[urrl5201]

Did you ever get your Powerbook? Did I miss something?

[videian28]

last input from her was she had weekend long issues getting her airport to work, some what irritating (very pissed off switcher by her words)

also waiting to hear her review when she is up and running

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by videian28:
last input from her was she had weekend long issues getting her airport to work, some what irritating (very pissed off switcher by her words)

also waiting to hear her review when she is up and running

Yep, that's also the last word I heard...I'm sure there's just some minor conflict holding it up, or either the actual AirPort base station is bad, which is replaceable. I had a moment of switcher madness as well, but as soon as I got everything running again it's been a dream.

[pamelah]

Hey Everyone...didn't realize that you would miss *one* person's review Thanks for caring (*warm feelings inside*)

I received everything but my powerbook one week ago yesterday. I received my powerbook last thursday (5 days ago)...since then I have been tweaking and downloading and transferring and tweaking some more. So what follows is my list of hardware and my "review".

SETUP:

17" powerbook with 1024mb RAM
23" cinema display
airport extreme base station
white JBL creature speakers
apple pro keyboard
apple pro mouse
mac ally mini transparent double button scroll mouse
20gig "classic" ipod
pink iskin/orange iskin
griffin car ipod car charger
griffin powermate
griffin i curve
griffin iFM and iTRIP (yet to ship)
acme bags Eames pattern bag
acme powerbook screen "suede" monitor cover
canon S9000 wide format printer
canon N1220U scanner
fuji 2800zoom digital camera
VPC 6

...and that's it. lol

OK...now for the review.

I setup all of my hardware on the monday...getting everything in the perfect spot and pushing my windows box to the side ( ) unfortunately the thing that everything needed to plug into wasn't here yet so it was like torture looking at the blank screen

So thursday it came with my husband from across the border YAY! and i ripped that thing open and got it up and running (unfortunately I had the last project for school due the next day so I had to show some restraint).

So the first thing I did was *try* and set up the base station and network with my PC...took a while and it turned out I had the stupid cables in the wrong holes grrrr. Anyway it was up and running and working nicely Then I downloaded the upgrades and a few versiontracker things...

Next day (since i pulled an allnighter) I was pretty much out of commission and had to go to a gathering that evening so i didn't play with it till the next day (saturday). Well this is where the internet connection problem started happening which I won't get into (my ISP is bringing by a new cable modem to see if that stops the problem...but I think the AEBS is causing some of the problems...I have to restart and unplug and replug frequently). I also started switching my files over from my PC to my mac with the network connection. I also got a .mac account. I got all my music into itunes, got my mail setup..stuff like that.

We during this whole process it didn't go completely smoothly...my mac crashed 4 times transferring files and I had to restart it constantly due to the internet problem. So let's say I was less than amused. I'm not sure where the blame should lay (with the cable modem or the PC samba connection) but it's all fine now and I'm one freaking happy girl!

cont....

[pamelah]

cont....

So i've got everything setup now (including itunes 4) and I fixed all of my song information so it would list and show properly (that took all of yesterday practicallly) and then went for a long jog with my new ipod in its pinky case It worked beautifully!! The iskin gave it a nice grip and it never skipped once. I even liked the earbuds which I haven't used since the early '90's! lol I found the remote pretty useless cuz I like to hold the ipod in my hand or in my pocket so I can easily get to the controls. The only problem was trying to access the buttons around the scroll with the iskin on...that was a little *tough* but still ok. it's a little weighty but feels solid and sturdy..,not heavy enough to weigh me down, but I sure do like the idea of the lighter/thinner 15gig version that was just announced along with the butttons gone around the wheel and the on the fly list...so if anyone wants to buy mine...used once...it's up for sale

ok what else. back to the computer. The screen is just freaking huge and gorgeous with beautiful quality showing fonts etc...I have it set up with my laptop on the icurve which I like the laptop sitting on (but don't like it for working on) and I'm using the extended desktop and have my mail and itunes and konfab stuff on. the keyboard is taking some getting used to cuz i was used to the microsoft natural one with the quickkeys at the top. i'd love if apple came out with an elegant version of it, but for now there is no way I'm using anything other than this pro keyboard for just looks alone! lol. I also downloaded mousezoom to speed up the mouse a little. i also find it a little tough to navigate without a mousepad...i have to get to such tiny buttons onthe screen..i already have a knot in my shoulder. I need to find a nice elegant mouse pad.

i always have my itunes running and the speakers are perfect for my use... i love them and I love the *touch* sound buttons (even though I generally just use the volume buttons on the keyboard)

I like the mail program...it's nice and simple..but I need to find out how to get newsgroups on it.

i've got konfabulator like I mentioned running the weather, the todo list, the calendar and a special one for a different mac forum which shows the updated threads.

I'm running like I don't know...4-6 programs at once and the machine doesnt even blink! It's awesome!

i do have the sizzle problem though and when I came back from lunch and it was sleeping it was emitting a loud screeching sound?! i woke it up and then it was fine..but I'm not impressed with these two problems.

Oh yeah...my printer works great through the network

I have yet to get my programs up and running to test that part of it...still have to *get* them. but going by the feel of everything else and the new real estate I think it's going to be freaking awesome.

As a switcher I'm still getting used to a couple of things (I hate the keyboard controls..and am slowing but happily getting used to different sized windows being everywhere )
but that's OSX stuff....other than that I can't even tell you how freaking happy I am to have switched. I love everything I have an it's a pleasure to use/look at it all....and my PC looks so freaking sad over in the corner...god...it's so ugly (and I had nice stuff!)

So that's about it. You can feel free to comment or ask me questions....I'll be here playing as long as my connection works...lol...

[AssassyN]

Ahhh, nice to hear your review!

But just as I expected, you've had serveral crashes thanks to Apple's Samba transfers with your PC. Be warned, those crashes rendered my machine unbootable. For safe and consistant file transfers everytime from PC to Mac, pleaseee, by all means, read my method here (originally posted in the Networking Forum):

---"Switching to Mac and have tons of mp3s, Word docs, and other vital files that you really need on your Mac?

Well of course you can buy Move2Mac, or any other file transfer software/special cables, but of course no one wants to pay anything when it can be done easier. Well, there's a nifty option of "Connect to Server" on Macs in which you can mount your PC's hard drive on your Mac's desktop when both computers are on the same LAN and drag files onto your Mac, but this presents a huge problem at times. This feature is still very unstable a large majority of the time, and it was consistantly freeze up both machine in the process of transferring files, and as a Mac newbie I had no other clue what to do when I myself tried this but to keep restarting both machines and trying again. Well about 15 tries later a hard reset did more than make me ill, it screwed a boot sector on my 17" PBs hard drive, rendering the machine completely unbootable, even after running Disk Utility numerous times, and even trying to "Archive & Install". I was left with no option but to completely reformat & reinstall OS X, rendering all my previous setting up the machine work useless.

So after reinstalling, spending countless hours awake re-setting up everything and getting over my anger, I was still back to the drawing board presented with the same problem: I had 19.5gigs of mp3s on my PC that I really needed on my Mac, and no USB/FireWire External HD. So after racking my brain, I thought of something to try, and lo and behold it worked 98% seemlessly, was absolutely free, and never once caused my Mac any trouble! So what is this magical solution? Well, the thing you'd probably never think of, actually: Yahoo Messenger.

The latest versions of Yahoo Messenger for PC & Mac have something amazing built-in: when two users are logged on, and sending messages and files (the files is the key here) over the same LAN, it automatically defaults to sending those messages/files via the LAN rather than the internet. So this allows for speeds up to 100Mbps for File Transfers between the machines connected via Yahoo Messenger on the same LAN! So you log onto Y! Messenger on your PC using one username, and on your Mac using another messagename, message each other, request to send a file, make the Mac accept it, and BAM! Your file is instantly being transferred from the PC to the Mac at LAN speeds and it won't crash the machines like "Connect to Server" will! The only reason I said "98%" seemless above is that ONE single time out of 30 transfers my PC *ONLY* locked up and required a reboot, while the Mac just cancelled the transfer and awaited another one...BEAUTIFUL!!

However, the only limitation I've seen is that the files need to be under 900MB in size, as 900MB+ files will download but WON'T finalize and save onto the Mac's HD (I let it sit 6 hours hoping it would eventually save, but it won't, so just divide files up to chunks of 900MB and under). So I created about 25 or so .zip files using StuffIt for Windows with ~900MB of mp3s in each of them, and a couple hours later, I had all 19gigs of my music onto my Mac without crashing the Mac a single time!

So, in conclusion, Yahoo Messenger is the answer to all home networking transfers between PC's and Macs! Just have both machines on a LAN and Y! Messenger will send files at LAN speeds! WOOHOO!! Hope this helps other switchers out, enjoy! "---

If you have any other questions just lemme know...congrats on switching, and I hope it continues to impress!

[AssassyN]

And one last thing, don't sell your 20 GIG iPod. The pros that it has over the new ones are numerous, just check my posts in the Perphs. forums.

[Mskr]

Whoa. But, AssassyN, you DO have an external HD: your iPod! Even if Y! Messenger works, you have to slice the files up (as you say), which is just... GAH! If you don't have a FW port on your PC, you could get one for under $30, can't you?

Just the thought of having to slice every MP3 I have that is more than 900k is something I just wouldn't want to do...

But, I'm glad it worked for you...

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by Mskr:
Whoa. But, AssassyN, you DO have an external HD: your iPod! Even if Y! Messenger works, you have to slice the files up (as you say), which is just... GAH! If you don't have a FW port on your PC, you could get one for under $30, can't you?

Just the thought of having to slice every MP3 I have that is more than 900k is something I just wouldn't want to do...

But, I'm glad it worked for you...

I got my iPod *AFTER* I needed all these files transfered. And it's 900"MEGS", not 900k my friend...900k chunks would be next to insane.

Plus, I have no FireWire port on my PC, and the whole purpose of this is FREE file transfers. For a bit more I could've just bought Move2Mac.

[chipchen]

hmm... could someone answer this: (?)

if I have a firewire port on my PC and boot my powerbook (WHEN I GET IT!!!!) into target disk mode holding t, will my PC see it as a HD?

[catalystC]

holy crapz, what's quite the setup.

[bbales]

Pamelah -- Someone on another thread (or maybe it was this one; I forget) mentioned that very superb book by David Pogue, "OSX: The missing Manual." Get that and that will help the switching problem. If nothing else, it's an excellent reference tool.

Happy computing!

[ngrundy]

pamelah you mentioned that you like to use MS natural keyboards. I have a MS natural pro USB keyboard here and it works fine with my Tibook. I do highly recomend grabbing the MS drivers for it off of their website (it lists them as for 10.1.3 but they work fine). Infact i'm typing this message on my natural right now

chipchen you asked about TDM when plugged into your PC. In a word. No, unless you happen to be able to read/write HFS+ file systems on your PC. In TDM your Powerbook becomes an expensive firewire disk drive.

[pamelah]

Originally posted by bbales:
Pamelah -- Someone on another thread (or maybe it was this one; I forget) mentioned that very superb book by David Pogue, "OSX: The missing Manual." Get that and that will help the switching problem. If nothing else, it's an excellent reference tool.

Happy computing!

yeah i have that and the osx killer tips books. practice practice practice

and to ngrundy...i've got a brand new ms natural keyboard sitting right here with my pc...but i can't bear to use it with my beautiful system...it's so freaking ugly..same with all of the 5 button mice out there

[ngrundy]

Originally posted by pamelah:
and to ngrundy...i've got a brand new ms natural keyboard sitting right here with my pc...but i can't bear to use it with my beautiful system...it's so freaking ugly..same with all of the 5 button mice out there

heh, as much as I like the keyboard on my Ti I'm more into the preservation of my wrists and back from nasty injury.

though I do agree on the mouse thing the big ass 5 button mice are a pain to use I have a cheep logitech mouse man pilot here.