The Great Mac vs. Windows Debate

[pgoat]

Also -

we plan to keep our old Windows XP machine around; any thoughts on splitting the cable signal to rout access to both machines?

we looked at this:
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...nksys/Common/VisitorWrapper&lid=3307722279B01

but it's about $60 and splits to four outputs. We only really needed one signal-to-2 outputs. But whatever works. Are there better/cheaper solutions?

 

[Lady Day]

well, so much for that. We phoned the Apple store cause we were driving 50 miles away to check if they'd have a 1 TB iMac for us to pick up - they said "surrre" on the phone, but naturally they didn't once we got out there...:rage:

anyhoo, twas a nice day for a long drive and we asked plenty of questions so no harm done. We ordered the iMac online this afternoon and purchased the extra memory to max it out at 4GB (Thanks again for thse links Salv!).

We went for the 1TB hard drive and we're about to order an external to sync with Time Machine backups. Any recommendations on a reliable brand of HD? We also weren't sure if 1 TB would suffice or whether an additional $100 was worth spending on a 1.5TB external.

We kinda like the iOmegas, though the backup scheduling software for the 300GB external we bought a few months back is a little confusing to set up.

We were looking at :

http://www.iomega.com/direct/produc...id=26890319&bmUID=1201993940911#prod-info-nav

and

http://www.iomega.com/direct/produc...SORTMENT<>ast_id=26890319&bmUID=1201993957647

Also looking at LaCie which look to have nice features - power cut switch, and Fantom, which looked a little cheesy in build quality and had spotty user reviews. Both their 1TB drives have 32MB cache buffer, as opposed to the iOmega's 8Mb; I think all were 7200 rpm.....

A Terabyte drive is an obscene a mount of storage space. lol
I dont think youll do anything (unless you copy all yours, mine, and Blockbuster's DVD ) to need anymore space. I have always been cautious of having one giant large storage medium. You might want to consider a smaller internal drive (500GB or so, I know how will you cope) and an external drive in an enclosure with connectivity to your Mac/PC. You can format the external for your PC, and it will plug and play to your mac (Provided its USB or FireWire), no problem.

I worked at the Apple Store for nearly 5 years (2001-05) and I bought Apple Care for every computer Ive ever bought while working there. That was two desk tops and two lap tops. But that was when the AC was for the computer and the display for the desktops, now its separate. Its the kind of situation where you dont need it till something happens. On an iMac, I think youre safe. Except for the display, but Im paranoid about displays.

There are a number of videos on the Apple website that can give you a great head start on the use of your new computer. Remember, when you are looking for instruction books (if you go that route) its about the OS, not the CPU, so get a book on OSX, not about the iMac. Apple forums are another fantastic resource. The site has a lot of content, you just gotta dig for it.

Good luck.

LD

 

[pgoat]

Thanks Lady D

well. too late as we already bought the Terra byte. I think we'll be okay for a while!lol

Funnily enough whilst reading reviews for the external HDs a few people were daisy chaining them to get between 8 and 15TB of storage.

wouldn't one just invest in a mainframe at some point?[huh]

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I have a slightly different perspective, with all due respect. I've filled up almost 150 Gigs in just two months of having my iMac. My iMac has 500 Gigs. I'm definitely going for the 1TB Time Capsule to add to my network.

Now nearly all of that I have transferred to DVDs because I like to run a clean machine, for the most part, but, if you're shooting 300+ digital pics a week at 5 MB per photo, that can add up.

Also, I have (Daisy has) an HD video camera with a 40 Gig HD and it's easy enough to fill that up.

Now, who knows what is coming down the line, how many movies you'll store in the next few years, or how much memory some new applications may use. CS3 uses a lot, relatively.

So, I think about memories the same way I think about a gun; it's better to have it and not need than to need it and not have it.

 

[Lady Day]

Just make sure you back up.

Often.

On a different drive.

Often.



LD

 

[pgoat]

Yup

I do cds once a month or so for vital data, and back up everything to a CD at least 4-5 times a year (usually try to remember to do it when the seasons change)....guess I can burn to a DVD when I get the iMac.

We have a 300GB external now (for our 20GB PC!), and will be getting the 1TB or 1.5TB for the Mac. We run regular synched backups weekly.

Of course at work we backup daily. That even feels too infrequent for a worrywart like me.

 

[scotrace]

If you're looking at spending that kinda jack on a backup drive, get Apple's Time Capsule, which will also give you THE easiest and secure wireless network and set-it-and-forget-it backup solution out there. Then you can add you old PC to the network without running cabling.

 

[pgoat]

just wanna mention one lame and small tech victory tonight. Since we couldn't fire up a new mac, we did the next best thing and bought a new PCI card with USB 2.0 ports to replace the 1.1s our present computer came with back in 2000.

I can actually upload jpegs and mP3s in less than two weeks now!

I actually can access the external hard drive and stay awake at the same time !!!

WHOO HOO!!!

ahh, that felt good.

Can't wait till the brown stepvan of happiness delivers our new baby this week!!!

 

[pgoat]

If you're looking at spending that kinda jack on a backup drive, get Apple's Time Capsule, which will also give you THE easiest and secure wireless network and set-it-and-forget-it backup solution out there. Then you can add you old PC to the network without running cabling.

we're looking into that one.....of course the price is always a consideration, but we're checking it all out - I was under the impression Time Capsule cost way more than the iOmega UltraMax (Buy.com has the 1.5TB for under $450)

 

[pgoat]

Also -

we plan to keep our old Windows XP machine around; any thoughts on splitting the cable signal to rout access to both machines?

we looked at this:
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...nksys/Common/VisitorWrapper&lid=3307722279B01

but it's about $60 and splits to four outputs. We only really needed one signal-to-2 outputs. But whatever works. Are there better/cheaper solutions?

we just realized our modem has two ethernet output jacks...problem solved.

 

[Salv]

Can't wait till the brown stepvan of happiness delivers our new baby this week!!!

If you're excited now wait until you get the baby out of the box!

If you want an easy to read, but very thorough, manual I can fully recommend David Pogue's Missing Manual series for OS X. I'm still running OS X 10.4 so haven't read the latest volume for 10.5, but I've read the versions for 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4 and they are the best books of their type I've ever owned. They're light-hearted enough that you don't get swamped by tech-talk, but Pogue can, and does, go into considerable depth when necessary. They're also full of little tips, tricks and minor hacks that you can play around with when you're not doing anything productive.

His latest book, due to be published later this month, is Switching To The Mac - The Leopard Edition, which Amazon will be selling for just under $20. At 556 pages it's not going to be quite as technical as the full 912 page Missing Manual Leopard Edition but it should be a good starting point to learning the OS and what it can do.

As Lady Day said there are some very good Mac forums out there - I like the forums at Mac Rumors for their mix of incredibly knowledgeable, tech-savvy posters who realise it's just a tool (albeit a beautiful and easy to use tool), and rabid Mac fan-boys. The best forums though are the support discussions hosted by Apple themselves at http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa - there are no Apple staff in attendance, but the level of knowledge is probably the greatest you'll find anywhere on the net.

Let us know how you get on, and if you have any questions once the iMac arrives feel free to ask.

 

[matei]

Just make sure you back up.

Often.

On a different drive.

Often.



LD

You're 100% right. I wish everyone would follow those rules.

I think Apple's attempt at making backups dead-simple and painless is to be applauded. People spend so much time and effort trying to amass pictures, videos and music - and give very little thought to backup. At least the idea is catching on.

I work in the data storage field (for the time being), and it is incredible how little thought is given to the backup of data.

Even my employer, which is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, will wait until the last minute to address the need for storage - and invariably try to take the cheapest way out!

 

[pgoat]

If you're excited now wait until you get the baby out of the box!

If you want an easy to read, but very thorough, manual I can fully recommend David Pogue's Missing Manual series for OS X. I'm still running OS X 10.4 so haven't read the latest volume for 10.5, but I've read the versions for 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4 and they are the best books of their type I've ever owned. They're light-hearted enough that you don't get swamped by tech-talk, but Pogue can, and does, go into considerable depth when necessary. They're also full of little tips, tricks and minor hacks that you can play around with when you're not doing anything productive.

His latest book, due to be published later this month, is Switching To The Mac - The Leopard Edition, which Amazon will be selling for just under $20. At 556 pages it's not going to be quite as technical as the full 912 page Missing Manual Leopard Edition but it should be a good starting point to learning the OS and what it can do.

As Lady Day said there are some very good Mac forums out there - I like the forums at Mac Rumors for their mix of incredibly knowledgeable, tech-savvy posters who realise it's just a tool (albeit a beautiful and easy to use tool), and rabid Mac fan-boys. The best forums though are the support discussions hosted by Apple themselves at http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa - there are no Apple staff in attendance, but the level of knowledge is probably the greatest you'll find anywhere on the net.

Let us know how you get on, and if you have any questions once the iMac arrives feel free to ask.

Thanks again Salv - it's very exciting!

Interesting Mac experience: we were shopping around on LI yesterday, looking for a router to split signal between the new computer and our old PC and the clerk said - you need a new computer? I've got blah blah balh on sale , etc etc ...I cut him off politely and said we already had model selected, thanks. He asked which one, and my wife said, well, we're getting a Mac. He just put up his hand and said - Oh! I won't even bother you folks! and humbly bowed and walked away backwards, like a butler or valet.

[huh]

 

[pgoat]

speaking of splitting internet access signals.....

Oops

I may have spoke too soon. We have a Toshiba PCX2500 modem - it has one ethernet jack we currently use with a 10BaseT cable for our web access, and one unused USB Type B jack.

According to the Toshiba user manual, you can use the USB for second PC connection, but you need to have service for two IP addresses from your cable provider.

Does this mean I gotta pay more each month? (Groan - they keep raising the fee for the basic service I have now....) If so, can I avoid this by buying a router and split the signal to two PCs? Will the iMac even work with a USB Type B Connection?

 

[Salv]

Oops

I may have spoke too soon. We have a Toshiba PCX2500 modem - it has one ethernet jack we currently use with a 10BaseT cable for our web access, and one unused USB Type B jack.

According to the Toshiba user manual, you can use the USB for second PC connection, but you need to have service for two IP addresses from your cable provider.

Does this mean I gotta pay more each month? (Groan - they keep raising the fee for the basic service I have now....) If so, can I avoid this by buying a router and split the signal to two PCs? Will the iMac even work with a USB Type B Connection?

The iMac will work with a USB connection if Toshiba have written a driver for your modem. Even if they have it may not work with the latest version of the Mac OS. The easiest option is to buy a router - Ethernet networking is built in to the Mac OS so there's no driver needed, you just plug in and go. Also worth remembering is that the iMac will have a wifi card built in - Apple call it the Airport card - so you could even buy a wireless router if you want to cut down on cable clutter.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

You need to get a router to split the signal. It should work fine, just by connecting a wire from your ethernet port on the modem, to the Internet/WAN port on a router. Then you can connect your iMac to the router, either via an ethernet cable, or wirelessly.

There's no need to even contact your internet provider about this. Just pretend that USB connection on your modem doesn't exist.

 

[pgoat]

A friend recommended the Airport as a router - any feedback on those?

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/features/compatibility.html

Also, would it be advisable to go with the 1TB Time Capsule as a backup for Time Machine, or get something with more breathing room? We were looking at 1.5TB externals from iOmega and LaCie, as mentioned above.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

A friend recommended the Airport as a router - any feedback on those?

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/features/compatibility.html

Also, would it be advisable to go with the 1TB Time Capsule as a backup for Time Machine, or get something with more breathing room? We were looking at 1.5TB externals from iOmega and LaCie, as mentioned above.

I can't imagine that you're going to fill up a 1TB Time Capsule anytime soon with ordinary use. The reason to get the Time Capsule is so it's seamless and works well with Time Machine.

 

[pgoat]

Thanks Zohar.

Not to beat a dead horse, but do you think it would be more seamless than another brand of external HD?

Also, I only was shooting for a larger external (>1TB) because I read that one should have a backup drive at least equal to but preferrably larger than the main drive.

 

[Samsa]

A friend recommended the Airport as a router - any feedback on those?

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/features/compatibility.html

Airport is great - we've had ours for over six months and have had no problems. Before that it was a Linksys, which worked great for a few months, and then started having problem after problem.