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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Newbie out-of-the-box questions: Extra power cord? / Software? / Reinstallation?

Newbie out-of-the-box questions: Extra power cord? / Software? / Reinstallation?
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Yakov
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Jun 8, 2006, 06:55 AM
 
1) What is that extra power cord for? Is it so I can have a grounded connection for my Mac?

2) There are only two discs in my box -- gray CDs (probably DVDs, actually) labeled "1" and "2". Do these discs include iLife and the extra programs (i.e. Comic Life, board games)? Do they include the MS Office preview thing, or any other unwanted programs?

3) Is there any actual benefit to be had from reinstalling the system? Someone before asked how much space would be saved on the drive, if any, but no one addressed that question.

Thank you kindly,
Yakov
     
mavherzog
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Jun 8, 2006, 07:02 AM
 
1) Assuming this is the same as with the iBooks, you have the "wall wart" option and the 3-pronged plug option (which also gives you extended length with your power cord).

2) These disks should included iLife, Comic Life, Photo Booth, etc. Yes, I believe there is a trial of MS Office, Quicken, and perhaps some other "stuff". An actually MacBook owner can confirm.

3) Personally, I always do a fresh install when I receive a new Mac. I like knowning exactly what has been installed.
     
Yakov  (op)
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Jun 8, 2006, 07:15 AM
 
the 3-pronged plug is, on the female side, a two-pronged plug, which can't plug into the macbook anywheres. looks like you'd have to plug the wall wart into the two-pronged side of the three-pronged plug, as so:

wall -> optional surge surpressor -> three-pronged male adapter-two pronged female plug -> wall wart-magsafe -> shiny white space heater

maybe it's meant to function as an extension cord that doesn't take up all the space on your wall or surge surpressor. it's strange that a company that would leave the power adapter out of its most popular product would include an extension cord with the macbook...

the two-pronged side has a strange little "shelf" in it too, like room to slide something in, which makes little sense to me...

yakov.
     
Dork.
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Jun 8, 2006, 09:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by Yakov
the 3-pronged plug is, on the female side, a two-pronged plug, which can't plug into the macbook anywheres. looks like you'd have to plug the wall wart into the two-pronged side of the three-pronged plug, as so:

wall -> optional surge surpressor -> three-pronged male adapter-two pronged female plug -> wall wart-magsafe -> shiny white space heater

maybe it's meant to function as an extension cord that doesn't take up all the space on your wall or surge surpressor. it's strange that a company that would leave the power adapter out of its most popular product would include an extension cord with the macbook...

the two-pronged side has a strange little "shelf" in it too, like room to slide something in, which makes little sense to me...

yakov.
I haven't seen a MacBook power adaptor, but assuming it is the same in concept as other apple adaptors, then your mystery cord is meant to function as an extension cord.

If you look at the wall wart, you'll see that the corner that actually plugs into the wall can slide out. Slide that "duck foot" out and slide in the extension cord and you're good to go! (When you slide out the duck foot, you'll probably see a metal disc which it attaches to, which also functions as the ground connection for the 3-prong plug.)

If there's one desk where you use your MacBook most of the time, you can plug the extension cord in behind the desk and place the power adaptor on top of the desk. When you need to go somewhere, sldie the extension cord out of the adaptor, slide the "duck foot" in, and you can plug in somewhere else with out unplugging from behind your desk!
     
stuffedmonkey
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Jun 8, 2006, 09:41 AM
 
You can deselect all then things you don't want when you are installing. I saved about 14 gigs.....
     
Yakov  (op)
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Jun 8, 2006, 10:14 AM
 
shoot, i guess i missed the installation options screen.
my clean full installation took like 15-16 gig
maybe i'll try again, try to get all the options this time...
     
Heavy
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Jun 8, 2006, 10:40 AM
 
That's saving a lot of memory. I didn't do that, but what kind of stuff are we talking about?
All the programs from ilife seem very useful. Are there others on there that I haven't go to yet that most people get rid of? I could just drag them to trash.

Yes my extra cord is an extension.
     
Neo.cmg
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Jun 8, 2006, 12:02 PM
 
Basically you can save a bit of space by re-installing the OS and opting to not have all the languages and printer drivers installed. Additionally there are some Garageband extras that aren't necessary which would save you about 1.5GB by omitting them. Additionally, Apple doesn't install X11 by default which I find useful to have.
     
Heavy
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Jun 8, 2006, 12:07 PM
 
What's X11?
     
Yakov  (op)
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Jun 8, 2006, 12:43 PM
 
I'm not an expert on this, but I know x11 lets you run some good programs that weren't written specifically for the Mac -- like OpenOffice.

Garageband is one of the reasons I bought a Mac, so I'll leave it alone...
     
Dork.
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Jun 8, 2006, 01:03 PM
 
X11 is a different windowing environment used mainly by UNIX systems. I have an Xwindows program installed on my PC laptop at work, and I can gain access to shells and Unix design tools that run on Unix servers but are remote-displayed to my laptop.
     
   
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