Before I switch...

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I am looking at switching from Windows to Mac and I have a few questions...

1. I am looking at getting a MacBook, I am a student so i can get the free ipod (it'll go right to ebay) and printer (ebay too). However, I dont want to have the 'old' model in a month if they come out with someone new at the paris expo. What are the odds of a new macbook in the next month or two.

2. the sales rep told me i should always pair my memory in the macbook because of the integrated graphics card. Is this true, and additional info would be great?

3. I am a big Outlook user, what are my options when if i switch and how can i bring my .pst file over.

4. Is there anything else i should know?

thanks!
 
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1. It won't be "New", but it might have a faster chip or some such. If you spend your time waiting for the "latest and Greatest" you'll never buy anything and always be disappointed.

2. Probably.

3. None. You can't bring your PST over and the closest to Outlook is Entourage that comes with Mac Office.

4. Probably lots, ask more specific questions.
 
N

NKyRidge

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this is soooo - not sure yet, still researching..

apple had the 2.18 for 2599

shoot forget the store now - best buy maybe 2799

Where did you guys buy your at? Apple - apple online?
 
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I understand the 'wait forever' concept just wanted to know about any expected 'breakthroughs' or major changes.

From what I have read Entourage is Outlook on a mac, which if its close to outlook works with me. I just need to bring over my 9000 emails, 100s of contacts and calendar entries. How I bring it over and as long as I have a good PIM im ok but I NEED to transfer it over.

On that same topic I have a pocket pc running windows mobile 2003 can i sync that with iSync?


baggss said:
1. It won't be "New", but it might have a faster chip or some such. If you spend your time waiting for the "latest and Greatest" you'll never buy anything and always be disappointed.

2. Probably.

3. None. You can't bring your PST over and the closest to Outlook is Entourage that comes with Mac Office.

4. Probably lots, ask more specific questions.
 
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Here is one way I've found to do it, I have not tried it, I would recommend making backup pst files before you attempt it. I would assume this method also works with thunderbird as well as mozilla.

The other method involved a program called Outlook to mac, again I've never used this program so I can't verify it's effectivness.

http://www.littlemachines.com/
 
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Hey man,
welcome to it.

1. I'm not aware of anything coming out in the next few months. What's out is out. Question for you is, what are you going to do with it? If you're doing something with it like audio and video editing, I'd say wait till End of year. But if you're not and you're just doing the basics, go ahead and treat yourself. One thing to remember is, is that the typical Mac is kept and used 4 times as long as a windows box. There are still a few members here who still use G3's and alot use g4's still.

2. Pairing your memory is good. Buying your memory from someone like newegg.com for at least a hundred dollars cheaper is even better. I always tell my customers to just get the bare minimum from Apple, then go ahead, get 2 1gb sticks from newegg or compusa. Pull the one 512mb chip out, put those bad boys in and stick the 512 up on craigslist or ebay. Reasoning is that its WAY cheaper this way to max out your memory.

3. Well. This is the doozie. There are alot of options here. The first thing is to plan out how you want to work. To do that you actually need to have the Mac in frontof you so you can work with it and decide.

So.. let me kind of lay it out for you to see what you like.

Outlook... its one program, huge interface, tons of options, all bundled together. We know it we love it. Ok...

So now on the Mac you have all of those functions but they're split up. There's Mail to handle your mail. Address Book for your contacts. iCal for the calendars and To Do's. The flip side is that Office for the Mac has Word and all that, and Outlook on the Mac is called Entourage. Entourage is outlook rebranded and reworked for Mac. It DOES have one great thing called the Project Center.

From here its all personal taste. I personally use the Mail/ ical / addybook combo. I just seem to like the way that it works better. Added to the fact that I have a Sony w810 cellphone that I can sync up using iSync. (there are plugins for entourage to work with isync but my gut reaction is that they're a bit sloppy)

This link is to MS's tool to import the PST file from Outlook to Entourage. I've used it. it works.

So... Take it for what its worth. I highly respect the MacDev team in Redmond. They do a SUPERB job of making Office. Its just not for me. Others will disagree and thats fine. Its all personal taste. I just think the Mail look looks better to me, more refined. But to each his own.

I would say this as well. Think about what you want to do with your data. Do you want to sync it to a mobile device? What device? Smartphone? Yes you can sync a windows smartphone (oxymoron if there EVER was one!) but it needs extra software to do that. To a Palm? You can do that too. Many phone that hook up via bluetooth or usb will sync. Check the iSync page for the list. Tons of Nokias and Motos and Sony's. I bought myphone specifically so that I could sync my phone lists. I have the total solution. I sync the addy book, ical and to do notes to my phone, and everything just works.

So basically give it a whril and see what you like. There is another proggie out there called Plaxo that will do a sync, but my understanding is that its another program that requires a subscription, and its another layer over outlook / entourage that is just one more layer between you and your data.

And as always, please make a back up copy of your data before you do any of this.

Good luck,
Bishop
 
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climbguy said:
I understand the 'wait forever' concept just wanted to know about any expected 'breakthroughs' or major changes.


Just like baggss said, the only thing that might happen if they put a new chip in will be a small speed increase. Chances are if this happens, you wont notice the speed, I think it is pretty safe to buy a MacBook right now.
 
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Syncing your MS phone can be done via PocketMac or the Missing Sync. Hit google...
 
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Thanks for all the help, tight now I am looking at the upper end whiteBook (I want black but $150 more is bull). I plan to upgrade the HD to 80 gb and the memory end is what I am having difficulty with. I want more than the standard 512 (256x2). My original plan was to get the standard memory pull out one 256 and put a 1gb in. I just don't fully understanding how important it is to 'pair' the memory. Also, do macs handle memory the same way and same efficiency as windows does?

The other thing I am still unclear on is running windows. From what I understand I will have to partition my hd and wont be able to access the mac side from windows and the windows side from mac. Do I have any alternatives.

as for the pocket pc, I am using an hp 4155, how can i figure out if it will work on my macbook
 
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Ok lets get the memory out of the way first.....

Pairing your memory... I do that.. but I only make a POINT to do it when I'm builing someone a custom rig. If you're doing just basic stuff like web surfing, mail, listening to music, playing regular type games and such, you can put in what you want.

Technically ... yes pairing is better.. technically. Will you REALLY notice a difference?

No.

Think about it like this. Some folks, not everyone, but SOME.. can hear certain notes that 99% of the rest of the population cannot hear. People like conductors and such. But the average person just hears Mozart. Same thing with this. Its maybe one in a thousand people who will maybe notice, because of what they're doing and the way they're doing it, that they will notice paired mem sticks.

For the rest of us, putting in what you can get works just fine. Look, I've got the Apple 512 chip and another brand of something.. cant remember... 1gb stick in for 1.5 gbs of memory. And I'm a tech. I can't tell the difference.

My advice on the memory is this. Get the basic from apple. Then go to newegg.com and get 2 1gb sticks for less that $200. Someone here said the got 2 sticks of 1gb from newegg forl like 167. Not bad.
 
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Thanks, I didn't realize it was that cheap, at that price ill just go with two 1gbs. Any advice on brands or makes?

bishopazrael said:
Ok lets get the memory out of the way first.....

My advice on the memory is this. Get the basic from apple. Then go to newegg.com and get 2 1gb sticks for less that $200. Someone here said the got 2 sticks of 1gb from newegg forl like 167. Not bad.
 
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Ok..now for the windows...

Bootcamp vs Parallels. Bootcamp is for those who need 100% full power. For games like battlefield 2, FEAR, Quake, etc... It partitions your drive for you, yes. Its quite easy. I've walked soccer moms through the install over the phone. Its very easy.

Parallels is for those who need access to IE for IE specific work sites (real estate agents come to mind who NEED IE to get to the MLS system). Or if you have some specific windows program that you need to run. Its worthy of note that Parallels will run almost full speed, but keep in mind that it IS emulating the BIOS for windows to boot, so its by nature, slower. They are working on changing that.

Now, you can access the XP partition from the Mac side, but you cannot access the mac partition from windows without Macdrive.

For your phone, theres nothing to figure out. Use Pocketmac or use Missing Sync. Both have pros and cons. Try them both as they have free demos to try. But short story is ... YES you can sync your phone fully.
 
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would I have to run xp using fat32 to read it on the mac side?

bishopazrael said:
Now, you can access the XP partition from the Mac side, but you cannot access the mac partition from windows without Macdrive.
QUOTE]
 
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climbguy said:
Thanks, I didn't realize it was that cheap, at that price ill just go with two 1gbs. Any advice on brands or makes?

Well realize that with memory you literally Do get what you pay for.

Stay with Crucial, or Kingston, my personal faves. Muskin .. I havent heard much about them, but they're a bigger brand. Maybe someone here knows more about them than I do. The Crucial though, is more expensive, but well worth it. I use it in my gaming rig builds.
 
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climbguy said:
would I have to run xp using fat32 to read it on the mac side?

bishopazrael said:
Now, you can access the XP partition from the Mac side, but you cannot access the mac partition from windows without Macdrive.
QUOTE]

You are correct sir! Just so you know, Mac OS X can read and write to FAT32, but can only READ NTFS. If you want to drop stuff onto your XP drive, or drag it from there, use FAT32.
 
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I have had problems with generic memory on my pc once.
As for Parallels, if it acts as an emulator how is it different from virtual pc?
bishopazrael said:
Well realize that with memory you literally Do get what you pay for.

Stay with Crucial, or Kingston, my personal faves. Muskin .. I havent heard much about them, but they're a bigger brand. Maybe someone here knows more about them than I do. The Crucial though, is more expensive, but well worth it. I use it in my gaming rig builds.
 
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climbguy said:
would I have to run xp using fat32 to read it on the mac side?

bishopazrael said:
Now, you can access the XP partition from the Mac side, but you cannot access the mac partition from windows without Macdrive.
QUOTE]

Well, yes and no. Fat32 would allow you to read and write to the partition form the Mac side. NTFS will allow you to read but not write from the Mac side.

Parells is an Virtual Machine, not an emulator. It allows Windows to access the Intel hardware atop the MacOS.
 
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Virtual PC is crap that was discontinued from MS? J/K

Its late so its hard to explain. Paralles isnt really EMULATION... its... a pathway to the intel chipset i think is a good way to explain it. It opens a way for you while in OS X to have XP running. For most people who use it its just fine. Like I said it runs about 98% of the normal speed of a PC. You can't do gaming on it, but you can do websurfing and stuff like that on it. It works extremely well.

The main difference is that Virtual PC is not a universal binary, theres no need for it because VPC emulates the actual CPU. Parallels doesnt. And VPC is slower than ..... you get the idea. (if I say it Schweb will be down here with his big stick to beat me ugly) :)
 
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Hey baggss.. you watch..I wont get ONE good feedback for this whole thread. Tomorrow all my fans are gonna come out and crap all over me. :) Where's my umbrella?
 

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