Thinking of getting a MacBook Pro...have some newb questions

[Chills1994]

Hi all,

Yes, my 2003 Windows XP machine finally crapped out. I took it back to the same people who built it. They did some diagnostics to it and came to the conclusion that the power supply unit failed and took the motherboard with it. Argggh...

They pulled my old 80 gig hard drive out of that tower.

I am leaning towards getting a laptop now. A quick browsing of what Best Buy has to offer at their store showed prices all over the place for a Windows 7 laptop...from the higher $300's all the way up to to $1,200. I guess you do get what you pay for.

Then a MacBook caught my eye. One of the Best Buy employees showed me the rest of the MacBooks. Cha ching $$$, especially for the 17 inch MacBook Pro. twenty-five hundred dollars??!! Why! That's an open gun...or a really tricked out SVI Limited racegun. Or an M1A with high end glass.

So I have a few questions:

1. can I take my old XP hard drive and rig it up so I can get the data off it ( word .doc's, .jpg's, and my Samsung hatcam .avi's) and put it on the MacBook?

2. How well will my Samsung hatcam and a new MacBook get along? I do like iMovie so much better than Windows Movie Maker. The Samsung hatcam used to plug into my old tower via a USB cord and the raw video files would get saved to my hard drive in a .avi format.

3. Since I am a match director now, how does EZWinScore get along on MacBooks?

4. It appears that Steve Jobs is very anti-flash media player. From what the Best Buy gal told me, there is/are app(s?) that will let you play YouTube videos and the like???

5. How do Mac's handle .pdf's?

Thanks in advance!

[Tom Mainus]

I just recently change from a PC to a MAC desktop. I am by no means a computer geek, I know enough to be dangerous. I found it pretty easy to switch from the Mac to the PC. The Mac is very intuitive, just spending some time with it helped a lot. I also signed up for apples one to one classes. They are great for getting to know the system. As to your questions-

1. Apple will transfer all of your data free of charge when you buy a new computer. This is part of the set up process.

2. Not sure about the Samsung camera, I have no experience with that.

3. EZ score is a PC program. It will not run on a Mac. The only way to run EZ score on a Mac is to run windows on your Mac. You can do that by running either Bootcamp or another program called parallels. I have no experience with either program. They tell me it is pretty easy to do. I kept my old PC to run ez score on so I did not have to get the other programs.

4. I downloaded something called flip for mac for videos. Haven not had any issues viewing videos since I downloaded it.

5. My Mac handles all PDF's just fine.

The only thing I lost is my ability to draw stages with my old word files system. The mac converts the files, but they do not work the way they are supposed to. I have not had any luck with sketch-up. I just flat out can not figure that program out.

Tom

Edited April 24, 2011 by Tom Mainus

[Chills1994]

thanks Tom, for the reply....

Uggg....a MacBook Pro doesn't do EZwin and stage designs.....pfftttt!!!

Darn!

the folks who built me my desktop back in 2003 are looking into ordering a Lenovo Windows 7 Pro laptop for me.

having browsed Best Buy and Wally World for their laptops, it appears it is actually quite rare for them to have MS Word, Excel, nda Power Point already installed.

double uggg...

I might just go the Windows route....sigh.... on the plus side that's a thou to fifteen hundred plus back in my pocket. I have been eyeballing welders and plasma cutters. :-)

[markcic]

For EZ Win you can run Virtual Box(free) and run Windows. There is also other virtualization software.

Macs can run Flash fine. There are only issues on the iPhone and iPad.

PDF support is great. There is a built in PDF print driver and the Preview application works to view them. You can also go with the full version of Acrobat depending on what you want to do.

[wgnoyes]

I'm considering this decision, too (or more likely just get a desktop 27" iMac and continue to run my windows laptop at the range to score matches). But either way, instead of bootcamp, which lets you run windows or osX but not both, I'd also pick Oracle's VirtualBox and run Windows under osX as a guest machine. (The general concept is called "virtual machines" - VM - and IBM has had that since the mid-70's.) I've used virtualbox before to play with various flavors of Linux under windows; virtualbox is good stuff.

I don't know if an Apple store can help you with data transfer if you just bring them a hard drive. (Maybe they can; they've never said no to any "can you do this" question yet!) If not, you can get a usb external enclosure for next to nothing, put the hard drive in it and plug it in as a new (to the mac) external hard drive from which you can then copy your data.

Microsoft has Office 2011 for the mac.

If you're going to buy a mac and you have one near you, I'd go to one of the Apple Stores (more like an Apple Shrine, really!); they impress me every time I go in there. If I do this, that's definitely where I'll go.

[maineshootah]

Running Ezwin score and all the other PC specific software is easy on the mac.

Yes, you need additional software.

Bootcamp is 1 option.

However, it requires you to reboot into windows to do windows things.. then reboot out (shutdown) back to the Mac side.

Parallels or Fusion (my favorite) is another option.

This is software that allows you to run windows "over" the Mac Operating system.

So.. you can be doing "whatever" on the Mac and then realize that you need to do scores in Ezwin, load up Fusion or Parallels do the scores and go right back to doing "whatever" on the mac. The Windows software just "floats" over the Mac software. Works real nice.

Parallels

OR

VMware Fusion

Here is a comparison on both

{thread drift!}

However... the best bet is to get the stage score palm software and do away with manual entry into Ezwin score!

[Chills1994]

I have only had "one experience" with Palm scoring at the local match level. well, I have had several experiences with Palm, but just at one local club (out of the now 5 "local" matches in the St. Louis area).

and I didn't like it.

typically, at our paper scored match, you would start shooting as soon as you paid your money and got signed up and got the old fashioned paper scoresheets in your hand, and you could get together with about 5 other guys to form a squad.

so by 9AM.

now with the Palms, it seems like we show up at 8:30 AM and don't get to shooting until 10 AM.

so much for shooting through twice (at that club) especially with a second gun. even moreso on the really hot days this summer.

and from what I have heard, "they" stopped making those Palms, and it's just an eBay only option now. at least that is what I have heard.

as a new MD at a new club, with limited funds, I would rather put the club's money towards poppers and other targets.

additionally, I would rather be inconveiniced (sp?) myself for a couple of hours after the match punching scores in by hand rather than inconveincing 30+ people for an hour and a half .

anywhooo....getting back on topic....thanks for answering my questions.

the folks who built my tower way back when did get back to me on prices for lenovo laptops. unfortunately, what they quoted me on were just 15 inch screens. so I emailed them back to ask about 17 inch screens. if their prices go much higher, they'll be in the MacBook (not a Pro) price range.

I did a quick search for "macbook" on St. Louis Craig's List. There are substantial savings to be had, but it is kind of a scarey proposition. There is no telling what could be on a used computer's hard drive. ???

[Jadeslade]

MacBooks are great. Buy them online from Apple, get the basic offering, there is no reason to add memory or HD space unless you really have a specific need. The reason Apple is so popular among Apple freaks is the software and the ease of use. There is no need for a 17inch laptop- if you want a big screen, get the basic iMac-that is probably the best computer for the money out there. If you like tweaking your computer and fooling around trying to get stuff and programs to work and spending a lot of time at it-stick with WIndows, etc. If you just want to sit down and use it, get a Mac, you'll never go back. For EZWin-you need a Windows computer-like a $300 laptop. I do not recommend turning your MacBook into a PC with Bootcamp or any other program-a PITA and aesthetically unpleasing. Good luck. Addendum: we use Palms-the reason most people have trouble with them is that their near vision stinks, there will be one or two people in each squad who can do it. I'm sick of doing it, but our MD is sick of paper. That's shooting .

[Chills1994]

I didn't say that most people... e.g. my fellow squadmates had a problem with the palms.

the "hiccup" comes from the match staff not knowing who is coming to the match until 8:30 to 9AM when they actually show up. then at least their names have to be inputted into a palm.

and I think it is just one palm per squad. so maybe 6 to 9 names have to be entered. maybe even division and major/minor scoring too. maybe 6 squads total. one for each stage???

and I'm going go out on a limb here and say that the match staff is also trying to figure out who they can squad with whom. personality conflicts and all that...

yessir! I am looking at something that is as close as possible to just plug and play, and that's why the MacBooks got my attention. I am not relishing the thought of spending maybe 4 to 5 hours having to install something (MS Office?) onto a Windows machine.

[wgnoyes]

...I did a quick search for "macbook" on St. Louis Craig's List. There are substantial savings to be had, but it is kind of a scarey proposition. There is no telling what could be on a used computer's hard drive. ???

There's also no telling what could be waiting for you when you show up at such-and-such a location with cash on you and they know you have it and there may not even BE a computer there. Bring your carry gun or (much preferably) avoid Craigs List like the plague!

[Chills1994]

the little guy to the left in my avatar ...I picked him up off of St. Louis Craig's List. I drove 4 to 5 hours down to Springfield, MO to pick him up. (insert banjo playing music here....LOL!)

and I didn't get robbed nor did I end up wearing a ball gag, either.

"I ain't skeered!"

[-JQ-]

I really like my macbook pro 15. It does plenty of heavy lifting for me with little sweat. I prefer WinOS file structure better - ymmv.

I also use VMware for Windows apps when required. It runs both OS simultaneously and is quick to switch back and forth. But, for my use it didn't quite give a 100% solution but I was REALLY pushing it...editing video in Vegas (win) while running untold editing apps (Mac).

As mentioned above Flash runs fine on the web. S Jobs got his drawers in a wad with the Iphoney and Ipady...cutting off nose to spite face. One use everyone touts is using them for photos/portfolios - stupid with out flash player - stupidstupidstupid. I really hate the holier than thou attitudes of "success" stories. This kept we away from Mac for a long time...still makes me ill. Jobs didn't invent the mouse IU - he swiped it from Xerox. OK Steve, get over yourself.

<rant off>

It just gripes me to have to recommend apple...but they rock.

FWIW I've had REAL Mac's for a long time...one sitting right here 1967 MC250

[Chills1994]

I am looking at the Apple Refurb'ed store too:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC665?mco=MTM3NDgzNjY

or:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTM3NTA4MzQ

[Chills1994]

I normally don't do this, but this is what I was quoted via email pricewise for the Lenovo Thinkpads:

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 14" LED Notebook - Core i5 i5-2410M 2.3GHz -

> Black

> >1600 x 900 WSXGA Display - 4 GB RAM - 320 GB HDD - DVD-Writer - Intel

> >GMA HD 3000 - Webcam - Windows 7 Professional - 9 Hour Battery -

> >DisplayPort : $999

> >

> >

> >Lenovo ThinkPad T420 14" LED Notebook - Core i5 i5-2520M 2.5GHz -

> Black

> >1366 x 768 WXGA Display - 4 GB RAM - 320 GB HDD - DVD-Writer - Intel

> GMA

> >HD 3000 - Webcam - Windows 7 Professional - 9 Hour Battery -

> DisplayPort

> >- 1yr Manufacturer Warranty : $1099

> >

> >Lenovo ThinkPad T510 15.6" LED Notebook - Core i5 i5-560M 2.66GHz

> >1600 x 900 WSXGA Display - 2 GB RAM - 320 GB HDD - DVD-Writer -

> nVIDIA

> >NVIDIA Quadro NVS3100M, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD -

> Bluetooth

> >- Webcam - Windows 7 Professional - 10.40 Hour Battery - DisplayPort

> :

> >UPGRADED to 4GB RAM : 3 year manufacturer warranty standard : $1349

[wgnoyes]

Well, I went and looked at a macbook pro 13.3" I5 yesterday at the apple shrine. For what I want to do in a laptop, it looked pretty damned good to me. $1199 for 320g HD and 4g of ram. The disk space is a little light, but is still 4 times my current laptop. $1499 for 180g more and the I7 processor doesn't seem worth it for a light to medium use machine. MSOffice looks identical to what I'm running now; they say I don't need it with what comes standard in osX but I've got a technet subscription so why not have it anyway. I'v poked at the operating system enough and watched their PC to MAC video that the os looks pretty good. Only thing that gives me pause is only 2 usb ports.

[Chills1994]

giggity... :-P

I am at the Apple store now. WOW! this place is packed!

the welder and the plasma cutter are in my truck.

if I make any more purchases today, my debit card might just melt.

you're right about it being a shrine...a loud and busy one at that.

decisions....decisions...

[Jadeslade]

I didn't say that most people... e.g. my fellow squadmates had a problem with the palms.

the "hiccup" comes from the match staff not knowing who is coming to the match until 8:30 to 9AM when they actually show up. then at least their names have to be inputted into a palm.

and I think it is just one palm per squad. so maybe 6 to 9 names have to be entered. maybe even division and major/minor scoring too. maybe 6 squads total. one for each stage???

and I'm going go out on a limb here and say that the match staff is also trying to figure out who they can squad with whom. personality conflicts and all that...

yessir! I am looking at something that is as close as possible to just plug and play, and that's why the MacBooks got my attention. I am not relishing the thought of spending maybe 4 to 5 hours having to install something (MS Office?) onto a Windows machine.

we use numbers-Like you are number 46- for those who didn't get to sign up online and be input the night before. I've seen enough new shooters or occasional shooter to tell that, didn't mean too imply anything

[Jadeslade]

I really like my macbook pro 15. It does plenty of heavy lifting for me with little sweat. I prefer WinOS file structure better - ymmv.

I also use VMware for Windows apps when required. It runs both OS simultaneously and is quick to switch back and forth. But, for my use it didn't quite give a 100% solution but I was REALLY pushing it...editing video in Vegas (win) while running untold editing apps (Mac).

As mentioned above Flash runs fine on the web. S Jobs got his drawers in a wad with the Iphoney and Ipady...cutting off nose to spite face. One use everyone touts is using them for photos/portfolios - stupid with out flash player - stupidstupidstupid. I really hate the holier than thou attitudes of "success" stories. This kept we away from Mac for a long time...still makes me ill. Jobs didn't invent the mouse IU - he swiped it from Xerox. OK Steve, get over yourself.

<rant off>

It just gripes me to have to recommend apple...but they rock.

FWIW I've had REAL Mac's for a long time...one sitting right here 1967 MC250

Nice amp!! Haven't seen one of those in a while-in mint shape, nice.

[Jadeslade]

Well, I went and looked at a macbook pro 13.3" I5 yesterday at the apple shrine. For what I want to do in a laptop, it looked pretty damned good to me. $1199 for 320g HD and 4g of ram. The disk space is a little light, but is still 4 times my current laptop. $1499 for 180g more and the I7 processor doesn't seem worth it for a light to medium use machine. MSOffice looks identical to what I'm running now; they say I don't need it with what comes standard in osX but I've got a technet subscription so why not have it anyway. I'v poked at the operating system enough and watched their PC to MAC video that the os looks pretty good. Only thing that gives me pause is only 2 usb ports.

yeah-that's always an issue-i use a piggyback sometimes, but usually I just pull out what I'm not using. The MacBook Pros are great, but if you are not gonna move it, the iMac is the bomb! $1200 for big HD, 21"primo screen and all in one. It's nice.

[-JQ-]

Sorry Jadeslade that was a pic found <lazy> somewhere...my is mint-er I bought it from a little old lady who's late husband bought system in ~1968. It came with original box...I even have the inner bag. It does need to visit the Mcmechanic for a tune up though...sweat sounding. Too bad it isn't the tube 240...$$$.

[Chills1994]

JQ wrote:

I also use VMware for Windows apps when required. It runs both OS simultaneously and is quick to switch back and forth. But, for my use it didn't quite give a 100% solution but I was REALLY pushing it...editing video in Vegas(win) while running untold editing apps (Mac)

hmmmnn...okay...I didn't catch it on the first time reading through, and I finally caught on just now. sorry... I can be slow like that...

but I gotta ask...what were you editing in Vegas that you couldn't do in iMovies?

said another way, was there some editing function that iMovies didn't have that Vegas does/did?

and while I was at the Apple store I asked one of their employees, "hey, is it always this busy?" her reply was "oh,no, it's actually slow right now."

I have a couple of old windows desktops up in the attic that I should check on first to see if they actually run, first. I think one still had Windows ME on it. LOL! I can't remember if the other one was an XP machine...or not???

@ Jade, no problemo. I know you weren't implying anything....although one of the complaints I have heard about the the palms is that bright sunlight makes the screen wash out.

[wgnoyes]

Well, I went and looked at a macbook pro 13.3" I5 yesterday at the apple shrine. ... watched their PC to MAC video that the os looks pretty good. Only thing that gives me pause is only 2 usb ports.

yeah-that's always an issue-i use a piggyback sometimes, but usually I just pull out what I'm not using. The MacBook Pros are great, but if you are not gonna move it, the iMac is the bomb! $1200 for big HD, 21"primo screen and all in one. It's nice.

What about the big 27"? (One thing I've learned in the past couple of days is that you can route your macbook video out to the 27" but not the 21".) Worth the extra cost? iMacs have 4 usb ports, but they put them on the back where you have to feel around for them. Even Dell puts a side-mounted pair of usb ports on their monitors!

And what's this about Thunderbolt on the macbook pros? Is that supposed to replace usb? What kinds of tb devices are out there?

[-JQ-]

Chills...

We were editing videos for final output as .wmv files And all the Mac software we had refused to offer a good solution. (Macs and PC's still don't like each other when it comes to video) We were using Premier CS4 and/or Final Cut Pro, then converting to wmv with a conversion tool. The work flow was very cumbersome.

Oddly, Premier for WinOS (NOT MacOS) would do wmv's but Vegas was more cost effective and very user friendly.

To say were a mixed environ would be understating the confusion.

If I were editing video on a WinOS machine I'd still be using Vegas...sorry Premier.

My inner nerd really like the VMWare solution, flipping back and forth between OS with a click = cool "Amaze your friends!"

I still use VMWare when dealing with MSoffice apps...if I have to do MS work.

[Jadeslade]

Well, I went and looked at a macbook pro 13.3" I5 yesterday at the apple shrine. ... watched their PC to MAC video that the os looks pretty good. Only thing that gives me pause is only 2 usb ports.

yeah-that's always an issue-i use a piggyback sometimes, but usually I just pull out what I'm not using. The MacBook Pros are great, but if you are not gonna move it, the iMac is the bomb! $1200 for big HD, 21"primo screen and all in one. It's nice.

What about the big 27"? (One thing I've learned in the past couple of days is that you can route your macbook video out to the 27" but not the 21".) Worth the extra cost? iMacs have 4 usb ports, but they put them on the back where you have to feel around for them. Even Dell puts a side-mounted pair of usb ports on their monitors!

And what's this about Thunderbolt on the macbook pros? Is that supposed to replace usb? What kinds of tb devices are out there?

Well, the iMacs are so easy to access the back on, that I think it is better to have them on the back, looks better that way. Personally, I like the 21 iMac-it just fits the desk I use perfectly and I think the 27 is just too big and heavy. Taste, really. You will probably end up getting more than one Apple. I leap frog every couple of years-which is more often like every 18 months, but I have big family and different needs all the time. The Thunderbolt thing is Apple's way of saying-yes, we are the best, and you have to buy new other stuff, too. I think I have learned how to buy Apple computers without breaking the bank-that's why I suggest getting the bare bones IMac 21" to start. Nothing is perfect, but I think I have bought my last PC, because now with Google Calendar and business apps, there is no need to be dependent on a particular type of computer for me, and if I have a choice, the easy to operate and use Apple wins, hands down. I have had a half-dozen MacBooks and Macbook Pros, four iMacs, and lots of iPods, iPhones, iTouch, and I just ordered an iPad. One printer at home with one printer at office, all on Airport Extreme networks. At home we use Apple TV a lot-it is the best bargain going right now with Netflix. If you have teenagers the 99 Apple TV and 10/mo Netflix pays for itself in a month. Watching videos on YouTube in the living room is just so cool. Anyway, most of the big screen arrays I have seen are in video production shops in NY or LA or Atlanta and use the standalone screens with floor Macs. The 27 " iMac is just too big for me-I read 3-4hrs a day sometimes, technical stuff, etc. online and the 21" is comfortable to sit in front of, easy on my eyes and reading type is just right. Any more and I'm above my pay grade on Apple's. Good luck.

[markcic]

Here is a good buying guide for Macs. Don't buy an iMac right now, they are about to update them. Once they update you can usually get a good deal on the previous model.