Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with pro

MacBook Pro Battery Life Question

dbirchum — Fri, 03 May 2013 04:13:52 -0800

Greetings - I "inherited" a MacBook Pro last year. It was a Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz from Spring 2008. So it was 4 years old when I got it and I was told that the battery was dead and as long as I kept it plugged in, it worked fine, however, I would need a new one. So last year, I purchased a new battery and installed it. However, I am still noticing that the battery life is horrible. It seems like when I am using it to type a document or check emails and surf the web, etc, I literally can watch the battery drain. I would assume that it might hold a charge of about an hour and a half maybe? Is there any way I can "test" it to see what my actual battery life if? To ensure there isn't something else going on? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks,

How do I sell my Macbook Pro without getting screwed on the price?

Cybria — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:49:04 -0800

I've gone to some of those sell-your-laptop websites and I always get a quote for half the original price of my Macbook Pro. It's a 13 inch Macbook Pro in perfect working condition with no defects or damage to the screen. There are a few scratches and a couple of barely noticeable dents. But other than that, it works just fine. These sites seem to be geared at people who need money really fast so they're willing to sell it for that much, but I'd rather take it somewhere where I'll get a fair offer. Any ideas?

Replace a Mac MD313LL/A 12" Macbook Pro keyboard

Samizdata — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:31:41 -0800

Replace a Mac MD313LL/A 12" Macbook Pro keyboard for a handicapped neighbor and I know very little about recent Mac tech. I am helping a neighbor out. She spilled soda on her MacBook Pro 13" keyboard (the late 2011 2.4Ghz MD313LL/A model). I am having trouble tracking down notes on replacing her keyboard. I don't know enough about MacBooks to make any assumptions, so I want to move safely. I need to track down how to replace it and where to get a reputable replacement part.

I know MeFi's often love Macs, so I thought it might not be a bad idea to ask here.

Is to help, please?

MacBook Pro i5 vs i7 -- Prius body with Lamborghini guts

jadepearl — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 08:38:19 -0800

Which one to get: Macbook Pro i5 duo core, i7 duo core or i7 quad core Mr. Jadepearl has decided that my evil aura should not be near the house desktop machine that is also the media server so, I must get a laptop.

I want a refurb and wonder which to choose: i5 duo core, i7 duo core or i7 quad core. No retina display due to upgrade issues.

Now, I don't think that I push machines that hard but I am intolerant of lag on either my software or hardware. I do normal things: surf, research, use Adobe CS for class and only occasionally need to convert file types. I want a refurb so I can do the following:

max out the ram to 16GB

swapout the hard drive to a SSD

swapout the optical drive to a hybrid SSD

I will have this machine for 4 years and assume that I will be selling it so I want that happy confluence of price, performance and resell value.

Yes, I plan to get Apple Care. Yes, it will be the upgradable 2012 model. Yes, I plan to have a larger monitor (two preferred). Yes, I will be using an external hard drive for back-up as well as holding my 3TB of entertainment.

I have read all the other what macbook Pro threads but they are slightly old or the uses were not close to mine.

So hope me.

MacOSX: Create a new user, move safest bits over from my old user?

sdis — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 08:47:03 -0800

MacbookProFilter: I migrated my old user onto my new macbook, and carried with it a bunch of problems (slow startup, rapid battery life loss, etc.). Is there a clever, systematic way to migrate chunks of my user account to a new user? I don't exactly need to find the culprit(s) that are causing all the issues; I just want a machine that works well, but I'd rather not just delete all my preferences and passwords and start over from scratch completely if it's not necessary. Is there some app or guide that shows precisely which parts of a user account are 99% safe to migrate?

Help my poor dead Mac?

dance — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:54:42 -0800

Sooo...my newish MacBook Pro is dead and I have a question about whether or not I can salvage the HDD and stick it in the new MacBook Pro to save a whole world of time. Suffice to say, electronics don't much care for tonic water. Or gin for that matter. But what's done is done. Those of us that are not so delicate and are thus still alive need to move on as best we can.

I've opened up the back of my 2011 MacBook Pro and fished out the hard drive. It wasn't at all wet so I have high hopes for it. What I'm wondering is to what extent is it possible to stick it in the new machine and have it boot and recognise things are different but just deal with it and not freak out.

On a Windows box I know this wouldn't work. Would it work with the more Unixy Mac OS X?

The alternative is to hook up the hard disk to the new Mac as a USB device and attempt a manual transfer of settings and files but I know which route I'd prefer if it's feasible!

Many thanks!

Finding the perfect Mac laptop for an indecisive Windows-based web developer

maudlin — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 17:13:55 -0800

I'm a web developer / eLearning developer on Windows 7 looking to: 1) Get a Mac because I need to be able to test sites quickly and easily on my own; 2) Get a Windows-bootable unit that can act as my backup machine when my Asus throws a tantrum as it did this week; and 3) Get a reasonably portable Windows-bootable laptop that can handle Photoshop and other resource hogs so that I can work on it at client sites without having to barely squish the Asus (aka "The Clydesdale") into my largest backpack. Ideally, I could get all three in one machine that wouldn't cost the earth. Please join me as I anguish over the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, the Mac Mini, and other options. What I do with my computers:

- Adobe Creative Suite CS5 and CS6 / eLearning Suite 2 and 6 (Captivate, Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver)
- Some work in Illustrator CS4
- Other elearning tools (Camtasia 7 and 8, Articulate Storyline)
- Office 2010

I don't do any heavyweight video editing (just web-based work in Camtasia and the like). I don't produce graphics for print, just the web. Typical eLearning file sizes to open, save and convert to Flash are 25-90 Mb (Storyline files with videos can get huge, Captivate files typically max out at about 50-60 Mb).

I'm mostly happy with my Asus (Windows Home Premium, i7 quad core, 16 Gb DDR 1333 RAM, 750 Gb HDD at 7200rpm). I do find that when I was at 6 Gb RAM that I would have problems running Photoshop and Captivate or Storyline at the same time. My video driver is a little flaky, but it hasn't actually crashed in front of me since the last update a couple of months ago.

What I'm considering at Canadian pricing:

Laptops that could (maybe) do it all with Bootcamp and Windows 7 Pro OEM.

1) MacBook 13" i5 dual core (3rd gen/Ivy Bridge) with 4 Gb RAM that I'll upgrade to 8Gb on my own. Small enough to fit in my smallest backpack, too.

Performance: I'm assuming mostly OK: any feedback?
Price: It's on sale this week for $1049. 4 Gb more of RAM will be about $60 more.
My concerns: The HDD spins at 5400 rpm, and all my recent Windows machines have been at 7200. Will I find this unbearably slow? Plus, at 4.5 pounds versus the Asus 6 pounds, it is an improvement but not all that lightweight.

2) Some kind of 13" Mac Air (can't do 11" because the SSD drives only go to 128 Gb).

Performance: I could work with a 256 Gb SSD because that will hold all my apps and some data. It would certainly be faster than the 5400 HDD on the MacBook Pros. I know that I already get impatient with the 7200 rpm HDD on my Asus when opening, closing and saving 50-90 Mb files. But the importance of the processor speed is where I'm really confused.

a) Ivy Bridge i5 versus Sandy Bridge i5. Is the latter significantly slower than the Ivy Bridge? It looks as if the RAM is slower, too, at 1333 Mhz instead of 1600 Mhz.

b) How does the i7 (dual core) Ivy Bridge compare to the i5 Ivy Bridge? If I have the same fast RAM and an SSD in both, is the bump in processor speed worth it?

Price:
a) i5 Sandy Bridge: $1249 at Future Shop
b) i5 Ivy Bridge: $1499 with 4 Gb RAM. If necessary, I could add more 4 Gb more after I put it through its paces, so that's about $60 more.
c) i7 (dual core) Ivy Bridge: $1599 with 4 Gb RAM, plus $60 or so upgrade to 8 Gb on my own.

I haven't paid more than $1300 for a computer in years. These prices are a little above my comfort level. OTOH, I don't know if I could live with an HDD spinning at 5400 rpm. Apple can offer me an SSD or a potter's wheel, but nothing in between.

More complicated options:

1) Mac Mini (i5 or i7 dual core, 500 Gb or 1 Tb HDDD at 5400 rpm). These are pretty cheap at $599/$799, but that slow HDD concerns me. Plus, I would still have to deal with the laptop problem, so I may end up spending anywhere from $500 to $1000 for a reasonably small but gutsy Windows laptop.

2) Sell the Asus for $400-500 and use the proceeds and what I have budgeted for The Perfect Mac Laptop to get a desktop like this (I would still have to add memory) and a 13" MacBook Pro. Approximately $2050 for these units minus the CL proceeds works out to $1550-1650 to get a more powerful desktop and a good but not great laptop.

All this typing and now I think I know my answer, but any feedback, useful questions or a boot to the head would be appreciated. Thanks!

waterdamaged macbook pro battery difficulties

camdan — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:22:56 -0800

so i "fixed" a relative's water-damaged macbook pro, but it still has issues. here's the story - early 2011 15" macbook pro. one of their kids spilled water on it, they promptly buried it in rice etc., but the thing was dead. after letting it sit around for a couple of months, they gave it to me. i took it to the apple store, they said $1200, i said no. when i got home i opened it up and the thing was still overflowing with rice - obviously these script following masterminds heard "water damage" and immediately went to "money" and didn't even crack open the case.

i read that if you clean off all the corrosion, it may stand a chance. so i did that. still DoA. so i set it aside unthought of and untouched for another couple of months.

finally i got around to reexamine the problem, and plugged it in- and the thing worked! granted it, would shut down randomly, but that was solved by removing the presumably fried battery.

so here i am today. i replaced the battery with a used one i bought online. the computer works, plugged in and unplugged, with no random shutdowns.

UNLESS - when it's put to sleep when unplugged, then plugged back in. it dies, and won't start again until the battery is disconnected. after it's started and reconnected, there are no problems. (until it's put to sleep unplugged again :)

i know this is a unique problem, and there is obviously something wrong with the power or battery connection/regulation system (whatever it's called) causing the computer to do this. i would take it to the apple store, but considering how their answer last time was "we're not checking, but give us money", i'm reticent. they also might flip out when they hear i've been touching their user irreplaceable battery, and especially when they hear i brought a water-damaged computer back to life. at best i expect them to disappear with it and say it's completely friend and worthless to teach me a lesson, at worst i expect them to stone me as a wizard. thank you.

How do I move files from my Mac to my iPhone?

5Q7 — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 05:58:48 -0800

MacBook -> iPhone Filter: I have a MacBook Pro (running 10.6.8), and I have an iPhone (the last model before Siri; not jail broken and would prefer to keep it that way). Since I spend more time on the Macbook, I generate most of my files there, besides .mp3s (such as documents/text files, PDFs, and .jpegs found on line or taken with Photo Booth, etc.), whereas except for listening to iTunes and making actual calls, I mostly use the iPhone for killing time, or would like to anyway, only I haven't found a good way to move my text files, PDFs, and .jpgs from the MacBook over to the iPhone. How do? Seriously, I'm a bit confused when it comes to understanding how the iPhone is set up and why:

1) When it comes to moving files, all the discussion I've found seems to be about going *from* iPhone *to* laptop, etc.; yet my needs are pretty much the opposite. Are there any options without making things too complicated?

2) More generally, on the one hand, I hear constantly about what a powerful computer the iPhone is, way beyond just a phone. On the other, the iPhone's desktop kinda baffles me: how come it doesn't look like a small version of my MacBook's desktop and behave like one? I mean, Apple has gotten pretty good at the whole desktop interface over the years, and I've gotten pretty good at using it, so why change a good thing?

3) On a related note iTunes seems to work well enough for music (I don't play games or watch video/movies/tv, but I'm guessing it does fine with those media too), but it seems a strange interface for other sorts of files, like those I mentioned above. Or if Apple wants the iPhone to be just a revved-up media player, then why add all the much-hyped computing power? (BTW, I realized that doing heavy text editing or extended reading of PDFs isn't very practical on the iPhone's tiny screen. Instead, for me it's more about the creature comfort of being able to futz with my files/waste time on the go, etc.)

4) As one concrete example, I've used the MacBook's default note taking app., Stickies, to generate lots of items like grocery lists and call numbers for books to get at the library, but I don't find the Stickies app on my iPhone nor a way to transfer my Stickie notes over to the iPhone in any form. Conversely, the iPhone has apps like Notes and Reminders that seem in the same vein as Stickies, but neither shows up on the MacBook. What am I missing here, which app. should I be using, and why don't the same default apps show up on both machines?

5) Finally, as a second, admittedly pretty trivial example, suppose I have a .jpg on my MacBook desktop that I'd like to attach to a text message I'll be sending from the Messages app on my iPhone. It seems like a plausible idea, but is it possible?

Anyways, apologies for missing the obvious, but that's why I've always preferred Macs…. ;-)

Im an Industrial Engineering Major student.

Parh6512 — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:22:13 -0800

Is Macbook Pro with Retina display worth it for college? Im in market of buying a new laptop. Particularly a mac due to its robust build quality. I recently sold my 2008 unibody on craigslist and received a fair market price.

Currently Im looking at Macbook Pro with Retina display. The main reason I like this is because of its high resolution display along with its portability (being a pound lighter then my previous MBP). I will be running few engineering apps on this computer later on in my year tho non of those apps are optimized for the retina display. I will be carrying this to all my classes every day. So I wanted to know your opinion on whether its worth it to spend $2000 + on this new device. This device is not upgradable and Im not sure if this will have proper resell value when I try to sell it in few years down the road. Also there have been few reports of LG displays used in the Retina display that causes Image Retention.

Let me know if its worth it to purchase this or go with something small like the Air or the 13' MBP.

How do I move the moving pictures from the camera to the computer?

justjess — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:37:19 -0800

I am in the application process for a really awesome job, and I just found out I have my second phone interview on Monday afternoon. Yay! It's a producing job at a start up web content company, and based on the first call, they're going to want to hire someone who can move data from cameras (sounds like I would be mostly working with DSLRs) into Final Cut Pro and prepare it for editing. I currently work in TV, where this job belongs to the assistant editors, and I don't even know how to begin to figure out this process. Please give me some weekend reading material to help me figure out if this is something I could quickly learn how to do. Thank you! Sorry if this question sounds dumb, I have spent my entire career telling the camera operators what to shoot and then arriving at my office the next day to magically find that footage loaded onto my desktop editing system.

I really appreciate any advice/resources you may have!

Computer is now a spacecase.

Tiresias — Mon, 28 May 2012 16:20:31 -0800

My MacBook is acting weeeeird. Please help. I have a 2010 (I think) 17" MacBook Pro, running OS X Lion 10.7.4, and everything was going beautifully until about a month ago.

Back then, I was running Snow Leopard and suddenly the computer just started acting...strangely. Programs would just randomly and unpredictably freeze. The computer would suddenly crash. You couldn't, say, adjust the brightness of the screen. It would take 15 minutes to turn on. I figured it was a hard drive problem, but all of the diagnostic software I used said it was fine.

Okay, desperate I figured I'd upgrade to OS X Lion through the App Store and see if that fixed it. And, miraculously, it did - for about two weeks, everything ran perfectly without so much as a hiccup. I thought the problem had been solved.

Until, again, all of a sudden, it started acting weird again. Now it acts weird in very specific ways:

-First off, it will start doing these things completely out of nowhere - unrelated to anything I may be working on or may have done. It will do these things for, say, 15 minutes and then, just as suddenly, unrelated to restarting, hard booting, ANYTHING I do, it will begin working normally again. It is a little bit like the computer just starts having petit mal seizures.

Resetting the program, quitting programs, nothing has any effect on it. It just seems that for, say, 30 minutes the computer is going to be strange.

-During these seizures, only certain programs can be loaded: Chrome, iTunes, some Utilities. Anything else, including something as simple as Minesweeper, will sit bouncing in the dock, waiting to load, forever.

-Certain sites within Chrome, specifically Gmail or anything involving Flash, will spontaneously crash - just the pages, mind you, not Chrome itself.

-Disk Utility and SMART Utility both report the drive is fine.

As of an hour ago, things have become much worse. I was playing some flash game, left the room for 5 minutes, came back, and now the computer is permanently broken. It no longer fixes itself after 15 minutes and things have become more dire. It will not power down or go to sleep when you close the lid. If you leave it unattended for a few minutes, rather than going to sleep it will show you that grey 'Apple in the center' screen like at startup, completely frozen.

It will still boot up. Unfortunately, Time Machine seems to be a casualty as well and will not back up (I have a backup from about a week ago, thankfully.)

Also, I don't have a boot disc (if I ever got one, I don't have it now.)

This is my first Mac and I am completely at a loss. Any help or suggestions anybody could offer would be a huge help. IThanks

Where on Earth can I find a hardshell case for a MacBook Pro 17'' (mid-2007 model)?

krisken — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:36:28 -0800

Where on Earth can I find a hardshell case for a MacBook Pro 17'' (mid-2007 model)? Ideally, something along the lines of this...thanks!

Which Mac for me?

Pater Aletheias — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:32:40 -0800

Should I get the 21.5 inch iMac or the 13 inch Macbook Pro? (Or something else?) Looking for a new machine to be our primary home computer. Other than basic document creation/ blogging/ web-surfing, the main things we plan to use it for are: photo editing and organization, home video editing (and DVD burning for older relatives), Skyping, and managing our music and video library. Budget maxes out at $1500 (thanks, tax refund!)--but less is better.

Right now, Apple has a couple of refurbished options that look good:

Refurbished iMac 21.5-inch 2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
Originally released May 2011
21.5-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
4GB memory
1TB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics with 512MB memory 
Built-in FaceTime HD camera

$1,249.00

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.8GHz Dual-core Intel i7
Originally released October 2011
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1280-by-800 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
750GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM

$1,269.00

Other than weighing portability against bigger screen size, is there any reason to prefer one machine over the other? Are there additional considerations we haven't thought of? And is there any reason to avoid refurbished machines? Thanks!

Taking care of my Macbook Pro's battery.

austere — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:24:20 -0800

what are the best practices for taking care of a macbook pro (specifically the battery) for someone who uses it intensively for 8-10 hours a day? there is an overwhelming amount of contradictory information regarding how best to protect your battery and how to handle charging cycles which, in my reading thus far, seems to be largely affected by whether you actually need the battery for a given task.

i use my computer to produce electronic music (having just replaced my old powermac G5 with a new MBP) and while i do utilize the battery on occasion, the vast majority of the laptops' usage is just sitting in my home studio.

should i just leave it plugged in all the time when i'm using it or should i be running the battery down? it's not uncommon for me to have to go through two recharge cycles in a day (i do this maybe 2 or 3 times a week on average). it's only just occurred to me that it may be less detrimental to the battery if i were to just leave it plugged in when i'm at home and actually using it, but i've heard that this too can be problematic. i guess i'm wondering which is the lesser evil.

lastly, would the usage of an external monitor with the laptop affect these protocols?

Help me with me new (used) MacBook Pro

dbirchum — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:30:45 -0800

Inherited a MacBook Pro! Looking for some help/guidance for a PC user. Greetings all. I have been a lifelong PC user (out of necessity - cost/affordability of PCs). I used a Mac for a couple of years when I was in university (15+ years ago) and loved them. I vowed to get one again when I could afford it. Long story short, I have always opted for the cheaper PC versions for my home computers and I currently have an aging laptop and fairly new desktop.

Anyway, I recently "inherited" a Mac computer from my brother in law! I helped him move this weekend and he gave me his "old" Mac laptop for assisting him (and doing all of the heavy lifting). He recently purchased a MacBook Air which he is in love with and he also has an iPad 2, so there was no need for him to have the older Pro. Granted, he did say it has been giving him some "issues" recently (he didn't elaborate) and that the battery no longer performs that well (which I am ok with as I will mostly be using it plugged in).

Anyway, I am completely new to the Mac world. I literally plugged it in the other night, turned it on, went through the set-up process and checked my email through Safari. Everything went smooth thus far (I think).

Without sounding like a total idiot, I didn't even know what "type" of MacBook Pro it was (what year it was released, how old it was, the monitor size, if it was one of those aluminum ones, what version of OS it ran, etc). I did some basic Google searches and found out (with the last 3 digits of the serial number YJX) that it is a MacBook Pro Core Duo 2.4 from 2008? (I think). I know it is running Mac OS X 10.5.8 (as I checked it last night).

Therefore, as a long PC user and relatively new to the Mac environment (I have an iPhone and had several iPods including a Touch, so I am not completely new to the Apple, iTunes and the App world), is there anything I should know? I am finding the layout of the file management system a little weird, but I am sure I can get used to it.

I did an "update" last night (under the Apple icon for the software update) and it now seems to be up to date (I downloaded ALL of the recommended updates). Some of the things that I am wondering:

- Are there any basic scans that I should do to see if this Mac is running smooth and there are no underlying issues with it? (as I said, he noted that he had been having some issues with it lately)
- Are their any basic tests I can do to see if the battery life is a problem (and if it is, can I buy a battery and replace it myself?)
- Is there any software that I should get for the Mac (including an apps I should buy from the Mac store)?
- I have been hearing that Macs don't get viruses as often as PCs. Is this really true? Or should I get a virus scanner and/or Malware scanner?
- I am trying to get iChat started, but I can't (it seems to have skipped the initial set-up stage – I wasn’t given the option to set it up) and I don't know how to get back to set it up
- I want to check out the Mac App store but I don’t think I can from my computer/software. Is this the case?
- Is this the reason why I can’t use FaceTime?
- What about accessories? Do I need a keyboard cover/protector, etc.

Again, I am looking for BASIC information, as I have this beautiful machine sitting home waiting for me to play with it and i have NO idea what to do?

Anyway advice would be appreciated (and please be nice)...Thanks!

Why does it reboot in fullscreen?

Yiggs — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:50:35 -0800

Why does my Macbook "reboot" sometimes when I watch full screen video? I'm using a Macbook Pro with OS X 10.6.8, and all of my software is up to date. After a fresh reboot, occasionally when I open a video (VLC, Youtube, Netflix, etc.) and go into full screen the video will stop and my computer will "reboot" - that is, the screen goes blue with the circling reboot icon, then immediately goes back to the OS X screen, but all of my applications have been closed. If I then reopen the video and go into full screen, it plays fine, and indeed any full screen videos after that play fine until I reboot again. This only happens when a video is put into full screen; all other videos play fine.

At the moment it's more of a minor inconvenience, but I'm really curious what might be causing this. I just upgraded from an older Macbook Pro (also with 10.6.8) to a refurbished one of the same model, and the problem happens on both. Has anyone else experienced this?

Help with external monitor for macbook pro

cascando — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:51:38 -0800

Year old apple macbook pro laptop. I spilled water on it and killed the screen. I have heard that you can plug in an external monitor if you have the right "dongle". I no longer have the dongle the laptop came with, so I would like to kow what is the name of the adaptor I would need in order to plug in a second hand LCD screen? And where would I get one? Thank you.

Capturing and Compiling HD Video Clips?

Jamesonian — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:11:24 -0800

I'm looking for the cheapest and/or easiest way to capture and compile segments of certain television news and comedy shows in full HD from a standard set-top box, then export them as a single HD presentation (either as a file or maybe as a Blu-ray disk). Luckily, I'm not starting completely from scratch. I already have MacBook Pro (2010) Final Cut Studio (the 2006 release I think but certainly not the most current version) and Adobe Creative Suite CS5 Master Collection. What more do I need (some type of capture device I assume) and what's the best workflow given the heavy duty software package? This project is NOT intended for any kind of sale or public distribution but instead is part of a school project.

Time Capsure vs Network Accessible Storage

YukonQuirm — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:39:37 -0800

What is the right apple/mac storage solution for me? We have the following products:
Mac Book - the white one - 2009
Mac Book Pro - 2010
iTouch - 2009

We are looking at getting a Mac Air and possibly an Apple TV.

I am the primary user of the Mac Book Pro at the moment but I travel around a lot and I'm finding it on the heavy side. I want to switch to the MacAir but find a network storage solution so that I can still make the movies I want to, create large presentations and edit and store photos. I don't need to have the the movies or photos available everywhere I go but they should be available also to the rest of the family or accessible if I decide I want to work on the Mac Book Pro rather than the MacAir. Like wise we want to be able to share our iTunes library.

I'm pretty hopeless with all things computers but what I want is the same kind of set up that I have at work. I have a hard drive on my computer where I can put stuff and then I have access to different shared drives with documents and pictures etc so I don't gum up my hard drive or others with large attachments sent through email or whatever.

I know time capsule does a backup of your documents but what I want is to limit what stays on my MacAir as there is not much storage space.

I've heard Network attached storage is cheaper but that is not the main driver for me. We also would benefit from the wifi on time capsule but before purchasing it I need to know that it is the right choice to serve as a network storage solution so that all three MacBooks and the iTouch can store and share certain information like iphoto, imovies and itunes.

MacBook Screen Washed Out

Yiggs — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:26:08 -0800

My MacBook's display suddenly faded to a very pale bluish white, and all the colors look very washed out. Closing the display and reopening it will sometimes fix the problem, but within an hour the screen suddenly fades again. Restarting has no effect. I'm on a 2007 MacBook Pro, running OS X 10.6.8. I haven't updated any software recently, and this seemed to happen out of the blue (it was working fine one second, and the next the entire screen had faded.) Going to display preferences and changing or calibrating the display profile (I'm using the standard Color LCD profile) seems to have no effect.

Could this be a software problem, or might it be a hardware issue with the display connections?

Please help me decide what my next computer will be

namesarehard — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:35:32 -0800

Macbook Pro or Air for SPSS? Hello, my crappy white 2008 macbook is dying. RIP. I'm debating between a pro and an air. My crappy macbook handles SPSS ok, but my postdoc definitely upgraded it by installing SOMETHING manually for me - I'm guessing he enhanced my memory? Experts, weigh in? Sorry I'm so useless on this one.

Pro pros: more HD, more processing, bigger screen, DVD drive
Pro cons: heavier, hotter, my friend says his air is actually faster than his pro despite the 1.6 GHz.

Air pros: lighter, more comfortable, cooler (literally. heck, figuratively, too)
Air cons: less processing, less memory, more expensive (unless I go for the 11 inch). No DVD drive.

I don't have my music, I don't play video games, I don't edit video or use photoshop. I mostly word process and browse the web. AND do some data editing on SPSS. Does anyone have SPSS experience with Macbook Air? i know my professor uses Pro with data analysis software with no problem, but I worry about Air.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

Build-Your-Own Macbook Pro?

nmaster64 — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 03:50:01 -0800

Can you make a cheap hackintosh version of a Macbook Pro?
It seems to me that these days the Macs are using enough standard parts that there is very little other than that Apple secret sauce separating them from their PC cousins.

I'd really like a newer Macbook Pro to begin iOS development, but I just hit hard times and there's no way I'm going to be paying $1500-$3000 for a computer now. As this will be replacing my primary laptop (which will have to be sold to be able to afford a new one), it needs to be a pretty damn nice machine for my needs on the Windows side.

My question is, can you not simply build/customize/order a laptop with extremely similar components such that going Hackintosh is fairly trivial? I'm assuming the issue is the motherboard is custom and maybe a couple other parts aren't so easy to get. But regardless I feel like things are at a point where I should be able to build a 15" version of the top-of-the-line MBP for almost 33% cheaper.

Suggestions?

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Macbook Pro 17" ($3000)
2.3GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 w/ 8MB shared L3 cache
Intel HD Graphics 3000
AMD Radeon HD 6750M w/1GB GDDR5
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 RPM
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Denied by my own! Help!

droplet — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 19:03:09 -0800

I "don't have permission" to go into the desktop XP folders on my network from my Windows 7 laptop, but the reverse is fine. Help me? On the occasion of getting a spiffy new wireless printer, I went through the hoopdedoodle of setting up a network on my new Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 laptop with my old Windows XP Pro SP3 desktop. They both link up fine with the printer, so that's good.

However, when I go into the network from the desktop (XP), I can get into the laptop (Win 7) fine. When I try to go into the desktop through the laptop via the network, I'm denied because I don't have permission. Password is off, file discovery on. Network stuff on. I can see the folders but can't get in them.

I've gone through what feels like every geek-aid how-to website out there for the last three days and none of their suggestions are working.

I just want to be able to access my documents folder for a little while longer until I can replace the desktop with one that also runs Win 7. What will actually work?

Macbook Pro vs. PC?

NotSoSiniSter — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:32:32 -0800

ANOTHER mac vs pc buying mefi post...But not the usual reasons. Help? Thanks! :D I need an upgrade from my $550 laptop that I bought a little over a year ago for DJing. Shits just barely packs enough juice to run Traktor, I also produce and the laptop can't cut through an Ableton work flow past a single synth line, so I'm stuck on my desktop for such work. :)

I'm the one that will be paying for it. Not parents. :D I have a job at a computer repair shop, I like Windows 7 much more than OSX, I would almost certainly nuke and install Windows 7 on it if I end up getting one. Right now I barely have any bank, I'm sitting on about $300. I work 9 hours a week and make $9/hour. I get a check every 2 weeks.

I obviously can't just buy the thing all up front, but after some quick math, I believe i have the means to pay off a 12 month finance. I would buy the thing off of amazon for $1700. I would basically give up a whole check every month to pay for it, which I believe I could manage. My parents would probably chip in every now and then, obviously since this thing will be my "college laptop", they are saving $1000 on me begging them to buy me one. I would then also have 2 laptops both of decent value, and a desktop that I can sell. So...I shouldn't end up in deep shit w/ the sharks. :D

Many computer illiterate people go Mac because they don't know how to take care of a Windows computer. Loads of people that walk into our store and abandon their PCs in favor of a mac because they are fed up with viruses and how slow they get. I could have fixed both easily if they weren't convinced its impossible, but w/e. I see the other positives to buying a Mac, in about 3 years, I can still sell it for a large part of my money back. Try doing that with a PC! :D I can easily get the same thing for about $1000 in 3 years, it will probably drop to about a $500-600 value, while the macbook will sell for around $1500 in the future.

If my resale estimates are a load of shit, or you think I better steer clear of a mac. Say something! :P

I need to do a pro and con list for myself, might as well do it in here. :P

~~~PROS~~~
High resale value
Durable
Will last a long time if I take care of it
Macbook=sexy :P
~~~CONS~~~
Expensive
Won't last as long
Bad resale value
I'm not buying into OSX
I have to finance for a mac.

Talk to me, whats your take? Thank you so much. :D