Counting Down the Days... And I have a couple of Questions!!

[MinaMACMan]

Hello All,

I've been cursed with the Windows EVIL :robot: curse for waaay too long. But Finally I am Leaving the DARK SIDE with a big FU to Windows. Thanks to Uncle Sam and the Tax Returns this year, I will be getting my FIRST MAC... YEAH BABY!

So Wednesday is when I'LL place my order for my New baby. I am going for a Black MACBOOK, with 2GB Rams, 160GB HD, Apple Care Plan. And I just can't wait. I just have a couple of questions.

1. iWork. Is it worth the $77, or should I go for Neo Office. I will be doing a lot of Word Proccessing, Sometimes I like to mess around with Presentations and Web Page building as well!

2. I am looking Forward for the iSight Camera, but I saw on a couple of threads that it might not be compatible with MSN... I just wanted to know if that was true and if its, if there is an alternative for MSN where I can Video Chat with Family/Friends who regretably still using PCs (SUCKERs).

Hope those questions aren't too repetative and I appreciate all the answers and suggestions in Advance.

And I will post as soon as I get my First MAC up and running.

Cheers!

 

[Kash]

New Macs come with trials for both iWork and Office 2004. What I suggest you do before dropping money is to try out all three suites and find out which works best for you. It could very well be that you prefer iWork's interface or just like NeoOffice's price tag. Maybe you need to share documents and don't want to deal with formatting issues, in which case Office is your best option.

Also, if you want to save some money, I would suggest getting the bare minimum of RAM from Apple and then upgrading it yourself. Buying RAM from a third-party such as Crucial or Newegg is MUCH cheaper than having Apple do the upgrade. That's money you can sink into an office suite. So think of it as a discount on iWork or Office!! :black:

Sorry I can't answer your MSN and iSight question as I have no personal experience with it. Perhaps somebody else will provide some insight into the matter

 

[MinaMACMan]

Hey Kash,

I appreciate the Quick Answer... Thanks.

I get a special discount through Work, so am Saving about $160, so its not bad to chill out the money for the Ram from Apple.

But thanks for the tip about Office. I will look into it.

Cheers.

 

[Smell The Glove]

I use Neo Office myself and it works just fine. I suppose there might be some differences for the extreme detailed features, but I really am happier using the free Neo Office over the MS Office suites that cost $$.

I haven't tried iSight with MSN yet, though MSN seems to work just fine. I'm not sure why it wouldn't work one way or another.

 

[Lisa]

I've only just started using NeoOffice, but so far I have no complaints with it.

 

[gilesjuk]

Hello All,

2. I am looking Forward for the iSight Camera, but I saw on a couple of threads that it might not be compatible with MSN... I just wanted to know if that was true and if its, if there is an alternative for MSN where I can Video Chat with Family/Friends who regretably still using PCs (SUCKERs).

Cheers!

Microsoft's MSN client has no webcam support, this is due to extensive changes in the code base which Microsoft are making. They could implement Webcam now and then have to re-implement it in the next version or just save development time and do it in the next version. They went for the second option.

Adium is a very nice MSN client, but this also has no webcam. But it's worth using this one and switching to Mercury when you need webcam.

Adium works really nice, it has support for Growl which is a handy notification engine that pops up bubbles top right to display messages.

 

[Lisa]

I agree - Adium is nice.

 

[MinaMACMan]

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions and tips.

One More think. What about Skype. Does it work on the MACBOOK. and does it support Webcam?

Cheers!

 

[Zoolook]

AIM works very nicely within iChat for a good webcam experience. I was able to chat to my wife from London to New York with no lag and a great picture - we both have Macs but this works equally well between a Mac and Windows based PC.

 

[Kash]

One More think. What about Skype. Does it work on the MACBOOK. and does it support Webcam?

Skype for Mac

"Free Video Calls"


Looks like you're in luck buddy :black:

 

[MinaMACMan]

Dude... you Guys Freakin' ROOOCCCK

I really appreciate all the responses, 2mrw Morning am placing my MACBOOK Order WOOOOOHHHHHOOOOOOOO

And by the way, I've been on a lotta MAC Forums, and by far you are the most lively bunch, all the others are just straight up DULL.

Anyways, you guys Rule, thanks for your help. I'll post when I get my MAC.

BTW, do you how much does it cost for expedited shipping and if its worth it?

 

[yogi]

There are.... *other* Mac-Forums? *shudders*