[hikouka]

(oh my God, I�ve just reread what I wrote down below and it�s a novel. I guess being my first ever post I wanted to cover it all. My hat is off to those of you patient enough to read to the end, and to any who are kind enough to answer a question or two, a thousand arigatoos form me and my clan in Japan).

To everyone who contributes to these forums I'd just like to say thanks. I've been lurking for a number of months gathering info and rumors before making the big jump. I've been through all the crap with my friends and clients saying stay clear of Macs, although they have no personal experience with them. Forums like this have really helped me firmly decide to join the enlightened club.

I've almost bought Macs a couple of times but keep end up holding off and waiting for the next upgrade. You know how it goes, about to buy a revA G4 powerbook then read on a rumor site they're about to be updated in a couple of months, so I wait, then the new revB G4 powerbooks are released and I read in a couple of months the new Panther OS will be released so again I wait, then its released and I�m about to place my order, all set to buy a G4 powerbook and they release the new G4 Ibooks and its wait a few weeks again to check them out, until I realize they're not for me. Then I was just about to buy a powerbook last week when I found out that Apple will open a new store in Japan, where I am, and maybe there'll be a special or two on opening day, November 30th. What ever happens I'm finally going to do it and place the order on that day either at the shop or with Apple online.

I've decided to buy the most bitching computer I can get. Probably the revB 17 inch Flagship with 1024 RAM plus the 5400 rpm HD. I'll also go with the 007 Dr. Bott case in case I have to escape from any disgruntled clients in a hurry. I plan to spend a couple of months getting up to speed using the Mac and building my own website before introducing the flagship to my clients at the start of the new working year on February 1st 2004.

You see I have my own Delivery English Service where I visit affluent Japanese and teach them one on one or in small groups in the luxury of their homes, offices and shrines � I kid you not. I 'm sick of my terrible little windoss crap and want to make an impact with the whole Apple screen/style/speed thing.

Like all new switchers I've a few questions and would appreciated any answers anyone is generous enough to give. (apologies in advance if the questions aren't in the right forums).

1) Hard drives
I've heard the 5400 HD is about 22% faster than the standard 4200 HD. I won't be doing anything special with the HD but like the image of buying the best I can now and using it for 3 or 4 years. Are those of you who have the 5400HD glad you ordered it.

2) Stylish Cases
The sticky on this forum about cases is most useful and I've been through it but just want to check with those of you who have the Dr. Bott case or other expensive, stylish metal or leather cases. What do you guys think, which is the ultimate stylish case?

Presentation is everything in Japan. The whole form over substance thing rules over here and wearing suits and looking the part is very much the way to go when teaching the rich here.

3) Recording sound on a Powerbook

Currently I record every class on MD and give the clients a copy at the end of each class for review. For a number or reasons I'm not satisfied with this system and would much rather prefer to record everything on the Powerbook and then burn CDs for the students and also place the records on the net. A while ago I found a modified Griffin Imic with a built in microphone, but have lost the link (due to another of those goddamm microfloss virus that besiege my windoss system). Can anyone please recommend a good microphone for recording conversations/converting cassettes into CDs?

4) Complete teaching software/Keynote

As well as giving recordings out each class I also provide the students with various handouts and summary sheets of everything covered in ever class, but its become a nightmare managing over 40 classes with just spreadsheets and word. At this stage I�m thinking of buying keynote and using it in class as I go to make a presentation while teaching and then saving the presentation as a QuickTime file and posting it on my website for the students to review at their leisure. However I also need an interactive, flashcard type program that would allow me to record vocabulary, grammar, slang, and reoccurring mistakes of each of my students. Any other professional teachers out there who can recommend a complete language tracking software program?

5) Tablets, Inkwell, and bluetooth

Instead of using a whiteboard or paper I write everything on my laptop and then turn it around to show the students who are typically seated across the table from me. This is not as ideal as the computer is somewhat of a barrier between us. I�d love to place the gorgeous 17incher off to the side somewhere and have just a tablet in front of me. I�d like to use the tablet in conjunction with keynote and Inkwell as I teach. Rather than a wirless keyboard I prefer the idea of drawing lines and circles on the screen to highlight things for the client. Does anyone know of how effective this would be and if there are any bluetooth/wireless/ tablets out there?

6) Building a interactive website
Help. Which web software should I buy?
One of my dreams is to have my own company website with the following two abilities:
: pages all written in English, but which phase into Japanese when the mouse is moved over each section or sentence in turn
: An interactive flashcard section where each student can log in with a password and test their own growing vocabulary list each week.

Good grief. Look at the length of this post. No on second thoughts, don�t look again you�re probably tired enough already.

As I�m surrounded by this horde of mac disbeliveers any help at all would be really appreciated.

Yoroshiku

[flyhigher]

http://vanguardusa.com/cart/business...ner2silver.cfm

The Deluxe 3" fits the 17" AlBook perfectly. Note -- the vanguard site says that the Standard 3" fits the 17" book. It doesn't. Get the Deluxe.

[flyhigher]

You can get Vanguard cases from spysupply007.com.

[hikouka]

Originally posted by flyhigher:
You can get Vanguard cases from spysupply007.com.

Thanks for the replies Flyhigher. Checked out the Vanguard cases. They look sweet but I kinda of dig the way you can use the Powerbook inside Dr. Bott with its little popup legs . . .

[Macpilot]

Welcome to MacNN and congratulations on switching!

You will LOVE the 17 inch Powerbook. It is the finest Mac I have owned.

[hikouka]

Originally posted by Macpilot:
Welcome to MacNN and congratulations on switching!

You will LOVE the 17 inch Powerbook. It is the finest Mac I have owned.

Thanks Macpilot, thats just what I wanted to hear. Everytime I play with them in the stores I can't get over how they just seem a class above the rest. Its a real strain holding off ordering for a week - I want it now! Thanks for the welcome message. Happy flying

[elmcitizen]

hey, it sounds like youve got a great gig going there, I always wanted to teach in Japan.
You asked about your website plans looking for ideas, and i do a bit of webdesign on the side, so here goes....
You were looking for web applications to display english and switch to japanese when moused over....
This is a tough task, needing to have the english and japanese language packs installed, this could be possible w/ javascript and html, but would definately be difficult....
I would give Macromedia Flash a shot. Its easy to include fonts from both languages and having the english turn to japanese is quite easily done, look online and there are tons of tutorials on how to use layers and transparency to accomplish what you wanna do...
Good Luck w/ everything!
http://www.flash.com

[hikouka]

Originally posted by elmcitizen:
hey, it sounds like youve got a great gig going there, I always wanted to teach in Japan.
You asked about your website plans looking for ideas, and i do a bit of webdesign on the side, so here goes....
You were looking for web applications to display english and switch
I would give Macromedia Flash a shot. Its easy to include fonts from both languages and having the english turn to japanese is quite easily done, look online and there are tons of tutorials on how to use layers and transparency to accomplish what you wanna do...
Good Luck w/ everything!
http://www.flash.com

Teaching in Japan is a lot of fun and things are going good. Best move I ever did was going out on my own, hopefully buying a Powerbook will be the second best move. Where ever there is money so too are there oppurtunities, and boy is there money in Japan. Just hop on the big silver bird and I'm sure you can find yourself a sweet job, either in teaching or better yet in IT. Just bow and smile a lot and show them your mac

Checked out Flash and it sure looks cool . . . and expensive. Its a little overkill for me. You don't know of any cheaper alternatives for mouse over language changes on web pages do you?