Need Mac Advice: Help Scotty to the dark side...

[TeleScooby]

So who here is hardcore enough to use Quicksilver on their Mac?

x2

Since I found that app, I don't generally bother taking my mighty mouse mobile anymore!

 

[HongerVenture]

This thread is great. Thanks everyone.

I am shopping for a Mac laptop. Its main use, at first, is for my wife's Master's Program work which will be in Chile for 4 months later this year. She needs to run MS Word for the written info, and will need to store many photos from a digital 7mpg P&S camera. She says there is a statistics program she'll need to use also but I don't know the name of it. She says it is a PC-only program. Later uses for the Mac will be on road trips in our van. I don't have any GPS programs now but plan to get and use them. Email and internet weather access from the road will be needed. Also we'll need to store many photos from my Canon 5D when on road trips too. So would this machine, that Scott spec'ed, be best?:

2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
200GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
Accessory Kit

And where would you recommend buying it?

Thanks in advance,

Brian

Brian,

I think this outfit would work great for your wife. Nothing you mention regarding application use necessarily warrants the extra horsepower... other than perhaps the Statistics software.

For that I'd recommend a Bootcamp partition (built in to lates Mac OS) with Windows XP so you can use the Statistics app as necessary. Heck, a virtualization software such as Parallels may be better since you only need Windows for one app. There are plenty of options out there to get her Windows-only app running on your Mac.

I'd go with the Macbook Pro over the plain Macbook due to screen size. With wanting to use it for photo viewing and GPS use, the 15" screen will be more suited I'd think. While it may be more power than needed the Macbook Pro offers infinite versatility on the road as it is essentially fullsize desktop power crammed into a very accomodating form factor. If the price scares you, go with a Macbook and I'm sure you'll be quite happy.

Joel

 

[Desertdude]

You do get more connectivity with the MacBookPro including the 34 express card for fast Esata drive options.

No better time to by an Apple product than now...

 

[TeleScooby]

For that I'd recommend a Bootcamp partition (built in to lates Mac OS) with Windows XP so you can use the Statistics app as necessary. Heck, a virtualization software such as Parallels may be better since you only need Windows for one app.

VMWare Fusion will fit your needs quite nicely. Unless you or your wife will be booting into Windows an using it for extremely processor intensive programs for hours straight...there's just no need. VMware even has Unity mode now that lets you start up a windows program, then use it, move it around, even minimize it to the dock just like a Mac app, all without having to deal with the Windows desktop blocking your view!

I've been using it for several months now for both work and personal use and swear by it.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Add another Mac convert to the list!! I just bought a Macbook Pro. :wings:

Now...how does this thing work?

 

[nwoods]

Add another Mac convert to the list!! I just bought a Macbook Pro. :wings:

Now...how does this thing work?

LOL, we are in the same boat. My wife got a MacBook Pro from her office to use at home. She can VPN into her office's windows network just fine, but everything else has been very difficult. I would sum up Mac as: It's easy when it works, but its REALLY hard to fix if it doesn't

After two weeks of diligent effort, I got our printer (Cat5 to a router shared off a PC) to work. Yeah! The network permissions and credentials issues between the MBP and our Vista primary home machine is still giving me fits. And I have not figured the new iTunes Home Connection thing, where you are supposed to be able to share your library. It doesn't work.
iPhoto is not nearly as intitutive as I would have thought, and everything else is backward. I struggle to figure out when to hit the Control button verses the Command Button to simulate a right click (it varies depending the function!), and simple things, like saving a document to a specific folder instead of the default Documents parent folder are completely obscure. For some reason, our internet speed is crippled. I have a G router, but our bandwidth is Waaayyy slow. MTU settings are set to default maximum.

Its shiny, and the keyboard is nice, but I am not a fan boy.

 

[Pskhaat]

MTU settings are set to default maximum.

Likely not your performance problems, but high MTU will not necessarily help speed-wise on error prone networks (dial-up, radio), additionally you will likely fragment your packets both at the ethernet switch and again over your uplink to your ISP by bumping it. Try keeping MTU defaults.

 

[nwoods]

Likely not your performance problems, but high MTU will not necessarily help speed-wise on error prone networks (dial-up, radio), additionally you will likely fragment your packets both at the ethernet switch and again over your uplink to your ISP by bumping it. Try keeping MTU defaults.

Agreed. I have three other laptops and an iPhone that hit the same network, it's only the Mac that has issues. Interestingly, at her office, (with an -N network), the connection is ridiculously fast. Something like 2.5Gbit throughput. Compared to the 50kBit at home.... Something is wrong, but I can't figure out what.