Best Notebook to Get? Mac Questions from a Newbie

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MarkW - 22 Aug 2006 00:34 GMT

My son is starting college in a Multimedia field. We have always used
Windows PC's but now he will be switching to Mac. Since I'm new to
this I really don't know where to start. He wants something he can
use with school or work though so I figured a notebook is best. He
will be using Adobe and Macromedia a lot and will be designing
computer animation, graphics, and video so I know it will be
intensive. As well, he will be doing some word processing. I want to
make sure I have plenty processing power as well as hard drive space
and memory.
I know apple has switched to Intel. Is this a important thing? I know
I can get a older macbook much cheaper but I've learned in the past
not to skimp on this. I often do better to spend more and get
something that will handle the tasks and I want something that will
last him throughout college. It just seems if Apple has switched to
Intel it's best to go with this newer generation.
Next, I know there is something like a dual boot option to use Windows
or Mac. What is this called and does this work on all Macs including
non-Intel and how well does it work? Will it work with Vista?
Can I read pc files on a mac. What I mean is data files, not the
actual program but as an example a Word file made on a PC or a mp3
from a PC. Will the cd-rom read that?
Can you use usb floppy drives that work on a Windows XP PC on a Mac?
Do most of the macs have modems? At times he will have to dial into
the server at school.
I know this is a lot of questions but this is all so new to me. Thank
you in advance for any help.

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patrick j - 22 Aug 2006 01:24 GMT

> My son is starting college in a Multimedia field. We have always used
> Windows PC's but now he will be switching to Mac. Since I'm new to
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> and memory.
> I know apple has switched to Intel. Is this a important thing?

As you know Adobe (who have bought Macromedia) have a range of very
well known applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator etc. The
current versions of these are designed to run natively on the older PPC
Macs. They will run on the new Intel Macs but using an emulator built
into the Intel Macs called Rosetta. This emulator is seemless, you
don't know it's happening except that applications using Rosetta on the
Intel Macs run a little bit slower than applications running natively
on the Intel Macs.

Applications designed to run natively on Intel Macs are known as
"Universal" applications and if you take a look on the web at sites for
applications for Macs you'll see this term "Universal" used of course.

I believe that the next major upgrade of Adobe's applications for the
Mac will be the point at which they become "Universal"; running
natively on the Intel Mac. If you go to Adobe's web-site and hunt
around a bit you'll see they have a statement about this.

So, you need to get an idea of how acceptable the slight slowdown is
for Adobe's current applications is with Intel Macs. Personally I don't
think it is a problem at all; but others may disagree. I have had
experience of Illustrator on my Intel iMac and imho it's fine.

> I know
> I can get a older macbook much cheaper but I've learned in the past
> not to skimp on this. I often do better to spend more and get
> something that will handle the tasks and I want something that will
> last him throughout college. It just seems if Apple has switched to
> Intel it's best to go with this newer generation.

I feel the same way. I do have an Intel iMac which suits me very well.
I don't know if the bigger Macs are using Intel chips yet or when they
will be. Others on this discussion group will certainly know that.

I think it is good when buying the Mac to get more RAM put in than as
supplied as standard. I've got 2 Gigabytes of RAM in my Intel Mac which
is the maximum it will take. It is good to have a lot of RAM if you are
going to be doing graphics work on the Mac.

> Next, I know there is something like a dual boot option to use Windows
> or Mac. What is this called and does this work on all Macs including
> non-Intel and how well does it work?

I think this is an Intel only thing. It's called "Boot Camp" and it's a
public beta. I've had it for about two months and it works very well on
my 20" screen Intel iMac.

If I hold down the option key while starting up my Mac I have the
option of opening in Windows. I am using Windows XP Professional and it
works just as well as if the Mac were a PC. I don't use any peripherals
with it however.

>Will it work with Vista?

I don't know if Vista will work on my Intel iMac however.

> Can I read pc files on a mac. What I mean is data files, not the
> actual program but as an example a Word file made on a PC or a mp3
> from a PC. Will the cd-rom read that?

If I understand the question you can read a PC created Word file on the
Mac OS if you have Microsoft Word installed, this has been the case for
some years. In fact even if you don't have Microsoft Word installed
there is a Word viewer application you can buy (icWord) and some word
processors read Word files pretty well.

> Can you use usb floppy drives that work on a Windows XP PC on a Mac?

Yes you can plug these in. I haven't used one in years but I don't
anticipate a problem.

> Do most of the macs have modems?

Yes I think so.

> I know this is a lot of questions but this is all so new to me. Thank
> you in advance for any help.

You will get a lot of replies some clearer than mine I suspect :)

As an aside I think it would be good for you and your son to go to a
Mac retailer and spend some time there playing with the Macs they have.
This is a very good way to get acquainted with the OS on the Mac. The
key to whether or not your son will like the Mac is if he likes the OS.
I think he will but it is good if he finds that out for himself.

Signature

Patrick
Brighton, UK

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Dave Balderstone - 22 Aug 2006 01:50 GMT

> My son is starting college in a Multimedia field. We have always used
> Windows PC's but now he will be switching to Mac. Since I'm new to
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> make sure I have plenty processing power as well as hard drive space
> and memory.

You'll want to look at a MacBook Pro, with maximum RAM and hard drive.
An external Firewire drive for backups will be useful.

> I know apple has switched to Intel. Is this a important thing?

Yes and no. Right now the Adobe apps run slower on the Intel Macs than
on the PPC Macs, but that will change in the next 6-9 months. When
Adobe release universal apps your son will be glad for the Intel chip.

I agree.

> Next, I know there is something like a dual boot option to use Windows
> or Mac. What is this called and does this work on all Macs including
> non-Intel and how well does it work?

The dual boot option is called Bootcamp and is currently in public beta
test stage. It only runs Windows XP SP2.

There's also Parallels, which does not require a reboot, and runs
everything from Windows 3.1 up.

> Will it work with Vista?

That's unknown presently. Apple does have the rights to use the Windows
XP APIs (programming interfaces) but not Vista. There's an argument
that Microsoft wants to sell copies of Windows and will therefore not
put up roadblocks to running Vista on Macs.

> Can I read pc files on a mac. What I mean is data files, not the
> actual program but as an example a Word file made on a PC or a mp3
> from a PC. Will the cd-rom read that?

In almost all cases, yes.

> Can you use usb floppy drives that work on a Windows XP PC on a Mac?

Floppies are dead on the Mac. There are USB options, but your son will
have little to no reason to use them. For portable data transfer, get a
USB thumb drive, formatted as FAT-32 and you can use it seamlessly
between Windows and Mac OS.

> Do most of the macs have modems? At times he will have to dial into
> the server at school.

No. Modems are an option, even on the laptops. Apple sells an
inexpensive USB modem.

> I know this is a lot of questions but this is all so new to me. Thank
> you in advance for any help.

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MarkW - 22 Aug 2006 20:51 GMT

Thanks for all the help. It seems like I have even more questions now

:) i will post another question probably below. The more I'm

learning I'm looking at different options. This is all very new to me
but now it looks like I'm ready for a mac also.

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Arthur Rhodes - 25 Aug 2006 07:06 GMT

> My son is starting college in a Multimedia field. We have always used
> Windows PC's but now he will be switching to Mac. Since I'm new to
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> last him throughout college. It just seems if Apple has switched to
> Intel it's best to go with this newer generation.

It's probably best to go with an Intel based laptop, especially since
the PowerPC based laptops had G4 processors, which are a generation behind
the latest G5 PowerPC processors. Nevertheless, even the G4 laptops are
good machines and a used one will cost you half as much as a new Intel.
For the time being, Adobe applications run natively on only on PowerPC,
so you won't get much of a performance boost on those apps from the Intel
machines until Adobe upgrades its software in the coming year. In the long
run, you definitely want the Intel machines though.

> Next, I know there is something like a dual boot option to use Windows
> or Mac. What is this called and does this work on all Macs including
> non-Intel and how well does it work? Will it work with Vista?

The current beta versions of Vista already run under Bootcamp. There is
no reason to expect that Bootcamp would not run Vista. There is every
indication that Microsoft is happy to have Vista on Macs.

Some people regard Bootcamp as the clincher that makes Mac laptops the
obvious choice right now. Even if you end up only running Windows (which
is unlikely), a Mac is still have a perfectly fine, no-compromise laptop
for doing so.

Another poster raised the issue of Apple having rights to Windows APIs.
I do not think that is relevant. Apple does not need rights to Windows
APIs to be able to run Windows on Macs, any more than a PC vendor needs
those rights. Do you think the corner computer store that sells clone PCs
has any rights to Windows APIs? An Intel based Mac computer runs Windows
the same way any other Intel based computer does.

> Can I read pc files on a mac. What I mean is data files, not the
> actual program but as an example a Word file made on a PC or a mp3
> from a PC. Will the cd-rom read that?
> Can you use usb floppy drives that work on a Windows XP PC on a Mac?

Almost any usb floppy drives would work on a Mac. However, I regard
floppy drives as one of the least attractive storage technologies around.
USB flash drives are far superior in just about every way.

> Do most of the macs have modems? At times he will have to dial into
> the server at school.

I think many of the older model laptops had built in modems, but the new
Intel based laptops don't. You can get USB modems for cheap. In any case,
the situations where you'd actually be getting your internet on a laptop
through a telephone modem are dwindling. Even if you have dialup, in most
cases people run a wireless LAN and connect through the built in wireless
Airport adapter. That way, you can move around with your laptop to
wherever you're comfortable.

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Mac Forum / General / Hardware / August 2006

Best Notebook to Get? Mac Questions from a Newbie