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PC to Apple

mwalker649

By mwalker649
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mwalker649

mwalker649

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I hope this is the proper place to post ....I've got a few questions before I switch. I'm looking at the Mac Book Pro 17"

1. 2GB ram or 4GB?

2. 160 GB HD 7200? or standard 5400? Or the 250GB at 4200?

3. High res wide screen or standard? standard or glossy?

4. I have PS2, LR and other software in PC format. Do I have to purchase all new software?

5. All my computers in the house are pc's, will a mac work with my wireless router?

 

The computer will be used for photography, music, internet and sometimes videos.

 

Thanks in advance.....

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stunsworth

stunsworth

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Hi Mike, Adobe will let you switch Photoshop from PC to Mac for a nominal charge. However for this to work you'll need to deactivate the PC software. So you won't be able to continue to use the PC version on another machine. This may or may not be important.

 

Memory, get as much as you can afford <grin>.

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andybarton

andybarton

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1. As much as you can afford

2. 160GB at 7200 with external backup, of course.

3. High Res, standard

4. As per Steve's post

5. Yes.

 

6. You'll wonder why you didn't do this years ago.

 

:)

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mwalker649

mwalker649

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Bill,

What did you end up with? It also sounds like the 250 GB 5400 slower drive is the way to go. Is 2GB memory enough? The next highest is 4GB +$750.00. What about the HR version of the monitor? And I'm still not sure glossy or matt. Are the Apple stores better priced than the Apple store on the offical web site? The closest Apple store for me is 2 hr south to Nashville.

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stunsworth

stunsworth

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2 gig will be enough memory, but 4 will be better <grin>.

 

Buying memory from Apple will save you money, but Apple can be crafty with the way they populate the memory slots when they ship the machine.

 

When I bought my MacBook it had 1 gig of RAM. No problem I thought, I'll buy an extra gig to bring it up to the maximum of 2 gig. So I bought a 1 gig memory module. When I attempted to fit it I discovered that Apple had shipped the machine with two 512 mByte memory modules. One of these had to be removed to fit the new 1 gig module. So after my 1 gig upgrade I only had a 1.5 gig machine, and a 512 mByte module that I have no use for.

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topoxforddoc

topoxforddoc

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2 gig will be enough memory, but 4 will be better <grin>.

 

Buying memory from Apple will save you money, but Apple can be crafty with the way they populate the memory slots when they ship the machine.

 

When I bought my MacBook it had 1 gig of RAM. No problem I thought, I'll buy an extra gig to bring it up to the maximum of 2 gig. So I bought a 1 gig memory module. When I attempted to fit it I discovered that Apple had shipped the machine with two 512 mByte memory modules. One of these had to be removed to fit the new 1 gig module. So after my 1 gig upgrade I only had a 1.5 gig machine, and a 512 mByte module that I have no use for.

 

The new Intel chip macs work better with paired RAM chips. that's why they come in pairs. Ideally they should be identical pairs although asymmetric pairs can work

 

Charlie

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gareth_c

gareth_c

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Buying memory from Apple will save you money,

 

Hmm, not trying to start and argument but that hasn't been my experience at all. I recently bought two Quad Core Macs for my studio and opte to go with the least memory possible and then bought 4gb for each machine from Crucial. I bought good quality RAM and still saved over £400 in total.

 

Oh and I wouldn't buy a screen from Apple either. As I mentioned in another thread, Dell have all the same components but have more connections, can vary height and tilt on all axis AND are cheaper...

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stunsworth

stunsworth

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Gareth, I omited the word 'Not' from the begining of that first sentance. That changes the meaning just a little <grin>. I agree with you totally, buying non Apple memory will save you money.

 

Thanks for the heads up about the Dell displays too.

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gareth_c

gareth_c

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Gareth, I omited the word 'Not' from the begining of that first sentance. That changes the meaning just a little <grin>. I agree with you totally, buying non Apple memory will save you money.

 

Thanks for the heads up about the Dell displays too.

 

I did wonder if that was the case ;) And glad to have passed on something that may be of use.

 

I should also add that while the 24" has more connections than the apple, the Dell 30" only has one connection (just like the apple). On the plus side it is a brilliant screen for the money.

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gareth_c

gareth_c

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It connects directly with the cable that comes with the screen. No need to use those silly adaptor 'boxes' that Apple like to charge for!

 

One other thing to not is that the ports on the Dell screen (USB, SD, CF etc) don't work when used with a Mac which is a bit of a shame but not a deal breaker (at least for me).

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johnjs

johnjs

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I hope this is the proper place to post ....I've got a few questions before I switch. I'm looking at the Mac Book Pro 17"

1. 2GB ram or 4GB?

2. 160 GB HD 7200? or standard 5400? Or the 250GB at 4200?

3. High res wide screen or standard? standard or glossy?

4. I have PS2, LR and other software in PC format. Do I have to purchase all new software?

5. All my computers in the house are pc's, will a mac work with my wireless router?

 

The computer will be used for photography, music, internet and sometimes videos.

 

Thanks in advance.....

 

Wait until after this coming Tuesday.....;)

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cwf

cwf

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If I may loop off at a different angle:

 

At least for me, switching to Mac some 3-1/2 years ago was quite straight-forward. The hardest part for me was finding equivalent commands (I espec. remember finding out one edits a cell in Excel for Mac with ^U). I found that and a bunch of other questions answered in David Pogue's Switching To Mac. I still pick it up now and then, along with Pogue's OS X: The Missing Manual.

 

According to amazon.com, where I just looked briefly, he's picked up a co-author for an updated 2005 version of the Switching book.

 

This book, or some similar resource, would,imho, make your changeover even easier.

 

Btw, I cannot now imagine switching back. Not that Mac's are perfect, but they are better, imho.

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jrc

jrc

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I switched from PC to MAC several years ago, and now have three MACs. I'm not sure I would do it again. I personally have not found MACs (the hardware, not the software) to be particularly reliable. The tower has problems with heat (I think), the iMac had what was called a "known issue" with the motherboard that was fixed for free, but the machine was gone for a week, and my first laptop developed a bad battery (wouldn't charge) and I had to buy a replacement. My second laptop, a MacBook Pro, has been okay for far. I currently have a software issue with the iMac, a bug of some kind, in which the content of the Safari page is erased as soon as I move the cursor over it. When I reload it, it works.

 

Knowing what I know now, I'm not sure I'd switch if I were currently all-PC. The machines do look nice, and the OS is easy, but also limiting. I recently read, by the way, that you are not allowed to use a couple of the new Microsoft OS versions with the "translation" software in the Mac. I think it was in the Wall Street Journal's technology column in the past couple of weeks. It was unclear why you couldn't, whether it's a purely legal restriction or if there's an operating restriction. I got the impression that you could use the most expensive version of Windows, but not the home editions.

 

JC

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leonpro

leonpro

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2 gig will be enough memory, but 4 will be better <grin>.

 

Buying memory from Apple will save you money, but Apple can be crafty with the way they populate the memory slots when they ship the machine.

 

When I bought my MacBook it had 1 gig of RAM. No problem I thought, I'll buy an extra gig to bring it up to the maximum of 2 gig. So I bought a 1 gig memory module. When I attempted to fit it I discovered that Apple had shipped the machine with two 512 mByte memory modules. One of these had to be removed to fit the new 1 gig module. So after my 1 gig upgrade I only had a 1.5 gig machine, and a 512 mByte module that I have no use for.

 

"The MacBook uses one of the fastest memory technologies available today -- 667MHz, Double Data Rate (DDR2), synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM). It ensures high performance and reliability by synchronizing memory speed with the speed of the central processor so that data can be delivered continuously and more rapidly to the processor. And if both slots are loaded with an equal amount of RAM -- which is strongly recommended -- you can take advantage of the system's dual-channel memory architecture for an additional performance boost. With a dual-channel memory interface, both banks of SDRAM can be addressed at the same time, enabling MacBook to reach a memory throughput of up to 10.7 GBps."

 

By installing non-matched pairs of memory on the slot, you are effectively crippling the computer performance in terms of speed. I would have left it with matched-pair 1GB than increase to 1.5GB. Just a suggestion.

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