guess I really think it's jarring what Apple took from tablet and touch screen usage, and put it into the OS through the trackpad and how Microsoft has gone a completely different way, where it assumes that you have a touchsreen device, and if you don't, you're kind of thrown into this one size fits all type of system, that's only redeeming ability is that it can be easily avoided and it's still usable with a M & K, or a touchpad. It's just kind of funny to look at it that way, to see how these companies have integrated this stuff into these OS's.

Basically, I fucking love this thing. Hardware and software, and I need to upgrade to ML soon!
 
P

Pachimari

Member
Is it normal that my MBA 13" (2011) is showing 2:54 hours of battery after charge?

It was bought November 2011.

EDIT:
Forget it. The amount of hours goes up as the battery percent lowers a bit.
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
I'm kind of wishing I got the Air. I got a 13" Macbook Pro because I didn't think I would have enough space with the Air. I just miss that SSD. My Windows desktop has an SSD and it's amazing. Waiting even the few seconds it takes to boot up now seems like too much. :p I'm spoiled.
 
S

sc0la

Unconfirmed Member
Fantastical said:
I'm kind of wishing I got the Air. I got a 13" Macbook Pro because I didn't think I would have enough space with the Air. I just miss that SSD. My Windows desktop has an SSD and it's amazing. Waiting even the few seconds it takes to boot up now seems like too much. :p I'm spoiled.
Click to expand...

You just got it right? Exchange it if you are unhappy. Or put an SSD in the pro. How much space do you need?

You can get a 128GB Samsung 830 for like 100 bucks now
 
K

Krelian

Member
The Real Abed said:
A shrunken miniaturized Mac Mini with the same Flash memory, RAM and processor as the Air would be the most perfect dream. I'd even buy a 64GB model if they made the baseline $500 again.
Click to expand...
If they do shrink it I hope they'll still keep a "normal" model whose RAM and HDD can be upgraded. There are so few options for desktop Macs already and I wouldn't want to lose that flexibility.
 
I

Izick

Member
Can anyone help me out? I'm trying to figure out what information I need to give to get my free Mountain Lion upgrade. Unfortunately I was super excited after unboxing and starting up my Air, and I didn't fill in any of the info that happens at the beginning of the startup. I remember them giving me the option to make a .me email I think, and I'm wondering if I can still do that now, do I need that for the free ML upgrade? Any help is appreciated.
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
sc0la said:
You just got it right? Exchange it if you are unhappy. Or put an SSD in the pro. How much space do you need?

You can get a 128GB Samsung 830 for like 100 bucks now
Click to expand...

I've thought about it. It would be great if I could do that in addition to the hard drive. Apparently you can buy something where you can remove the DVD drive and put an SSD in there. I'm kind of looking into that.

I mean I do need a good bit of space. I'm not completely regretting my decision or anything, I still really like it. It was admittedly jarring to go from my desktop being extremely snappy starting up to laptop.
 
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