Advice desperately needed - is a MacBook right for me?

Hi guys,
I am a hardcore PC user, and know them and Windows inside out. However, I have had zero/nada/zilch experience with Macs. The closest I've been is moving around a cursor on a demo iMac many years ago.
Which brings me to my current slightly complex situation. I'll try and get straight to the point, so please bear with me:
- I have an Alesis MultiMix 8x Firewire audio mixing unit, which as you have probably guessed runs on a Firewire interface. I need it to be mobile for business use.
- The Alesis works absolutely fine on my desktop PC, which has a built-in 6-pin Firewire port. My desktop PC, however, is not mobile. But when tested with my IBM laptop, the Alesis is very inconsistent and unreliable, with disconnections, audio dropouts and generally very fussy behaviour.
- I do not have a built-in Firewire port on my laptop, but rather use a PCMCIA interface which has 6-pin Firewire inputs. However, in practice they may as well be four-pin Firewire ports because they do not shift power. To do this, I have to connect an AC/DC adapter to an auxillary jack on the PCMCIA card which will then deliver the requisite electricity. It is not elegant at all and the whole thing looks like a mess.
- Research I have conducted has led me to believe that for many people with the Alesis unit, using it with a four-pin (or non-powered six) Firewire port can be a bit difficult. It seems that even though the Alesis is actively powered with it's own supply, the little power there is running through the cable makes some kind of difference.
- As it stands I could make things work, but it really is a mess, especially physically with that little power cable going into the PCMCIA interface which could pop out at any time. And ss it happens, I need a new laptop for the business anyway.
You see where I am going with this?
Macs are the only laptops that I know of which come with built-in six-pin Firewire ports. They are therefore ideal given my circumstances. I think.
Will I be able to run Windows XP natively on the new MacBook without any real issues? Specifically, I need the the Firewire port to work perfectly and for the whole thing to run stable. I also need it to be compatible with PC audio-editing software, like Cubase, Sonar and Adobe Audition. Any known issues?
The other alternative I guess is to use the Alesis on the Mac OS, but I know nothing about the interface, so unfamiliarity breeds contempt in this case. I am sure that I will love it once I get used to it, as everyone says Windows is a clunky old dinosaur compared to it, but for the moment perhaps I will stick with Windows as learning time is not a luxury I have.
So, over to you guys. Thanks so much for reading if you've kept up this far. What do you think? I am open to ANY suggestion, as I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to Macs!
Thanks a bunch

Thanks for the input.
I've just looked at the differences, and with the possible exception of hard-drive speed, there is nothing that I need for the business that the Pro offers. The purpose of the unit will be to record and multi-track four simultaneous speech streams. That's about it.
Nothing particularly demanding for today's laptops, even the basic MacBook I would've thought.
I'm in Malaysia, and customer service isn't really a strongpoint here, but in the interests of the Mac brand and converting PC users I may just see if the local resellers are happy to let me tinkle.
Thanks a lot.

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in this picture each channel has the center dial turned up to full. It was my understanding that this would result in every track coming out 100% in the center channel and not anywhere else. I.e - by putting left rear channel's center dial up to 100% that would result in all of the sound going to the center channel and none into the left rear. Is this incorrect?
I also think that the LFE channel in that pic looks different to mine because of the steps he takes elsewhere in the workflow, but on mine I have the LFE dial on the front left and right and also the center tracks turned to about 30%, which (as is my understanding anyway) means that of the sound in those channels 30% of it is sent to the sub woofer.
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My files are NOT all mono either and I think this might be an issue. I have a mono vocal track but then a stereo wav for music which I pan to front left and rights (I duplicate the track and push one puck to front left and one to front right, but i've also tried putting it in the center channel and leaving the center dial at 0% as this also seems to send the sound to the front left and right equally.)

MacBook - right for me?

Hello,
I was wondering if any of you with MacBooks could help me out.
I am trying to find out if the $1299 MacBook would be able to do what I need it to. I am huge on documentary-making and am about to upgrade to FinalCut Express. Would the $1299 MacBook have the power needed to use FinalCut Express well?
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FC Express IS supported and runs quite well on the MacBook.
As far as FCX,The only reason to step up to a MBP would be for more screen real estate.
Only thing is,that's some mighty EXPENSIVE real estate.
Jim
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Hi there,
I'm a web programmer working in Visual Studio 2005, Dreamweaver, Flash and Photoshop.
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I am planning on getting 2 gigs or ram when I can afford it.
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From Kappy:
Prepare Your Mac for Sale
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Which macbook pro for my needs, please...

Buying a new macbook pro for use with photoshop and lightroom, possibly a bit of illustrator and indesign thrown in.
I will use my laptop at home always attached to a large screen. Right now a 25" NEC. I may add an additional screen as well, so I might have two screens besides the laptop, one attached via hdmi.
Right now I don't do video work. No gaming concerns for me. Photoshop and Lightroom the bulk of my work. Big catalog. Large size photoshop files. Well near 1 gb sometimes.
Will the mbp with just the intel iris pro graphics card be enough for my uses? I'm thinking to upgrade processor to 2.5ghz. Will upgrade ssd to 500gb. Or do I need, will I benefit from the nvidia card and card switching, dgpu?
I've just been reading about problems with the discrete graphics card version. And that the mbp always uses that card when there is an external monitor attached. Creates additional heat for the computer.
Just looking for some advice before i hand over the cash. There is only a 100 difference in price so in the end I'm not concerned about cost. Just want a computer to do what I need, do it well, and for me to have as few problems as possible.
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I have an early 2011 MBP 13" that I put a 120 GB SSD and 8 GB or RAM in. All from OWC.
Photoshop CS 6 boots in 3.4 seconds.
Look at the Photoshop Action Test benchmarks at OWC:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/Mac_Memory_Upgrade_Performance_Testi ng
Of the newer Retina MBPs the largest SSD is 512 GB and that's going to be PCIe. In the 13" 2.8 GHz and above you can add a 1 TB for an extra $500/
"I've just been reading about problems with the discrete graphics card version."
I think that's just the 15 and 17" MBP 2011 MBP. There was finally a recall on those.
https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/
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You also might want to look here and ask your question there:
OS X Yosemite

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This is a multi-facited question and I am seeking advice most of all.
I have a 2008 iMac
I would like to retire it and use my 2011 Mac Air as my primary computer (With a Thunderbolt Display)
If I use the Migratiion Assistant - will I have to delete the files currently on my Mac Air?
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A Basic Guide for Migrating to Intel-Macs
The Knowledgebase article Intel-based Mac: Some migrated applications may need to be updated refers to methods of dealing with migrating from PowerPC chips to Intel with the Migration Assistant safely. The authors of this tip have not had a chance to verify this works in all instances, or that it avoids the 10.6.1 and earlier Guest Account bug that caused account information to get deleted upon use of the Migration/Setup Assistant. However, a well backed up source that includes at least two backups of all the data that are not connected to your machine will help you avoid potential issues, should they arise. In event it does not work, follow the steps below.
If you are migrating a PowerPC system (G3, G4, or G5) to an Intel-Mac be careful what you migrate. Keep in mind that some items that may get transferred will not work on Intel machines and may end up causing your computer's operating system to malfunction.
Rosetta supports "software that runs on the PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor that are built for Mac OS X". This excludes the items that are not universal binaries or simply will not work in Rosetta:
1. Classic Environment, and subsequently any Mac OS 9 or earlier applications
2. Screensavers written for the PowerPC System Preference add-ons
3. All Unsanity Haxies Browser and other plug-ins
4. Contextual Menu Items
5. Applications which specifically require the PowerPC G5 Kernel extensions
6. Java applications with JNI (PowerPC) libraries
See also What Can Be Translated by Rosetta.
In addition to the above you could also have problems with migrated cache files and/or cache files containing code that is incompatible.
If you migrate a user folder that contains any of these items, you may find that your Intel-Mac is malfunctioning. It would be wise to take care when migrating your systems from a PowerPC platform to an Intel-Mac platform to assure that you do not migrate these incompatible items.
If you have problems with applications not working, then completely uninstall said application and reinstall it from scratch. Take great care with Java applications and Java-based Peer-to-Peer applications. Many Java apps will not work on Intel-Macs as they are currently compiled. As of this time Limewire, Cabos, and Acquisition are available as universal binaries. Do not install browser plug-ins such as Flash or Shockwave from downloaded installers unless they are universal binaries. The version of OS X installed on your Intel-Mac comes with special compatible versions of Flash and Shockwave plug-ins for use with your browser.
The same problem will exist for any hardware drivers such as mouse software unless the drivers have been compiled as universal binaries. For third-party mice the current choices are USB Overdrive or SteerMouse. Contact the developer or manufacturer of your third-party mouse software to find out when a universal binary version will be available.
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Before migrating or installing software on your Intel-Mac check MacFixit's Rosetta Compatibility Index.
Additional links that will be helpful to new Intel-Mac users:
1. Intel In Macs
2. Apple Guide to Universal Applications
3. MacInTouch List of Compatible Universal Binaries
4. MacInTouch List of Rosetta Compatible Applications
5. MacUpdate List of Intel-Compatible Software
6. Transferring data with Setup Assistant - Migration Assistant FAQ
7. OS X Lion: How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac
Because Migration Assistant isn't the ideal way to migrate from PowerPC to Intel Macs, using Target Disk Mode, copying the critical contents to CD and DVD, an external hard drive, or networking will work better when moving from PowerPC to Intel Macs. The initial section below discusses Target Disk Mode. It is then followed by a section which discusses networking with Macs that lack Firewire.
If both computers support the use of Firewire then you can use the following instructions:
1. Repair the hard drive and permissions using Disk Utility.
2. Backup your data. This is vitally important in case you make a mistake
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3. Connect a Firewire cable between your old Mac and your new Intel Mac.
4. Startup your old Mac in Transferring files between two computers using FireWire.
5. Startup your new Mac for the first time, go through the setup and
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If you are not able to use a Firewire connection (for example you have a Late 2008 MacBook that only supports USB:)
1. Set up a local home network: Creating a small Ethernet Network.
2. If you have a MacBook Air or Late 2008 MacBook see the following:
a. MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008) and MacBook Pro (15-inch,
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b. MacBook Air - Migration Tips and Tricks;
c. MacBook Air - Remote Disc, Migration, or Remote Install Mac OS X and
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Copy the following items from your old Mac to the new Mac:
In your /Home/ folder: Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites folders.
In your /Home/Library/ folder:
/Home/Library/Application Support/AddressBook (copy the whole folder) /Home/Library/Application Support/iCal (copy the whole folder)
Also in /Home/Library/Application Support (copy whatever else you need including folders for any third-party applications)
/Home/Library/Keychains (copy the whole folder) /Home/Library/Mail (copy the whole folder) /Home/Library/Preferences/ (copy the whole folder) /Home /Library/Calendars (copy the whole folder) /Home /Library/iTunes (copy the whole folder) /Home /Library/Safari (copy the whole folder)
If you want cookies:
/Home/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist /Home/Library/Application Support/WebFoundation/HTTPCookies.plist
For Entourage users:
Entourage is in /Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data Also in /Home/Library/Preferences/Microsoft.
Credit goes to Macjack for this information.
If you need to transfer data for other applications please ask the vendor or ask in the Discussions where specific applications store their data.
5. Once you have transferred what you need restart the new Mac and test to make sure the contents are there for each of the applications.
Written by Kappy with additional contributions from a brody.Revised 5/21/2011

Macbook Air right for an engineering major?

I'm currently a Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering double major at UC Davis, and I wanted some input on whether or not a Macbook Air would be suitable for my needs. The 13" 2013 unit with the Haswell CPU is only $999 on Amazon right now and I figured it is priced so competetively with other ultrabooks now that I can actually consider it.
As far as I know, I need access to a Python and C/C++ IDE and compiler, MATLAB, and several CAD applications that my school gives us for certain classes. That's pretty much all I need from now through my bachelors degree. I'll also dual boot Windows 8 since I may occasionally miss Windows, since this will be my only PC from now on (I completely stopped gaming so I sold my custom desktop). I'll also run any programs that are Windows only in Windows of course.
Sure, I will be doing some software design, but the ULV i5 is plenty powerful. I'm not doing some insane rendering or anything. Just some very basic rendering and programming.
So I have 3 questions:
1. Is a Macbook Air right for an Engineering major? How has having a Macbook "changed" you as an engineer?
2. Is there any way to have a Windows Partition, an OSX Partition, and an exFAT partition to share my music and videos across both OS's? Both Windows and OSX can read and write to exFAT right?
3. What external hard drive and USB drive formats (other than FAT since I have files larger than 4GB) are best for transferring files to and from OSX and Windows machines?
Thanks for the help! I'm looking forward to purchasing a Mac since they are so competetively priced now. I think Apple mad a great move with these price cuts.

I second the above opinion, as I am an Electrical Engineering student currently. I've been using an 11" Air for everything (full options, i7, 8gb, 512ssd). I was using a mid 2011 and i just got the new 2013 model and I have to say both have performed outstanding.
Since you're gonna be an engineer i'll tell you how I run my machine to let you know how powerful it is for school:
I run 4 desktops that i swipe between constantly with 10+ programs running, most of which are not your normal small programs (Autocad, MotionBuilder, etc.)
My 5th desktop that i swipe between is Parallels Desktop running windows 7 for the non-mac apps, inside of windows i typically run 3+ programs which include AutoCad, Quartus (electronic modeling) and PSpice.
Keep in mind that I run all of this at the same time and it's probably too much (I don't need to run everything at once I just love to keep evrything up so between classes I don't have to prepare for the next).
All I have to say is the machine kills it. i'm serious, no lag, fluid autocad building, low heat, and great battery, i got about 5 hours out of my 2011 model and i expect to see 8+ out of this one when school gets going again.
You're in the right direction, i think you'll be more than happy with a new Macbook Air if you max out the options, and then you'll increase the resale so in 2-3 years you can grab the latest and greatest as i did.
Good luck in engineering and don't let it get to you, stick it out and it'll be worthwhile!

How Do I Decide Which MacBook is Right For Me?

I am currently a high school senior and I have always had my heart set on a MacBook and my oldest sister has offered to buy me one for my graduation present.
My only problem is I am not too sure which one is the best for me. I know MacBooks in general, regaurdless of model, are all great quality, but I really want something that I can keep around for a few years to get me through whatever schooling I choose to go through and still have with me after. I am also a beauty blogger so I do a lot of typing and use the internet as if it were an extension of my body. I also upload lots of product photos from my camera to use on my blog and occasional editing is needed, but nothing to the extent that I have to use Photoshop or other advanced programs, only minor editing basics are used.
I know that I do want something fast for web surfing and something with enough room to store all of my music, pictures, and programs comfortably without an external hard drive. Portablitity is also a key feature, but I feel like both the Air and the Pro seem portable enough for my purposes, so it is still a toss-up. A cd/dvd drive would be a nice feature, but I am not too sure how often I would actually use it as I tend to store my music on my iPod and phone as opposed to on CDs. I also don't feel the need for a huge screen since I do want it to be portable, I have been looking into the 11in - 13in range.
Right now I am currently comparing the 13in. 2.5GHz MacBook Pro, 13in. MacBook Air, and the 11in. 1.7GHz MacBook Air. Even though this is coming as a gift to me, I still want to get the most bang for the buck, but if it sounds like I only need 64GB of storage, then I would have no problem going with the $999.00 MacBook Air.
But in the grande scheem of things, I just don't understand how much storage and speed would be best for me based on my usage.
Any suggestions on what model you think would fit me the best?

They pretty much explain themselves. The MacBook Air is for those who want a portable yet powerful Mac, where as the MacBook Pro is for those who want more power than the MacBook Air for gaming and photo editing and reliablity as they can last for plenty of years with good treatment, the one thing they lack is portability.
For just a blogger and student, a MacBook Air 13inch would be best as it's just the right size and power. As a blogger you'll need to take it where ever you go and I'm sure you're not going to use it for heavy impact gaming and large photo editing or video editing. If you are, then get the MacBook Pro.

Need help selecting the right MBP for me, just bought a pc with Windows 8 and I already regret it..

Ok, so I'm an engineering student and I am in need of a good laptop to run programming and design type software. I have an older iMac which I love but I need the portability of a laptop for school. I was thinking I would be fine with a pc since most of the software I would be using for school is windows based. So last night, after shopping around for quite a bit, I decided to go with a Sony Vaio E series laptop with Windows 8, 8gb ram, i7 processor, dedicated graphics card, 1tb hard drive, and touch screen. It was the best performance laptop (on paper) Best Buy had in the store for just under $1000. I would have loved to get an upper end MBP but they are over twice the price as the Sony.. So I get it home with the Vaio and it feels laggy and glitchy, it takes 2 seconds for the window to pop up after 'right clicking', I can see lines in the screen, the resolution seems far from HD when on the normal looking windows side (as opposed to the tablet look, forgive my poor terminology) and the web browser, and the touch pad seems to be hit or miss in that it doesn't always register the touch pad commands. I checked all of the visual and performance settings, made the resolution as high as possible, changed some of the settings to the high performance settings, made sure all of my drivers were updated, and the only effect was a very loud fan that runs constantly.
So in short, I am going to take this back and start looking at the macbook pros. Here's my dilemna, I don't know which specs I will definitely need in a Macbook Pro. I need to be able to run windows on it either in parallel or as a partition for my programs necessary for school. Can the MBP run windows smoothly enough to run 3D design types of programs? If so, which one should I get? I love the size of the 13" MBP but it only has a dual core processor, instead of the quad core like the 15" MBP, I'm not sure if I definitely need the quad over the dual core. I would love a solid state MBP but they are out of my price range and not enough space if I end up partitioning it.
Sorry for the book, but school starts Monday and I need some direction to find out which one I need to get fairly quickly. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Take a look at this MBP, a refurbished unit. Don't let the late 2011 release date put you off. For about $500 less than an equivalent 'new' one with similar specifications you get a quad core CPU and excellent graphics. As Steve359 mentioned, this can be upgraded if the need arises and has the same warranty as a 'new' one
I would not be surprised that these may actually be 'new' MBPs due to the length of time that they have been replaced by the current generation. I purchased a 17" model about 5 weeks ago, and a serial number check suggests that it is 9 weeks old.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0NM5LL/A
Ciao.

I'm desperately needing advice to a common question. I use Quicken and love it. But the Mac version is not as great as the PC.   Has anyone installed it by segmenting their Mac with Parallels or Fusion or Boot camp. If so, which one do you recommend.

I'm desperately needing advice. New Mac.   Used Quicken on my PC. Researched all software for Financial programs and Quicken is still the most recommended.   I want to use Quicken on my Mac. The Mac version is not highly rated so I would need to partition my Mac.   Has anyone done this for their quicken program and if so, which partitioning program did you use - Parallels, Fusion ware or Boot camp?
Thx

Lisa Ellies-Laye wrote:
Thanks. Hadn't heard of it. ? Is there any concern installing this free program on my Mac.    Have you used it? Apart from being free is there any other advantage of Parallels and VMfusion. ?
Virtual Box is safe and well developed, it offers similar or identical features to the paid competition, it may be a little less polished but that's all.
Download and try it out, nothing to lose (except time).

I NO LONGER HAVE WORD AFTER UPDATING TO LION. I DESPERATELY NEED MY FILES AND THIS PROGRAM FOR MY WORK. PLEASE HELP

I UPDATED MY MACBOOK PRO TO "LION" AND NOW HAVE LOST ACCESS TO MICROSOFT WORD!!! ALL OF MY FILES FOR WORK ARE IN THAT PROGRAM AND I DESPERATELY NEED ACCESS TO THEM. CAN ANYONE HELP?!!

@Tom in London : All I was saying is, this is a very small problem, thus the capital letters are completely out of place. If the world was gonna end, maybe ... You can't make a topic like this stand out in the forums when there are others that are more important.
Word 2008 is pretty much the same as Word 2004, except it's more confusing with the additionnal Ribbon bar, that brings no value-added really, so I would never recommend to invest a single dollar in it. Word 2011 on the other hand, finally has a true Ribbon interface, makes it easier to design documents, is much faster and optimized, is still supported by Microsoft, and last but not least the whole suite re-enables VBA code that had disappeared completely in 2008. You can even work with true Outlook 2011 if you want.

I am going to buy a macbook pro for grade 12, and I need to know wheather I should get a macbook pro or a macbook pro retina. If someone could tell me (in a very simple way) which one is,better for me and why, I would be ever so apprreciative.

I am going to buy a macbook pro for grade 12, and I need to know wheather I should get a macbook pro or a macbook pro retina. If someone could tell me (in a very simple way) which one is,better for me and why, I would be ever so apprreciative.

Why do you need a expensive MacBook Pro?
Your attending high school and unless everyone else is rich also your likely going to be a target by the more poorer students for theft or damage to the machine.
You could keep it home, but if you need it for class then your exposed again.
Also at that age your not very careful yet, a MacBook Pro is a expensive and easily damaged machine.
Unless your made of money and so are others at your school, I would recommned a low profile, just does the job cheap Windows PC.
If it dies, gets lost, stolen or damaged because of your inexperince handling senstivie electronics then it's no big deal.
You can buy a Mac later on when your sure you have a need for it, currently there isn't much advantage of owning a Mac compared to a PC, they do just about the same things now, one just looks prettier than the other.
Since 95% of the world uses Windows PC's your going to have to install Windows on the Mac in order to keep your skills up there or be unemployed, so it's a extra headache and expense.
good luck

Advice desperately needed - is a MacBook right for me?

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