[tictactoe]

I couldn't wait any longer...I just couldn't.

I picked up a 12" PB Combo drive and got a FREE Epson Stylus C86 printer (after mail-in rebate). I also ordered the 1 gig of ram for it from outpost.com (the $160 one).

This is my first Mac and I LOVE IT! I do have one gripe though, the battery is not flush on the front. It's not a big deal, but it's something small that is bothering me. Other than that, it's perfect.

I'm actually quite amazed at how well it works with just 256mb of ram in it. I was browsing with Firefox with 4 tabs going, listening to music on iTunes, chatting and transferring a 7 gig file over my network and it was running great until I opened Photoshop!

What are some "must have" applications/utilities/tools that I should download. If you list something, please briefly explain what it does too, thanks.

[Randman]

Congrats, shoul dbe a good machine. Just hope that the PB line isn't bumped up this week as prices on rev cs could drop.

Lots of threads on what apps people use. Just trawl through the threads and you'll find plenty.

[eatinwokout]

congrats buddy... welcome to the 12" powerbook users club . the one app that ill recommend to you would have to be one of the quicklaunch apps like quicksilver and launchbar. with the small keyboard size of the 12" you'll be able to open and move around between files on your powerbook almost instantly using one of those apps.

[tictactoe]

I can't seem to find Quicksilver. Can you link me to a website that I can download it from?

Thanks in advance.

[eatinwokout]

http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/

[tictactoe]

Awesome, thanks a lot.

[eatinwokout]

welcome .. you'll love quicksilver. you might as well try out launchbar just for a little comparison. i've noticed that launchbar uses less memory (i cringe saying that since i prefer the UI of quicksilver).

[Randman]

F10 is much better than QS, imo. Not free, but much easier and cleaner to use.

[Dr.Michael]

Congrats also from here.
The 12 inch is one of the best notebooks I ever used.

The battery isn't perfectly in line with the case. Nothing is perfect but it does not hurt, does it?

Quicksilver vs. Launchbar: Finally I decided to use launchbar. Its noticible faster than Quicksilver. And I must say that I like to support the people who originally had the idea. Especially when their software can really compete.

[shabbasuraj]

Congrats...

I have had my RevC 12" PB since May 2004 and I love it.

(Man I am glad I bought it when I did (very close to the actual Rev.C release date) considering the currently LONG update cycle we are currently experiencing with the PowerBook line...

Anyways...

LaunchBar is a must have program. Who knows how relevant it will be after Tiger's Spotlight.

[Guy Kuo]

Congratulations. I love my PB 12 as well. It does the vast majority of work. My main Mac these days rarely gets used.

I would recommend two maintenance utilities.

http://www.titanium.free.fr/english.html is a link to Onyx - a program that helps performs multiple system maintenance tasks like repairing file permissions, running up system scripts, cleaning up caches, etc.

Next, I'd pick up DiskWarrior to maintain your hard drive.

Most importantly, pick up a pair of external firewire drives and a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner. Use the drives to keep two backups of your machine. Keep one drive off site so it can survive catastrophe at your home. Use the drives in rotation so you have one older backup as well as a current one. That helps avoid data losses that propagate before discovery. Personally, I keep six firewire drives in rotation for my backups, but then again my data and work have some actual value. At the very least get one firewire drive and backup up you powerbook.

[audvidsvs]

I have to throw in my vote here for Sidetrack.
This turns the touchpad into what it should have been in the first place.
It gives scrolling in both directions and expanded functions directly from the touchpad so when using the PB without a mouse it helps me a lot.
Especially good for internet browsing.

I also second the Diskwarrior recommendation,it has saved my butt twice recently.

Welcome to the group

[UnixMac]

Good choice, I got my PB 2 months ago, and haven't regretted it one bit. It's more than I need for away from desk top computing, and frankly it's damn cool!

Also, I own two copies of DiskWarrior.. they're the best bar none. And a classy company to boot! (pardon the pun)

[Randman]

Deja Menu is also a must-have.

[wilsonng]

There are a couple of hot keys built right into OS X that I use constantly with my 12" PB.

The first one I like to use is Command-Option-H. This can be found in the application menu. It is essentially "Hide Others".

Screen real estate can sometimes get cluttered on the 12" so I sometimes use this command to hide all the other windows from other programs except for the windows in the frontmost application.

I also love to use Expose. If I want to see the desktop, I hit one of my Expose keys to see the desktop. Or I can see all open windows, or all windows for the frontmost application.

Grab yourself an external monitor and double your screen real estate for the times when you need it.

I also love tabbed browsing in Safari and Firefox. Makes life easier when it comes to reducing window clutter.

[Dr.Michael]

Originally posted by UnixMac:

Also, I own two copies of DiskWarrior.. they're the best bar none.

[LeeG]

ENJOY!

I have had my rev b for over a year (my first mac laptop), and it's been a great machine. Expose helps a lot with screen real estate - get used to using it. I also use ASM (puts the old apple app switcher menu on the upper right side of the screen) If you're not an older mac user, you won't miss it, but I still like to have it=

Lee

[Ricky]

Congrats on your purchase! My trusty rev. A is still trucking right along. Without a doubt the best computer I've ever owned. Having a laptop with a DVD burner and Airport is all I could ever want! Thanks to me being extremely careful at all times, it still looks brand new too, haha. Enjoy.

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by Ricky:
Congrats on your purchase! My trusty rev. A is still trucking right along. Without a doubt the best computer I've ever owned. Having a laptop with a DVD burner and Airport is all I could ever want! Thanks to me being extremely careful at all times, it still looks brand new too, haha. Enjoy.

yeah, it's really cool to be sitting here in my bed with my laptop literally on my lap providing warmth, and using my wireless Airport Express network to surf the internet at 3.5Mbs ... Even if my desk top has a much bigger screen and a two faster G5's, the experience of portability is second to none.

Man, I love this thing! To think that just 20 years ago, I was content with 4.77 mhz 6502 and 128K of RAM on a green screen! Apple has come a long way baby!

[tictactoe]

I'm busy setting everything up and downloading apps still. It's a pleasure to install applications on this thing.

What kind of games can I run on this thing?

[tictactoe]

I was going to ask you guys about battery life too, but first I need to thank all of you again: THANK YOU VERY MUCH! You guys have been INCREDIBLY helpful to the point where I feel bad for asking

I immediately plugged my laptop in when I first opened it and let it charge completely, since then (few days) I have not unplugged it. I unplugged it just now and it says I have about 3:21 worth of battery life. This seems odd because Apple claims up to 5 hours while alot of people say they got 4-4.5 hours at first.

I'm running a chat client, itunes and typing this up and that is about it. I'm going to try turning the brightness to the second to last peg (the one before the screen goes blank). The result: 4:20 minutes. Does that sound right to you guys? Bluetooth and Airport are OFF.

I also read the whole thing on Apple's website about taking care of the battery. I just want to make sure I got everything correct:

- Cycle the battery (full discharge, full charge) completely once a month (already set it in iCal, I love iCal).

- Do not leave it plugged in constantly, keep the "juices flowing."

- Keep the battery at 50% if I'm going to leave it unused for an extended period of time (I doubt that'll happen).

- A 20% charge, 30%, 40% and a 10% recharge combine to equal one full cycle regardless of the time they occur.

- The battery is good for 300 charge cycles before it drops to only 80% capacity.

Did I miss anything? Once again, a big thank you to all of you!

Edit: I realized I was doing video out, so I unplugged that and turned off iTunes and now I'm at 4:30. Is it normal to have to go so barebones in order to get prolonged battery life? I assume it is, but I just want to be sure

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by tictactoe:
I'm busy setting everything up and downloading apps still. It's a pleasure to install applications on this thing.

What kind of games can I run on this thing?

most current games will run well... is it 64mb or 128mb you have of VRAM? eitherway, at your screen res, even 3D games will run well.

Also.... after installing all of those apps.. for God's sake, do a "Repair Permissions" form disk utility, at least, and if you really want a healthy machine, download Onyx and use it weekly.

[tictactoe]

I have Onyx. I'll run it right now.

[Guy Kuo]

You'll find quite a body of opinion that Lithium batteries should NOT be run all the way down all the time. Every full cycle diminishes total capacity. The periodic full discharge to force the battery tracking system back into sync once a month is one thing. Running it into the ground every time is another. Those 800 charge cycles are for partial cycles, not full discharges. Deep discharges will reduce capacity much faster. Use it on battery when you need to, but let the machine sip on its charger. This is not NiCad technology. The rules for best battery life are different.

Inevitably the battery will lose capacity. That's the nature of Lithium ion. I've let my iBooks and Powerbook run on the mains (with battery installed) whenever possible. They have kept good battery life for those situation where I need them to run on battery. The strategy has worked well for the last few years of machines.

[UnixMac]

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284

http://www.apple.com/batteries/

[wilsonng]

Don't forget to get AppleCare. You can purchase it before your first year warranty is up.

I also love travelling light so I put it into my BooqBags Mamba.XS (http:www/booqbags.com)

It's big enough for my accessories and a couple inches of documents or magazines.

When I want to travel with more capacity, I slip it into a sleeve like the BooqBags Vyper and then put it into my Kensington Saddlebag.

[tictactoe]

Originally posted by Guy Kuo:
You'll find quite a body of opinion that Lithium batteries should NOT be run all the way down all the time. Every full cycle diminishes total capacity. The periodic full discharge to force the battery tracking system back into sync once a month is one thing. Running it into the ground every time is another. Those 800 charge cycles are for partial cycles, not full discharges. Deep discharges will reduce capacity much faster. Use it on battery when you need to, but let the machine sip on its charger. This is not NiCad technology. The rules for best battery life are different.

Inevitably the battery will lose capacity. That's the nature of Lithium ion. I've let my iBooks and Powerbook run on the mains (with battery installed) whenever possible. They have kept good battery life for those situation where I need them to run on battery. The strategy has worked well for the last few years of machines.

I understand that I should not run the battery into the ground everytime, only once a month. My habits will be having the computer plugged into the wall probably 90% of the time.

[tictactoe]

I also placed an order for a Shinza 12" sleeve. I had one when I had a Dell 700m and thought it was a great sleeve.

[tictactoe]

Sorry for the 30 posts in a row, but I forgot to mention that I have an iPod Shuffle 512mb on order too .

[chris v]

If you're not all spent out yet, you really should throw 512 MB of RAM in that thing. It'll make you happy.

[tictactoe]

Originally posted by chris v:
If you're not all spent out yet, you really should throw 512 MB of RAM in that thing. It'll make you happy.

I'm a step ahead of you. I ordered the 1 gig from the outpost.com ram deal thread .

[wilsonng]

I'm much happier with the 1 GB chip. I had a 512 MB chip but took it out for a 1 GB. My PB is alot happier and smoother with it.

I always say max out the RAM capacity, get AppleCare, and a sleeve for any PB you buy.

Originally posted by chris v:
If you're not all spent out yet, you really should throw 512 MB of RAM in that thing. It'll make you happy.

[tictactoe]

Originally posted by wilsonng:
I'm much happier with the 1 GB chip. I had a 512 MB chip but took it out for a 1 GB. My PB is alot happier and smoother with it.

I always say max out the RAM capacity, get AppleCare, and a sleeve for any PB you buy.

I decided to hold out on AppleCare for now. No use in purchasing it when I can purchase it at a later time (when I have more money!). I'm eagerly awaiting the 1gig and the Shinza sleeve.

[bbales]

Originally posted by Ricky:
Congrats on your purchase! My trusty rev. A is still trucking right along. Without a doubt the best computer I've ever owned. Having a laptop with a DVD burner and Airport is all I could ever want! Thanks to me being extremely careful at all times, it still looks brand new too, haha. Enjoy.

My own Rev A is in GREAT condition after nearly 2 years (next month!). I love this machine. It's a great portable and has helped bring me out of the basement (where my desktop and office are). And despite 3 kids monopoloigzing it after school, it still looks great. (Constant nagging on my part.

Enjoy.

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by bbales:
My own Rev A is in GREAT condition after nearly 2 years (next month!). I love this machine. It's a great portable and has helped bring me out of the basement (where my desktop and office are). And despite 3 kids monopoloigzing it after school, it still looks great. (Constant nagging on my part.

Enjoy.

You should be canonized!

I would kill my 2 and 4 year olds if they even so much as touch it! I allow them on the desk top only, and thats because the keyboard and mouse can both be replaced for $120 or so... However it took weeks to get them to stop pointing onto the screen and leaving baby fingerprints!

Anyway, back to the laptop... it's certainly a lot tougher than the older TiBook... I once picked my previous TiBook from the side, and it bent under its own weight leaving an ugly crease in the lower part of the body next to the track pad area! The AiBook is much more rigid, which is really nice, and a lot less prone to scratch!

[Frumpy]

Any real benefit to using the Onyx program instead of just using the 'repair disk permissions' utility window? I'm one of those Apple people that love to sit there and laugh and the windows users that load their PC's with crap apps. that conflict with each other and crap out their system. I'd rather stick with something from Apple than go with a third party (unless it's Word vs. Pages).

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by Frumpy:
Any real benefit to using the Onyx program instead of just using the 'repair disk permissions' utility window? I'm one of those Apple people that love to sit there and laugh and the windows users that load their PC's with crap apps. that conflict with each other and crap out their system. I'd rather stick with something from Apple than go with a third party (unless it's Word vs. Pages).

I like Onyx cause it does a lot, lot more.....

There are daily, weekly, and monthly unix scripts that need to be run, and are scheduled to run in the middle of the night (so unless your computer is on 24/7 they will be missed), it also has a dozen or so more optimizations and other cleaners that you should run on occasion... some argue you never need to do this stuff, but I believe in preventative maintenance and it's work for me for 5 years on OS X so far to do this stuff..

[bbales]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by UnixMac:
[B]You should be canonized!

I would kill my 2 and 4 year olds if they even so much as touch it! I allow them on the desk top only, and thats because the keyboard and mouse can both be replaced for $120 or so... However it took weeks to get them to stop pointing onto the screen and leaving baby fingerprints!

I'll have to tell my girls! I'm sure they'll agree...

My kids are 12, and nearly 14 and 17, so I'm not in quite the same place. And because they know my rules, they are by and large pretty darn careful with it (thought not as much as I am). I allow no food or drink near it -- and I follow my own rules, especially with the drink. Accidents DO happen. And because of that, I have both AppleCare and Safeware!

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by bbales:
Accidents DO happen. And because of that, I have both AppleCare and Safeware!

they do indeed...

[jamil5454]

Foolishly, I decided my hand-eye coordination was good enough so as not to spill my fresh morning coffee on my week-old iBook. I was wrong.

But I was able to quickly turn off the computer and eject the keyboard and wipe the area down with a damp paper towel. The only battle scar is a squeaky Right-Shift key. I guess I came out lucky this time. But man do I love my iBook, especially now that I succumbed to the dual-monitor setup.

Opeth is awesome...

[tictactoe]

I just got my 1gig chip in the mail today. Popped it in there and noticed a dramatic improvement while multitasking. Loving this thing even more.

One more gripe I have though:

Which idiot decided to use such ridiculously small screws on this laptop? I practically stripped two screws while trying to install the memory in this thing. Eventually, I had to use the tip of a thin knife to open it up.

[wilsonng]

I remember seeing some iSkins for the PowerBook. It's some kind of neoprene overlay that fits over the keyboard perfectly.

I have one for my Apple external USB keyboard. I saw the PowerBook keyboard skins advertised at http://www.welovemacs.com/

You should be able to find them elsewhere.

If you don't want the kids touching the PB keyboard, get an external keyboard and mouse.... Much cheaper to replace....

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bbales:
[B]

Originally posted by UnixMac:
You should be canonized!

I would kill my 2 and 4 year olds if they even so much as touch it! I allow them on the desk top only, and thats because the keyboard and mouse can both be replaced for $120 or so... However it took weeks to get them to stop pointing onto the screen and leaving baby fingerprints!

I'll have to tell my girls! I'm sure they'll agree...

My kids are 12, and nearly 14 and 17, so I'm not in quite the same place. And because they know my rules, they are by and large pretty darn careful with it (thought not as much as I am). I allow no food or drink near it -- and I follow my own rules, especially with the drink. Accidents DO happen. And because of that, I have both AppleCare and Safeware!

[UnixMac]

Originally posted by wilsonng:
I remember seeing some iSkins for the PowerBook. It's some kind of neoprene overlay that fits over the keyboard perfectly.

I have one for my Apple external USB keyboard. I saw the PowerBook keyboard skins advertised at http://www.welovemacs.com/

You should be able to find them elsewhere.

If you don't want the kids touching the PB keyboard, get an external keyboard and mouse.... Much cheaper to replace....

External is a good idea, but I think the desk top is enough for now, and I can keep the screen far enough from them, so as to prevent fingerprints.

[slffl]

Originally posted by audvidsvs:
I have to throw in my vote here for Sidetrack.
This turns the touchpad into what it should have been in the first place.
It gives scrolling in both directions and expanded functions directly from the touchpad so when using the PB without a mouse it helps me a lot.
Especially good for internet browsing.

I also second the Diskwarrior recommendation,it has saved my butt twice recently.

Welcome to the group

IMO, pressing the spacebar and using the command and arrow keys are a lot better than any trackpad scrolling.

[f1000]

Originally posted by tictactoe:
I do have one gripe though, the battery is not flush on the front. It's not a big deal, but it's something small that is bothering me. Other than that, it's perfect.

I mentioned how I fixed my battery covery in the following thread.

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...battery+warped

[tictactoe]

Originally posted by f1000:
I mentioned how I fixed my battery covery in the following thread.

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...battery+warped

Good stuff. I'll give that a try later today.