Macbook pro newb hints

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willen101383

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I got my first macbook pro this evening. I have very limited mac experience but am pretty tech savvy so ive got a pretty good handle on things so far. This thing seems way way better than my PC laptop. However, I am not going to lie ...I am not too thrilled about being a "mac guy" now 🙁 I mentioned that I got the comp on facebook and like 10 "mac peeps" were all over it, "omg welcome to the club" "macs are soo much cooler than PCs" "its just a matter of time before you get your first iphone" vomit. Anyways.

I have a 800gb external so ive got time machine set up on that.
Got my mouse clicking stuff set up the way i like it.
The rest seems pretty self explanatory.

Is there anything "cool" about Mac OS that might take me a long time to stumble over?
 
No, its pretty simple. You'll figure everything out quickly.

Definitely to take advantage of whats now in your hands/lap check out:
http://bestmacsoftware.org/

VLC is a definite, and Flip4Mac, so you have no problems playing or streaming windows media content.
 
Mac's are pretty simple. The more you use them the more you get adjusted to their system.
 
OK, I don't want to sound like one of those "Mac guys," but the OS really is a lot more stable. I recommend NeoOffice from openoffice.org to replace MS Office (for free). You can set it to save as a MS Office file by default. Also, you can hit the spacebar to preview whatever file you have highlighted, instead of having to open it. Enjoy!
 
Although, neooffice is free, iWork is only $59 with student discount and is way better, in my opinion.
 
(PC fan wanting to argue but won't :laugh:)

I would recommend neooffice as well.
 
willen101383 said:
I got my first macbook pro this evening. I have very limited mac experience but am pretty tech savvy so ive got a pretty good handle on things so far. This thing seems way way better than my PC laptop. However, I am not going to lie ...I am not too thrilled about being a "mac guy" now 🙁 I mentioned that I got the comp on facebook and like 10 "mac peeps" were all over it, "omg welcome to the club" "macs are soo much cooler than PCs" "its just a matter of time before you get your first iphone" vomit. Anyways.
Click to expand...
i have a theory that when you first turn on a brand new mac, there is a mind control video to brainwash you. however, after lodging itself deep into your brain, a light flashes a la men in black, and you forget ever watching the video. but, the love of mac is already embedded into your brain. there is no way to verify this theory due to the memory erasure of ever watching the video, but it's the only way i can explain why all mac users are practically swimming in the kool aid. i'm planning on getting a macbook pro, too, and i will see if i can somehow get evidence that the video exists...

ilmdoc said:
OK, I don't want to sound like one of those "Mac guys," but the OS really is a lot more stable. I recommend NeoOffice from openoffice.org to replace MS Office (for free). You can set it to save as a MS Office file by default. Also, you can hit the spacebar to preview whatever file you have highlighted, instead of having to open it. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
while i love everything free, what is missing from it? it must be missing something to be free. but if they're totally comparable (although someone else said they prefer the real thing) then maybe i'll get this free thing instead.
 
I actually got iwork in the store when I bought it. I have always loved word...but hated its weird quirks. The fact that iwork was so cheap was a plus too...
 
HockeyDr09 said:
(PC fan wanting to argue but won't :laugh:)

I would recommend neooffice as well.
Click to expand...

Ive been on PCs since literally the minute PCs became useful...like 1991 I think we got our first PC. I remember putting in a cd rom and being like HOLY ****. lol

But im definitely not abandoning PCs. The main issue I had was: I have been through 3 HP laptops in 3 years....and not from me doing anything to destroy them. This last one I actually threw down like 1700 dollars for thinking that if I ponied up some extra change it would last. WRONG. Literally a month later I brought it back to the stupid geeksquad because the internal wireless adapter died. Computerless for like 1.5 months. Then about two months ago the battery suddenly went on it. As in if the power adapter came out on you it would die within 15 seconds....and the power adapter wouldnt work every time...so even if you got it in the computer within a few seconds you would frequently go over 15 seconds trying to wiggle that thing in! (thats what she said).

But I am totally happy with the purchase already.
 
The Poet Sings said:
i have a theory that when you first turn on a brand new mac, there is a mind control video to brainwash you. however, after lodging itself deep into your brain, a light flashes a la men in black, and you forget ever watching the video. but, the love of mac is already embedded into your brain. there is no way to verify this theory due to the memory erasure of ever watching the video, but it's the only way i can explain why all mac users are practically swimming in the kool aid. i'm planning on getting a macbook pro, too, and i will see if i can somehow get evidence that the video exists...

while i love everything free, what is missing from it? it must be missing something to be free. but if they're totally comparable (although someone else said they prefer the real thing) then maybe i'll get this free thing instead.
Click to expand...

I have a theory that said video exists too lol. Or maybe douchebags just have an abnormal affinity for mac products.

I love this vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg
 
zetabetazeta said:
Did you get a free ipod touch as well? 😀
Click to expand...

Sure did....well my girlfriend got it now since I already have one 🙂

It was fing drama getting that student discount bc I forgot my school ID. I had to log into my PCOM "banner web" and show them my course schedule....but only after the store manager approved it haha
 
willen101383 said:
Sure did....well my girlfriend got it now since I already have one 🙂

It was fing drama getting that student discount bc I forgot my school ID. I had to log into my PCOM "banner web" and show them my course schedule....but only after the store manager approved it haha
Click to expand...
when you buy it in the store, do they already have them there with a bunch of configurations and you pick one, or they customize them in the back or something? or do you have to order it and they ship it? getting it immediately would be nice, but i wanted to get mine online so i could get my ipod engraved with something cute about me going to med school heheheh.
 
The Poet Sings said:
when you buy it in the store, do they already have them there with a bunch of configurations and you pick one, or they customize them in the back or something? or do you have to order it and they ship it? getting it immediately would be nice, but i wanted to get mine online so i could get my ipod engraved with something cute about me going to med school heheheh.
Click to expand...


They have them at the store.
 
taylormade2006 said:
They have them at the store.
Click to expand...
thanks. do you know if it's possible to get the engraving done on the ipod, too, if you buy in store?

edit: i don't mean for them to do the engraving in store. but to get it shipped to me after engraving. i really want my engraving! i may just buy it online to avoid the hassle, and just use my current laptop a bit longer than if i had gone in to the store.
 
haha aww how adorable poet. I am not sure about the engraving in store. BUT FYI if you do the barclays financing as I did...till friday when my loans come and i can pay that off.....if you do the financing online first you CANNOT use it in the store until you get the physical card. I learned out the hard way after driving an hour to delaware for no sales tax...and having them shoot me down.
 
willen101383 said:
haha aww how adorable poet. I am not sure about the engraving in store. BUT FYI if you do the barclays financing as I did...till friday when my loans come and i can pay that off.....if you do the financing online first you CANNOT use it in the store until you get the physical card. I learned out the hard way after driving an hour to delaware for no sales tax...and having them shoot me down.
Click to expand...
thanks for the heads up. i'm sure it'll help someone else on here. i was going to wait until the fin aid came in, put it on a credit card to get airline miles, and then pay it off immediately. that's too bad you had to drive all the way out there :-(.
and i want my ipod to say "Congratulations, (my name here)! You're going to medical school/be a doctor!" haven't decided how to end it yet. even though it's a gift to myself, i'm allowed to congratulate myself right? cuz i'm gonna. any human that sees the order will think it's a message from a proud family member hahaha.
 
I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure that you have to order online to get the iPod engraved.
 
We should turn this into the tech thread, where we talk about hacking our overpriced gadgets 🙂. Jailbreaking is legal now anyway! I am hoping to pick up the HTC EVO or the Droid X soon, i'm leaning toward the EVO for 4G (hoping sprint increases their 4G coverage). I've already looked at free tethering apps :laugh:
 
I have a macbook pro... I don't think this is too well known, so try it on a friend's mac if you want to mess with them a little: Hold down control-option-command and press 8. You can turn it off by hitting the same buttons again, but odds are your friend won't know that. :meanie:

Services and automator can be useful, but to be honest I've never really gone into the programming options... but, for one, you can select text, and have it read it to you (not too amazing) OR go to the "Services" option under "Name of program you're using," and you can do things like "Add selection to iTunes as mp3." If you have online access to a textbook, this lets you make an audiobook version pretty easily... if you're a fan of robotic speech. There's a ton more you can do with services and automator if you're really interested. It's probably the best feature of the OS that's not immediately obvious.
 
Altruist said:
I have a macbook pro... I don't think this is too well known, so try it on a friend's mac if you want to mess with them a little: Hold down control-option-command and press 8. You can turn it off by hitting the same buttons again, but odds are your friend won't know that. :meanie:

Services and automator can be useful, but to be honest I've never really gone into the programming options... but, for one, you can select text, and have it read it to you (not too amazing) OR go to the "Services" option under "Name of program you're using," and you can do things like "Add selection to iTunes as mp3." If you have online access to a textbook, this lets you make an audiobook version pretty easily... if you're a fan of robotic speech. There's a ton more you can do with services and automator if you're really interested. It's probably the best feature of the OS that's not immediately obvious.
Click to expand...
what does that do? i don't have a mac at my disposal.
 
The Poet Sings said:
what does that do? i don't have a mac at my disposal.
Click to expand...

It's best if you see it. It changes how colors are displayed. More impressive if they have a colorful desktop picture.
 
Altruist said:
It's best if you see it. It changes how colors are displayed. More impressive if they have a colorful desktop picture.
Click to expand...
oh. 🙁

with pc, if you hit ctrl+alt+arrow, it reorients the screen. also would be a fun way to mess with someone. i use it when i'm laying on my side and want to still read comfortably.
 
The Poet Sings said:
oh. 🙁

with pc, if you hit ctrl+alt+arrow, it reorients the screen. also would be a fun way to mess with someone. i use it when i'm laying on my side and want to still read comfortably.
Click to expand...

WOWs it made my whole screen like a goldish color. Back in highschool my friend and i got really proficient with this trojan program called sub7 and managed to get a lot of our friends to install it. You could patch it to anything and when the user opened that file it would silently install sub7. We could do anything...flip their desktop...use their printer....access anything on their computer. It was so fun. Probably a really bad idea....but this was pre 9/11 days and life wasnt so strict haha
 
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