Before I take the Mac leap (1 Viewer)

[Daryl L]

I was hoping someone with a macbook/pro could try a key combo for me. Let's say your looking at a webpage and you want to access the contextual menu, you normally ctrl+click (rightclick if you have a two button mouse) to open the contextual menu. Just out of curiosity could someone please try if the Fn+enter combo (enter key next to right command/apple key) also opens the contextual menus? Would much appreciate it.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

It doesn't launch a contextual menu, Daryl.

 

[Daryl L]

Thanks a lot Michael. I came across this page and it made me curious about it. BTW, that page may be useful to those running Windows on a Mac.

 

[Daryl L]

I'll be ordering my macbook in less than 3 weeks now. Default configuraion. I'm looking at ordering from one of the Resellers Authorized by Apple. Probably Abt Electronics, Amazon or JandR. I can save a bit on tax and shipping through them allowing me to get the blackbook. I really, really hate bright or loud colors and the whitebook would bug me to death. Through a reseller the blackbook is at my absolute max range. If I buy though Apple.com I can not get the blackbook. Any on the list to specificily avoid?

I've read many sites (bookmarked them) and watched many demonstration clips daily (saved them to hdd) for weeks now, and re-read the sites and re-watched the demonstration clips multiple times now. I've absorded all I can about using OS X without being hands on. I think I'm ready now.

My only fear is how well that intel GMA 950 integrated graphics card will handle leapards core animation down the road. I'm guessing it will handle the full 64bit OS okay. The cards specs say it's 64bit shared main memory but here it says: I plan to upgrade to 2GB of ram in the fall. I checked crucial.com and a 2gb 2 dim pack is cheaper than upgrading from 1gb to 2gb at apple during ordering.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Welcome to the club! Well, in 3 weeks, but welcome all the same!

- Steve

P.S.: I ordered my G5 tower from Amazon--free shipping, and a $200 rebate. Amazon does rebates often, in fact I see a $100 one on this configuration from Amazon. Small Dog (via Amazon) has last year's model for $120 less when you factor in the rebate on the one Amazon sells.

I have one of the original Black Mac Books--Core Duo, not Core 2 Duo. I have replaced the 80 gig hard drive with a 160 gig drive--a rather simple process once I found the right Torx screwdriver.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Daryl,

Please post a review once you start getting into your new Macbook.

What can I say that I haven't said already....I love my MAC and
will never, ever go back to a PC.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Hi Daryl,
I've had very good experiences with Amazon -- I definitely recommend them. Welcome to the social. Oops, wrong company Well, lets face it -- Apple, Mac, iPod -- that's a community. Zune -- not so much.

 

[DaveF]

Daryl, hope you like your Mac. I'm settling into mine, one week later.

It's a heck of a transition, all the difficulties of setting up a new PC plus having to learn a whole new OS and application suite. But it's starting to make sense. And just in dabbling, I love having BootCamp -- with a single computer I can switch to Windows for some games (a little StarCraft this weekend) or to do finances (haven't got a Money replacement on my Mac yet).

 

[Daryl L]

Thx all. I've always had good experiences with Amazon and JandR and once wih Abt and I saw the rebate on Amazon and their my top choice.

I'm getting excited about it. If I can just get through the first two/three days of ownership getting familiar with shortcuts and were everything is I think I'll be fine. Funny thing though, In every picture and vid clip I've seen of a macbook for the life of me I can't spot the speakers anywhere and the two grills on the back I assume are fan vents.

I'll try to post a short somewhat coherent review of my experience after the first week.

 

[DaveF]

If you're looking at last year's models, you might also consider a refurb from Apple. The only thing I wasn't sure on the refurbs is if you can get the 3-yr warranty.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

You can, and should definitely consider it on a refurb -- while they do fix 'em up, the root cause of whatever ailed it the first time around isn't always discovered. We once got a bad refurb iBook that repeatedly killed any harddrive put into it -- some part of the hardware was destroying them. Of course, it appeared originally to just be a machine with a DOA harddrive, and a few months later a coincidental second dead drive... then a third... then a fourth, and a call to AppleCare that gave us a brand new iBook.

 

[Daryl L]

Thx for the refurb tip but a refurb + care plan for reassurance of a refurb + tax from apple.com adds up to considerably more than new + $100 rebate from amazon. Plus I've always been one of those early adopter types so latest greatest is in my bones.

 

[DaveF]

I'm not surprised... (even though I suggested it). I checked refurbed MBPs after the new ones came out -- they were not much cheaper than new models, esp with the 3-yr service plan.

I went through the stickied Tips & Tricks and Recommended software threads and compiled a list of 25+ programs to check out...

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Guys,

Where are you finding the refurbs? I have a friend interested in
a Macbook Pro

 

[Christ Reynolds]

The Refurbished Mac section of the Apple Store.

CJ

 

[Citizen87645]

Somebody made an RSS feed for the refurb store, if you want to go that route:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/RefurbXML

 

[Daryl L]

Anybody you this Logitech Marble Mouse Trackball on a Mac? If so does the software allow setting the small buttons as "Middle Click" and "Clicklock" (clicklock for dragging without holding button down)? If it does it may be better than using mouse keys for me. I can do without "Middle Click" but it would have to have a "Clicklock" assignment or it wouldn't be usable because I couldn't drag with it.

 

[Ken Chan]

Yes. You can assign single, double, triple, or click lock as button 1 through 8. It's done through the custom Logitech configuration program, which is accessible through the standard System Preferences.

 

[Daryl L]

Thx a lot Ken, I appreciate that information. If remembering to turn on/off mouse keys is an annoyance while typing and such I'll most likely get the marble mouse.

 

[Daryl L]

DaveF,

Did the WinXP Home OEM disc install without problems for you? Is This or This the version type you got? I was under the impression Bootcamp required the Pro version. Thx for any info.

BTW, my Blackbook shipped today.