[rugerpower]

Hi,

I'll be receiving my new 12" 1.33ghz powerbook hopefully next week. Here are a few inquiries:

+ I'll be getting the combo drive version. Is it possible to have the combo drive replaced with a superdrive one in the future?

+ Any suggestions what to do upon opening the box? Like how to check for defects or anything.

+ Would the 256mb built-in RAM be sufficient for word processing, watching dvds, and normal internet related stuffs or do i really need to upgrade ASAP?

+ Lastly, are 7200rpm hard drives available/compatible with my powerbook?

Thank you in advance

[Lateralus]

1) Yes, but it will probably require a great deal of work to replace the drive. Notebooks, especially G4 PowerBooks, are not exactly famous for their easy access to internal components.

2) Take a big whiff of 'Newness'. Nothing smells like a new Mac.

3) Yes and no. 256MBs is sufficient, but unless you want to hold back your machine, bump it to at least 512MBs.

4) Yes.

[mchang]

Originally posted by rugerpower:

+ I'll be getting the combo drive version. Is it possible to have the combo drive replaced with a superdrive one in the future?

+ Any suggestions what to do upon opening the box? Like how to check for defects or anything.

+ Would the 256mb built-in RAM be sufficient for word processing, watching dvds, and normal internet related stuffs or do i really need to upgrade ASAP?

+ Lastly, are 7200rpm hard drives available/compatible with my powerbook?

Thank you in advance

Superdrive upgrade is hard to come by and not cost-effective.

Defect check? Boot it up, burn it in! Check for dead pixels, wobbliness, CD mechanism operation, keys sticking, speakers working, and all the ports a working.

512MB is what I recommend for OS X.

7200rpm drives are available and compatible, so long as they are thin enough, which most should be.

[rugerpower]

Thanks for the replies!

So I guess I'm better off buying an external dvd-writer rather than upgrading my combo drive? Any specific brands/models with mid-range prices can you guys suggest?

[typoon]

Originally posted by rugerpower:
Thanks for the replies!

So I guess I'm better off buying an external dvd-writer rather than upgrading my combo drive? Any specific brands/models with mid-range prices can you guys suggest?

I think MCE make/sells an internal upgrade for like 350 or so. for the Powerbooks. You DO need to send them the powerbook or take it to one of there authorized resellers to do the upgrade.

As to specific model of External. I would get ANYTHING from LaCie. They have supported the Mac forever.

[RayX]

Originally posted by rugerpower:
+ Any suggestions what to do upon opening the box? Like how to check for defects or anything.

Inhale the new Apple smell.

[tooki]

I honestly consider 512MB to be the bare minimum of RAM for OS X. OS X likes to take up about 250MB for itself with nothing running. 768-1024MB are a much more realistic RAM amount for having more than one or two lightweight apps open.

tooki

[raiste]

Originally posted by rugerpower:
Hi,

I'll be receiving my new 12" 1.33ghz powerbook hopefully next week. Here are a few inquiries:

+ I'll be getting the combo drive version. Is it possible to have the combo drive replaced with a superdrive one in the future?

+ Any suggestions what to do upon opening the box? Like how to check for defects or anything.

+ Would the 256mb built-in RAM be sufficient for word processing, watching dvds, and normal internet related stuffs or do i really need to upgrade ASAP?

+ Lastly, are 7200rpm hard drives available/compatible with my powerbook?

Thank you in advance

1) as the others have said...

2) calibrate the battery. look in your manual for directions...

3) 512Mb would be better...

4) you can use 7200 rpm drives, but battery time will suffer a little...

[bauhaus]

1) will void your warranty
2) keep the screen-to-keyboard shipping-liner and use as a protector for keeping keyboard marks off of the screen.
3) 512MB -- otherwise everything feels really laggy..
4) will void your warranty

[nagromme]

1) Don't swap the optical drive yourself while under warranty! And don't have someone else do it without making sure you're covered. It's not officially upgradable I don't think. An external is a safer bet. Of course, you could always swap back in the old drive if your 'Book ever needs service--but I'm not sure how easy it would be to do and not get caught.

2) Calibrate your screen--the quality will improve greatly. That's under Apple menu > System Preferences > Displays > Color. Set yourself at a typical angle and lighting conditions first. Then turn on "Best for LCD" font smoothing in System Preferences > General--and log out to make the change take affect. Turn on your firewall in System Preferences > Sharing.

3) 256 is plenty for those uses (even 128 will do the job more or less). But even with those basic uses, you will likely notice fewer hesitations (HD access) if you upgrade the RAM some time. OS X likes more RAM, and it will make the most of the speed your 'Book can give you. I suggest adding 512--it doesn't cost much more than adding 256.

4) Yes. And the HD used to be user-swappable without violating the warranty--and I THINK that's no longer true. So be careful, and hang onto the old drive at the very least.

Have fun.

[nagromme]

I'll paste in my general tips for switchers....

1. Ctrl-click is the same as right-click, if you don't feel like adding a 2-button mouse. Works just like in Windows. And in some apps--the Dock and browsers, you can click-HOLD and not even need Ctrl.

2. Don't quit an app if you'll use it again soon. Leaving an app running in X doesn't use up many system resources at all. Just Hide it: Command-H instead of Q. (Command is the "cloverleaf" key, used for shortcuts just like Ctrl on Windows.) When you want the app back, there it is with no loading delay!

3. Try holding Option (Alt) when switching from one app to another. It auto-hides the previous app with no need to choose Hide. This works whether you switch apps by clicking in the Dock, OR by clicking on a window of the other app. (Or by Commnd-Tab... like Alt-Tab in Windows.) You can even hide the current app just by Option-clicking on exposed desktop. (And to switch to an app and auto-hide ALL other apps, Command-Option click its Dock icon.)

4. Move your Dock to the left to get it out of the way of scrollbars (just my preference). Don't use Dock Magnification AND Dock Hiding at once: they are both nice, but the combination makes it harder to click an app.

5. Turn off hard disk icons on the desktop, in Finder Preferences. Your screen will be nice and empty, and you can bring up a new Finder window any time without that. Your "Home" directory (the one with your name) is where everything goes anyway--the rest of the HD won't concern you except when installing software (always in "Applications," for best results.) By the way, to get to Finder Preferences (or any app Preferences) just switch to that app and look in the app's named menu (the first one after the apple). To get GENERAL system preferences, they are always in the Apple menu. To customize an app's toolbars, Ctrl-click the toolbar. Add the Path menu to your Finder Toolbars for instance--very handy.

6. If an app has no windows open, it can STILL be running. Look at the name up by the apple to know what app you are in. And if you want a new window in any app that has none, just click the app's icon in the Dock. That's how you get a Finder window for instance.

7. When you click one of an app's windows, it comes forward alone, leaving all other windows behind. Makes it easy to use several apps at once. But if you want ALL the app's windows, switch to the app by clicking it in the Dock instead. You can always use the Window menu to find any or all windows in the app, too.

8. Right-click (Ctrl-click) OR click-and-hold on Dock icons. Each one does some nifty things, especially when the app is running. If you put a folder (or hard disk) in the Dock, click-and-hold to get to everything inside without ever opening a window! You can make folders full of shortcuts (called aliases on Mac) and not have to clutter your Dock with apps you don't use often. This makes "subcategories" for your Dock. I put my "subcategories" into the Users/Shared folder so that ALL user accounts can access them.

9. Add the Applications folder to your Dock and you can navigate it to any app. Add any other often-used files folders to the Dock OR to the Finder sidebar--which can be collapsed to show just the icon instead of wasting space with names: just double-click the divider.

10. Always look for software that runs in X. (Older stuff still runs in "Classic," but "real" X software runs better.) Try macgamefiles.com for lots of downloadable games, and versiontracker.com for all kinds of software.

And www.apple.com/switch/howtohas very detailed info on switching stuff over from your old PC.

Lastly, a lot of the fun/usefulness of a Mac is customizing it to work the way YOU want it to. Here are the places you should commonly browse through, looking for settings to tweak and options to play with:

* Apple menu > System Preferences

* "Application" menu (the named one next to the apple) > Preferences (for each app you run)

* View menu and /or Edit menu for each app--look for "View Options" for instance, and "Customize Toolbar."

[rugerpower]

Thanks for all your excellent responses! Switching will be much more easier with all those tips.

With regards to the superdrive upgrade, I'm sure I'll just go with the external drive option in case I need one in the future.

As for the hard disk upgrade, I guess I'll purchase a 7200rpm one as soon as I get a hold of my PowerBook and have it installed in a nearby Apple service center.

One last question, I have a spare 17" CRT monitor (VGA) here. Is it possible to hook it up with my 12" PowerBook out of the box or do I need to buy certain cables for it? Lastly, is dual monitor setup available and how do I enable it?

Thanks a lot guys

[Drakino]

As someone else said in regards to the RAM, the more you have, the less the OS will need to use the hard disk for RAM usage. In a laptop, this equates to longer battery life, since memory uses much less power then the hard disk does.

Multiple displays, the Powerbook should just switch to giving you multiple desktops when you plug the monitor in. If it doesn't, the F7 key switches between mirroing and extended desktop modes.

As far as cables, I would imagine it comes with everything you need. My 15 inch Powerbook came with the needed DVI to VGA converter, though the 12 inch may be different with the mini DVI port they have on the side.

[tkmd]

Panther is RAM crazy hungry. Even 512 will cause pageout especially if you like to have more than 5 apps running at the same time. MS office running will cause pageouts - because they require acess to large libraries in their programs. I would suggest 768 minimum. 7200 RPM drives will fit in your computer - I would suggest it.

[mhodos]

When I was anticipating my 15" 1.25 PB I was concerned about losing a great deal of keyboard shortcuts. Luckily, there are plenty, but, IMO the inability to quickly choose menu items by keyboard is a weakness (Alt-F for the file menu, etc.), I know about enabling the keyboard shortcuts, but on my PB, it's fn-ctrl-F1 then the first letter and what not.

Some of the shorcuts that have windows functionality are:

Command-Tab = Alt-Tab (shift reverses direction as well, Esc aborts)
Command-` = Ctrl-Tab
Alt-F4 = Command-Q
Ctrl-F4 = Command-W

Like I said, there are a bunch more shortcuts, but you'll find them.

Mike

[rugerpower]

thanks for all your help

Just got my powerbook last wednesday. 12"/1.33ghz/768/Combo/APE/BT

All I can say is that it's the best laptop i've ever had

[d.fine]

When I got my PB they said 1GB RAM would be best to have OS X run at its best ...

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by bauhaus:
2) keep the screen-to-keyboard shipping-liner and use as a protector for keeping keyboard marks off of the screen.

Irrelevant.

This has not been an issue since the Aluminum powerbooks, and most *certainly* not on the 12" models.

-s*