MacBook Questions

optyxx · Apr 21, 2008

Currently I am a pc user and would like to purchase a laptop to use in college within the next couple months. I am leaning toward buying a mac laptop because I am just fed up with windows and don't really want to purchase a laptop and have Vista on it. Either the macbook or the macbook pro I would buy. I had a few questions maybe you could help me with.

1. Which one do you think i should go with if I am considering going into medicine.
2. Either one i get, does the bottom of the laptop get hot enough to almost burn you..my pc sometimes does that when its not plugged into my cooling dock which I hate since I have a pc laptop which isn't portable considering the heat.
3. How is battery life on a mac....experiences from your daily usage with a mac
4. Should i get a fan/cooler to attach to it and if so do you recommend one over another. What is this thing about a program that i can change my fan settings if i don't have a cooler attached. It seems kind of confusing and i probably wouldn't know how to set it up
5. Do you think the keyboard would wear out over 3 or 4 years? Do you think it would be in my best interest to buy a seperate monitor, keyboard, and mouse. If i set up a mac up this way when i'm not in class, would it prolong my mac or benefit it in any way?

Also if there are any comments or things to add to help me out i would greatly appreciate it since i am not to familiar with macs.

iApple · Apr 21, 2008

Well i dont have my mac YET but i can answer some of your questions:

1. For your needs i would probably say the 2.4ghz Macbook would do. So long as you dont plan on doing heavy gaming or video editing.

2. Again, dont have my macbook yet so i cant answer that.

3. Read #2 lol

4. A cooling pad on a macbook/macbook pro would be pointless because on mac laptops there are no vents on the bottom of the laptop. There is one big vent on the back, so a cooling pad for the bottom wouldnt really help with pulling extra air out.

So i hope that helps, out a little bit, and im sure the rest of the guys here will help you out a lot more than i did. They know what they are talking about when it comes to macs!! Good luck!!

optyxx · Apr 21, 2008

oh ok thanks alot.....so macbook over the macbook pro

The Vindicat3d · Apr 21, 2008

optyxx said:
Currently I am a pc user and would like to purchase a laptop to use in college within the next couple months. I am leaning toward buying a mac laptop because I am just fed up with windows and don't really want to purchase a laptop and have Vista on it. Either the macbook or the macbook pro I would buy. I had a few questions maybe you could help me with.

1. Which one do you think i should go with if I am considering going into medicine.
2. Either one i get, does the bottom of the laptop get hot enough to almost burn you..my pc sometimes does that when its not plugged into my cooling dock which I hate since I have a pc laptop which isn't portable considering the heat.
3. How is battery life on a mac....experiences from your daily usage with a mac
4. Should i get a fan/cooler to attach to it and if so do you recommend one over another. What is this thing about a program that i can change my fan settings if i don't have a cooler attached. It seems kind of confusing and i probably wouldn't know how to set it up
5. Do you think the keyboard would wear out over 3 or 4 years? Do you think it would be in my best interest to buy a seperate monitor, keyboard, and mouse. If i set up a mac up this way when i'm not in class, would it prolong my mac or benefit it in any way?

Also if there are any comments or things to add to help me out i would greatly appreciate it since i am not to familiar with macs.

1. I'd say go with the low end MacBook Pro just because it will last longer and if you ever want to do any gaming or video work it will work great.

2. It gets hot but not enough to burn just a little annoying, although the MBP does get a lot hotter than the MB

3. About 5 hours with Safari and Mail running, around 4 with iTunes or iChat or Adium Running.

4. Nope

5. No it definitely will not, maybe get a bit dirty, but you can just wipe that off, the only real benefit of having that sort of setup whilst at home or in the dorm would be for your comfort so if you're willing to spend the money I'd say go for it as it would be much more comfortable to use.

And some good sites for switchers

http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

rohan · Apr 21, 2008

i dont think medicine require a lot of processing power...so it wouldn't really matter which computer you used (it would help you to get the system requirements of any specific software you plan on running)

macbook pro have a tendency of getting pretty hot...but im not sure if macbooks get as hot...

you do get programs to change your fan speed...but i dont recommend that...it doesn't make a major differnence a all...its better to get a cooling pad

optyxx · Apr 21, 2008

thanks alot The Vindicat3d and rohan.........what about a stand of some sort would that help and will the keys wear down/out because on my pc laptop you can definitley notice the keys are all worn out/down....so no fan or fan program to help with the heat...will it burn me/ make me uncomfortable if i use it on my lap for time periods

The Vindicat3d · Apr 22, 2008

The keys should be fine, they are a pretty reliable material and yeah it will probably get a bit uncomfortable after a little while, this should help with that

optyxx · Apr 22, 2008

ah ok cool...so a monitor, mouse, and keyboard setup isn't necessary only for comfort reason? Which do you prefer or recommend?

Derek McNelly · Apr 22, 2008

optyxx said:
ah ok cool...so a monitor, mouse, and keyboard setup isn't necessary only for comfort reason? Which do you prefer or recommend?

I personally have a stand, keyboard, and mouse for when I'm at the desk, and it's definitely nice because I don't have to plug in more than one cable (USB for my hub which has the keyboard, mouse, and external hard drive) with the added benefit of being more adjustable and more comfortable.

You can get a good keyboard/mouse setup for $50 and a good stand can be had for $30. Don't worry about the external monitor unless you plan to do a lot of photo/video editing where you need über precise color control. That'll save you another cable to constantly plug in/remove, and $200.

And the keyboard will be fine. Mine has gotten a little shiny with use, along with the trackpad, but not discolored. Happens over time.

ASUGeog · Apr 29, 2008

to the macDADDIES:

I am interested in purchasing a mouse for my MacBook... Any suggestions? I will be at a desk a lot and I think it would be beneficial.

Thank you.

The Vindicat3d · Apr 29, 2008

You could get a mighty mouse or one of these, if you do go for the mighty mouse (sold by apple) you should probably try it out first, most people either love 'em or hate 'em and you don't want to pay for something you hate!

belunos · Apr 29, 2008

Coming from IT support in the medical field, I can tell you that you can accomplish pretty much any task with a mac (especially when you add parallels or fusion to the mix). The trouble you may run into is when you try to integrate your system with a facility. They're usually under guidelines from their corporate HQ regarding computers. Ours is pretty lax on some rules when it comes to medical staff.. never enough medical staff, gotta keep'em happy

optyxx · Apr 30, 2008

So your saying a mac might not be my best solution?

Dysfunction · Apr 30, 2008

I didn't get that at all. FWIW my employer allows us to use personally owned Macs for/at work, and has actually gone out of their way to make that convenient. Kind of funny, there are relatively few of us over all.. but it's made things easier finding out how to resolve issues

ASUGeog · Apr 30, 2008

Question: My buddy had a G4 years ago and had something he thinks was called simpletext... you could type in whatever you wanted and the voices would say it, with some exceptions. Is this possible in the MacBookPro? If so, how? I found text to speech under System Pref, but there is no place to enter text....

Thanks!

walkerj · Apr 30, 2008

ASUGeog said:
Question: My buddy had a G4 years ago and had something he thinks was called simpletext... you could type in whatever you wanted and the voices would say it, with some exceptions. Is this possible in the MacBookPro? If so, how? I found text to speech under System Pref, but there is no place to enter text....

Thanks!

Pop open a Terminal.app session. At the bash shell prompt:

$ say text that you want it to say

If you type the above phrase, it'll say what's after the "say" command in whatever voice you have selected.

ASUGeog · Apr 30, 2008

what is a terminal.app session, and how do i start it?

thanks.

ASUGeog · Apr 30, 2008

Nevermind, found the terminal. Thanks to you all for helping me get acquainted to this incredible experience. I hope I am not noobing all over you guys.