[sketch]

Hello everyone,
I'm a current fed-up PC user who's deciding to make the big switch to Mac. I've got my eye on the PowerBook G4 and before I fork over that much money to complete the switch, I have a few questions I'd like to ask.

1) USB
Currently, for me, it's a pain to swtich different devices connected via USB port. My PC only has 2 USB ports and there are times I had to unplug on edevice and plug in another. I would have to go through the whole 'hardware device found' business. Is this the same on a PowerBook G4?

2) iDVD
My current stand alone DVD player can play DVD-Rs. Well, the only DVD-R was made using a PC. I read that there are some issues with the latest version of iDVD (4.0.1, I think) and I'm wondering if it's possible that a stand alone DVD player wouldn't be able to play DVDs
made with iDVD. The issues I read regarding iDVD had to do with the program stalling for a few hours rendering the DVD useless. This sounds like a silly question but I just want to make sure if there's some sort of connection or relation

thanks in advance!

[MrForgetable]

Originally posted by sketch:
Hello everyone,
I'm a current fed-up PC user who's deciding to make the big switch to Mac. I've got my eye on the PowerBook G4 and before I fork over that much money to complete the switch, I have a few questions I'd like to ask.

1) USB
Currently, for me, it's a pain to swtich different devices connected via USB port. My PC only has 2 USB ports and there are times I had to unplug on edevice and plug in another. I would have to go through the whole 'hardware device found' business. Is this the same on a PowerBook G4?

2) iDVD
My current stand alone DVD player can play DVD-Rs. Well, the only DVD-R was made using a PC. I read that there are some issues with the latest version of iDVD (4.0.1, I think) and I'm wondering if it's possible that a stand alone DVD player wouldn't be able to play DVDs
made with iDVD. The issues I read regarding iDVD had to do with the program stalling for a few hours rendering the DVD useless. This sounds like a silly question but I just want to make sure if there's some sort of connection or relation

thanks in advance!

1. it is much easier on the Mac. all you have to do is drag the disk image to the trash to eject and poof, take it out. or if it's a mouse, I don't even think you need to go through this.
2. i don't use iDVD so I won't know

[Holigen]

USB on OS X is plug and play, although it does depend on the device. Ill go through a few of them:

Keyboard/Mouse - plug it in and just use it, no hardware config to go through unless the mouse has some extra buttons and you have to use the drivers included with the mouse/kb.

USB Keychain - youll see a little "removable media" drive show up on your desktop, from there you can drag files on and off of it, when you want to take it out all that you have to do is "unmount" (either drag it down to the dock and release it on the eject icon, right click/control-click on the icon and select the Eject menu item, or select the drive icon and go up to File>Eject) it before pulling out the drive, if you dont it might corrupt the media.

iDVD is awesome. Ive always been able to play DVDs made from iDVD in a normal DVD player (at least mine and a few of my friend's). I dont remember hearing anything about the stalling issue, but just make sure that you have enough RAM and whatnot.

Have fun with your new Mac and keep us posted!

[sketch]

Thanks peoples. It sounds like USB is easier than on the PC. I'll be visiting the Apple store this Saturday to make my final decision. Why do these PowerBooks cost so much??

I just re-read my 2nd question and I don't know think I worded it properly. I meant to ask if a dvd player would reject DVDs made on certain machines. I know it sounds ridiculous but I figure if there were issues with iDVD (where a DVD would play on the computer but not the player), I'd try to figure out a way to see if my DVD player will play Mac-made DVDs. Anyhoo, feel free to ignore the 2nd question

[JKT]

Not that it is the ideal solution if you did have problems using iDVD created discs in your DVD player, but you can actually use your PowerBook itself as a DVD player (works a treat for me). You just need an S-video to RCA adapter cable (and sound out cable if you want to use your TV's sound system). I haven't seen such an issue with iDVD though, but I don't have a great deal of experience with it. Where are you thinking of buying it from - perhaps ask if they'd burn you an iDVD created disc to test on your player?

PowerBooks cost so much because you are getting a top quality product with high end features. Anyway, feature for feature comparable PC laptops will not cost much less and some actually cost more - anything greatly cheaper will be lacking one or more characteristics cf the PowerBook.

[jeffB]

Sketch
1) the only USB device i've had to click anything to get it to recognize was a printer. And that printer was easy to install. 2 jumpdrives, 3 game pads, several mice, and 2 digital cameras (!) are automatically recognized without any setup/clicking/hastle.


Holigen
What type of DVD's did you use to make copies? DVD-R DVD+R DVD-RW or DVD+RW. I tried one type of R and one type of RW (i'd say +/- but they're not infront of me) and neither worked. The R was immediately spit back out.