My First Mac...

[Johnbmx26]

Hey,
So I've been looking for a laptop for school for a while and finally picked up the 12inch ibook today. So far, it's been great. I Do have a few questions though, I'm completly new to the Mac World.

-I have a 30GB HD, it came with a bunch of extra stuff and when I turned on my computer it said 18 GB free. Are their any apps that I don't need at all?

-I have an external usb 2.0 HD. I bought the case, and the hd seperately and put it together. I like it a lot but.. it so big and loud. I've seen external hard drives go for a lot, would it be good just to invest into one of those?

-hardware? people say 256mb ram isn't enough? Other than upgrading ram, anything else?

-What are the essential apps I should have?
Internet browser - Safari is ok, but I'm used to tabbed windows. I use AVANT on my pc desktop.
MP3 Player - Itunes is cool.
AIM Client - I don't really like the Ichat thing..
Movies - ? quicktime for some.. but what about everything else?
Word Processor - I need stuff to do school work on, not sure what yet..
Anything else?

Last question... If anyone doesnt mind, could you leave your AIM screen name?

Thanks,
John

 

[rberry88]

1) Only 18GB free on a brand new iBook on a 30GB HDD??? That doesn't sound right. My PowerBook came with an 80GB HDD and 75GB free when I first turned it on and downloaded the updates.

2) As far as external HDD's, I really like my LaCie 160GB Firewire external HDD, not real big and super quiet.
3) Definitely get a RAM upgrade, 512 is sufficient but 1GB is a dream.
4) Safari can do tabs also, just look in the preferences, and I like Safari alot. I don't think Mozilla/Firefox on the Mac is equivalent to its PC version and IE on the Mac just doesn't feel right.
5) MP3 = iTunes, I have no problems with iTunes.
6) I don't use a chat program, sorry.
7) Movies - Quicktime will handle almost anything you throw at it, otherwise you could check out VLC (do a google search) as that can handle the small percentage that Quicktime can't handle.
8) Word Processor - Your Mac should have came with Appleworks and Textedit, two very capable word processors, IMHO. I use Appleworks over Word all the time.

A couple good sites for you to wander around at :

www.macupdate.com and www.versiontracker.com

You can find all sorts of programs and applications for you Mac (freeware, shareware and commercial versions) and there are so many that your head will spin.

**One last note, if you don't want to use a mouse with your iBook, then I suggest you try out Sidetrack , its a must have for any laptop, IMHO.

Enjoy

 

[ApplejustWorks]

1. Nooo..That doesn't sound right...Check out the size of the Applications folder...(Control Click, get info)
2. I'm not sure..I use my iBook just for travel with the 30 GB HD..So I don't need any externals. However, I've heard many good things about the Lacie.
3. Def. get the Ram upgrade...Macs LOVE Ram...according to Apple 256 is enough to run panther...which means JUST run the finder! Go to 512 or higher!
4.Safari's got tabs! Safari>Preferences>Tabs>Enable Tabbed Browsing
5. iTunes ROCKS my world!
6. ichat works for me but there are MANY others! Adium, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc...if not iChat, then I'd say go with AIM
7. Quicktime does it all(basically)..Personally, I really don't like VLC..So, if you'd like to play .AVI's in Quicktime..check out the DivX plugin for Mac...It makes Quicktime be able to play them!(http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/)
8. For me, AppleWorks did not come with my Machine(professional lines do not come with a few things)..So, as a result I purchased MS Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition for 129.99..and..I like it..but I've never tried AppleWorks..so, go ahead
9.As Rberry said, make you check out Versiontracker and Macupdate..

Well..Enjoy your new Mac!!!

 

[mynameis]

I have a 30GB HD, it came with a bunch of extra stuff and when I turned on my computer it said 18 GB free. Are their any apps that I don't need at all?

A guy that posts here, Code777, recently bought a new iBook and said the same thing, there is a thread about it somewhere, search for it.

 

[the_New_guy]

as for software,
get office 2004 (microsoft.com/mac)
cocktail (macosxcocktaqil.com)
konfabulator(konfabulator.com)

 

[suhasG]

My 12 " iBook 30 GB , has 18.83 GB of Hard disk space free, this is what I saw when I turned it on for the first time. I got my iBook 4 days back.

 

[Johnbmx26]

Hey, thanks for all the help!

Here's some of the stuff it came with,
iDVD
iMovie
iPhoto
Garageband
ical
2 games (some marble thing, and a dinasaur thing)
There's more, just havn't got the chance to look around.

Just wondering, is their something like the "add/remove programs" in OS X like they have in Windows?

Also, anyone reccomend a file sharing program?

Thanks Again,
John

 

[code777]

yes brand new out of the box my iBook had about 18.83GB available. I went ahead and moved a buch of apps off the HD to my 40GB iPod and now have 25GB available. iDVD I deleted and Quicken 2005 - that free'ed it up a bit. Also MS Office 2004 "trail" I deleted...

[edit] My friend has MS Office 2004 for his 12" iBook and as good and useful as it is - Apple Works and Text Edit do just a good job IMHO.

 

[ApplejustWorks]

Hey, thanks for all the help!

Here's some of the stuff it came with,
iDVD
iMovie
iPhoto
Garageband
ical
2 games (some marble thing, and a dinasaur thing)
There's more, just havn't got the chance to look around.

Just wondering, is their something like the "add/remove programs" in OS X like they have in Windows?

Also, anyone reccomend a file sharing program?

Thanks Again,
John

It's called drag and drop..Drag it from Apps folder to trash, then empty trash..As simple as that.

Also, those programs leave behind very small(like 10 KB maybe) preference file. If you ever want that app back, once you the app back in applications folder, all your settings will already be there!(As long as you didn't trash its preference file.) If you want to remove all traces of that program, trash the app and do a search for that apps name..Delete any .plist files

 

[techkid30]

Go out and get Microsoft Office 2004 for Students and Teachers! ITS GREAT! BETTER THEN THE WINDOWS VERSION!

 

[Aptmunich]

Hey, thanks for all the help!

Here's some of the stuff it came with,
iDVD
iMovie
iPhoto
Garageband
ical
2 games (some marble thing, and a dinasaur thing)
There's more, just havn't got the chance to look around.

Just wondering, is their something like the "add/remove programs" in OS X like they have in Windows?

Also, anyone reccomend a file sharing program?

Thanks Again,
John

Well iDVD uses around 1GB of space with all the themes it has for creating DVD's...

If there are any you don't want, you can delete them individually by ctrl-clicking on the iDvd icon then going to:

'Show package contents->contents->resources'

Look at the themes in iDVD and decide if there are any you want to trash...
Or trash iDVD completely if you don't want it, you can always get if off the install discs again later..

Garageband is another HDD hogger... it includes tons of loops and sound samples that take up another GB or two...
Go to 'Home->library->application resources->garageband->apple loops'

if you just want to delete the loops and just use the base program.

Btw iDvd lets you create custom DVD menus for your home movies and Garageband can be used to make songs from predesigned sound loops, or to record your own songs using an external audio input...

Apart from that, I also use MS word, but you can also look into openoffice.org for a free (but ugly) office suite.

You should also have appleworks which is fairly old and not really up to much IMO...

Have fun!