Before I take the plunge...

So i've rearranged my Mac purchase for the hundredth time it feels now, and before I lay down the cash for a BlacBook, I need a couple questions answered.

I noticed no Multimedia Card Reader on the MacBook, what do you guys reccomend using? The USB cable is a real burden to travel with.

Coming from a Windows world, all my data is NTFS of course. I have a external harddrive that is NTFS, and I want to use it as my medium between a desktop PC and Macbook. Will the Macbook be able to pull files off the NTFS drive? And is there a better method for sharing between my XP desktop and Macbook?

Whats the average battery life of the Macbook while under average use? Also are there any alternative to it, or second party high capacity batteries I could purchase?

I plan on hooking the MacBook up to both an external display, and sound system while i'm at home. Whats the max resolution of the mini-dvi out on the Macbook? Also does the optical mini jack out support surround sound?

Nicholi said:

So i've rearranged my Mac purchase for the hundredth time it feels now, and before I lay down the cash for a BlacBook, I need a couple questions answered.

I noticed no Multimedia Card Reader on the MacBook, what do you guys reccomend using? The USB cable is a real burden to travel with.

Coming from a Windows world, all my data is NTFS of course. I have a external harddrive that is NTFS, and I want to use it as my medium between a desktop PC and Macbook. Will the Macbook be able to pull files off the NTFS drive? And is there a better method for sharing between my XP desktop and Macbook?

Whats the average battery life of the Macbook while under average use? Also are there any alternative to it, or second party high capacity batteries I could purchase?

I plan on hooking the MacBook up to both an external display, and sound system while i'm at home. Whats the max resolution of the mini-dvi out on the Macbook? Also does the optical mini jack out support surround sound?

Click to expand...

I believe Macs will work with NFTS drives. There is a better way - just buy an ethernet cable and hook your Mac up to your PC or router..

Fraid i cant answer the rest

smurfy said:

I believe Macs will work with NFTS drives. There is a better way - just buy an ethernet cable and hook your Mac up to your PC or router..

Fraid i cant answer the rest

Click to expand...

Well its a wireless/wired router, so i'm going to presume I could do that wirelessly.

Anyone have a link to a tutorial on how that works?

Nicholi said:

Well its a wireless/wired router, so i'm going to presume I could do that wirelessly.

Anyone have a link to a tutorial on how that works?

Click to expand...

i dont have a tutorial but its the easiest thing in the world. you just click the little AirPort icon in the top right corner of the screen and click 'turn on AirPort', then you wait for it to find your wireless network, select it and voila!

smurfy said:

i dont have a tutorial but its the easiest thing in the world. you just click the little AirPort icon in the top right corner of the screen and click 'turn on AirPort', then you wait for it to find your wireless network, select it and voila!

Click to expand...

Haha, I meant (thanks though) actually networking it with my PC so I can access files on it and the external hooked to it.


At least I learned how to turn on and off airport though hehe... ;P

Nicholi said:

I noticed no Multimedia Card Reader on the MacBook, what do you guys reccomend using? The USB cable is a real burden to travel with.

Click to expand...

I use a USB jump-drive looking thing that has a slot in the side that accepts 7 different kinds of media cards. Was $20 at CompUSA.

Coming from a Windows world, all my data is NTFS of course. I have a external harddrive that is NTFS, and I want to use it as my medium between a desktop PC and Macbook. Will the Macbook be able to pull files off the NTFS drive? And is there a better method for sharing between my XP desktop and Macbook?

Click to expand...

As was previously stated, if both machines are going to be on all the time, the easiest solution here is to turn on Windows file sharing on your new Mac, connect both machines to the same router at home, and share files that way. However, you could also connect the NTFS drive via USB to your Mac, transfer all files over, then reformat the drive to FAT32, then replace the files. Both Macs and Windows machines can read AND write to FAT32, but only windows machines can write to NTFS. By using ethernet cables or wifi internet, you get around this inconvenience.

Whats the average battery life of the Macbook while under average use? Also are there any alternative to it, or second party high capacity batteries I could purchase?

Click to expand...

Unless you plan on going 5+ hours without access to a charger, the stock battery will do you just fine. During normal use, such as word processing, web browsing, etc., you can expect close to 4-5 hours of battery time. Just make sure that you set your power parameters for battery use to "maximize battery life".

I plan on hooking the MacBook up to both an external display, and sound system while i'm at home. Whats the max resolution of the mini-dvi out on the Macbook? Also does the optical mini jack out support surround sound?

Click to expand...

I don't know what the maximum output for the mini-DVI jack is, but I know it is greater than the actual MacBook display, so you won't have any issues there.
As for the Digital Out, it is a true digital signal, supporting 5.1 (maybe even 7.1?) output. Plug into a digital processor or sound card with surround speakers, and you'll be set.
Although, I have a solution that works out VERY nicely. I have the Toshiba Media Dock from my previous laptop (Windows, eew). It connects using a single USB cable, and a power connection to a wall outlet. With that, I get a 4 port USB hub on the back (say for external HDD storage, I have 2), and 5.1 channel sound output built-in. That way, when I dock at home on my desk, I don't have to plug in 2 USB cables and a sound cable...just one USB does the trick.

Welcome!

Excellent! I think that wraps it up, thanks again!