computer question

[lobelia321]

T'h wants to give me a laptop for Christmas!!

*jumps up and down*

However, I stopped him from racing out impulsively to the shops and said that I wanted to consult my knowledgeable online Friends first. Because you, my Friends, know about a thousand things more about computers than do I, and have been helpful on numerous occasions.

So here is the question: what is the best laptop to get?? And what extensions / software?

Here's what I want the laptop to do:

* be an Apple Mac of some type
* link up to our broadband connection but without a cable (is this called airport card?)
* use itunes or somesuch to transport music from DVD onto ipod (I have not as yet got an ipod which is precisely why I need a laptop as I have an ancient iMac, OS 8.6)
* play The Sims
* read all the stuff I have currently on my iMac OS 8.6 (how do I transport it all across??)
* ideally: have desktop Stickies
* ideally: have desktop Notepad function
* ideally: not have that stupid OSX dock at the bottom of the screen or at the side but I guess I'll have to put up with it
* be portable around the house and in t'reference libraries of this world
* look good (this is not top priority but would be nice)
* live for a few hours on batteries alone
* do everything I do now but amazingly faster!
* Is there anything else that is of immense use and wonderfulness that I would like my laptop to be able to do?

And what are the pitfalls to look out for when dealing with ruthless electronics dealers? And where do I get the best bargains?

omg, I am so excited. Life is going to hit the 21st century!

(And yes, we can afford it, t'h has hit a spot of financial goodness and yeah)

Comments

Point by point...

[bexone.livejournal.com]

Well, my smallish iBook:

* qualifies as a Mac
* did not come with airport card standard because it's a few years old, but new ones will (although you'll need to get some kind of wireless router, but that's true for any wireless laptop)
* came with iTunes pre-loaded
* ought to play the sims (I've just never got around to loading it)
* do you mean, things like documents and pictures saved on your current drive? How hard it will be depends on exactly how your old computer is set up, but it'll definitely be easier on an iBook or PowerBook than on any non-Mac setup.
* came with Stickies standard
* probably came with Notepad, but I don't use it
* is jiggered so the Dock only shows up when I wave the cursor on top of it -- I can also make the Dock weensy-small, and take nearly everything out of it. (I thought I would hate it when I got OSX, but then I realized it does the same thing that putting aliases on the desktop or in the Apple Menu used to do, and like I said, you can hide it. My desktop has never been so clean!)
* is only slightly larger than the notebook I usually carry around
* started out cute, and has since been accessorized with bat stickers (not Batman, just bats.)
* has about a four or five hour life unless I'm watching a movie on batteries
* is, in fact, astoundingly faster than the G3 tower it replaced. Which is weird, since it's an older one with just a G3 processor. New ones are, I think, G4.
* does not, unfortunately, make me coffee in the mornings.

About the only thing I'd do differently if I bought it today would be the extra AppleCare, but that's because I apparently kill hard drives.

Re: Point by point...

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

itunes, classic desktop environment, no coffee in the morning: sounds brilliant. Especially the part about the dock. I have an OSX at work and I've not managed to make that stupid dock disappear! Now that I know it can be done I will have another go at it. I just prefer aliases, though, because I can scatter them about the desktop as I choose, and they don't do that irritating bouncy thing that the dock icons, either.

Thanks so much for this helpful info!!

Re: Point by point...

[bexone.livejournal.com]

Go into the system doohickeys (the control panel thingies, and I cannot be any more specific because I am at work on Windows, grr) and there should be a Dock panel. You can move it to the side or the bottom and turn off the bouncy part there as well.

Re: Point by point...

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I did that, and I turned off the bounce, but it came back! I hate it when computers develop a life of their own. This is what I love about my ancient iMac: I have TOTAL CONTROL.

Re: Point by point...

[bexone.livejournal.com]

... o.O

It's not supposed to do that.

(Does someone else have access to that computer? Is it possible some kind of traumatic reset happened? Or is it hooked into a network that imposes settings network-wide? In which case, boo, hiss to your network admins...)

Re: Point by point...

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

<<Or is it hooked into a network that imposes settings network-wide? I think this one! All the more reason to get my own!

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

i wish i could help but the apple demand kind of makes anything i have to say irrelevant :-) i just got a laptop for my b'day and xmas, and my husband works in the field so i trust him on that, plus i'm really happy with mine. (just in cae the apple is negotiable, here's mine)

i love my larger screen, esp. since it is my only computer and i spend a lot of time on it. since we have a wireless router system in the house, it hooked up easily and i uploaded my ipod software without problems. it's much thinner and lighter than i expected given its screen size, but any computer of decent capability will not run extremrly long without power. the batteries tend to not live up to processor demands, it seems (mine makes it to just under two hours but i hate dimming the lights and all the saving energy stuff)

as for other stuff you want it to do...i was pretyy adament about getting a DVD R/W because I burn a lot of DVDs; you've already decided on the wireless network card which is a must as well, i think.

anyway....you seem to like apple products, and they certainly have the pretty look down...i tend to go for most bang for my buck (which is why i still look at my ipod in amazement, b/c it's so not *me* :-)

good luck!!! [and we ordered mine online...we got like 700 dollars in rebates and coupons and it was there less than a week later...i love internet shopping!!!]

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Burning DVDs! Wow, the unknown worlds out there! I'd forgotten about that. What's DVD R/W? Though I should think any new Apple laptop would have whatever it is, wouldn't it? Thank you! And thanks for the pointers about rebates!

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

that's Read and Write...and no, it's not standard most of the time. usually you have a CD RW and a DVD R, so that you can write CDs but DVDs can only be read.

even if you do not want to back up your kids' DVDs so they don't die on you (or do illegal things :-), I love my DVD write b/c I can get so much more info on a DVD (4.7G) versus a CD (700M); or to say it in tv shows, I can get 12 episodes on a DVD as opposed to 2 max on a CD...

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

So how do you get the TV show onto your DVD in the first place? *is dumb*

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

I am almost entirely free of Mac knowledge, but I can say: Yay for laptops! And Yay for wireless broadband! I so totally do not regret my completely unnecessary luxury purchase! :) And yours is necessary, so even better. Do you know, last time I saw Laz we spent some time discussing how you really needed a new computer.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Now there's a recommendation! No regrets! I remember you asking round about laptops and noting with puzzlement how the PC reccers gave details and info and how the Mac reccers fell down in passionate enthusiasm. That's me!

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

And ooh look, I just ran across this, which might be useful for when the new mac arrives! 10 Apps Every New Mac User Should Download

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

*shrieks*

You frightened me with your icon!

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

Sorry, heheh.

You know what it is, yes?

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

No! What is it? Help!

And I know now why you recced that Applemac page! It has an application called Cyberduck on it! Yay!

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

It is a Wraith! From SGA!! They are less Christmassy on the show, and more life-sucky.

This you will discover when I make you watch my DVDs in ... shall we say February?

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Oh, is that what they look like??? I imagined them to be less corporeal, more like Dementors (possibly because of that Wraith/Dementor fusion fic I read). And yes, DVDs! And if I get a new imac laptop, I'll be able to see all of I's episodes online and streamed!! Yesyesyes.

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, they are quite corporeal, they have lovely hair and nasty teeth and wear very dramatic flowy leather coats. They are quite silly, really.

[birdgerhl.livejournal.com]

i would suggest that you go to the apple store in regent street and ask them to show you some lovely shiny new laptops, so you can see which screen size will suit you. plus the clever peeps in store will be able to answer all your questions, but basically my i-book (two years old now) can do everything you have listed above, so a newer model will be even faster and more adorable. don't forget that you can still run mac classic environment (ie. OS9) on the new macs. and don't forget that you work in education, so you will qualify for a discount (you may need a letter from your place of work).

yay for new macs!!!

b.x :D

[birdgerhl.livejournal.com]

also - i would recommend that you do get applecare. laptops are more vulnerable to accidental breakage and hardware failure than desktop machines.

b.x :)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Applecare. Got it. Excellent advice!!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Regent Street - mg, this is so specific. Also, there is no Apple Shop in Regent Street. (Is there?) I asked the stupid salesperson in Robert Sayle (John Lewis) and he said, no, you couldn't run the OS9 on the new laptops, it would totally bugger everything up, and why would you want to, anyhow? Was there something in that, or was this man talking through his proverbial?

And yes, great point about education!!! Thank you!!!

[bexone.livejournal.com]

You don't run OS9 per se, but the Classic environment -- which kind of puts a layer of OS9 on top of OSX and works from there. And that comes standard as part of OSX.

Or, if you're my brother and *insane,* you partition your hard drive and install software that allows you to dual-boot (or, in his case triple-boot) your computer so you have more than one OS running at once.

[birdgerhl.livejournal.com]

*looks up*

what bexone said re. classic (which is essentially OS9 as far as yer average user is concerned...). and omg, your bro is nuts!

'belia - yes, there is a *huge* apple store on regent street (nearer oxford street end). go and buy from the boys'n'girls who know what they are talking about.

b.x :)

[birdgerhl.livejournal.com]

apple store, regent street.

b.x :)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Oh, Regent Street, London!! That explains why I don't know it! Regent Street, Cambridge, does not have an Apple Store, alas...

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

omg, dual boot, I didn't even know this existed!! But the classic environment thing you describe sounds cool; I'll go with that.

I'm starting to think that most of the crap things of my MacOsX at work are there because the university put them there. They configured the stupid thing for me and put all sorts of default shit on.

[birdgerhl.livejournal.com]

nothing worse than a desktop environment that someone else has configured, and OSX can be an ugly beast if it's not set up the way you want it.

OS tiger has some cute new gizmos, i must say.

b.x :)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

What is OS Tiger??????

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

So how do you set up OSX the way you want it??

[birdgerhl.livejournal.com]

OS tiger is the current version mac OSX - 10.4.

it's dead easy to customise OSX if it's your own machine and you're not limited by a pre-defined user profile that someone else has set up. eg., the dock can be hidden completely until you mouse to the bottom/side of the screen, you can choose which apps are shown in it, change the size, the magnification effect, etc.

b.x :)

[noblerot.livejournal.com]

I can't offer expertise, but I will say that I just bought a 14" iBook after a lifetime of PCs, and I'm loving it.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

*grins* Apple lovers love their computers. Noone else has this passionate relationship. PC, Shmee-cee.

[rahaeli.livejournal.com]

If you go to http://store.apple.com and scroll down until you see the red tag on the right side of the page, with "SAVE" on it, you can find refurbished laptops -- ones that were returned for some reason and have been remade until they Work Right. As someone else pointed out, you'll get an education discount if you order through Apple, too.

Everything you pointed out works pretty much out of the box, though some models don't come with an AirPort (wireless) card pre-installed; you should make sure that your machine has one if you want the wireless. If you want to be able to burn DVDs, go for the "SuperDrive". If you don't care about making DVDs, just want to be able to play DVDs and burn CDs, you can go for the Combo Drive.

The biggest question is whether you want an iBook or a PowerBook. The two are fairly different; the iBook is more for home use, while the PowerBook is more for business use. (I'm tremendously simplifying.) I also second the "go to a place that has them and play until you know which screen size / resolution you like", and add that the iBook keyboard and the PowerBook keyboard feel drastically different, and you should see which one you like more.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

This is extremely interesting. So is the only difference between iBook and Powerbook not simply that one is white and the other is silver? And when you say 'more for business', what do you mean by that? And how do I know which one I want? Gut instinct? Or are there rational reasons? I hadn't realised at all about the keyboard; I think I will definitely need some face-to-face contact here and play around with the hardware. Do they not both do pretty much the same thing software-wise?

And SuperDrive: got you. Thank you so much!!

[rahaeli.livejournal.com]

They do the same things on the software, yes! But the iBook is more self-contained -- less of an upgrade path, and with fewer ports and connections. It's not something you'd be likely to have to worry about, since you're going to be doing home use for the most part, but ...

You should go to an Apple store, really -- not just a retailer who sells Apple hardware -- and spend a nice long time talking with them :)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Hm. But there is no Apple store in Cambridge! Grr. I may have to make a London journey. Thank you!

[msilverstar]

iBook G4 is what you want.

* Airport card is the wireless card, yes.
* iTunes comes with it
* Sims runs on it (new versions run better)
* Get the store to transfer your content if possible, otherwise find a handy Apple geek.
* Stickies comes with it
* TextEdit (formerly SimpleText) comes with it. Stickies works fine as a desktop notebook.
* You can hide the dock, but you will probably get used to it. It's not as terrible when it's smaller size and doesn't fucking bounce!
* iBooks are portable
* iBooks look good (I get compliments all the time)
* iBooks have batteries (anywhere from two to four hours, depending on lighting and other power issues)
* you will be very happy at the speedup, I promise!

Look at the Apple Store online, education version, to see pricing.

Have fun!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!! I was hoping you'd post a reply to this question!!

And TextEdit, yes, thank you for pointing that out. Do you think my FileMakerPro will be compatible? I wonder if it's worth going down to the Apple Store in London to get a really good look at everything, or if it's better to stick with my own town in case of warranty issues.

[msilverstar]

You can run your old FileMaker in Classic mode, or upgrade to a new verision that runs in X, so that's OK.

I can't find a listing for an Apple Store in your town, is there a comfy little macintosh-friendly store there? Does the University have a store? Otherwise London it is.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

No, alas, no store in Cambridge. There used to be one but it closed down. Do you recommend travelling to London rather than just going with people's advice and ordering on the internet?