[Steveman434]

I am purchasing my first mac and my first laptop this week (the 12th) after over 1 year of saving for a powerbook. I have been scoping out these forums for a while and have a few questions.

1. Since i am new to laptops and macs this seems to amaze me... how does the joint screen thing work? And what is it for that matter? I have seen on all the set-up threads two monitors with the powerbook. Can you explain this to me.

2. Is Office for Mac worth it?

3. Is it worth it to get the superdrive or is it better to get an external drive?
Is there a noticable diff. between 1.5 Ghz and 1.67 Ghz?

4. Can you recommend any neccerary apps, books, or asseccories that will make my life easier?

THanks


Should I get Airport Express or a different wireless router. I do like the wireless printing in the Airport, but is it worth the extra money?

[chris v]

1. There's a display out on the side of the Powerbook. In the display preferences, the OS will detect any additional monitors, and allow you to either mirror the contents of the main display, or use it as additional space. You can set which is the main, and which is the auxiliary, and which side it goes on, all in the preference pane. It's quite easy and intuitive once you get the second display plugged in.

2. It's more or less the same product as Office for PC, so if you need it, you need it. There are alternatives, though. Keynote cleans the floor with Powerpoint, if you ask me, and there's lots of word processors and email clients. Spreadsheet apps are a little scarcer, though.

3. The slot-loaders are a little slower than what you can get in an external. Depends on what you're willing to spend, I guess.

4. check the software section-- there's a couple stickies that list good shareware apps/utilities.

edit: I like my airport express-- setting it up was a snap, and Airtunes is a cool geek-factor trick.

[tomewatson]

Before you spend the money for Microsoft Office, try NeoOffice/J. It's a Mac version of Open Office. You can download it free from
http://www.planamesa.com/neojava/en/download.php

It will allow you to read and write Microsoft Office documents. I've been using it for several months now. It works well for my purposes.

[siflippant]

Originally Posted by Steveman434

I am purchasing my first mac and my first laptop this week (the 12th) after over 1 year of saving for a powerbook. I have been scoping out these forums for a while and have a few questions.

Unless you desperately need to get a PB next week, I'd advise on you waiting out until after the Paris Expo? There are rumors that updated books will be released around this time.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

If not, enjoy your new machine and welcome to the Mac community!

[warra]

If the powerbooks are updated then, will the price increase or decrease from the current price?

[tracemhunter]

i switched yesterday and i love it. the pc i built recently is getting no play and my powerbook is getting all my lovin. i prefer OpenOffice.org over ms office anyway. good to hear that a version was rlsd for mac.

[Steveman434]

When is the Paris Expo?

Thanks

[warra]

September 20-24

Heres the link: http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1222

[mousehouse]

i would go for the SuperDrive equipped PBook. Having a drive internally makes it so much easier to make or copy a DVD. An external drive will be faster (although the PB has an 8x burner now). An internal one integrates perfectly in all applications... As for all the other things, browse the apple downloads section for Widgets etc. and get yourself a nice backpack and/or sleeve for carrying your laptop. Get the AE card in the laptop, having the base is nice but you can always get it later.

if you're willing to (or can) wait until the end of september do so, but it is still two months away. there will always be better and faster models.

[hcorf]

am i correct in thinking they will likely only be announced at the expo, and then be so popular that you wont get hold of one for several months?

I think a LOT of people are waiting for a big change in the PB scene, and if they released something really great in september, they wouldnt be able to meet supply for months (especially if its G5).

[mousehouse]

people have been holding off purchases for years, waiting for G5 powerbooks. Apple themselves have said that G5 PowerBooks were extremely unlikely, or something of that magnitude.
as said, there will always be newer faster products in just a few months. if you want to wait a few months, wait. otherwise buy one now and be happy as you will be typing along on your Mac for months before anything new would've hit your doorstep. otoh, it could be that appl puts the new FreeScale 1.8 / 2.0 chips in the powerbook giving it a nice boost - but as you said, product availability will probably suck the first few weeks.

i'd get one now, it'll keep you happy until the intel switch is over at which time an upgrade will be nice but that's just my opinion.

[CaptainHaddock]

My own two cents:

Getting a Bluetooth mouse is a good idea if you're going to use a mouse at all. Even if the model you choose comes with a USB-Bluetooth dock, you don't need the dock except for charging at night. I personally use and like very much my Logitech MX900.

Since I don't use a spreadsheet for anything, I find Apple's iWork suite good enough for everything. Pages is a good word processor and handles .doc files fine (though it needs some speed optimization), and Keynote mops up the floor with Powerpoint, as Chris V. pointed out. Heck, Tiger's Textedit can read both the current .doc format and M-soft's new XML format that even current versions of Word don't support yet.