New to Mac and hate it so far...

Hello,

So a last minute job came up for me which meant I had to sprint to the shops to buy a laptop to take away to keep myself occupied. I downloaded a load of videos using my windows PC and I was convinced to buy a macbook by nearly every salesman of each shop I went into.

I bought the cheaper Macbook Pro 13" without the retina display, as the only difference I could see was that it was a little bit brighter.

So as this is my first Mac I've had a few complications and I'm not writing this thread to ***** and moan but in hopes that someone will restore my faith in what seemed like a no brainer when I was given a demonstration in store.

So my issues are:
Firstly I have limited internet which is part of my problem.
I really hate safari compared to chrome, but when I download chrome I just get error messages.
Theres literally nothing to do to pass time (solitaire type stuff) and the chess game is ridiculously difficult.
None of my videos work, because it wont play .avi files. So I'm playing chess over and over again.
Theres a very low selection of torrent games out there (legal ones of course).
Theres only one button on the pad, cmd-click for usual right click?!
It was VERY expensive compared to similar spec windows laptops.
It doesnt do anything that my PC didnt do.

I am planning on buying an expensive laptop in two months when I'm back in England and have my first few months pay to spend and I really loved this laptop in the shop. However I really dont know what Ive spent my money on, apart from a smart looking bog-standard piece of kit.

Someone please give me reasons to buy the 15" beauty thats available in a couple of months or are macs just for professionals? Should I just go Alienware instead? Do Macs have advantages for the people who use computers as a hobby?

By the way I also play around with graphics and animations for fun using the usual adobe packages that I havent had the time to install yet.

Crikey mate !
Do yourself a favour and hang around exploring the forum for a while...then maybe try starting one of your own threads to help with one of your issues.

Here's one plug-in you could do with downloading DivX Plus for Mac - CNET Download.com there are also shed loads of free game apps in the App Store.

Mac666 said:

So my issues are:
Firstly I have limited internet which is part of my problem.
I really hate safari compared to chrome, but when I download chrome I just get error messages.
Theres literally nothing to do to pass time (solitaire type stuff) and the chess game is ridiculously difficult.
None of my videos work, because it wont play .avi files. So I'm playing chess over and over again.
Theres a very low selection of torrent games out there (legal ones of course).
Theres only one button on the pad, cmd-click for usual right click?!
It was VERY expensive compared to similar spec windows laptops.
It doesnt do anything that my PC didnt do.

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Welcome to Mac-Forums

How are you connecting to the Internet? Wired? Wireless?

I use Chrome exclusively on my iMac with OS X 10.8.2 and have no errors popping up. However, if you have limited internet connectivity, trying to use any web browser isn't going to be of much use..

Once you get your Internet connection going, you can launch the Mac App Store and browse the large collection of free and paid games that are available for you to download and enjoy..

To play .AVI file, you want to install Perian and VLC..

Stick with games from the Mac App Store or other vendors like Aspyr, Steam and so on..

You can use BetterTouchTool to allow you to make the different parts of gestures do right click and so on..

The Mac price is the Mac price..there's little that anyone can say about what Apple decides to charge for their computers. If you want a Mac, you pay the price, if you don't want to pay the price, you don't get a Mac..simple..

A Macintosh is a PC (Personal Computer) just as much as a Windows based PC..so there's nothing that the Mac is going to magically do that a Windows based computer isn't going to. I'm not sure what you were exactly expecting to be different here..

Thanks for the speedy reply,

I'll try downloading that tomorrow, got no chance at this time of night as everyone here is using the internet and we don't have a very good connection.

I was under the impression that an advantage of a Mac was that it got rid of all the background stuff that a usual Windows PC had to deal with so they ran quicker. But it seems to me that you have to download it all yourself anyways, just to have the basics works.

Making vague assumptions of what a Mac does and does not do only makes the transition harder..first figure out what you have and where you are and go from there..

When you install Windows fresh on a PC, you have just enough applications to do the basic things. You almost always will have to install a number of applications and drivers to make it do what you really want..

A Mac is no different than that..

Mac666 said:

Firstly I have limited internet which is part of my problem.

Click to expand...

That has nothing to do with the Mac so I'm not sure why that's included in your list of grievances.

Mac666 said:

I really hate safari compared to chrome, but when I download chrome I just get error messages.

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Again, nothing to do with the Mac and everything to do with Chrome. Your issue here should be with Google, not Apple.

Mac666 said:

Theres literally nothing to do to pass time (solitaire type stuff) and the chess game is ridiculously difficult.

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The Mac App Store has thousands of games. The lack of included games can be easily managed.

Mac666 said:

None of my videos work, because it wont play .avi files. So I'm playing chess over and over again.

Click to expand...

Windows doesn't come with every codec under the sun so why should OS X be any different? A search for "play avi in os x" yielded this as a first result which explains how to add support.

Mac666 said:

Theres a very low selection of torrent games out there (legal ones of course).

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I'm not even really sure what that means so I'll leave that be.

Mac666 said:

Theres only one button on the pad, cmd-click for usual right click?!

Click to expand...

Different doesn't mean worse. You can also two finger tap the trackpad for right-click. Again, different, not worse.

Mac666 said:

It was VERY expensive compared to similar spec windows laptops.

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Not Apple's fault that you paid that.

Mac666 said:

It doesnt do anything that my PC didnt do.

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Not sure what you were expecting. At its very core, it's still just a notebook.

Mac666 said:

Someone please give me reasons to buy the 15" beauty thats available in a couple of months

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No because it seems as if you've made up your mind. That's not a problem - you tried the Mac and didn't like it. No one should have to encourage or cajole you into liking a Mac.

thanks guys,

'm not blaming the internet on the computer, thats due to the fact that I'm in the desert lol.

And my thread is solely based on first impressions as I've only been using it a couple of days. But like you guys say maybe I just need to spend a little more time (patiently) familiarising myself with the workings of a Mac.

However, I paid £999 for this computer and I know the laptops of similar spec were all under £500. So in a couple of months when I spend over 2.5k, my ideas are probably to buy a windows laptop as I'll get more for my money, other than an aluminium finish and an apple logo.

The problem I'm having with chrome is it says googlechrome.dmg not recognised.

Mac666 said:

So in a couple of months when I spend over 2.5k, my ideas are probably to buy a windows laptop as I'll get more for my money, other than an aluminium finish and an apple logo.

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Most of us aren't Apple 'fanboys' and will happily recommend Windows machines for those who need what it provides. If Windows gives you what you want, go for it.

Mac666 said:

The problem I'm having with chrome is it says googlechrome.dmg not recognised.

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That's likely due to the slow internet access. Files can be easily corrupted if service is touch and go. Try using a download manager to schedule your downloads or go somewhere with a reliable connection to do all your downloading.

One thing is for sure you have to adjust to the differences that each OS offers once that happens then you can enjoy the computer.
I use OSX ,Windows 7 ,and Ubuntu 12 .04 and you really can not use the mindset of the previous OS you just have to acclimate to each one since GUI has made this a better learning experience patience would be
Your best friend .

Thanks again guys for the somewhat constructive ideas. Ill have a go downloading a load of stuff for it once im in a better internet spot.

I was kinda hoping to get an 'OSX does this.... whereas Windows doesn't' type answer. But like you guys say perhaps it is just personal choice and one isn't necessarily better than the other. I'll be patient and spend the next couple of months making an informed decision.

Mac666 said:

I was kinda hoping to get an 'OSX does this.... whereas Windows doesn't' type answer.

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Both let you do the same thing but go about doing them differently. Sure, there are some apps that are unique to particular platforms but on the whole, they are both just computers that serve as a means to an end.

Mac666 said:

I was kinda hoping to get an 'OSX does this.... whereas Windows doesn't' type answer. But like you guys say perhaps it is just personal choice and one isn't necessarily better than the other.

I'll be patient and spend the next couple of months making an informed decision.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan!

You really jumped way too fast into this purchase decision…and when you spend a lot of money on something that you have not researched fully or don't understand fully…you end in a "sour-place" like you seem to be at the moment with this new Macintosh computer.

Give it some time…or return it for a refund ASAP!!!

Returns & Refund - Apple Store (UK)

- Nick

I have to interject here - a £500 Windows laptop does not have the same Specs as a £900 Macbook Pro. It may have a similar processor - or RAM but once you add on everything the MBP actually has (Think Bluetooth, Webcam and Noise Canceling Mic, DVD-RW, thunderbolt, SDHC reader) most Laptops once configured with similar specs end up being £700-£800 much closer to a MBP price. So it may still be cheaper but I have found these cheaper consumer laptops to be built poorly. If you get the better build quality of the business line of laptops like Latitudes, Thinkpads, etc - then once you match specs it will be almost the same price. One could argue that because of customizability the WIndows laptop will get you what you need without any extra stuff - which is fine if that is what you want. Macs come in your favorite color as long as it is Aluminum (if you know what I mean)

TL ; DR - actually try to match the specs then compare. If you don't need everything a Mac provides - buy the cheaper PC. Besides specs there is also a reliability comparison which most people leave out.

IvanLasston said:

I have to interject here - a £500 Windows laptop does not have the same Specs as a £900 Macbook Pro. It may have a similar processor - or RAM but once you add on everything the MBP actually has (Think Bluetooth, Webcam and Noise Canceling Mic, DVD-RW, thunderbolt, SDHC reader) most Laptops once configured with similar specs end up being £700-£800 much closer to a MBP price. So it may still be cheaper but I have found these cheaper consumer laptops to be built poorly. If you get the better build quality of the business line of laptops like Latitudes, Thinkpads, etc - then once you match specs it will be almost the same price. One could argue that because of customizability the WIndows laptop will get you what you need without any extra stuff - which is fine if that is what you want. Macs come in your favorite color as long as it is Aluminum (if you know what I mean)

TL ; DR - actually try to match the specs then compare. If you don't need everything a Mac provides - buy the cheaper PC. Besides specs there is also a reliability comparison which most people leave out.

Click to expand...

I have to agree with you , Apple computers are by far a superior built computer.
There are windows laptops that range from $250 up to and over $2,000 .
Remember when it was either Apple or IBM that were the major competitors in the computing market. Microsoft and IBM became partners In creating windows for the first real windows machines. Together they took the home computing market by storm. Selling cheaply built computer that were totally reliant on very expensive software.
It was far more profitable to sell millions of cheap computers and then creating software that they could sell for a really high price.

Apple has never been a software company . They sell hardware and there is no cheaply made versions of it. If you have ever completely disassembled a PC and a Apple computer side by side of one another you would see that Apple is built with far more thought and superior materials .

Your right Pigoo3 about me jumping in way too fast but I literally had 1 day shopping to go out and buy a laptop before I flew out.

To IvanLasston and dawson1112,

That is wanted I wanted to hear, it seems a lot of my comments are a little unfounded when you actually compare the two in that way. And there are lots of little things about this that I do actually love. The fact that it synced with my iPhone without me doing hardy anything and FaceTime has been an absolute luxury for me keeping in contact with the missus on a night.

I'm starting to see it now, if you want a car to get you around go buy a cheap Fiesta, if you want to move around in style with a little bit of extra fun then go buy a Ferrari. In strict comparison they would both get you to work in the same way, sit in traffic like all cars do but theres a distinct difference in the way they handle this and the extra bits of enjoyment they bring.

Thanks everyone, I know I began this thread with a pessimistic outlook but it was also to get people to reply with their reasons for enjoying a Mac so I could explore all avenues.

Thanks again

Some recommended holiday reading:-


Apple - Support - Mac Basics

Several things I noticed that OSX has over Windows :
An embedded email client
A backup (Time Machine) which allows precisely what you want to retrieve
The ability to partition the drive more than 4 places
Track Pad features second to none
Product support second to none
And finally in my opinion an OS that does not try to micro manage every step I make.