[tavilach]

First off, let me say that I love my PowerBook, but I have to admit that it's not as perfect as I had hoped for.

Most of my issues do have solutions, though.

Problem #1: Battery Life

It's just horrible. Many times I only get 2.5 hours!

Solution: Second battery. Yay!

Problem #2: Safari

Safari is great, but rendering is so slow. I had no idea that web browsing, which is an essential part of my life, would be so slow. It really hinders my browsing speed...greatly!

Solution: I need help with this one :'(.

Problem #3: Speed

When just Adium, Mail, and Launchbar are open, it still isn't that fast, and FireWorks does take about 10 seconds to start up. On my PC, it took about 2. My PC had 512 MB of RAM, like my PowerBook, but it was also 2.53 GHz (as opposed to 1.5).

Solution: Another stick of 512 MB of RAM should alleviate most of my speed gripes .

Problem #4: Compatibility

I didn't think that software compatibility would be an issue, because major programs are made for the Mac, but it's actually the small Windows-only applications, like IrfanView, that I miss. I have been blogging a lot less, because image resizing and uploading just isn't nearly as fast.

Furthermore, I may eventually take a class called E28, which involves the use of Solidworks and AutoCAD, and they aren't out on the Mac.

Solution: ImageWell, but it isn't as fast until I get used to it...plus the computer just doesn't do the stuff as fast, but that brings me back to more RAM . As for Solidworks and AutoCAD, I do have a desktop PC, so I can get it sent to my room. It's not like I'll really need to use AutoCAD and Solidworks much on the go...I don't think...

Problem #5: Office

Office for Mac is just too slow.

Solution: More RAM .

I was a little upset about my experience, yesterday, and was regretting that I had switched. In retrospect, though, the Mac does so many things that I love...i.e. Adium, iSync, Launchbar, keyboard shortcuts for everything, the terminal at my fingertip, stability, etc. The problems, moreover, are mostly little things that can be solved (getting another battery, bringing my PC to the dorm, etc.). Thus, I do believe that I made the right decision in purchasing a Mac, and while things are still a little rusty for me, and I may not do stuff as fast as I used to, with experience this will change.

Thank you for reading . Does anyone else share in my gripes?

[Randman]

2.5 hours? What settings are you using? Have you checked the stats on your battery as well?
Do you repair permissions regularly and run chron jobs with an app such as Cocktail and/or Mac Janitor? Run DiskWarrior on it as well?
There are some tips you can do to speed things up in Office. As far as the rest, I'd say 512 is the minimum. Honestly, for a PowerBook, 1GB should do the trick.
Other than that, almost no gripes. Love my 17, but the screen hinge is a touch loose. I can adjust it with a screwdriver, but haven't gotten around to it. Other than that no complaints. It's fast and the battery lasts a good while, not as long as my iBook G4 but close.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by Randman:
2.5 hours? What settings are you using? Have you checked the stats on your battery as well?
Do you repair permissions regularly and run chron jobs with an app such as Cocktail and/or Mac Janitor? Run DiskWarrior on it as well?
There are some tips you can do to speed things up in Office. As far as the rest, I'd say 512 is the minimum. Honestly, for a PowerBook, 1GB should do the trick.
Other than that, almost no gripes. Love my 17, but the screen hinge is a touch loose. I can adjust it with a screwdriver, but haven't gotten around to it. Other than that no complaints. It's fast and the battery lasts a good while, not as long as my iBook G4 but close.

Well, I never actually timed it...maybe I should.

I don't know how to look at the stats on my battery...erm...

Repair permissions? Say what?

Don't have Cocktail and/or Mac Janitor...are these really necessary?

DiskWarrior is very expensive...unless it'll really improve things a lot, I'd rather not...

As for RAM, 1.5 GB wouldn't be necessary, would it? I mean, the difference between 1 GB and 512 MB would be far more noticeable than 1 GB and 1.5 GB, correct? 1 GB is just so expensive...512 MB is only about $100, whereas good 1 GB RAM is like $500!

[Randman]

Originally posted by tavilach:
Well, I never actually timed it...maybe I should.

Before posting that you are only getting 2.5 hours, yes. Also, go into Energy Saver and check your preferences on battery management. I use highest performance at homes when I'm close to a plug, and adjust it for longer battery life when on the road.

Originally posted by tavilach:
I don't know how to look at the stats on my battery...erm...

Check other threads on it. You can use Terminal to check the status of your battery, capacity and current charge.

Originally posted by tavilach:
Repair permissions? Say what?

No wonder your system is slow. This is a must. Go into Disk Utility and you'll find out how to do it. Will help considerably.

Originally posted by tavilach:
Don't have Cocktail and/or Mac Janitor...are these really necessary?

MacJanitor is free. I prefer both and use them regularly. You could do the same things if you are Termy-savvy.

Originally posted by tavilach:
DiskWarrior is very expensive...unless it'll really improve things a lot, I'd rather not...

It's worth it if you have serious troubles, but it can keep things running nicely. I actually use it on my iPod and Mini more often, but it is a good insurance policy.

Originally posted by tavilach:
As for RAM, 1.5 GB wouldn't be necessary, would it? I mean, the difference between 1 GB and 512 MB would be far more noticeable than 1 GB and 1.5 GB, correct? 1 GB is just so expensive...512 MB is only about $100, whereas good 1 GB RAM is like $500!

For what it sounds like for you, 768 or 1GB ouught to fine. You can use Menu Meters (also free) to check your normal ram usage then determine if a little bump will help, which is likely going up from 512.

[hldan]

Originally posted by tavilach:
Well, I never actually timed it...maybe I should.

I don't know how to look at the stats on my battery...erm...

Repair permissions? Say what?

Don't have Cocktail and/or Mac Janitor...are these really necessary?

DiskWarrior is very expensive...unless it'll really improve things a lot, I'd rather not...

As for RAM, 1.5 GB wouldn't be necessary, would it? I mean, the difference between 1 GB and 512 MB would be far more noticeable than 1 GB and 1.5 GB, correct? 1 GB is just so expensive...512 MB is only about $100, whereas good 1 GB RAM is like $500!

Go ahead and be cheap. It's only your computer. You have to invest in ram period! There's no such thing is too much ram or overkill, ram is the air your computer uses to breathe with so the more the merrier. Max it out at 2GB.

Don't compare your Mac to your older PC especially the Mhz. Not trying to start a Mhz war again but your 2.53Ghz PC is much slower than your 1.5Ghz Mac in real world because they are different processors and the 1.5 Ghz Powerbook is in the league with the P4's over 3Ghz.
OSX loves ram even more so over XP and native microsoft apps like office will run a bit snappier on the PC of course as iTunes runs better on the Mac over the PC.
Permission repair is done through Disk Utility to allow the computer to run better before and after software updates and installs.
Make sure you have your computer's processor running at full processor speed. This is done through system preferences. It will run at it's fastest when energy saver is set to "highest".
One last thing make sure that you have "Journaling" disabled in Disk Utitlity which can make the computer run a bit sluggish.

BTW, you can definitely get 2GB ram for less than $500.00

[tavilach]

Originally posted by hldan:
Go ahead and be cheap. It's only your computer. You have to invest in ram period! There's no such thing is too much ram or overkill, ram is the air your computer uses to breathe with so the more the merrier. Max it out at 2GB.

Don't compare your Mac to your older PC especially the Mhz. Not trying to start a Mhz war again but your 2.53Ghz PC is much slower than your 1.5Ghz Mac in real world because they are different processors and the 1.5 Ghz Powerbook is in the league with the P4's over 3Ghz.
OSX loves ram even more so over XP and native microsoft apps like office will run a bit snappier on the PC of course as iTunes runs better on the Mac over the PC.
Permission repair is done through Disk Utility to allow the computer to run better before and after software updates and installs.
Make sure you have your computer's processor running at full processor speed. This is done through system preferences. It will run at it's fastest when energy saver is set to "highest".
One last thing make sure that you have "Journaling" disabled in Disk Utitlity which can make the computer run a bit sluggish.

BTW, you can definitely get 2GB ram for less than $500.00

Wow...

No one has ever suggested that I max out my RAM...everyone always says that 1 GB should definetely do the trick. Would 2 GB be such a huge difference? Would loadings speeds and everything increase dramatically?

2 GB of RAM for less than $500? I mean, there's that cheap $180 Outpost.com RAM, but that really worries me. I'd probably be better of spending $100 on another 512 MB stick from Crucial.com. I don't want to be too cheap. Plus, I don't like inferior products...so if there is any heat difference or performance difference between that Outpost RAM and, say, Crucial RAM, I won't touch it.

If someone can prove to me that this cheap RAM is no different, I'll definitely look into that. If not, 512 MB of Crucial here I come.

[iPoder]

Originally posted by Randman:
No wonder your system is slow. This is a must. Go into Disk Utility and you'll find out how to do it. Will help considerably.

How does repairing disk permission improve the performance?

[LORL]

I love my Mac. But, lets be honest. Some things (Web rendering, Office) are slower. Running cocktail isn't going to fix it, and you shouldn't have to have 2 gigs of ram. Luckily, Mac OSX is so much better than Windows that I myself got over it very quickly (I switched about 3-4 months ago, last mac I owned was a Apple IIe).

1. Diskwarrior doesn't do anything. In fact, programs like that can actually hurt your computer more than help. Just use utilities that comes with OSX.

2. Repairing permissions doesn't speed anything up. It has nothing to do with speed, but is exactly what it says it is. It "repairs permissions"

3. Rendering speed in Safari, and Mac browsers in general, is horribly slow compared to their Windows counterparts. You shouldn't need 2 gig of ram to use a web browser.

4. Office for Mac is a slow program. Period.

5. Things like cocktail can speed up your computer, because they clean caches and the like. However, this isn't going to solve the problems you are having, i.e. Office for Mac and Safari being slow, because honestly, they just are.

5. The big kahuna. The extra amount of money you pay for Crucial Ram can yield up to 8% more performace sometimes. The voltage might be more appropriate as well, so it might not run as hot. But, if you think it is worth the sometimes 200% more cost, that is up to you. I would tend to think that I would rather have 2 1 gig sticks of generic ram than 1 gig of Crucial.

[cmoney]

safari issues: safari can be pretty slow when rendering long or complicated pages. try using firefox (i hate it personally) or camino (which i use as a backup to safari).

and yeah, for some reason mac browsers haven't been able to touch IE performance.

[hldan]

Originally posted by LORL:
I love my Mac. But, lets be honest. Some things (Web rendering, Office) are slower. Running cocktail isn't going to fix it, and you shouldn't have to have 2 gigs of ram. Luckily, Mac OSX is so much better than Windows that I myself got over it very quickly (I switched about 3-4 months ago, last mac I owned was a Apple IIe).

1. Diskwarrior doesn't do anything. In fact, programs like that can actually hurt your computer more than help. Just use utilities that comes with OSX.

2. Repairing permissions doesn't speed anything up. It has nothing to do with speed, but is exactly what it says it is. It "repairs permissions"

3. Rendering speed in Safari, and Mac browsers in general, is horribly slow compared to their Windows counterparts. You shouldn't need 2 gig of ram to use a web browser.

4. Office for Mac is a slow program. Period.

5. Things like cocktail can speed up your computer, because they clean caches and the like. However, this isn't going to solve the problems you are having, i.e. Office for Mac and Safari being slow, because honestly, they just are.

5. The big kahuna. The extra amount of money you pay for Crucial Ram can yield up to 8% more performace sometimes. The voltage might be more appropriate as well, so it might not run as hot. But, if you think it is worth the sometimes 200% more cost, that is up to you. I would tend to think that I would rather have 2 1 gig sticks of generic ram than 1 gig of Crucial.

Wow with your downer attitude no one will buy a Mac. How can web surfing be slow? Safari is a very fast renderer and there's nothing wrong with MS Office unless you are using the older version without updates.
What exactly makes you happy about having a Mac? Why didn't you stay with your PC, there's no crime.

[LORL]

Originally posted by hldan:
Wow with your downer attitude no one will buy a Mac. How can web surfing be slow? Safari is a very fast renderer and there's nothing wrong with MS Office unless you are using the older version without updates.
What exactly makes you happy about having a Mac? Why didn't you stay with your PC, there's no crime.

1. No one of the face of the planet will tell you that Safari is just as fast as even IE for Windows. Even Firefox for Mac doesn't come near IE, or any Windows browser. Don't ask me why; I don't know technically what the problem is. But it is well known that Safari web-rendering speeds are much slower than Windows.

2. Office for Mac simply is slower than Office for Windows. Even with the updates. Again, I don't know why. But, most people will tell you it is true. For my personal opinion, I think Microsoft intenionally codes it in this manner so people will switch to Windows (yeah right!).

So, that is two things I don't like about my Mac.

Things I do:

1. More secure operating system
2. Sleeker operating system
3. Never have any problems
4. My Powerbook looks better and is thinner than any Windows laptop I see.
5. Better programs (iCal, iSync, Adium, all kinds of 3rd party stuff)
6. etc, etc, etc

The point of this thread wasn't to talk about what we like about the Mac. I was simply reinforcing/answering the original posters problems specifically with Safari and Office.

Honestly, it is people like you who make Windows users say "The cult of Mac". It is OK to criticize the Macintosh/Apple platform. It isn't perfect. Just superior.

[hldan]

Originally posted by LORL:
1. No one of the face of the planet will tell you that Safari is just as fast as even IE for Windows. Even Firefox for Mac doesn't come near IE, or any Windows browser. Don't ask me why; I don't know technically what the problem is. But it is well known that Safari web-rendering speeds are much slower than Windows.

2. Office for Mac simply is slower than Office for Windows. Even with the updates. Again, I don't know why. But, most people will tell you it is true. For my personal opinion, I think Microsoft intenionally codes it in this manner so people will switch to Windows (yeah right!).

So, that is two things I don't like about my Mac.

Things I do:

1. More secure operating system
2. Sleeker operating system
3. Never have any problems
4. My Powerbook looks better and is thinner than any Windows laptop I see.
5. Better programs (iCal, iSync, Adium, all kinds of 3rd party stuff)
6. etc, etc, etc

The point of this thread wasn't to talk about what we like about the Mac. I was simply reinforcing/answering the original posters problems specifically with Safari and Office.

Honestly, it is people like you who make Windows users say "The cult of Mac". It is OK to criticize the Macintosh/Apple platform. It isn't perfect. Just superior.

It's okay to criticize the Mac because you are correct in saying it's not perfect but you pointed out features about Windows that's just so much better as if buying the Mac is just a waste of your money. Of course Microsoft is going to tweek their own software to appear to work better on Windows but to say that the Mac versions are just way too slow is totally farce and overstated.
I use these same apps every day and I am totally anal when it comes to speed of applications and I have no problems with the speed. Apps open fast and encoding is great.
Windows is a great platform and so is the Mac but you have to understand that there will be a push and pull between both platforms.

It's not fair to put down the Mac so much against Windows and then still buy one, makes no sense.

[urrl78]

I was dissapointed about Diskwarrior not being able to defrag the HD like it did in OS9. Still I have a copy for repairing permissions. I hardly use it these days since I purchased techtool pro. Now I can defrag the HD and not only that, I can boot the 17" from an exterior HD to run Techtool 4 or use the OSX repair permissions software. What I would do to really improve my speed is buy a 5400 HD for my 17", perhaps someday, when the later revisions and software begin to leave us behind. Basically I am happy with speed, defragging regularly and repairing permissions as well as using ONYX to clean cashe, etc.
I love the safeguard of having another booting alternative. I know there are some that do not think defragging makes a difference but I feel it does. Bring it up all you want; it won't change my mind, especially when you are working with huge video files as I do.
I am not a believer that adding over a Gig of RAM will increase speed unless you are running many applications simulteaneously. I have a Gig of RAM and will keep it that way unless someone can show proof otherwise. I generally run 1 application at a time.

[LORL]

Originally posted by hldan:
It's okay to criticize the Mac because you are correct in saying it's not perfect but you pointed out features about Windows that's just so much better as if buying the Mac is just a waste of your money. Of course Microsoft is going to tweek their own software to appear to work better on Windows but to say that the Mac versions are just way too slow is totally farce and overstated.
I use these same apps every day and I am totally anal when it comes to speed of applications and I have no problems with the speed. Apps open fast and encoding is great.
Windows is a great platform and so is the Mac but you have to understand that there will be a push and pull between both platforms.

It's not fair to put down the Mac so much against Windows and then still buy one, makes no sense.

I am not exactly sure what you are trying to argue here.

You say there is a "push and pull", which is exactly what I was pointing out. Office for Mac is slower, and Mac web browsers don't render as fast. If you don't think that is true, check the multiple other people in this thread that have supported this conclusion.

I never said apps don't open fast; I said that Office and Safari are not as fast as a Windows counterpart.

I also never said that they are "way too slow", I said they are noticabley slower than their Windows counterparts. That, of course, is a much different thing.

So, that is two things I said negative about the Mac platform, one of which isn't even an Apple product, and is thus out of their hands. The other things I commented on (generic vs brand-name RAM, Diskwarrior, and Cocktail) have absolutely nothing to do with the Macintosh platform, but the applications that are available for it.

Not to mention that essentially the entire crux of your arguement has a major fallacy; I am entitled as a consumer to think whatever I please. I could hate the Mac platform, and still buy a Mac if I so please (Which, following your logic, 90% of Windows users shouldn't buy a Windows PC because they are dissatisfied with the product). I never remembered saying the Mac is a bad platform, nor did I ever "put-down" the mac platform beyond it's obviously slower ability to render web objects (which is a commonly accepted plight of OS X). In fact, I said I love the Mac platform, and am hereby saying I will never buy another Windows PC.

Whatever I think, it obviously shouldn't affect your decision on using a Macintosh. But, for some weird reason, it seems to.

[LORL]

Originally posted by urrl78:
I was dissapointed about Diskwarrior not being able to defrag the HD like it did in OS9. Still I have a copy for repairing permissions. I hardly use it these days since I purchased techtool pro. Now I can defrag the HD and not only that, I can boot the 17" from an exterior HD to run Techtool 4 or use the OSX repair permissions software. What I would do to really improve my speed is buy a 5400 HD for my 17", perhaps someday, when the later revisions and software begin to leave us behind. Basically I am happy with speed, defragging regularly and repairing permissions as well as using ONYX to clean cashe, etc.
I love the safeguard of having another booting alternative. I know there are some that do not think defragging makes a difference but I feel it does. Bring it up all you want; it won't change my mind, especially when you are working with huge video files as I do.
I am not a believer that adding over a Gig of RAM will increase speed unless you are running many applications simulteaneously. I have a Gig of RAM and will keep it that way unless someone can show proof otherwise. I generally run 1 application at a time.

While I am obviously not an expert, being a recent switcher, I was under the assumption that OS X was capable of defragging itself "on-the-fly", which explains the lack of a system utility to do so. However, if you feel it makes a difference, and it is safe for your system, keep on truckin'.

I would tend to agree that 1 gig of ram is plently, however, if you can afford it, why not! (I am currently stuck at 512 for that very reason.)

[hldan]

Originally posted by LORL:
I am not exactly sure what you are trying to argue here.

You say there is a "push and pull", which is exactly what I was pointing out. Office for Mac is slower, and Mac web browsers don't render as fast. If you don't think that is true, check the multiple other people in this thread that have supported this conclusion.

I never said apps don't open fast; I said that Office and Safari are not as fast as a Windows counterpart.

I also never said that they are "way too slow", I said they are noticabley slower than their Windows counterparts. That, of course, is a much different thing.

So, that is two things I said negative about the Mac platform, one of which isn't even an Apple product, and is thus out of their hands. The other things I commented on (generic vs brand-name RAM, Diskwarrior, and Cocktail) have absolutely nothing to do with the Macintosh platform, but the applications that are available for it.

Not to mention that essentially the entire crux of your arguement has a major fallacy; I am entitled as a consumer to think whatever I please. I could hate the Mac platform, and still buy a Mac if I so please (Which, following your logic, 90% of Windows users shouldn't buy a Windows PC because they are dissatisfied with the product). I never remembered saying the Mac is a bad platform, nor did I ever "put-down" the mac platform beyond it's obviously slower ability to render web objects (which is a commonly accepted plight of OS X). In fact, I said I love the Mac platform, and am hereby saying I will never buy another Windows PC.

Whatever I think, it obviously shouldn't affect your decision on using a Macintosh. But, for some weird reason, it seems to.

Good, I'm glad you got to vent, now, on to the next subject!

[LORL]

Originally posted by hldan:
Good, I'm glad you got to vent, now, on to the next subject!

Ahh, yes, as long as neither of us knew what you were trying to say, I am perfectly happy departing from the subject. Cheers.

[hldan]

Originally posted by LORL:
Ahh, yes, as long as neither of us knew what you were trying to say, I am perfectly happy departing from the subject. Cheers.

I was only mimicking your worthless words, take care.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by hldan:
I was only mimicking your worthless words, take care.

Sorry, hldan, but you had no argument, and as a result, were totally owned.



Read the things you wrote...no one knows what point you were trying to make!

Anyway, I bought a Mac because I love OS X (it makes computing more fun ...really), I get *nix, my PB is extremely portable, etc. Not only that, but I wasn't aware that web browsing would be so slow...so your argument that I shouldn't have gotten a Mac isn't valid, as I wasn't even aware of the problem.

By the way, dude, my PB is noticeably slower than my Windows machine. Apparently OS X just needs more RAM, and that's just what I'll get. After I have 1 GB of RAM, I doubt there will be much of a difference...and considering that this is a 1.1" thick laptop running at about half the clock speed (even though speeds are different for Macs, it's still a lower clock speed), that's pretty darn good. I don't have much to complain about, but I can still talk to people about my gripes.

[hldan]

Originally posted by tavilach:
Sorry, hldan, but you had no argument, and as a result, were totally owned.



Read the things you wrote...no one knows what point you were trying to make!

Anyway, I bought a Mac because I love OS X (it makes computing more fun ...really), I get *nix, my PB is extremely portable, etc. Not only that, but I wasn't aware that web browsing would be so slow...so your argument that I shouldn't have gotten a Mac isn't valid, as I wasn't even aware of the problem.

By the way, dude, my PB is noticeably slower than my Windows machine. Apparently OS X just needs more RAM, and that's just what I'll get. After I have 1 GB of RAM, I doubt there will be much of a difference...and considering that this is a 1.1" thick laptop running at about half the clock speed (even though speeds are different for Macs, it's still a lower clock speed), that's pretty darn good. I don't have much to complain about, but I can still talk to people about my gripes.

Okay this is will be my last post as some of you didn't get what I said. I was replying (not arguing) to the fact that LORL stated (actually complaining) about how slow his Mac was vs. his Windows computer. He sounded like it was more a burden to him than a pleasure using the machine.
My only question was why does he bother to own the computer if he has so many gripes about it and saying nothing but something so negative doesn't promote more new switchers as the Mac community is already small.
It would be really nice to hear more positive stories about Macs since this is a "Mac" forum. My thing is why did he leave his PC if it was so fast and speedy? This Mac vs. Windows thing has gotten very old and yet people will still buy the Mac and then complain at how much better their older Windows machine is and then still say things like, I will never leave my Mac. Some things he says get contradicting.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by hldan:
Okay this is will be my last post as some of you didn't get what I said. I was replying (not arguing) to the fact that LORL stated (actually complaining) about how slow his Mac was vs. his Windows computer. He sounded like it was more a burden to him than a pleasure using the machine.
My only question was why does he bother to own the computer if he has so many gripes about it and saying nothing but something so negative doesn't promote more new switchers as the Mac community is already small.
It would be really nice to hear more positive stories about Macs since this is a "Mac" forum. My thing is why did he leave his PC if it was so fast and speedy? This Mac vs. Windows thing has gotten very old and yet people will still buy the Mac and then complain at how much better their older Windows machine is and then still say things like, I will never leave my Mac. Some things he says get contradicting.

Thats not what he said...not at all. He never said that it was a burden, and he stated many times that the positives of the machine outweigh its negatives. The same goes for me.

If you want people to join the Mac community, it's probably a good idea to tell the truth. If people had complained about Safari more, I'd still have gotten my Mac, but I wouldn't have been in for such a web browsing dissapointment. Honesty kicks ass.

[siflippant]

Originally posted by tavilach:
Thats not what he said...not at all. He never said that it was a burden, and he stated many times that the positives of the machine outweigh its negatives. The same goes for me.

If you want people to join the Mac community, it's probably a good idea to tell the truth. If people had complained about Safari more, I'd still have gotten my Mac, but I wouldn't have been in for such a web browsing dissapointment. Honesty kicks ass.

A bit like... its better not to lie about dropping a porcelain figure onto your powerbook and telling everyone in this forum, only to own up a day or so later after you get a few replies of sympathy that you didn't drop it after all... You're right, honesty does kick ass...

[LORL]

Thanks Tavilach for the support...

I think hldan and I just had a misunderstanding, and I understand what you are saying about keeping a small community tied together by speaking positively about Macs. Plus, my experience isn't really indicitave of Mac vs Windows speed (except for the Safari thing), because I want from a SATA desktop PC to a laptop. So, you can never expect it to be the same.

However, I am perfectly pleased with the speed of my Mac, and I defentitly need some more RAM.

Anyway, it turned into a little, tiny flame-way, so sorry hldan, I will try to keep it more civil next time. See'ya.

[Fellow2000]

Originally posted by tavilach:
First off, let me say that I love my PowerBook, but I have to admit that it's not as perfect as I had hoped for.

Most of my issues do have solutions, though.

Problem #1: Battery Life

It's just horrible. Many times I only get 2.5 hours!

Solution: Second battery. Yay!

Problem #2: Safari

Safari is great, but rendering is so slow. I had no idea that web browsing, which is an essential part of my life, would be so slow. It really hinders my browsing speed...greatly!

Solution: I need help with this one :'(.

Problem #3: Speed

When just Adium, Mail, and Launchbar are open, it still isn't that fast, and FireWorks does take about 10 seconds to start up. On my PC, it took about 2. My PC had 512 MB of RAM, like my PowerBook, but it was also 2.53 GHz (as opposed to 1.5).

Solution: Another stick of 512 MB of RAM should alleviate most of my speed gripes .

Problem #4: Compatibility

I didn't think that software compatibility would be an issue, because major programs are made for the Mac, but it's actually the small Windows-only applications, like IrfanView, that I miss. I have been blogging a lot less, because image resizing and uploading just isn't nearly as fast.

Furthermore, I may eventually take a class called E28, which involves the use of Solidworks and AutoCAD, and they aren't out on the Mac.

Solution: ImageWell, but it isn't as fast until I get used to it...plus the computer just doesn't do the stuff as fast, but that brings me back to more RAM . As for Solidworks and AutoCAD, I do have a desktop PC, so I can get it sent to my room. It's not like I'll really need to use AutoCAD and Solidworks much on the go...I don't think...

Problem #5: Office

Office for Mac is just too slow.

Solution: More RAM .

I was a little upset about my experience, yesterday, and was regretting that I had switched. In retrospect, though, the Mac does so many things that I love...i.e. Adium, iSync, Launchbar, keyboard shortcuts for everything, the terminal at my fingertip, stability, etc. The problems, moreover, are mostly little things that can be solved (getting another battery, bringing my PC to the dorm, etc.). Thus, I do believe that I made the right decision in purchasing a Mac, and while things are still a little rusty for me, and I may not do stuff as fast as I used to, with experience this will change.

Thank you for reading . Does anyone else share in my gripes?

#1 - Get over it. There are many documented cases around here and the rest of the internet indicating the poor battery life of the powerbook (comparitively). However, the battery life is still great compared to no battery. Either go get and iBook, windows machine, more batteries or quit griping. Bitching and moaning is not going to make your powerbook last longer than your first date, or does it already?

#2 - And what do you expect us to do about it? Does IE, Opera or Mozilla render faster for you on windows? If so, use windows. I know web developers who use IE 5.x for browsing, and not only is browsing/testing an essential part of their life, it pays for their food and shelter. What is so essential to your life that a web page rendering .02 miliseconds slower is killing you? God, kids these days, whatever happened to being thankful for things like high-speed internet, browsers and computers in general? For technicality sakes, Safari has one of the fastest rendering engines in existance. Safari however, does not display many items until full load is complete, i.e. images. This is contrary to many popular browsers, such as IE for windows which allows the user to see the rendering. Either way you cut it, you are getting the full load in the same amount of time. So did your life not exist before the internet?

#3 - More RAM will always help OS X, its just the nature of the system. However, if your mighty PC was faster, and its that important to you, then use the damn thing. No one is forcing you to use Mac OS X. The perfect computer does not exist if you are a perfectionist. Complaining about it is not going to make one appear out of your ass.

I am not even going to touch the rest of them because they are just as pointless. If you need apps that are PC only or like the PC counter parts of dual platform apps, then use a damn PC. Now onto my gripes...

Problem #1 - Kid spends all time on computer. He has no life and sees it fit to jump onto a forum to complain about something that most kids in this world would just be plain grateful for. The world becomes consumed by complaining customers, like the world owes them exactly what they want just because they feel like they earned it.

Solution - While you are waiting for one of your essential web pages to load, run outside and talk to some real people. Maybe try to get a life while you're at it. Turn on the news, hear some problems that matter.

[LORL]

Originally posted by Fellow2000:
#1 - Get over it. There are many documented cases around here and the rest of the internet indicating the poor battery life of the powerbook (comparitively). However, the battery life is still great compared to no battery. Either go get and iBook, windows machine, more batteries or quit griping. Bitching and moaning is not going to make your powerbook last longer than your first date, or does it already?

#2 - And what do you expect us to do about it? Does IE, Opera or Mozilla render faster for you on windows? If so, use windows. I know web developers who use IE 5.x for browsing, and not only is browsing/testing an essential part of their life, it pays for their food and shelter. What is so essential to your life that a web page rendering .02 miliseconds slower is killing you? God, kids these days, whatever happened to being thankful for things like high-speed internet, browsers and computers in general? For technicality sakes, Safari has one of the fastest rendering engines in existance. Safari however, does not display many items until full load is complete, i.e. images. This is contrary to many popular browsers, such as IE for windows which allows the user to see the rendering. Either way you cut it, you are getting the full load in the same amount of time. So did your life not exist before the internet?

#3 - More RAM will always help OS X, its just the nature of the system. However, if your mighty PC was faster, and its that important to you, then use the damn thing. No one is forcing you to use Mac OS X. The perfect computer does not exist if you are a perfectionist. Complaining about it is not going to make one appear out of your ass.

I am not even going to touch the rest of them because they are just as pointless. If you need apps that are PC only or like the PC counter parts of dual platform apps, then use a damn PC. Now onto my gripes...

Problem #1 - Kid spends all time on computer. He has no life and sees it fit to jump onto a forum to complain about something that most kids in this world would just be plain grateful for. The world becomes consumed by complaining customers, like the world owes them exactly what they want just because they feel like they earned it.

Solution - While you are waiting for one of your essential web pages to load, run outside and talk to some real people. Maybe try to get a life while you're at it. Turn on the news, hear some problems that matter.

I can't even believe that people take the time to write out responses like this. You could make the same points and be kind...I would say it works much, much better.

[siflippant]

Originally posted by LORL:
I can't even believe that people take the time to write out responses like this. You could make the same points and be kind...I would say it works much, much better.

Mmmmmm, but Fellow2000 is still right man... so many people do not appreciate what they have these days... rightly or wrongly (and by all means come back on this one) - but it's true... and putting on the news? Jeez... what a mess this world is in right now... but we can still pray that everything will work out for the best (but I do have my doubts at times)...

[hldan]

Originally posted by LORL:
Thanks Tavilach for the support...

I think hldan and I just had a misunderstanding, and I understand what you are saying about keeping a small community tied together by speaking positively about Macs. Plus, my experience isn't really indicitave of Mac vs Windows speed (except for the Safari thing), because I want from a SATA desktop PC to a laptop. So, you can never expect it to be the same.

However, I am perfectly pleased with the speed of my Mac, and I defentitly need some more RAM.

Anyway, it turned into a little, tiny flame-way, so sorry hldan, I will try to keep it more civil next time. See'ya.

Cool, much appreciated, I will do the same.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by Fellow2000:
#1 - Get over it. There are many documented cases around here and the rest of the internet indicating the poor battery life of the powerbook (comparitively). However, the battery life is still great compared to no battery. Either go get and iBook, windows machine, more batteries or quit griping. Bitching and moaning is not going to make your powerbook last longer than your first date, or does it already?

#2 - And what do you expect us to do about it? Does IE, Opera or Mozilla render faster for you on windows? If so, use windows. I know web developers who use IE 5.x for browsing, and not only is browsing/testing an essential part of their life, it pays for their food and shelter. What is so essential to your life that a web page rendering .02 miliseconds slower is killing you? God, kids these days, whatever happened to being thankful for things like high-speed internet, browsers and computers in general? For technicality sakes, Safari has one of the fastest rendering engines in existance. Safari however, does not display many items until full load is complete, i.e. images. This is contrary to many popular browsers, such as IE for windows which allows the user to see the rendering. Either way you cut it, you are getting the full load in the same amount of time. So did your life not exist before the internet?

#3 - More RAM will always help OS X, its just the nature of the system. However, if your mighty PC was faster, and its that important to you, then use the damn thing. No one is forcing you to use Mac OS X. The perfect computer does not exist if you are a perfectionist. Complaining about it is not going to make one appear out of your ass.

I am not even going to touch the rest of them because they are just as pointless. If you need apps that are PC only or like the PC counter parts of dual platform apps, then use a damn PC. Now onto my gripes...

Problem #1 - Kid spends all time on computer. He has no life and sees it fit to jump onto a forum to complain about something that most kids in this world would just be plain grateful for. The world becomes consumed by complaining customers, like the world owes them exactly what they want just because they feel like they earned it.

Solution - While you are waiting for one of your essential web pages to load, run outside and talk to some real people. Maybe try to get a life while you're at it. Turn on the news, hear some problems that matter.

That was pure poetry.

Let me enlighten you a bit. Yes, there are articles indicating the poor battery performance, and I have now experienced that. Just because people have spoken about it doesn't make it any less frustrating. This is a post about my PowerBook gripes, and this is one of them. I'm not asking you to fix the problem...I'm merely pointing this stuff out, to see what other people think, if they agree, if they disagree, etc. Don't be a fool.

As for browsing, I have already said, time and time again, that the benefits of Mac OS X counteract the flaws, but there still are flaws. These flaws won't make me switch back, but they do exist. I'm not asking you to do anything about this stuff...as I said above, these are merely my gripes. 0.02 seconds, by the way? Safeway.com takes about 10 seconds to load a page on Safari, whereas on Windows, it takes about 2 seconds. I have to do a lot of shopping for my suite, and when every item takes 10 seconds (sometimes even 20) to load, it takes a long ass time (I've spent 30 minutes, when on a PC, it would have taken 5 or 10). Imagine sitting there for 10 seconds after you search for every item, knowing that on a PC, it wouldn't be a problem, and you'd be done. Big difference there, buddy. It also makes me less prone to "surfing" through lots of pages. I shouldn't be disinclined to browse the web. Again, big difference. Moreover, as I type this post, I am only allowed to type about 20 WPM, so it keeps having to catch up with me (I think it's because of the damn animated GIF's), and when I make a typo, it takes 10 seconds to correct (no exaggeration...its really about 10 seconds when you count the time it takes to backspace and everything...on a PC it's less than a second). Big difference, you imbecile. Scrolling in Safari, moreover, is just horrible. I avoid scrolling through pages because it's so slow. Big difference. Enough to get me to switch back to my PC? No. Enough to make me a little frustrated? Certainly.

Edit: I've just been reminded about the horrible little wheel. I usually have at least 20 Safari tabs open, and it always gets to the point that all my memory is in use, and it takes 10 seconds to close a tab, 20 seconds to switch between tabs, etc. This was never a problem on my PC, but it really can hinder one's workflow...it's not just convenience (well, it is, but it's an essential convenience for one who deals with computers so much, and who has invested in such a top-notch computer, as I've been saying). Anyway, my Mac obviously uses more Memory, so I'll just get more. No big deal, but as it stands, it ain't fun with lots of things open...to the extent of wanting to bang my head against my desk. It isn't so bad to wait (I'm sure that people in Zimbabwe wouldn't care about the loading times...but they aren't used to fast loading times...duh...and haven't invested so much, either), but when you're not used to waiting on a computer that should be inferior to the one that does make you wait, it's annoying.

As a power user, when things pop into my head, I immediately run a search, go to a website, etc. Lately, though, I've found that it is really a hardship to do these things that used to take under two seconds, and I end up saying "whatever...I don't want to bring up the spinning wheel...I'll check later." That's not how my computer should work!

Of course, as I keep saying, Macs are different, and it's also a slower clock speed...so I'll just buy more RAM (not to mention that I'm not fully integrated into the Mac OS X environment, yet, so things are not yet as fast in that respect).

Why is needing more RAM a reason to go back to the PC world, my stupid friend? These are gripes, not horrible dillemas. I'm not whining...I'm merely expressing the frustrations that I've had on top of the joy that everyone always experiences, partly to show that Macs are not perfect, and people shouldn't mislead switchers into thinking that they are (and for other reasons that I mentioned above).

You say that if I want to use PC apps, I should use a PC. Sorry, dude, but I use a Mac, and it does most of what I need flawlessly. Again, these are gripes.

If you buy a Mercedes Benz with normal wheels, but you really want see-through wheels, and the only type of car that can use see-through wheels (don't ask me why) is a Honda, will you switch? No. The lack of see-through wheels might piss you off, though (especially when a girl randomly undresses behind your car's wheels), and you might want to enlighten other people (who might also want see-through wheels) with the knowledge that Mercedes' don't work with see-through wheels.

As for your last comment...

Lately I've been using my computer for schoolwork and online shopping more than for, say, "play." I talk to my friends all the time, but I arranged a little online Safeway ordering system for my suite, and it would help if Safari was faster. I turn on my Physics homework via the web, so once again, it would help if Safari was faster. I will soon have to use AutoCAD and SolidWorks, and it would help if the Mac could run these applications, rather than my having to bring my desktop PC to my dorm for this purpose (space is limited, and I'd rather have everything one computer).

You say that I'm complaining about things that other people would be grateful for...that's just a dumb comment. I am grateful that I have few financial worries, but now that so much is invested in my PowerBook, I can't just not care about problems because I should be grateful. In fact, It'd be horrible of me not to care. If I just didn't care about things like my PowerBook, why should I have the privilege of having it? I care that I am getting my money's worth out of the machine. If I'm not getting my money's worth, then I just wasted a whole lot of money, and considering that so many people (as you kindly brought to my attention) are far worse off, wouldn't it be a shame for me to be throwing away money like that? My machine cost a whole lot of money, and that involves a whole lot of expectations. Again, if I didn't care about this stuff, that'd mean that I don't care about my investments, and that's quite disgraceful in light of the financial situations of the rest of the world. I should definitely care.

I hope I repeated myself enough for you to grasp the gist of what I said.

Is it fun to be an idiot with a stick up his ass?

P.S. I'm a college student, and I know a lot more about the world than you think. Don't jump to conclusions, smart-ass.

IBL

[Fellow2000]

Originally posted by tavilach:
P.S. I'm a college student, and I know a lot more about the world than you think. Don't jump to conclusions, smart-ass.

Originally posted by tavilach:

If you buy a Mercedes Benz with normal wheels, but you really want see-through wheels, and the only type of car that can use see-through wheels (don't ask me why) is a Honda, will you switch? No. The lack of see-through wheels might piss you off, though (especially when a girl randomly undresses behind your car's wheels), and you might want to enlighten other people (who might also want see-through wheels) with the knowledge that Mercedes' don't work with see-through wheels.

.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by Fellow2000:
.

I'm allowed to have a sense of humor, you twit. I'm in college, not a nursing home.

[Stradlater]

well god damn

[Peabo]

Problem #1 - Kid spends all time on computer. He has no life and sees it fit to jump onto a forum to complain about something that most kids in this world would just be plain grateful for.

If no one complained about speed then computers would still be 8mhz on 2400bps modems. Complaints, or 'feedback' is what companies require to gauge customer opinion on their products. For example who liked flower-power or key-lime? Not many people - and so they are gone. Do you think it would have been better if Apple said:

"You stupid kids don't know you're born! Why in my day, we ate key-lime pie to survive and we never complained!"

Remember when apple stayed at 500mhz for 18 months? By your logic this was a wonderful thing! But that didn't teach people to respect what they had, it just put Apple way behind the PC market - something which they are still trying to recover from.

Also, how do you know he has no life? For all you know he could be living in a mansion having better sex than you've ever had in your life whilst on the weekend travelling to 3rd world contries to personally help starving children.

[Randman]

Originally posted by Tavi:
P.S. I'm a college student, and I know a lot more about the world than you think. Don't jump to conclusions, smart-ass.

Dude, that might be one of the funniest things I've ever read on this forum. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a freshman? And didn't your folks buy the PowerBook for you?

So how are you worldly wise? From some of the comments in this thread, it doesn't sound that way. A little research would have answered almost all of your questions. Owning a PowerBook doesn't make one a Power user.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by Randman:
Dude, that might be one of the funniest things I've ever read on this forum. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a freshman? And didn't your folks buy the PowerBook for you?

So how are you worldly wise? From some of the comments in this thread, it doesn't sound that way. A little research would have answered almost all of your questions. Owning a PowerBook doesn't make one a Power user.

I'm not quite sure how the fact that I didn't buy my own PowerBook makes me any less knowledgeable about the world. That comment just seems like a way to put me down...in which case, thank you.

[Randman]

Put down? No.
Putting things in perspective? Yes. And maybe it seems that way for you, and if does, all the better, but a first year of uni is far from being worldly.

But that's getting off track. As far as your original questions about the PowerBook, most have been answered here and plenty of other threads as well.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by Randman:
Put down? No.
Putting things in perspective? Yes. And maybe it seems that way for you, and if does, all the better, but a first year of uni is far from being worldly.

But that's getting off track. As far as your original questions about the PowerBook, most have been answered here and plenty of other threads as well.

I never said that I was worldly. I said that I knew more about the world that he assumed. Knowing things about the world (i.e. what's going on in the world) has nothing to do with being worldly, and I don't remember using the word "worldly." You're just fishing for a stupid comment.

[macaddict0001]

Hate to break up a geek fight but....




have you bought the ram yet because it should be mentioned that power usage in a laptop is important so a good deal may turn out to be a bad deal if you're not careful. make sure to check the power ratings on each stick of ram.
but of course randman already knew this cause he knows everything

[siflippant]

but of course randman already knew this cause he knows everything

[LORL]

Why are we even talking about who is "worldly" in a thread which primarly was about web-rendering and Office speeds?

[tavilach]

Originally posted by LORL:
Why are we even talking about who is "worldly" in a thread which primarly was about web-rendering and Office speeds?

Only the G-d of MacNN knows .

Back to the topic...

No, I haven't bought the RAM, because I don't know how much I need. I'm a true power user, so I'm worried that even 1 GB won't be enough...but a stick or two of 1 GB is so much more expensive than a second 512 MB stick!

[mhuie]

I think everyone is having a hissy fit is just because he's comparing it to a PC... Next time, play it safe and just say safari is slow...

And to the poster that was talking about "see-thru wheels" and "non see-thru wheels", thats gotta be the funniest thing I've heard all day. You sound like you're 5 years old making that comment.

By the way, non see-thru wheels (drum brakes) are inferior to see-thru wheels (disc brakes).. So I dont get what point you're trying to make.

[tavilach]

Originally posted by mhuie:
I think everyone is having a hissy fit is just because he's comparing it to a PC... Next time, play it safe and just say safari is slow...

And to the poster that was talking about "see-thru wheels" and "non see-thru wheels", thats gotta be the funniest thing I've heard all day. You sound like you're 5 years old making that comment.

By the way, non see-thru wheels (drum brakes) are inferior to see-thru wheels (disc brakes).. So I dont get what point you're trying to make.

No, I wasn't referring to dram brakes vs. disc brakes...I was referring to completely clear wheels...i.e. invisible wheels...i.e. something that doesn't exist. It was just a random way to illustrate my point, with no basis on fact. It's called an imagination...

[chris v]

Originally posted by LORL:

1. Diskwarrior doesn't do anything. In fact, programs like that can actually hurt your computer more than help. Just use utilities that comes with OSX.

Wow, I nearly missed this little gem the first time through this thread I was having so much fun laughing at the bitch fight.

Let me just say that this statement is so utterly wrong it defies the senses.

[macaddict0001]

Originally posted by chris v:
Wow, I nearly missed this little gem the first time through this thread I was having so much fun laughing at the bitch fight.

Let me just say that this statement is so utterly wrong it defies the senses.

but it can do more harm than good for example:
if you accidently clicked on erase and then entered an administrater password and then hit return.

[LORL]

Originally posted by chris v:
Wow, I nearly missed this little gem the first time through this thread I was having so much fun laughing at the bitch fight.

Let me just say that this statement is so utterly wrong it defies the senses.

Care to explain how it "so utterly wrong" then? Because honestly, if I am that wrong, I would like to be corrected so I don't tell other people the same thing.

What I meant was that, in context, Disk Warrior wouldn't do anything to speed up Safari, Office, or any of the things we are talking about. Maybe I should've specified that better.

Either way, it is probably a better strategy to ask what the person meant, or explain why you think they are wrong...

[tavilach]

Oh my gosh! I turned of Norton AntiVirus auto-scan (I need NAV...it's a Berkeley requirement to have a virus scanner, and they gave me this for free), and my swap files went from 6 to 2, my swap space went from 1500 MB to 128 MB, i can have as many tabs open as I want, scrolling is much speeder, I don't get a wheely thing every time I switch tabs, Word only takes a few seconds to load...

Wow, my computer really was slow. i was wondering how it could be so slow, and how other people could cope with it! I thought you were all crazy, and you probably thought I was crazy for thinking my system was slow.

Stay away from NAV! It's okay for it to be installed, but auto-scan is a no no!

[PER3]

Originally posted by tavilach:
I'm allowed to have a sense of humor, you twit. I'm in college, not a nursing home.

Absolutely! But when do we get to see it?

[tavilach]

Originally posted by PER3:
Absolutely! But when do we get to see it?

If that wasn't an insult, I'd give you a thumbs up.

[chris v]

Originally posted by macaddict0001:
but it can do more harm than good for example:
if you accidently clicked on erase and then entered an administrater password and then hit return.

I don't believe DiskWarrior has an "erase" feature. It rebuilds the directory, and you can either choose to replace the old directory with the new one, or not, when it's done rebuilding. There's multiple warning screens, too, so it would be hard to accidentally replace the original directory with the re-built one, and then the odds of the new one being corrupt are infantessimally small.

[chris v]

Originally posted by LORL:
Care to explain how it "so utterly wrong" then? Because honestly, if I am that wrong, I would like to be corrected so I don't tell other people the same thing.

What I meant was that, in context, Disk Warrior wouldn't do anything to speed up Safari, Office, or any of the things we are talking about. Maybe I should've specified that better.

Either way, it is probably a better strategy to ask what the person meant, or explain why you think they are wrong...

Your original statement was a blanket "DiskWarrior does nothing." If what you meant was "DiskWarrior will not speed up browsing," then I agree with you.

I think also, you may have it confused with Norton's disk utilities which have a track record of screwing things up. That's just about unheard of with DiskWarrior. If you're curious, PM CharlesS for an extremely informed opinion, or just do a search in the Software forum. You'll see lots of complaints about Norton destroying drives, and lots of raves about DW saving them. It can fix several varieties of directory corruption that Apple's Disk Utility can't, and has pulled my own ass out of a sling more than once. I will add though that directory corruption does seem to be more rare now that journaling is default with 10.3.