Encore 5.1 Mac OX - First Impressions and Work Arounds

GOOD: The dynamic link between Encore and Photoshop is great. With minimum skill one can understand how Encore creates buttons and customize them in Photoshop ( Look at the Layers ). Editing back and forth between the two seems to work flawlessly. The "Distribute" objects command in Encore was very useful ... Why doesn't Photoshop have this command?
BAD: When building several menus, the guides are helpful, but there are no rulers / tick marks and the guides do not appear 'common' for aligning multiple menus for consistency. The "TV Safe" zone guide doesn't work with the "Snap" feature .. and disappears every time one changes menus.
GOOD: Copying buttons from one menu to the next places it in the same spot. Thank God.
BUG: Dragging multiple audio assets into the timeline only produces the first asset filling the full timeline. One must manually resize the timeline with the slider to see the other assets. This was a bug in Encore 5.0 and was never fixed.
BAD: The creation of Chapter Markers between assets is like trying to park a car in NYC. The Timeline "Guide" won't snap between assets and neither will the markers.
TIP: Set them the best you can ... Use Chapter Marker Index .. Double Click .. use Zoom Slider to widen Timeline nearly all the way .. drag Chapter Marker to get within a frame of separation of assets. ALSO: There is no Tab to Next / Previous Chapter shortcut .. and that really blows. The is a Go to Start / End ....
BAD: The Slideshow feature really chokes. I have a 12 Core Mac and it shouldn't take so long to move images ... Also, choosing options such as "Subtitles" are slow like Grandma.
TIP: If your going to change a option for several images in the Slideshow .. select all of the images first .. then click on the options. If you don't you will see hair grow and seasons come and go ... ALSO: To "Deselect" all the images .. click on the border between the images .. or you will never deselect them. Took me a while to find that one!!
HATE: The Build Progress shows NO info on how long the transcoding will take or how much Data is written.
CONCERNED: Doesn't look like my 12 Core Dual 2.9 GHZ is being utilized to it's potential. The Activity Monitor shows poor performance for Transcoding / Rebuilding Audio Tracks.
STILL TRYING:
Having a hard time replacing audio assets in a timeline.

Thanks for reporting that CS6 sorted this out.

Similar Messages

Lenovo ThinkPad T430s - first impressions and issues

I bought ThinkPad T430s last week and just wanted to write down my thoughts, first impressions and the issues I ran into.
I am very pleased with the laptop in terms of hardware - solid and nice build quality, understated style and (relatively) light weight. The screen is sharp, sound is good enough for me (I am no audiophile) and I am getting used to the chiclet keyboard - which feels just a little springy.
But I am not pleased with the software. There is just too much bloatware on the system and some of it is hard to get rid of.
SugarSync
Evernote
Lenovo MyCloud
VeriSign VIP Access
Intel AppUp
and the biggest offender - Lenovo SimpleTap -- You can't get rid of the SimpleTap without uninstalling the individual apps first.
It would be nice if the system showed a dialog box that said "Hey, here are some cool apps we highly recommend and you may want to look at", instead of pre-installing all these stupid apps.
On top of that I ran into the Windows updates failing issue.
So I ended up specnding 4+ hours just to get the system right.
Lenovo and Microsoft need to understand that they need to deliver an excellent and functional experience to users and not push any stupid system that they have come up with just to make an extra buck.
Look at Apple products. People love Apple products (I don't, but I do admire them) because of the simple and functional experience they provide.
In short install just what is necessary. You can let users know that there are other goof programs but leave it up to the users.

kamaleshp wrote:
Thanks for your response ThorsHammer.
In fact that is exactly what I am going to do this weekend.
I am in the middle of posting another message asking for recommendations and experience on the absolute minimum I can get away with.
Right now I am thinking Windows 7, System Update and Power Manager.
In my case, I installed the following:
Windows 7
Intel chipset drivers
Intel WIFI driver (wifi driver only)
Intel Ethernet driver
Lenovo Power Management driver
Lenovo Power Manager
Optimus video drivers for Intel HD 4000 and NVIDIA 5200M
RealTek audio driver - I think this also installed Dolby Home Theater v4
Ricoh Media driver
Lenovo Ultranav driver
Webcam driver
I don't install much more than that. I like to manually check the download areas for updates so I don't install Lenovo ThinkPad System Update.

I m using apple mac pc, when we start windows 7 , apple mouse doesn't work properly it take to much time to gain signals from the pc and many times it not work but when we use mac it moves fastly and works properly. please suggest me. thanks ravi

i m using apple mac pc, when we start windows 7 , apple mouse doesn't work properly it take to much time to gain signals from the pc and many times it not work but when we use mac it moves fastly and works properly. please suggest me.
thanks
ravi
<Email removed by Host>

sounds more like Bluetooth rather than moue, but w/o knowing w/o posting mac model type/year we... will... not... know... what you have
All computers are personal computers, a PC though is also "non-Apple" in common usage.
Mac also is platform and OS.
Very confused reading what you are trying to tell us.

Mac Mini first boot and bluetooth keyboard not recognised

Hi Apple Support Community-
I have just purchased a brand new Mac Mini and App Wireless Keyboard. Unfortunately upon first boot, the Mac Mini is requesting I connect my bluetooth keyboard by switching it on, however even though the green light flashes, after the 5 second startup acknowledgement, there is no response from the Mac Mini.
To confirm the keyboard is working, I have successfully paired it with my MacBook. I do not have a USB Keyboard or Mouse and without purchasing additional hardware, do you have any suggestions to work around this problem?
Thanks, Julian

Hi Julian,
Sometime a Mac can't pickup the connection of a bluetooth keyboard or mouse is normal. Whatever your Mac is brand new or not.
I will do the following if the brand new Mac can't pickup the bluetooth connection, but make sure the bluetooth keyboard and mouse is not yet paired with other computer, that means you have to un-pair the keyboard and mouse from your MacBook before you perform the follow step:
- Switch off the Mac
- Switch off the Keyboard and Mouse which not yet paired with other computer, remove its battery, and re-install the battery after 10 seconds
- Switch on the Keyboard and Mouse first, make sure both devices have a green light flashes (the light flashed at intervals, like a pulse **...**...sorry my poor English), that means the devices is discoverable.
- Switch on the Mac asap if all the bluetooth keyboard and mouse is ready, and let the Mac pair both device (according the screen instruction)
If the method still doesn't work, the worst case is: i'm afraid you have to connect wired keyboard and mouse to finish the Setup Assistant, and pair both bluetooth devices by Bluetooth Preferences. Once both bluetooth devices connected, disconnect wired keyboard and mouse.

T500 first impressions and questions

I just received my computer this afternoon and I have been playing with it for the last couple
of hours. I thought I would share my first impressions:
Like I have been told, the build quality seems solid and quite impressive.
I am surprised by how much I like the simple, dated appearance of the notebook. The
off center screen isn't something that I find noticeable. And although I don't like how much
the 9 cell battery sticks out the back, it is one of those things where the performance
is worth the price. All in all, I feel that the appearance is very discreet.
I don't like that there are only 3 USB ports, but I knew what I was getting into. I didn't realize
how close together they are and I hope that I don't run into problems when I need to plug
multiple items in.
Thus far, the system runs extremely quiet and quite cool.
The startup/shutdown is much slower than I thought it would be (windows vista, SSD,GHz)
but I haven't really tried to optimize it because I am waiting for the arrival of my windows 7
disk. I just anticipated a faster and more responsive boot/load/etc time with the build
specs I chose.
I do not find that there is any noticeable flex in my keyboard. I obviously haven't used it much,
but so far so good. I was surprised by how small the touchpad area is, but I hope that is something
I get used to and something that is balanced out by the touchpoint technology.
I haven't tried to watch or listen to anything yet so I don't really know how I feel about that
aspect.
I still haven't figured out many of the intricacies and options presumably because I come
from using XP (which I regret not downgrading to) and am also not used to business class
laptops.
I was wondering what the best way to get the gunk left behind after the removal of the windows vista sticks offer?
Am I correct in assuming that I can use the fingerprint reader as my master password for firefox?
If so, is there an easy to follow guide that someone can link me to? I have tried to look it up, but
haven't encountered anything that has been too helpful. I am not extremely proficient when it comes
to setting up these types of things.

I know that I also responded to your other posting on this matter, but especially during video playback you can improve the colors quite a bit using the video drivers options.
AtticusJames wrote:
You may have noticed my other post about the display. I am overwhelmingly disappointed.
I brought it to a non-discerning friend for a second opinion and after watching a short
amount of video and looking at a couple of pictures side by side with other computers
she seconded the extreme lack of quality.
One of the video clips involved a lady with blond hair and my friend noted that on the t500
her hair appeared almost white because of the lack of colour
Thinkpad T500-2081 CTO | T9400 2.53GHz | 8 GB RAM | ATI HD3650 + Intel GM45 | 15.4" LED WXGA+ | Windows 8 | ATI Catalyst 13.1 (non-switchable)
Thinkpad 390x | PII 333 | 256mb ram | NeoMagic 256AV | SVGA LCD | OS/2 v4.52

How do I save PSD files created in windows so MAC users can open and work

I have been designing photoshop files for sale to photographers online and all of my work has been created in a windows 7 system. I had a photographer contact me saying that the PSD was trouble to open and that the fonts would not work on his MAC computer.
Can someone supply me with information on creating/saving windows PSD files so that a MAC user can open them and also use the fonts I supply with the files.
The files I create are multilayered PSD's and contain fonts for windows PC use and I don't want to exclude MAC users from utilizing my work.
Any help appriciated.
Bqwhitten

Just save. There is no difference in files between platforms.
There are some Windows-centric font formats that aren't portable, by any OpenType or TrueType font will be portable between platforms.

Is there actually any computer cleaning software for Mac that is safe and works?

Is there actually any cleaning software for IMac that issafe and works. Have an early 2008 iMac, have up-graded RAM to 6GB.

How to maintain a Mac
1. Make redundant backups, keeping at least one off site at all times. One backup is not enough. Don’t back up your backups; all should be made directly from the original data. Don’t rely completely on any single backup method, such as Time Machine. If you get an indication that a backup has failed, don't ignore it.
2. Keep your software up to date. In the App Store or Software Update preference pane (depending on the OS version), you can configure automatic notifications of updates to OS X and other Mac App Store products. Some third-party applications from other sources have a similar feature, if you don’t mind letting them phone home. Otherwise you have to check yourself on a regular basis.
Keeping up to date is especially important for complex software that modifies the operating system, such as device drivers. Before installing any Apple update, you must check that all such modifications that you use are compatible. Incompatibility with third-party software is by far the most common cause of trouble with system updates.
3. Don't install crapware, such as “themes,” "haxies," “add-ons,” “toolbars,” “enhancers," “optimizers,” “accelerators,” "boosters," “extenders,” “cleaners,” "doctors," "tune-ups," “defragmenters,” “firewalls,” "barriers," “guardians,” “defenders,” “protectors,” most “plugins,” commercial "virus scanners,” "disk tools," or "utilities." With very few exceptions, such stuff is useless or worse than useless. Above all, avoid any software that purports to change the look and feel of the user interface.
It's not much of an exaggeration to say that the whole "utility" software industry for the Mac is a fraud on consumers. The most extreme examples are the "CleanMyMac" and “MacKeeper” scams.
As a rule, the only software you should install is that which directly enables you to do the things you use a computer for, and doesn't change the way other software works.
Safari extensions, and perhaps the equivalent for other web browsers, are a partial exception to the above rule. Most are safe, and they're easy to get rid of if they don't work. Some may cause the browser to crash or otherwise malfunction. Some are malicious. Use with caution, and install only well-known extensions from relatively trustworthy sources, such as the Safari Extensions Gallery.
Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it. Otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.
4. Don't install bad, conflicting, or unnecessary fonts. Whenever you install new fonts, use the validation feature of the built-in Font Book application to make sure the fonts aren't defective and don't conflict with each other or with others that you already have. See the built-in help and this support article for instructions. Deactivate or remove fonts that you don't really need to speed up application launching.
5. Beware of malware. Malware is malicious software that circulates on the Internet. This kind of attack on OS X used to be so rare that it was hardly a concern, but it's now increasingly common, and increasingly dangerous.
There is some built-in protection against downloading malware, but you can’t rely on it — the attackers are always at least one day ahead of the defense. You can’t rely on third-party protection either. What you can rely on is common-sense awareness — not paranoia, which only makes you more vulnerable.
Never install software from an untrustworthy or unknown source. If in doubt, do some research. Any website that prompts you to install a “codec” or “plugin” that comes from the same site, or an unknown site, is untrustworthy. Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, must come directly from the developer's website. No intermediary is acceptable, and don’t trust links unless you know how to parse them. Any file that is automatically downloaded from the web, without your having requested it, should go straight into the Trash. A web page that tells you that your computer has a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with it, is a scam.
In OS X 10.7.5 or later, downloaded applications and Installer packages that have not been digitally signed by a developer registered with Apple are blocked from loading by default. The block can be overridden, but think carefully before you do so.
Because of recurring security issues in Java, it’s best to disable it in your web browsers, if it’s installed. Few websites have Java content nowadays, so you won’t be missing much. This action is mandatory if you’re running any version of OS X older than 10.6.8 with the latest Java update. Note: Java has nothing to do with JavaScript, despite the similar names. Don't install Java unless you're sure you need it. Most people don't.
6. Don't fill up your boot volume. A common mistake is adding more and more large files to your home folder until you start to get warnings that you're out of space, which may be followed in short order by a boot failure. This is more prone to happen on the newer Macs that come with an internal SSD instead of the traditional hard drive. The drive can be very nearly full before you become aware of the problem.
While it's not true that you should or must keep any particular percentage of space free, you should monitor your storage use and make sure you're not in immediate danger of using it up. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of free space on the startup volume for normal operation.
If storage space is running low, use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the most space. Move seldom-used large files to secondary storage.
7. Relax, don’t do it. Besides the above, no routine maintenance is necessary or beneficial for the vast majority of users; specifically not “cleaning caches,” “zapping the PRAM,” "resetting the SMC," “rebuilding the directory,” "defragmenting the drive," “running periodic scripts,” “dumping logs,” "deleting temp files," “scanning for viruses,” "purging memory," "checking for bad blocks," "testing the hardware," or “repairing permissions.” Such measures are either completely pointless or are useful only for solving problems, not for prevention.
To use a Mac effectively, you have to free yourself from the Windows mindset that every computer needs regular downtime maintenance such as "defragging" and "registry cleaning." Those concepts do not apply to the Mac platform. A computing device should not be a focus of your attention. It should be an almost invisible tool by means of which you communicate, work, and play. If you want a machine that is always whining for your attention like a neurotic dog, use a PC.
The very height of futility is running an expensive third-party application called “Disk Warrior” when nothing is wrong, or even when something is wrong and you have backups, which you must have. Disk Warrior is a data-salvage tool, not a maintenance tool, and you will never need it if your backups are adequate. Don’t waste money on it or anything like it.

The Skinny on IMAP vs POP Email and work arounds

     It took me a while to figure out email so I figured I'd share what I've learned so far. Do feel free to reply with more useful tips for us all if anyone has some.
First email accounts are either IMAP or POP and the first step was figuring out the difference:
IMAP
   Mirror of the server
What is done one place is done everywhere because you are looking at the server.
       Advantage: can access email from multiple devices/locations
       Disadvantage: May have to mark as read individually when adding to a new device
POP
   Independent of the server
What is done one place stays that place because you have moved it from the server.
        Advantage: once it's delivered the mail can be viewed offline
        Disadvantage: where ever it is delivered once, the other divices do no have access to the mail
Think of the server as a huge mailbox as big as a room!
   IMAP
With IMAP the mail stays in the mailbox until you delete it permenently,
    but once it is deleted it has moved out of the main part of the huge mailbox into the trash can in the room of the huge mailbox (the trash folder settings decide when the trash gets taken out and deleted permenently) when deleted permenently it is no longer in the trash can in the huge mailbox it has been taken out the the dump.
If you read it then it's like opening the mail but leaving it in the huge mailbox.
If you move it to another folder then it's like moving it to the desk in the room but still in the mailbox.
   POP
With POP the mail is taken out of the mailbox and moved to the computer (in the other room)
Once you request/download your mail it is taken off of the server and whatever is done with the mail the server no longer has access to it
If you read it (or move it to a folder) it is the same thing as Mom taking the mail out of the huge mailbox and putting it in the car, if Dad checks the mailbox the mail may have been delivered by Dad is not going to find it because it is no longer in the mailbox it is with Mom in the car.
Here a link that helped me figure it out:
http://www.office.mvps.org/glossary/pop_imap.html
So after you decide wether you want to use IMAP or POP which email carrier is which?
Microsoft Exchange is IMAP
MobileMe is IMAP
Yahoo! mail is IMAP
Hotmail is IMAP
Gmail is IMAP can be set up as POP
     see here for that: https://discussions.apple.com/message/8149520#8149520
~Most web-based email is IMAP (if it is designed to be accessed via the web by ANY computer it's likely IMAP)
     settings for incomming/outgoing servers:   http://www.emailaddressmanager.com/tips/mail-settings.html
AOL is POP can be set up as IMAP (origanally intended to be used with only one computer via the ISP)
      see here for that: http://email.about.com/od/aoltips/qt/Access_an_AOL_Email_Account_with_any_POP_IM AP_Email_Program.htm
Comcast is POP
Qwest is POP
Earthlink is POP
~Most ISP (internet service providers) email from a cable/internet company of a business specific email is a POP account
Use this chart HT1277 ( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1277 ) for contacting your service provider or IT department to acquire the proper settings for your email account!
Finally, as promised, work around for your email:
    If you only have access to a POP email account and it won't work on your iPhone or want it to act like an IMAP account, then follow these steps~
1)   Get a free IMAP email account (using Gmail for this example)
2) Sign in to your Gmail account
3) Click the gear icon in the upper-right
4) Select Gmail settings
5) Select the Accounts and Import tab
6) Under Send mail as, click Add another email address
7) In the 'Email address' field, Enter your name and alternate email address (ie the POP address)
8) Choose use Gmail's servers to send your mail
9) Click Next Step>>
10) Click Send Verification
             (Gmail will send a verification message to your alternate email address to confirm that you own it)
11) Open your other account and click the link in the message Gmail sent
12) Add your new Gmail account to your iphone
You will be able to send, receive, reply, forward, delete, and manage folders of your other address through your Gmail address on your phone and it will appear to the recipients as though it came from your other address.

Allan, I have run into questions in this area recently since I got my iPhone. I have a long time Charter ISP POP email account which I've accessed with Apple Mail. This has worked fine. I also have a Yahoo web based account which I've also used separately.
Now when I set up my Yahoo account on my iPhone it worked great. But when I set up the Charter account it resulted in an IMAP account with incoming and outgoing servers being mobile.charter.net. Charter website implies that all email accounts on all mobile devices must be set up like this. My question is whether I can, or should, try to set up the account manually as a POP on my iPhone so it will behave similarly to the Charter POP account in my iMac?
I've run into some conflicts after using my iPhone to access my Charter email. My inbox on my desktop iMac in Apple Mail will give me the message that another client is accessing the email account when I try to get new mail soon after my iPhone has been accessing the Charter account. I've wondered whether this is a conflict between IMAP and POP?
Confusing. Thanks.
Steve M.

Bundle export/import questions and work arounds

Hello,
I've begun to use bundles to migrate components from our test server to our production server. Bundles are a great feature which i missed the last time i worked with N1SPS a few years back. But i've found a few things that i had to work around.
1. It would be very nice to be able to set version to something like "latest" in the bundle, so i always get the latest version of all components when i do an export.
2. The bundle should be able to export in a certain order, first folder then components, then containers and lastly plans. Today i have to add everything to the bundle in this order or change the XML-file in the jar afterwards. A function to change the order in the bundle would also help.
3. Then the bundle is imported the container reefers to components of version 1.1 for some reason (in this case a directory), but it will import that component to version 1.0? I had to change the version reference in the XML to get this to work.
Any workaround or is it all RFE:s and bugfixes?
Regards
Henrik

Thank you for your fast reply. Is (1) something that could be object for a RFE? I think it's a common work flow to export the latest versions from a development server to a production server.
Regards
Henrik

Getting a "sticky" for all LP8 problems and work arounds/solutions?

Any chance we could get a sticky on this? It would be a lot faster than going thru the "Search Forum" option.
List the known issues
List the fix/work around for the issue
Rob

We asked for that in the L7 forum for years and got little in terms of a response (see below). And definitely no sticky!
Sure, there are a few knowledge base documents that describe issues with L8, but in general, acknowledging known problems is not something Apple does, unfortunately. How do I know this? Well, experience. And also, from what they have to say about their software in the Getting Started guide:
"Experience has shown that such system _problems are rarely caused by a defect in Apple programs or hardware products_. All Apple hardware and software is _rigorously tested_ by a diverse range of musicians and studio users, from a variety of fields and uses, who look for any faults or problems.
This doesn’t mean that the possibility of errors can be completely ruled out; problems can crop up periodically. This is not unexpected—as the various applications, operating system versions, and drivers—are all developed, and improved in parallel by unrelated programming teams. This can lead to occasional compatibility problems. _Apple provides fixes in the form of software updates, as soon as such problems are identified._ Apple is always grateful to users who report any problems."
(emphasis added by iSchwartz)
If that isn't a profound mixture of truths, half-truths, and flat-out lies.
Now... there is some kind of "tips" board somewhere amongst Apple's Discussion Forums. When the subject of having a sticky came up once on the L7 board a while ago, a mod suggested that I submit tips/workarounds for inclusion on that board. I checked it out and it's a freekin' nightmare to find anything. And "submitting" tips means that someone has to approve it, and who knows if that person would be Logic-savvy or not. So there it is...

S10-3t First impressions and hands on review

Hello everyone!
I got my s10-3t yesterday as expected from Tigerdirect.com. They had the best all around deal that should cost me about $460 after Bing Cashback. I got the 8 cell battery and the 250GB HD....nice setup.
I ordered a 2GB memory upgrade from upgradenation.com for $35 shipped. It should arrive tomorrow.
I also ordered a Targus netbook case from Amazon, but am sad to say that this thing with the battery installed is too wide to fit the case. It was the best selling choice for 10.1" netbooks, but it just doesn't fit this one. I've ordered a replacement case...I'll post my success when it arrives.
So, onto the review:
Out of the box, this took only about 5 minutes to power on and setup. Lenovo tries to get you to pull the trigger on several add-on apps upon booting the first time, but you can skip it. These are programs like ID vault and other useful but unnecessary programs. After skipping that, I setup a few things for Windows, and we're in! My wireless network detected without a hitch. I'm using a Zyxel 550N router...great signal and reception.
Touch screen:
I was anxious to try the touch screen, so I dove in and tried the lenovo installed stuff 1st. Lenovo Natural Touch is the app that appears to be much like the U1 interface shown at CES. Very "Iphone-like". It runs a little laggy at first, but when you get a feel for the touch speed, it is actually quite responsive. I tried playing with pictures and the multi-touch works great! IT DOES WORK without having to upgrade windows to a higher version than starter edition...but, using lenovo's custom software. I played the sample video which ran pretty smooth and looked just fine. I then tried the notes app and recorded a video of myself which worked as expected. I was able to write on sticky notes witout a problem using my fingertip. I also bought a Pogo which I think works fine for the touch points and just okay for actual writing.
So, I had a license for Win7 Pro and decided to install it since it added full support for tablets. I got a student deal for $29 a while back...couldn't resist. So, I did the anytime upgrade and it took about 20 minutes total. Whalla...Win7 Pro.
I quickly installed Office 2007 including OneNote. They all work fine and multi-touch works to zoom in Word and powerpoint. OneNote is super for this tablet!!! You can take documents and use a highliter on screen or scribble notes on top of text documents...VERY COOL and will be quite useful!
LCD quality
The screen is beautiful--very clear and while reflective/glossy, the quality is excellent, bright and easy to look at.
The screen of course can be viewed vertically or normally. In portrait mode, I found the picture to be a little less sharp and it puts a slight strain on the eye. I'm not sure if its the refresh rate or what, but there is a slight metallic sheen to images and a little bit of a contrast issue. Nothing major, but definitely noticeable. By default, the accelerometer is turned off
Web tests:
It of course has IE, but I downloaded Firefox for security and personal preference reasons. Both run fine. They both seem to respond to the multitouch and the spread gesture zooms in, while swiping scrolls. You can easily navigate like you would on an Iphone. Speed was good.
I played a few flash games and they played full speed. My 3 yr old daughter even played some games at nickjr.com and used the touch screen to control them with ease!
I then tried streaming movies on netflix....perfect playback although the screen size and format can waste a little screen real estate. I played a 4:3 movie and it wasted a lot of space until I went full screen...the small browser window made it so you had to scroll up or down a bit in order to see the whole picture. Going full-screen fixed it.
So, flash and silverlight work just fine. I plan to try some other games soon to push this a little....I'll report back as I get time.
Inking:
I have no experience with other units that have the RF pens, but I can say that the inking/writing is not overly intuitive. Windows Journal and other tablet apps work great though. One I train myself and calibrate this to my writing, I think it'll improve a lot. The pen/highlighter that I can use in other Office apps is going to be useful for research and school work. The handwriting recognition is not super and almost a waste for inputting a lot of text, even with the Pogo stylus I bought. Plan to use this for drawing and less detailed writing...
Misc. Stuff:
SD card reader works great and you can flip through pictures on the card via the Lenovo Natural touch app. The speakers and sound quality are not good at all. It is very "tin-ny" and not loud, though in a quiet room I guess it would be ok. Voices in a movie are audible, but the EQ is bad. I didn't try headphones, but I'm positive that they'd improve the listening experience. A program called "Bumptop" is included an pretty cool to show off touch features. It creates a 3-D environment for files and pictures that you can move around and stick on walls, stack up or sort. A brief tutorial shows you how...pretty cool. Like many other Lenovo products, this too has the facial recognition which works okay. It came with McAfee security suite on it, which I promptly removed since I'm not a fan. I am just using MS Security Suite and Malicious SW tools....works fine for me. I won't do any risky browsing anyway on this. I haven't tried an eBook, but I think this won't look any different than a regular notebook. The screen is certainly not e-ink though I think it'll serve the purpose for those of us who want the capability, but don't plan to buy a kindle or even the iPad.
The 8-cell battery works great as a grip when using this in portrait/tablet modes. The keyboard has a nice feel to it, though fast touch-typists like myself are going to struggle when trying to type a lot. The left-hand side of the KB is slightly smaller for shift/tab/caps keys, but still very useable. Full sized keys, but the layout is just slightly off. The SD slot is in the front and covered when not in use...
Final Thoughts:
I bought this because I wanted something to travel with and Apple didn't really announce what I needed in January. So, I wanted something new and cool...which this is. I thought the idea of a touch interface was in line with progress and I'm happy I got this. For the price, this is a sound solution for a netbook that gives you just enough "shiny and new" to keep interest. The touch is not a gimmick and I will make use of it for sure. The build quality is solid and the look/finish is beautiful, though a finger print magnet for sure. Overall, I must say that I am quite happy with this purchase. As a Mac user, I often have a less than stellar outlook on PC machines, though Win7 is a huge improvment. Not without the issues that plauge all Windows machines, this Lenovo is exactly what I wanted and will prove to be a great 2nd laptop and travel companion.

My review will be very brief, i just received it, so didn't experience a lot of features but on the whole am very happy with it and share the impressions posted below. I purchased the DAGi stylus for 25$ to write on quick notes and Windows journal and it completes my finger quite well. So the lack of a built-in stylus shouldn't demotivate anyone from purchasing this and Lenovo technical support has been very friendly and helpful in the one issue i had due to my lack of experience. It's a perfect device for travelling and to use as a second laptop.

Mac pro first generation and SSD

Hi,
I want to add 1 or 2 SSD's to my first generation mac pro. I'm still running leopard, and want to keep that version.
Which brand works best with mac ?
And what about the trim function ? Is this implemented in OSX ?

Excellent questions, I too am looking at SSD.
Some things I know about SSD:
1. Intel recently released new firmware for their SSD drives to improve long term performance including Trim/Garbage collection.
2. SSD drives can be setup as SLC or MLC - SLC is faster read 2X, write 4X over MLC, however SLC is smaller capacity. SLC also has a longer life span.
3. Intel plans to have an 320GB X25-M (MLC) and a 128GB X25-E (SLC) out soon.
OSX does not fully support Trim and I'm not aware of any 3rd party software for OSX that helps in the garbage collection area. Diskeeper 2010 for Windows 7 provides full support for all variants of SSD, but nothing on the Mac side.
I'm probably going to wait for 2010 to see what comes out, SSD appears to be good news, but it still also seems to have issues. Given the cost of these drivers and the frequent firmware updates, a wait and see is my choice.
I've thought about going with a SAS RAID controller and 15K RAID drivers, but the cost/performance ratio comes out about the same and the 15K drives are noisey and power hungry but they're a "known" entity.
Rob

New MacBook Pro retina 13" arrived - first impressions and questions!

My new MacBook Pro retina 13" arrived today, two weeks earlier than the promised delivery date. My version is the 2.6 GHz i5, 512 GB SSD and I maxed the RAM out to 16 GB, since there is no upgrade later. I also customized the keyboard, since I live in Japan but prefer the US keyboard.
I posted unpacking photos and initial comments to my blog: http://lerner.net/new-macbook-pro-arrived/
I want to talk about some of those points, and ask some more detailed questions here. I hope others find the questions useful.
1. The keyboard is extremely nice. I like it better than the Bluetooth keyboard I have for my iMac right now. It has a nice feel to it.
2. No dead pixels! As some of you might now from old messages, I get really paranoid about new Apple notebook computers. If I find even one dead pixel it gnaws at me and I call Apple and complain until they exchange it for a perfect screen. Well I’m happy to report that I went through thorough pixel tests in white, black, red, blue and green and all the pixels seem 100% perfect. Yay!
4. The speaker seems quite nice. I played some music, and it sounded very beautiful to me, with good volume. I know some reviews of the MacBook Pro criticize the speaker quality, but it sounds as good or better than any of the speakers I currently have. I was quite pleased with that.
5. The retina display is very beautiful of course. I don’t need to have it turned up anywhere near the maximum brightness. There is a very good illumination range.
6. Because of the SSD drive, start up is very quick. Also it makes no noise at all. And it’s very light. I’m glad I went for the 13 inch pro model. It was just a little bit more expensive, and just 200 g heavier. I can see this replacing my iMac with the external monitor I bought.
Some questions:
Q1. Do I need protection pads for the hand rest to prevent discoloration over time? My old MBP 17" would get black-blotchey after a while. Eventually I got the top case replaced under AppleCare and protected it with pads. That was the late 2006 model. Is the construction material the same? Will my nice metal body lose its metallic finish and show dark blotches over time without protection?
Q2. What are the best practices for battery use and sleep? My iMac is on all the time and only the display sleeps. I hear it's not best for the lifetime of the MacBook Pro to leave it connected all the time. Yet I need to run my daily CCC (Carbon Copy Clone) complete bootable backup, which runs at 3:30 am every day. So it seems I need to keep it plugged in all the time. Any suggestions here, regarding both battery charging and also turning it off vs putting it to sleep vs power nap vs leaving it running all the time like I do with my iMac?
Q3. Is the "put hard disk to sleep when possible" meaningful at all for SSD?
Q4. Is there a sleep indicator when the lid is closed? I didn't notice any.
Q5. I notice I can view my iMac's music and TV library and everything plays instantly. That’s just wireless right? Because I have sharing turned on on my iMac I suppose. It seems as fast as if it were on my MacBook Pro though.
Q6. A strategy question: I wonder if I should migrate from Time Machine and carry along years of garbage and wasted disk space, or just install and move things as needed. I'm tempted to do the latter and start afresh. Especially since a lot of stuff is in the cloud already: Evernote, Dropbox, etc. Initial installation of some apps, like Parallels Desktop and Office might take some time, but I bet I would save a huge amount of disk space. Yet the Migration tool which uses Time Machine is supposed to be good.
I guess that's it for now.
Thanks,
Doug

hands4 wrote:
Q6 (Migrate using Time Machine?)
If you don't want to automatically bring over everything, I would use CCC to clone the old system drive and then use that clone to drag the wanted files onto the new machine. I would treat that CCC clone as a read-only archive until you were sure there are no additional files you want to migrate.
I use a combination of CCC and Time Machine to backup my Mac. CCC provides the reliability of simplicity and quick booting should the internal drive fail. Time Machine's incremental backups have saved my bacon several times when a file "disapeared" or I saved a modificaton that I needed to reverse. However the complexity of Time Machine during full restores can be a problem. I have had Time Machine full restores fail at which time I was very happy I had a second backup to fall back on. It is prudent to maintain more than one backup.
I agree completely about using the combination of CCC and Time Machine and it sounds like you and I use it the exact same way, and for the exact same reason. I hae also had Time Machine full restores fail (particularly with Apple Mail) and was very glad to also have the CCC backup.
The only thing I'm concerned about is making sure I grab everything I need for particular applications. For example, I'm not quite sure what all needs to be copied over from CCC to the new computer for Office 2008, which I am still running. It might be easier in that case to re-install certain software.
Thanks,
Doug

S12 first impressions - and 3-cell battery question

Hello all,
I received my Lenovo S12 yesterday - it is replacing a 5 year old Dell 700m.
I didn't even boot Windows, but instead directly installed Ubuntu 9.04. So far everything is working great!
My only complaint so far is, of course, the lack of trackpoint. I know it is an IdeaPad, but I still don't understand why Lenovo doesn't put trackpoint on their Netbooks! It would be a major differentiator in a competitive market.
I really, really want to get a 3-cell battery. The 6-cell will be great for travelling, but around the house, I would prefer it to be lighter/slimmer.
I can't find 3 cell black batteries for the S series ANYWHERE. Is this just a temporary situation? Anyone want to sell me theirs?
xnappo
[EDIT] I found this battery:
3-Cell???
Will that work?
Message Edited by xnappo on 07-11-2009 07:52 AM

Yea, 3 cell is definitely better for daily use. Can you use S10's 3 cell on S12?
lol my old dell 600m is still there, alive, but I have replaced the hard drive twice and motherboard once. All covered in the warranty.
Thinkpad T60 widescreen + Idealcentre K300 + S10e.

I am getting a licesing error 150:30 CS4 Encor on my mac pro. what is the work flow to fix this

I bought CS4 Encor from Adobe. CS4 Encor has been removed from my account. Encor no longer works. i get a 150:30 licensing error. I use a up to date Mac Book Pr .How do i fix the error and restore my Adobe account.

Have you seen this?
Error "Licensing has stopped working" | Mac OS

Encore 5.1 Mac OX - First Impressions and Work Arounds

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