Thoughts from an old Dude!

[jacintosh]

Yes

Does it work with the Mac if you connect it directly? If not, the chance of any networking trouble would be lessened and it would be easier to find the problem.

Yes, when I connect my mac to the printer with the usb cable, it works just fine. I talked to a mac guru today, and he said networking is one thing, but having the mac go through the pc for the printer, that is another issue.

 

[christm]

congratulations. macs are fun. enjoy !

 

[zyepod]

I think it's a Leopard thing. When I was running a macbook with Tiger I had no problems. As a matter of fact I didn't even have to set anything up it was just there and I could print from it. With Leopard I can't even see my other two computers much less see the printers I have sharing from them...

 

[jacintosh]

Who can I share this with?

This MBP is more fun that a barrel of monkeys! Honest to God! I'm 58 years old, and I haven't touched a Mac in 20 years. OMG! The fun just doesn't stop. There are so many things that this thing does. The dictionary thing...the spotlight thing...the two finger touch. The blazing...and I mean blazing speed...the wonderful feel of the keys...the backlit keyboard. The seamless nature of the email program and how well Safari works on the Mac. My only complaint is the unbelievable quickness of the battery drain. I'm lucky that I don't need my laptop for work. I just sit in my easy chair and play away while being plugged in. After unplugging...bam! 2 hours and it is almost out of gas. I know there's a big engine in this car and there are plenty of bells and whistles for it to run, but I'm wondering if Apple will come up with a more powerful battery down the road.

 

[milessthomas]

No offense but why start a new thread on the same topic when you can just add your happiness of your purchase to the same thread?

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84992

 

[D3v1L80Y]

No offense but why start a new thread on the same topic when you can just add your happiness of your purchase to the same thread?

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84992

I would have to agree. I'll just merge them.

 

[jacintosh]

Thanks for the merge...I was just so friggin estatic....it was redundant....but it is fun....

 

[jacintosh]

It pains me

I'm so in love with my MBP. My HP desktop, only two years old and so full of third-party bloat, it takes forever to boot up. I just don't even like it anymore. Did I need this laptop? No. Did the desktop do the things I usually use it for....balancing the checkbook, surfing the web, reading email....playing around with photo software....but, I got so sick of paying for virus protection, constant updating virsus this and malware that.
My real question is....and I can't even give the thing away online. I suppose I still need it to keep a network with my wife's desktop and this fabulous laptop. I realize the router needs to connect to a wired machine for my computer to work. What a waste. I wish I could just have the cable connect to the modem and have the printer connect to the router. Oh well.

 

[jacintosh]

Too much computer

At 58, and giddy as a a kid in a sandbox, I do feel guilty about not being as computer savvy as my computer graphics son. He has a 17" MPB, and his fiancee has the 15". They both work for computer graphics firms. I desperately would like to learn how to utilize the power of this machine. I am getting close to retirement, and I love computers and would like to do something that would be useful.
I guess its the frustration of all this power and I don't know what to do. Surfing, email, balancing the checkbook, loading pics from my camera. I guess I feel a little guilty spending so much money for a tool that does so much more. My wife just shakes her head. She doesn't understand what was wrong with my PC desktop. In reality...nothing. This is just so much more fun and the quality is unbelievable. You don't really know it...till you actually make the switch.

 

[MBasile]

why does the router need to be wired to a machine? I know it says that in the setup instructions too, but I never understood why

 

[snoslicer8]

You COULD go buy an Airport Extreme or Airport Express basestation from the Apple store. Express are 802.11g, while the extreme are the faster n variety. Both routers support networking between macs and PCs flawlessly, and both routers have USB ports to share a printer...without needing the middle computer. Good luck.

 

[Kash]

What router do you have? If it's any normal router, all you need is the modem attached to it, no desktop necessary.

 

[baggss]

Although I am about 15 years your junior I know what you mean. I've picked up some stuff here and there from folks (kids mostly) that I know on-line, but there are lots of things that I'd like to learn but I know I likely never will.

 

[Brown Study]

I guess its the frustration of all this power and I don't know what to do.

Until David Pogue's Missing Manual for Leopard is published, hit a public library and borrow it for Tiger (there's no point in buying it). Much would be the same, probably more than not (I haven't seen Leopard). You'd gain a lot from it.

 

[xstep]

I'm confused by the original poster. If you are talking about a cable modem and normal router then the connection should be;

cable->modem->router->computers/printer (via hard cable or wireless if an option)

Set a new password on your router. Don't leave it at the default.

You might have to use a hardwired connection to set up the router initially.

 

[xstep]

You may be doing all that you want to with a computer. Don't feel guilty. Enjoy what it does for you.

You could take some of your photos and make a web page very easily with iWeb and post it on a free host or burn it to a CD or DVD for distribution, or create a movie using iMovie (using photos or/and video) and from that produce a DVD that you can send to family.

If you can't think of new things to do it isn't a big deal. The majority of people are probably just using e-mail and browsing the web with the occasional adventure into other areas.

To look for ideas, go to Versiontracker.com and enter words to search for software. See what pops up and if any of it interests you.

 

[Aptmunich]

Computers are a tool. There are a lot of things you can do with them that are "computer specific", but mostly they're there to let you accomplish other things better.

Do you have a hobby? Create a website and write about it! Are you a lawyer? Offer some pro-bono legal advice over the internet. Are you in a social group or club? Make their signs / posters / website.

Your Mac is essentially an expensive empty canvas. You've got all the tools and probably most of the skills you need to create something with it - you just need to find something that inspires you.

 

[naftalim]

Same boat here at 52. I don't do much with video, photography or music, but got the Alu iMac even though my Compaq Laptop was less then a year old!

I have a 1 terabyte external Firewire drive but a total of 26GB used on my main drive I have it partitioned for backup with Carbon Copy Cloner and Time Machine.

So far, I sent an email with stationary and created 2 cards in Pages, and uploaded some stuff on .Mac

What would be nice if there was a place to go to online where you were given small projects to do in multimedia which would be a way to learn but also to get into any of these areas more. Any suggestions?

 

[baggss]

I do small things with graphics programs like my sig and Avatar. Just for fun, but it gives me a reason to play with the apps involved. They are both basic, but playing with the Avatar has taught me a lot about the use of layers in Photoshop.

 

[PapaNoHair]

If you want to learn more just dive in and begin reading, studying, asking, etc. I did that starting at about the same age when I switched over to Linux (from windoze). I made a lot of mistakes, I am sure I drove people crazy with my questions, but it began to fall in place eventually. I am still far from an expert but I feel a lot more comfortable with computers. Besides - all that learning keeps the mind young!