Very, very new to the digital world...pls help

Instamatik · Nov 11, 2007

Ok, so I am really new to computers in general...this Macbook may as well be used as a cutting board...but I am trying to learn.
So I have the computer plugged into the wall...and it only will go up to 98%.
Thats the number beside the little battery...is this a problem?
Is there a battery inside the computer...can't believe I'm saying this but I've never even taken this machine out of the house...I'm on dial-up, have fear of wireless networks...what can I say, I'm sitting in the bush with a piece of technology that I have no clue what to do with...want to download music so bad but just want to be smart about the use of this tool. I have read about battery recharging but don't get it...where is it? I am trying not to be an idiot but really this is so alien to me.

Can anyone tell me where I might start? This is something I want to learn but really am not predisposed to being good with computers. I want to use this laptop for art and music, just would like to know the most efficient ways how. I know Macs have amazing creative potential but I think I need to learn some basics first.
Any help would be so incredibly appreciated. Many thanks, Sarah

shahvikram123 · Nov 11, 2007

Congrats on your new Macbook!!!

The reason why your macbook does not charge above 98% is because you must have taken the plug out and then put it back in when it was 93% or more.

This is a common problem, to fix it you simply use it until your battery runs out(when your battery is low a warning will come up, ignore this warning and simply use your macbook until it enters sleep mode by itself) then just plug your power cord back in and it should charge past 98%

Your macbook does have a battery, but you can easily remove it and swap it with a new one. To do that simply flip your macbook over and place a coin in small slit and twist. A small rectangular section of the macbook should pop right out. Thats the battery! To put it back in just put the battery back in and twist the slit thing with a coin with the battery section pushed down slightly. By the way make sure your macbook is turned off when your doing this.

I don't really use my Mac for art or music so I can't really help you there, but I have had a play around with GarageBand, which is some software which allows you to make music using loops. You can find Garageband in your dock or applications folder in Macintosh HD.

Instamatik · Nov 11, 2007

Thank you

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond...I will try what you suggested with the battery recharging. Also good to know where the battery is!

And if anyone cares to bite on this, what's sleeping as opposed to shutting down?
When I am done using the computer I go to the Apple icon in the left hand corner and then go to Shut Down and then Ok.
Is this the way to be done? And should I leave it plugged in all the time?

Hope I'm not asking obvious questions, I just don't want to break this thing!
Just sick of being intimidated by a machine...thats why made the huge (for me) leap to come ask you fine folks....and by the way, this is the first forum I've ever used

Breakin' new ground...

~Sarah

TenderSurrender · Nov 11, 2007

Hey there

Firstly, stop worrying, its a lot harder to break these things then you think

Sleep Vs Shutdown

Sleep will just do like you do when you sleep, goes into a state where less energy is used and it remembers all previous things you were doing etc, GREAT for when your going somewhere quickly and know it will be in use shortly... (Shortly relative to say a fair few hours)

Shutdown is something to use when you know your laptop wont be in use for a while. If you have completly finished using it and know it wont be used for a while, feel free to shut it down

(Btw nice to know - When you want to make it sleep, just close the lid

)

Any other questions, feel free to ask!

~~ TS ~~

shahvikram123 · Nov 12, 2007

You really don't need to shut down your mac unless you won't be using it for a good few days.

You can simply close the lid of your macbook and it enters a state of low power. I usually leave it in sleep mode, just makes it easier to use your mac again instead of having to keep on starting it up...

You can leave the your macbook plugged in, however make sure you calibrate your battery at least once a month....

Here is how you calibrate your battery from Apple.com

The battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new battery released with this computer. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery:

- Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook's battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
- Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.
- Disconnect the power adapter with the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, you will see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.
- Continue to keep your computer on until it goes to sleep. Save all your work and close all applications when the battery gets very low, before the computer goes to sleep.
- Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

Tip: When the battery reaches "empty", the computer is forced into sleep mode. The battery actually keeps back a reserve beyond "empty", to maintain the computer in sleep for a period of time. Once the battery is truly exhausted, the computer is forced to shut down. At this point, with the safe sleep function introduced in the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) computers, the computer's memory contents have been saved to the hard drive. When power is restored, the computer returns itself to its pre-sleep state using the safe sleep image on the hard drive.

Instamatik · Nov 12, 2007

Charged up and ready for the real world?

Ok, thank you so much shah, I now have 100% charge again, it worked...and so what if I actually want to leave my couch and use my Macbook in say a cafe?
I am on dialup and I don't think thats fast enough to download music...I want to go into town, be really brave and go wireless! No clue how to do that either...what, just sit there and the poofs of information steep through the machine? I can't wrap my mind around it.
I know people do it everyday and its the norm in communications but I haven't lived in a normal world for about 3 years. Everything "fast" happened while I've been lost on the farm. Still am but now have this sleek and lovely little black unit.

Ok, so thats my story and I'm done feeling stupid...so I want to leave home. What do people do to keep their battery charge up or do you only get what you've got and then have to find somewhere to plug it in? I would like to be able to download music...does that take a lot of battery power?
Do certain things use more, I guess the word is energy, than others?

Thanks again for your patience and putting things in words that are easy for me to understand, I hope my questions make sense

~Sarah

Alexis · Nov 12, 2007

and so what if I actually want to leave my couch and use my Macbook in say a cafe?
I am on dialup and I don't think thats fast enough to download music...I want to go into town, be really brave and go wireless! No clue how to do that either...what, just sit there and the poofs of information steep through the machine? I can't wrap my mind around it.

It's a mad concept isn't it?

To go wireless, go to the airport icon at the top (looks like radio waves), and there should be a list of networks you can connect to. You might need a password - if you're in a cafe they might provide one, or they might let you connect without needing one.
That's it!

shahvikram123 · Nov 12, 2007

To preserve battery life you can do some of the following things;

Turn off bluetooth if your not using it. This can be done by going the apple menu on the menu bar, then go to system preferences. Click on Bluetooth and then select 'Turn Bluetooth off.'

Turn down your screen brightness. This can be done by pressing F1. If that doesn't work then hold down fn and then press F1.

By default when you click on the red cross from an application it doesn't quite the programme, it just closes the window for the application. This is so that you can multi task more and so you can open apps faster. To totally quite a programme just hold down the command key and press Q.

Or here is a better way. hold down the command key and press tab. Keep holding down the command key and press tab until you get to an app you can to switch to. that application then moves to to front if it has an open window. When your 'command tabbing' across applications you can press Q for the application highlighted and that app will quite...

Lastly you can disconnect things your not using, like printers, scanners, cameras etc...

Aqua · Nov 12, 2007

I wish you well on the Computer learning... There are lots of things you can do to learn computers (unfortunately most of them are geared to PC). But they are there and Mac based forums like this are really helpful.

I haven't started my art stuff on my mac YET, but from what I've been told, Mac is much better suited to Art and Music (but I imagine that depends to a certain degree on what you get - desktop, mini, laptop). I haven't tried 'The Gimp' yet but it is a free program (basically a free version of PaintShop Pro and Photoshop mixed together) I've never compared them, but I've used both PaintShop and PhotoShop. From what I've been told even professionals find The Gimp is sufficient for artistic needs! There are lots of tutorials around specifically for the gimp altho they might be more for PC, I'm not sure how much it would matter. I have a few places bookmarked but a search on google probably will find lots....

Hope that helps a little and good luck again!