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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Applications > just got a new macbook, what are must have apps/downloads?

just got a new macbook, what are must have apps/downloads?
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macfantn
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Jan 21, 2008, 07:42 PM
 
i have vlc, adium, and firefox what are some other must have apps?
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
The Placid Casual
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Jan 21, 2008, 07:47 PM
 
I love 'MenuMeters', can't live without it...
     
tripletaker
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Jan 21, 2008, 08:07 PM
 
I just got a new Mac and these are the applications I installed (and in this order too).

Inquisitor - For Spotlight-like searching on Safari.
MenuMeters - For monitoring your computer through the menu bar
Adobe Lightroom - For digital photography
Audacity - For light audio edits
DVD2oneX2 - For shrinking DVDs
Handbrake - For converting DVDs
img2icns - To make icons
MacTheRipper - To rip DVDs
TextMate - Notepad for Macs
VLC - Good video player
GeekTool - For displaying command line on the desktop
iWork - For pretty documents
Microsoft Office - For normal documents
Toast Titanium - For burning DVDs
QuickTime Pro - For playing movies
Perian - To help Quicktime play movies
Adobe CS Suite - For my creative side
Synergy - To control iTunes with the keyboard
Alarm Clock - To wake up on time through my menu bar
Adium - To talk to other people using IM
Transmit - To transfer files to my website
xPad - To have a lot of documents open in one window
VisualHub - To convert movies faster than QuickTime
Omnigraffle - To make easy to understand charts
Firefox - To use if Safari doesn't work
The Unarchiver - To unarchive files, although the website doesn't work right now
     
JustinHorne
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Jan 21, 2008, 08:34 PM
 
Here, figured this would be easier than typing:
( Last edited by JustinHorne; Jan 21, 2008 at 08:47 PM. )
     
0157988944
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Jan 21, 2008, 08:47 PM
 
Yes?
     
JustinHorne
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Jan 21, 2008, 08:50 PM
 




EDIT: fixed the overlap.
     
The Placid Casual
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Jan 21, 2008, 08:51 PM
 
All must haves? :o
     
JustinHorne
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Jan 21, 2008, 08:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Placid Casual View Post
All must haves? :o
Well, to me, pretty much. There's a few games and stuff I could live without, but yep, pretty much every non Apple supplied program is there for a reason.
     
Kenneth
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Jan 21, 2008, 09:39 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Placid Casual View Post
I love 'MenuMeters', can't live without it...
What's the different between MenuMeters and iStat menus?

I will say iWork '08 suite, Camino, Flip4Mac, LineIn, Mactracker, SpamSieve,amd pixelmator.
     
macfantn  (op)
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Jan 21, 2008, 10:34 PM
 
just curious how does mac the ripper differ from handbrake?
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
JustinHorne
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Jan 21, 2008, 10:39 PM
 
Originally Posted by macfantn View Post
just curious how does mac the ripper differ from handbrake?
MTR is really good at just extracting the data from the disc. Sometimes, HB just plain won't be able to read the DVD (The new, better, encryption, etc.)
They actually have different purposes as well.
HB is for taking the DVD movie, and converting it to a .mp4, .mov, etc. Something you can play on your computer, basically. MTR is for taking the DVD and converting it into a VIDEO_TS folder on your HD. It does no compression, so it comes out ~4 or 5 GB, usually.

I almost exclusively use MTR, because I basically just copy every DVD I have, reburn it (Using Toast Titanium), and then never touch the original DVD again. I do it, because with a 3 year old/normal wear and tear, DVDs get beat up pretty badly around here...
I use HB, occasionally, for ripping stuff to movie format for putting on my iPod.
Here's a tip though. Even if the DVD you want to rip by HB can be read in HB, still rip it first using MTR. That way, you can eject the DVD and have HB encode from the file MTR makes. You also don't have to listen to the DVD drive for the next hour or two.
     
macfantn  (op)
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Jan 21, 2008, 10:43 PM
 
so once i rip a dvd with mac the ripper, how do i burn it back to dvd? toast? any free programs? will idvd do it?
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
macfantn  (op)
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Jan 21, 2008, 10:50 PM
 
also is version 8 the latest version? amazon has it for 49.99 i assume that's a good deal.
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
JustinHorne
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Jan 21, 2008, 10:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by macfantn View Post
so once i rip a dvd with mac the ripper, how do i burn it back to dvd? toast? any free programs? will idvd do it?
I don't know if iDVD will do it... I'm trying to think of free programs...

Toast is REALLy worth the money though. One of the best things is does is VIDEO_TS compression. Since a lot of DVD movies are larger than a single layer DVD, you need to compress the image.. Toast does that well...


Look up DVD2oneX, or something like that... It might work. I can't remember if it burns, but I think it does, and I think it's free...

EDIT: Nope, not free, but cheaper... I make no promises about it's quality though, never used it... For me, Toast + MTR 3 = Win.

DVD2one.com :: About

Yep, 8.0.3 is the latest. .0.3 adds leaopard support, so if you buy it, be sure to update it. It'll work without .0.3, but not well...

$50 is less than I paid...
     
macfantn  (op)
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Jan 21, 2008, 10:57 PM
 
one last question i have a new macbook says it has a dual layer dvd drive, can i burn to dual layer discs? do those even exist? also should i buy the dvd +r or -r?
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
JustinHorne
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Jan 21, 2008, 11:05 PM
 
Originally Posted by macfantn View Post
one last question i have a new macbook says it has a dual layer dvd drive, can i burn to dual layer discs? do those even exist? also should i buy the dvd +r or -r?
Yep, they do exist and you can burn them.
That said, they are quite a bit more expensive.


On my MB drive (yours MAY vary,) I can burn both + and -. I always buy +. but just for consistency's sake.

BUY DVDs ON SALE. WOW. I'll put it this way, if you're paying more than ~$30 /100 DVDs, you're getting ripped off. I got a pretty aweosme price last time, paid $17/100. $25 is a very good sale price.
     
macfantn  (op)
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Jan 21, 2008, 11:08 PM
 
where do you buy yours? also my friend swears by sonys, sams club had 75 for $23 but they are out out stock, what brand would you recommend?
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
JustinHorne
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Jan 21, 2008, 11:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by macfantn View Post
where do you buy yours? also my friend swears by sonys, sams club had 75 for $23 but they are out out stock, what brand would you recommend?
Honestly?
Well, people are gonna disagree with me, and tell you otherwise, but for MOVIES, I buy the absolute cheapest I can find, and never think twice. In the LOT that I have burned, I have *never* had a disc go bad on me, and I *never* have a burn fail due to the disc.. Once in a while, Toast will crash or otherwise screw up the burn, but I NEVER have a disc cause a burn error.

Besides, even if a disc ever DOES go bad, I just throw it away and recopy it...


Seriously though, buy the cheapest you can get.


THAT SAID.... If you plan on doing DVD backup of important data? Buy better DVDs. These are generally considered the best DVDs:

Taiyo Yuden Media, Taiyo Yuden DVD Media, Taiyo Yuden CD Media, Taiyo Yuden Printable, Taiyo Yuden Watershield, Genuine Taiyo Yuden
     
macfantn  (op)
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Jan 21, 2008, 11:16 PM
 
last question seriously

i think my macbook has an 8x burner, so should i get 8x dvds? if i get 16x for a better price will they work and just burn at 8x speed?
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
macfantn  (op)
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Jan 21, 2008, 11:18 PM
 
this looks like a great deal

Newegg.com - TDK 4.7GB 16X DVD+R 100 Packs Cake Box Disc - Retail

100 for 25 bucks
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
JustinHorne
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Jan 21, 2008, 11:30 PM
 
Originally Posted by macfantn View Post
this looks like a great deal

Newegg.com - TDK 4.7GB 16X DVD+R 100 Packs Cake Box Disc - Retail

100 for 25 bucks
Juuuust about all DVDs are 16x now. If you buy greater than what your burner wil burn, it'll just burn at the Drive speed, and you'll have no problems at all.

And yep, that looks like a good deal to me. Coincidently, those are the same discs I got for $17 a month or two ago. No problems with them, but yeah, refer to my last post.
     
macfantn  (op)
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Jan 21, 2008, 11:37 PM
 
cool just ordered them i could have sworn toast 8 was 49.99 at amazon earlier now it's showing 74.99 i may order it on friday when i get paid.
"I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're goin', and hook up with them later"
     
Kenneth
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Jan 22, 2008, 02:50 AM
 
I ordered Toast 8 Titanium at MacMall.com. However, my experience with Roxio mail-in rebate is just so-so. I received a $20 rebate promptly with my version 7 purchase. I did the same thing this time, but Roxio said I didn't submit the UPC. B.S.!
     
cbk1994
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Jan 22, 2008, 07:41 PM
 
Must have apps (no order):

QuickSilver
iWork suite
iStat menus (MenuMeters are fine aswell)
Firefox (for sites that don't like Safari)
iPhone Remote (if you have an iPhone, of course)
Office (for compatibility >.<)
Adium
Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3)
coconutBattery (My battery was down to 50% in the first 2 months; this notified me enough that I called and got a replacement. Would have never noticed otherwise)
Jing
Skype
Fetch
Google Earth
Google Notifier
CamTwist
15" MacBook Pro (unibody), 4 GB RAM, 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X 10.6.2
     
mania
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Jan 27, 2008, 11:02 PM
 
I just made such a list for my planned new mac:

- Design
-- Adobe CS3 design standard
-- FontExplorer X (very cool)

- Photo management
-- Expression Media (formerly iView Multimedia)
(I absolutely hate iPhoto, but am still looking for something like Expression Media that is cheaper)

- Office
-- iWork (can I get by without MS office???). I hope so.

- Video
-- iMovie 06 or Final Cut Express
-- iDVD and/or Toast
-- Handbrake
-- VLC

- Accounting
-- Quickbooks/Quicken

- Web Development
-- TextMate
-- Transmit
-- mysql
-- php5

- Internet
-- Firefox
-- Thunderbird or Mail
-- Transmission
-- Skype

- Fun
-- Google Earth
-- Sketchup

- Not Fun
-- VMware & Windows XP

- Utils
-- LittleSnitch
The Bitcastle
graphic design, web development, hosting
     
   
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