stunsworth Posted January 3, 2013 Share #41 Posted January 3, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) ...that handy Winkey+D to shrink all windows to a usable desktop has no equivalent on a Mac F11. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 3, 2013 Posted January 3, 2013 Hi stunsworth, Take a look here Switching to Macbook. Your thoughts please.. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
JeTexas Posted January 3, 2013 Share #42 Posted January 3, 2013 That's incorrect, you can burn Blu-Ray discs on a Mac. You can't get a Blu-Ray burner built in. They refuse to license it from Sony. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks500 Posted January 3, 2013 Share #43 Posted January 3, 2013 You can't get a Blu-Ray burner built in. They refuse to license it from Sony. slightly simplified.... actually Steve Jobs said "Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace." and concerning Blu-ray as an high end audio format Jobs said "Bluray is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD - likely it will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats." which is quite believable looking at websites like https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php the answer is get an external one or buy a mac pro and get an internal one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted January 3, 2013 Share #44 Posted January 3, 2013 You can't get a Blu-Ray burner built in. They refuse to license it from Sony. The issue is with the encryption required for Blu-Ray movie playback, and the access that requires to the core OS. A USB Blu-Ray RW drive will allow you to access, and write, Blu-Ray media on a Mac, but not directly play Blu-Ray films. There are ways round that limitation - rip the Blu-Ray disks to a hard drive and they play them back using iTunes. It's probably easier for most people to use a Blu-Ray player attached to TV/Hifi. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeTexas Posted January 3, 2013 Share #45 Posted January 3, 2013 The issue is with the encryption required for Blu-Ray movie playback, and the access that requires to the core OS. A USB Blu-Ray RW drive will allow you to access, and write, Blu-Ray media on a Mac, but not directly play Blu-Ray films. There are ways round that limitation - rip the Blu-Ray disks to a hard drive and they play them back using iTunes. It's probably easier for most people to use a Blu-Ray player attached to TV/Hifi. I just found it was easier to buy a PC with a built-in Blu-Ray burner and an HDMI out. No external drives or adapters required. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted January 3, 2013 Share #46 Posted January 3, 2013 I just found it was easier to buy a PC with a built-in Blu-Ray burner and an HDMI out. No external drives or adapters required. Don't upgrade to Windows 8, there's no built in DVD or Blu-Ray player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted January 3, 2013 Share #47 Posted January 3, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) slightly simplified.... actually Steve Jobs said "Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace." and concerning Blu-ray as an high end audio format Jobs said "Bluray is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD - likely it will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats." which is quite believable looking at websites like https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php the answer is get an external one or buy a mac pro and get an internal one My player is a dirt bag. The movie producers keep changing the encryption for the movies and I have to get a new software to play the new stuff annually. PITA. They are worried about pirates stealing the movies. Also different encryption's go to different areas of the world. I went back to DVD. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeTexas Posted January 3, 2013 Share #48 Posted January 3, 2013 Don't upgrade to Windows 8, there's no built in DVD or Blu-Ray player. Windows 8 is strange. I ran the beta on my Lenovo touchscreen netbook, and I quickly decided I was in no rush to upgrade. I didn't think it was completely terrible, bu it was definitely not intuitive. I'm running Android x86 on that netbook now, but it never gets used. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted January 4, 2013 Share #49 Posted January 4, 2013 So, you can buy a PC with a built in blue ray drive, but the latest Windows OS won't support it......that's another reason I gave up with PC's, too many things that simply won't work with each other. A major benefit of the Apple thing is that, if like me you just want to 'plug and play', their stuff does seem to work. The same issues made me choose an iPhone instead of another brand of smart phone. Too many features that you read about in the blurb but then find aren't supported by the networks. I'm sounding like a fanboy now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveO Posted January 4, 2013 Share #50 Posted January 4, 2013 My failing compaq laptop was slowly failing and locking up and the battery lasted less than an hour. On top of that it ran Vista which was very slow booting up and shutting down. In between these two operations it was just irritating. I went out and intentionally bought a Toshiba Satellite U 845 laptop that had Windows 7 on it. I had hear from a couple of people that Windows 8 was geared more for tablets and touchscreens. This computer was about 1/2 the price of the Mac Book airs. It has 6GB of Ram, a 500GB HD, a 32 GB SSD. The only thing bad is that it runs at 1.7GHZ even though it has an i5 processor. It is also about half the weight of my Compaq laptop. The backlit keyboard is also very nice even though I liked the Compaq/HP's key touch better. Since the Toshiba is very thin it does not have a DVD/CD player, but I bought a USB powered DVD player that should work with Win 7. I think the DVD player was $ 50. I could have gotten the Toshiba Portege series that had the DVD player for a little bit less, but less RAM and no SSD . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-hawinkler Posted January 4, 2013 Share #51 Posted January 4, 2013 So, you can buy a PC with a built in blue ray drive, but the latest Windows OS won't support it......that's another reason I gave up with PC's, too many things that simply won't work with each other. A major benefit of the Apple thing is that, if like me you just want to 'plug and play', their stuff does seem to work. The same issues made me choose an iPhone instead of another brand of smart phone. Too many features that you read about in the blurb but then find aren't supported by the networks. I'm sounding like a fanboy now. James, I remember when you switched and am glad it's working for you. Before Steve Jobs came back to Apple I almost gave up on them because their old OS was fundamentally unstable and unfixable as the OS core wasn't memory protected against overwrites from applications. Of course, all that changed for the good when Apple adopted Darwin as its core OS, a Unix version written at Carnegie-Mellon University, IIRC. As they say, the rest is history. No, you don't sound like a fanboy at all. More like a fellow with common sense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyedward Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share #52 Posted January 4, 2013 I have noticed the majority of external blu ray writers are for windows only. Can anyone tell me why?! I realise that I'll be able to run windows on a mac, but I dont want to! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyedward Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share #53 Posted January 4, 2013 My failing compaq laptop was slowly failing and locking up and the battery lasted less than an hour. On top of that it ran Vista which was very slow booting up and shutting down. In between these two operations it was just irritating. I went out and intentionally bought a Toshiba Satellite U 845 laptop that had Windows 7 on it. I had hear from a couple of people that Windows 8 was geared more for tablets and touchscreens. This computer was about 1/2 the price of the Mac Book airs. It has 6GB of Ram, a 500GB HD, a 32 GB SSD. The only thing bad is that it runs at 1.7GHZ even though it has an i5 processor. It is also about half the weight of my Compaq laptop. The backlit keyboard is also very nice even though I liked the Compaq/HP's key touch better. Since the Toshiba is very thin it does not have a DVD/CD player, but I bought a USB powered DVD player that should work with Win 7. I think the DVD player was $ 50. I could have gotten the Toshiba Portege series that had the DVD player for a little bit less, but less RAM and no SSD . For a while I was interested in the highest spec toshiba portege, but the 15" retina macbooks can be ordered with 16gb of RAM and a 512gb ssd. The macbook is twice the price, but I'll be keeping it for at least six years Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted January 4, 2013 Share #54 Posted January 4, 2013 I have noticed the majority of external blu ray writers are for windows only. Can anyone tell me why?! I realise that I'll be able to run windows on a mac, but I dont want to! I suspect the vendors say that because they don't want Mac users complaining and returning the devices when they find out they can't play Blu-Ray films. As far as I'm aware a USB Blu-Ray drive should be ok when used with a Mac as a storage device etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richam Posted January 4, 2013 Share #55 Posted January 4, 2013 I've been using Macs for 29 years, now. Forced to use PCs at work several times, and the experience verified my decision to use Macs. Once you get the Mac set up, subscribe to the free "MacMost Now" podcasts in iTunes. Tons of good information on how to get the most from your Mac. Once the list of podcast titles is in your iTunes, you can select short (usually 3-5 minutes) tutorials on specific items that interest you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted January 4, 2013 Share #56 Posted January 4, 2013 Thanks K-H, I'm still learning on the Mac, I get the feeling I've only scratched the surface in terms of getting the most from it so far. I'll be honest and admit it's not been a trouble free ride, the DVD player on my Mini gives a slightly juddery playback - a common and erratic problem from what I've read - but I have some 'fixes' I've yet to try simply because I've not hooked it up as a media centre as yet. I've also just come across an issue on my new old MacBook which is refusing to install a new app (any pointers gratefully received!). But, having made the switch I can't see myself ever going back to a PC apart from having to use them at work. James, I remember when you switched and am glad it's working for you. Before Steve Jobs came back to Apple I almost gave up on them because their old OS was fundamentally unstable and unfixable as the OS core wasn't memory protected against overwrites from applications. Of course, all that changed for the good when Apple adopted Darwin as its core OS, a Unix version written at Carnegie-Mellon University, IIRC. As they say, the rest is history. No, you don't sound like a fanboy at all. More like a fellow with common sense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted January 4, 2013 Share #57 Posted January 4, 2013 I've also just come across an issue on my new old MacBook which is refusing to install a new app (any pointers gratefully received!). Which App? Which OS? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pj48North Posted January 4, 2013 Share #58 Posted January 4, 2013 I agree with FlashGordonPhotography as a Mac naysayer. For all I will say in this post, I think they are both good tools, but the Mac is not a clear winner in my world. I've used Macs and PC's as an adult since 1984, and while Mac's had the usability edge for many years, it has been a wash for at least the past 10 years, and Windows 7 is a very good operating system. I switched to a Macbook as my primary home computer for the past 4 years and am totally under-whelmed by the experience. My next laptop will be a PC. Mac's are NOT trouble-free by any stretch. Both platforms have their pros and cons. Don't believe for a minute anyone who says that Mac's 'just work'. They 'just work' a little more often than PC's do. Mac's have very solid, durable, elegant hardware. Many PC's are junky, but there are some really solid PC's as well, and ruggedized versions are available, at a price. I have been a very intensive business user of PC's for many years, and my 'User Experience' with Mac's has not been any better than it has been with a PC. One of my most dependable tech support friends (a 40 year veteran of the industry) prefers Mac, but he admits that Microsoft listens to the customer much more readily than Apple. I have never had a problem with a virus, but yes, you need to be more diligent on the PC. You really need to look at the software applications you will use most. Anyone who says that all the software you need is available on both platforms lives in a very, very small world. Examples: If your industry is advertising or video production or 'creative' graphic design, then the Mac is your platform, no question. If you are an Engineer, forget the Mac, Excel in Mac Office sucks (Microsoft's fault, not Apple's), and you may not be able to use much of the specialized vendor software tools that are indispensable to your work. The free-ware Neo-Office spreadsheet is NOT a reasonable substitute if you need to work in Excel as well, and switching between Excel and Numbers is not a good alternative, they are just too different from one another. For my new business (manufacturing), I am investigating specialized software for product design, and while there are some mac versions that can be forced to fit, many of the industry-standard tools are NOT available in Mac format. If you are a heavy user of MS Office suite, stay with PC. The PC and Mac versions are NOT equal. The Mac version is just a shadow of the 'real thing' and you give up OneNote. I've tried (and use) the Mac substitutes for OneNote, none really come close to the real thing, and it is a tool I use constantly. The MS Office mail application is easily better than Mac Mail, and the Mac calendar is a toy by comparison. If you depend on maintaining a coordinated MS Office contact list between your work and home computers, stay with the PC. Yes, you can buy Windows and Office and install them on your Mac, but you have already spent more on the Mac for equivalent hardware, and then you need to shell out many more hundreds for software. And now in Lion, Apple has us scrolling the opposite direction we have been scrolling for decades. I got used to it, but I need to switch gears between work and home. I have Adobe Lightroom on both the PC and Mac, there is no difference whatsoever. The Finder is a lame substitute for Explorer (not sure if WIndows still calls it that). If you believe the Mac-heads who disagree with me on this, just do a google search on Finder alternatives. Why would there be so many of these out there if the Finder was great? You might find some very useful features in the Mac, and it may suit you better than a PC. But unless the PC just doesn't work for you at all, you may find the switch a major inconvenience and waste of money that you will regret. In the same fashion, I would never suggest that a dedicated Mac user switch to PC. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted January 4, 2013 Share #59 Posted January 4, 2013 And now in Lion, Apple has us scrolling the opposite direction we have been scrolling for decades. I got used to it, but I need to switch gears between work and home. There's no need to switch gears, you can change the scrolling direction in System Preferences. I think I paid around £80 for my copy of Mac Office 2011. 2013 is due out later this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted January 4, 2013 Share #60 Posted January 4, 2013 Which App? Which OS? Hi Andy, It's running Lion and I've tried several apps, same problem! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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