Macbook has arrived !!

[Carbone]

I received my Macbook yesterday evening and installed various applications on it, namely Photoshop CS and PSE4. Though they start noticeably slower than on my Powermac, working with either one is not as slow as I had anticipated. Filters do take a few seconds more to apply (on a 2 MP image, for example), but nothing that would be a show stopper. If you're not a pro, that is.

Installed Office 2004, that went smoothly and works very decently. Takes longer to start (Word) but the rest is easy to cope with. Same thing for MSN Messenger, takes longer to load, but operates at regular speed after that.

I installed other software, like Bryce 5.5 (yessss..!! It works ok!), Terragen (works very decently as well). Corel Painter IX.5 is also working nicely on small images (1024 x 768), I have not yet tested it on bigger images.

iTunes and iPhoto are really faster, that's visible.

Tonight is the big night, I will be installing Bootcamp with Windows XP.

I was afraid the glossy screen would have me jumping all around like a mad man, but that's not the case, it adds contrast to images. A very nice touch. Battery really last longer (over 3 hours). Micro and iSight are very ok! Sooo tiny!!!

That's it for now. So far, so good! :D :D

Ray

[Wendy]

Hi Ray ...

Its good to know how you are going on with it ... and please do tell more as you find out more :)

I'm still very interested in one ... as we are goinng to take another look on the 4th July.

Wendy

[lindajay]

Woo hoo, Ray! I'm happy for you. I'm really looking forward to hearing how it works out for you over time.

[Carbone]

I was very thrilled to get it in time for my trip (Toronto) because of the iSight, I'll be able to keep contact with my friends and loved one. What's gonna be cool is to take pictures on the train, download them on the Macbook, then send them over to my friend using iChat... That's going to be totally "live".. cool!

Ray

[Wendy]

Ray ...

Oh that is going to be brilliant !! ... look forward to hearing how it goes :)

By the way I was looking at the specifications for the MacBookPro ... do you think that it would be any quicker with Photoshop ??

Wendy

[Carbone]

A bit, certainly. Much? I don't think so. Mainly because the difference is .16 Ghz (MB = 2.0, MBP = 2.16). Where it may make a difference is with the graphic cards, the MacBook has an embedded graphics card, where the MBP as a dedicated one. To which extent this will improve performance for a Rosetta running application? I don't think it'll be significative. However, with a native Intel application, I would say MBP will be visibly faster than MB.

Ray

[Byron Gale]

...the difference is .16 Ghz (MB = 2.0, MBP = 2.16)...For some reason, this jumped out at me, and I couldn't help seeing it in this perspective -- that "trivial" difference in processing power is more than SIX TIMES the raw speed of my first PC (386-25), and multiples beyond that in processing ability.

Congratulations on the new toy, Ray!!! I am respectively jealous... :D

Byron

[Wendy]

Thanks for the info Ray ...

Oh by the way which colour did you get ???

Wendy

[kayser]

Congratulations, Ray, sounds like a great toy, I mean, computer! I'm interested in the color, but I really want to know what you've named it..

[Carbone]

Colour : White
Name : Marshall

Byron.. LOL!!! I also remember the days when an entire program had to fit in under 640Kb... ;)

Ray

[Tom M]

Hey Ray.
How do you like Terragen and what do you use it for?

[Carbone]

I hate it and I use only for dusting the living room and removing stains on the car tires.

(that my silly moment of the day)

I love it. I create short animated clips, I render a series of images then I use Quicktime to assemble them. I don't do anything professional, just pure fun. Terragen is Therapy software :)

Ray

[Wendy]

Oh I haven't played with a Terragenn for ages ... I must go play !!

Thanks Ray for reminding me ... :)

Wendy

[Grant]

I was very thrilled to get it in time for my trip (Toronto) because of the iSight,

Ray

Ray

When are you off to Toronto? If it is this week you are in for a treat as it is Pride! About a Million people show up for the parade on Sunday . We usually go for lunch on Yonge Street and then head over to Bloor and Church. That is where the parade starts and is a great spot for photographs. After that we end up at a pub drinking beer and eating the wrong foods. The unfortunate thing is this year I am working a 10 day shutdown "Bummer."

Oh the Ladies march on Saturday but it is not as much fun as they seem to take the day far to seriously.

http://www.pridetoronto.com/

-

[Carbone]

I am heading there, as we speak. Will be there in 2 hours (I'm on the train now). However, I doubt I'll have much time to celebrate any pride events, I'll proudly filling my brain with UNIX security... :)

Ray

[Grant]

Drink beer, eat the wrong food, photograph people in outlandish costumes or do UNIX security? ... decisions ... decisions ... decisions.


In any event, have a good time and take in a few good restaurants between UNIX bits and bytes.

-

[ME100FINN]

ahhh Ray have a great time... and congrats on the new toy... I hate you (said with nothing but love man) ;) -- I am still waiting for the time I can get my mac. I WILL get my mac.

[Wendy]

Hi Beatrice ...

Is the problem actually getting a Mac to Japan ?

Wendy

[Carbone]

This was actually totally cool.. I was on the train, chatting with my friends in Montreal, wirelessly.. :)

And at the hotel, I was able to chat home (and see my little cat!!!) with the built-in iSight camera on my Macbook. It`s a real beauty. Batery life is extremely good (close if not over 4 hours).

Also, I have installed Windows XP with Bootcamp, so far so good. Irony : my Macbook is my fastest Windows computer to date :) I am able to run PSE and other software, trouble free.

(ok, time to get back to my class)

Beatrice : it will happen, it`s for sure!!!

Ray

P.S. Tonight is Apple Store, Eaton Center :)

[Wendy]

Ray ...

It sounds as though you are totally delighted with it ... I can't wait to go to the Apple shop and take another look at them.

Do let us know if you see anything tempting when you visit :)

Wendy

[ME100FINN]

Wendy, that is part of the problem. When I ordered an ipod from them I had to ship it to a service called shipitapo.com and they in turn ship it to me for a fee. I want to get the mini all jazzed up so I know it wouldnt be too expensive to ship via the same service. Honestly, I dont know why my hubby draggin his feet. Recently he has lavished me with some hefty gifts combined... camera bag, 85mm lens, new pocket camera, and a down comforter. Maybe that's the reason. I am trying to be patient, but he knows how badly I want the switch. He insists on ordering a monitor at the same time, but I'd be happy with the one I have for now.

Ray, that whole wireless thing scares me - technology as it is today. Is it really secure? Some things are hard to have faith in when you can't see them, aside from the good Lord! Please let us know if you see anything enticing at the shop! And do share some pics on your journey.

[Carbone]

My first visit to an Apple Store : Eaton Center, Downtown Toronto

http://homepage.mac.com/carbmac/captures/IMG_2290.jpg


Ray

[Carbone]

There wasn't anything really on sale, so no bargain. However, a lot of stuff I couldn't find in Montreal (boxed version of software otherwise available on line as downloads).

I also visited the surrounding, gigantic LG D screen, CHUM tv, Hard Rock Café, and this... :

http://homepage.mac.com/carbmac/captures/IMG_2289.jpg

The real... Canon camera Theater !!!!! :D :D

Ray

[Carbone]

(sorry for the triple post...)

Beatrice, the wireless thing is now very secure. If you have to log in on a public network, without security, of course you put your firewall at on, and you don't do banking, unless this banking is offering an HTTPS (secured HTTP) link. Otherwise, for web surfing, this is just fine.

Toronto has the most wireless access point I have seen to date. At any given moment, my Macbook is offered to join 8 or more wireless access points (some are paying, of course).

Oh, and a very "cool" thing about Toronto.. the subway system (the wagons, that is) are equipped with air conditioning system.. WOW!!! :)

Ray

[NRiceDesigns]

Colour : White
Name : Marshall

Byron.. LOL!!! I also remember the days when an entire program had to fit in under 640Kb...

Ray

When I got my first computer, I was told that 40 MB H.D. was more than I would ever need. We've come a long way!

Congratulations on your new toy! Now get out there & crank up some more designs for us. ;) ;)