Posts Tagged ‘Apple’

My New Macbook Pro

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
13, 15 and 17 inchs MacBook Pro unibody

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve had this macbook pro for a few weeks now, and I think that it’s high time that I actually used it to do something useful, like write a blog post.  So without further adieu here is the semi-review…

A few months ago I posted my first account of stepping into an actual Apple Store, and living to tell about it.  I explained how I had decided that I wanted to buy a mac when it came time to replace my current laptop and how I was fully convinced that buying an Apple was right for me.  I decided later on to simply buy an Apple iPad and see how that suited me, and as you can read, it suited me quite well. I thought that the iPad 2 would suffice for a while, and may even allow me to forgo the Macbook Pro purchase for another year, but then, a funny thing happened…  as fate would have it, my Toshiba Satellite started to sputter.  First the cooling fan when out and it eventually decided to give up the ghost.  I was beside myself without a computer. Sure, my wife had one that I could use, but the whole reason she has a laptop is because she doesn’t like to use mine because I tend to tinker with it, and she can’t stand it when I change things up on her.  So with that being the case, I decided to try and go without for as long as I could while just using the iPad as a “replacement”.

Any of my fellow geeks will tell you that you cannot just replace a laptop with a tablet. At least not if you are a geek. How was I going to encode files? How was I going to develop or maintain websites? How was I going to sync up my iPad and change playlists and stuff? How was I going to edit photos or videos? How was I going to write blog posts without going completely bananas due to the lack of an tactile feedback in the form of a physical buttons? Sure, I rarely did most of that anyway, but I wanted to be able to when I wanted to, and I NEEDED a laptop.

So, what was I going to do? I knew that I really couldn’t just go out and order an Apple laptop the next day, that kind of funding required some planning. I thought, maybe I can just go pick out a nice, middle-of-the-road HP, “Yeah”, I said, “an HP would be nice, surely I can find one in the thousand dollar range that will kick butt.”,  but I was obviously out of my gourd that day because when I looked online I couldn’t find anything that met the same specs that the new Apple Macbook Pros had.  I wanted an i7 intel quad core processor, I wanted the new Thunderbolt port (who knows if I will even use it anytime soon), I wanted the dual graphics processors, I wanted…. well, I wanted a supped up PC… I wanted… DOH! I WANTED AN APPLE!

So, I continued to wait, and plan, and get rid of some crap that had been sitting around the house unused, and with Candy’s help, we made up a plan to procure a Macbook Pro. I don’t know that she ever bought into the idea of why I “needed” a mac, but she was very supportive, and I really appreciated it. Several weeks later, I finally got the OK, and now I have it.

My new Macbook Pro still in the box.I remember talking to one of my friends who has an iMac a week or so before I made my actual purchase from Amazon, and I had asked him if he used his mac that much, and if he thought he actually used his photo and video editing software more since he had made the switch to Apple. His response was a definitive “yes”. He said that he used his mac daily for almost everything, and he also was more likely to get into photoshop, or edit a video now that he wasn’t doing all of that on a PC.  He said simply “It just works.” There it was again, that age old phrase that Appletards will just throw around all the time. The thing that just didn’t make any sense to me. Well, it didn’t until now. You see, that fact that I am sitting here writing this post right now, and not waiting for my computer to encode a video, or update my iTunes catalog, or just plain staying off of it because it has once again managed to make me hate it by just being plain old stupid is a testament to the way of the Apple machine. They just work!

I don’t fully understand why this is so, but I’d imagine that the machine being built to run this specific operating system, and the machine itself being a top-of-the line laptop PC based on it’s hardware has a lot to do with it. Apple not having to worry about Jim Bob needing to run OSX Snow Leopard on his Pentium class rig so that he can catch up on his AOL news helps. Apple only has to make software run on their  own hardware. There is no guesswork, they know what is required, and they can use this as an advantage to make the user experience something so great that the average PC can’t come close.

I must say, I was skeptical at first, and even thought, “what have I done?”, there for a moment when I couldn’t even figure out how to turn the dang thing on when looking for the power button in the dark the first night, but this computer has been nothing but good for me. I have been amazed by how quickly it is able to encode videos, move and copy files, install applications, launch heavy applications (like iTunes and Photoshop), and even start up and shut down. Everything gets done lightening fast. I actually have time to do other things besides administrative tasks. I can remember thinking to myself on the day that I got Photoshop that I would need to set aside lots of time that evening to install it, but I was mistaken, on a mac, it just isn’t that big of a deal to install an app, it all happens so quickly. This computer is blazing fast, it has been a huge upgrade from my three-year-old PC laptop, and I am enjoying every minute of using it. I enjoy the longer battery life, the quality design, the custom OS, the intuitive track pad, and the sleek software. All-in-all, I am loving this computer, and wishing I had come around to not hating Apple sooner, but then I might have gotten an iPhone, so maybe it’s all for the best.

One more thing. When asking some of my friends for advice concerning my idea of purchasing a mac instead of a PC, many of them suggested that it would be difficult leaving Windows for an unknown OS. For those of you who think that if you had a mac, you would miss windows, understand that you can have both on the same machine. Intel Macs can run Windows, and they do a really nice job of it. I have managed to dual boot my mac to run OSX 10.6 on one partition, and Windows 7 on another smaller partition without any problems. The entire process was as easy as stepping through a wizard and following the instructions. I personally have only used Windows a few times since getting my mac. I used it to help me load a recovery app on my Android phone, and one other thing that escapes me at the moment. Since then, I haven’t found a reason to boot into Windows 7. I also happened to notice that the only time this ultra quiet machine’s fans ever make a sound is when it is encoding a video, running Windows, or playing a flash video.  Now if you will excuse me, I have some Battlestar Galactica episodes to watch because I can finally encode them quickly and easily and add them all to my ipad with minimal time and effort.

 

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You Bought a WHAT?!?!??!

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

 

Apple iPad 2

Ok, so everyone knows that I have been making a big deal about my switch to Apple the next time I replace my primary computer. I have pretty much decided that I want a MacBook Pro. The only question is when, and I’ve decided to wait a little longer. I knew that I still wanted a new toy, and felt like a tablet was something that might be fun.  I can honestly say that there is no “need” for a tablet.  Everything you can do on a tablet can also be done on a computer or a decent smart phone. As a matter of fact, I’ve spend countless hours playing with my Android phone in the evenings after Candy and I put the kids to bed. I really enjoy reading news articles, playing games, watching movies, and reading my email on the device, but I have always thought it would be nice to have a bigger screen to use for those purposes, and the great thing about a tablet is that the keyboard is not there to get in the way when all you want to do is relax and read.

I decided that a tablet was definitely for me, and the only question remaining was, “Which tablet?”  With all of the new Android tablets coming out, and the iPad 2 recently coming out, I knew that there would be lots of options to consider even if they were not all available for sell just yet. I have been watching my rss feeds for months concerning information on the Motorola Xoom, and had recently seen that the Xoom would be available soon in a Wifi only format.  I had no interest in signing up for a new contract that would only be used on a device that would normally be within range of my home wireless network. I also knew that the iPad and iPad 2 were available in a Wifi-only model, So I decided to start comparing these three devices.

When I was out shopping with the family one day at the local Best Buy, I decided to take a look at the iPad 2 display unit.  It was really cool looking. It was small and comfortable to hold with a vibrant screen, and the apps on it looked amazing.  So I immediately marched over to the customer service desk to find out when they would have some in stock, and was told that I would be able to sign up on a waiting list for one when they became available again, but they had no idea when more would come in. In case you have been living under a rock, it is no secret that the iPad 2 is incredibly hard to get a hold of right now, and it may be months before the supply catches up with the demand for them.  Back to my story. I was not ready to buy a tablet just yet, but I wanted the option to buy one before next Christmas, so I happily signed myself up to wait for an iPad 2, and left to do more research.  On to the Motorola Xoom.

The features on the Xoom looked quite impressive. It was running Android’s Honeycomb (3.0) OS, it had an HD widescreen display front and rear cameras, an SD card reader, 32 GB of storage, and a dual core processor. It looked to me like it was going to be a very nice tablet. I decided to look into the Xoom further, and read some reviews that had been written about the 3G Xooms that were released earlier this year. I was also sure to check out everything that I could comparing the Xoom to the iPad 2. I learned that overall the Xoom was a solid device, and the only main complaints had to do with the price, the lack of flash and 4G LTE upon release, and  The card reader was was not working, and was supposedly going to be fixed by a future patch released by Motorola or Google. I figured that these few dings weren’t that bad, especially considering that most of them were temporary problems, and half of them wouldn’t even affect the WIFI version.  I knew that I liked my Android phone, and that I was happy with being able to access the file system on it and play any sort of audio/video file I wanted. So I decided to pre-order a Xoom from Amazon.  I knew that I had a week or so until the tablet was to be released, and I could take that time to research my decision further.

Motorola Xoom

I saw lots and lots of reviews and head-to-head comparisons of the iPad and the Xoom. I was surprised to see that the iPad was often seen as a superior tablet to most reviewers that I would consider to be more neutral on the iOS/Android subject. I couldn’t believe that a tablet that was likely to be tied to iTunes and locked down would be desired over an “open source” alternative like the Android. I thought that I had made the right decision, and felt good about it up until the day that I received a notice from Amazon that my Xoom would be arriving in just 4 days. Then it happened…

What happened was, I had read an article just minutes before my email from Amazon had arrived.  The article was taking about how Google was going to be holding back releasing the Honeycomb source code to developers. It speculated that Google needed to lock down the Android platform to prevent further fragmentation (caused by multiple versions of the OS having to be supported on multiple devices).  I immediately began to wonder if my tablet purchase was going to become less valuable. Would the Android community that had developed such great Android ROMS (redesigned and tweaked operating systems) as Cyanogen or Bionix be able to get their hands on an official Honeycomb build for the Xoom and if so, when?

I was already hoping that the android community might be able to come up with a solution to the SD card slot that was inoperable, but now it seemed that that may never be fixed. I had heard from a friend of mine just a few days before that a similar tablet to the Xoom had been on sale recently for half the price of the Xoom. Sure enough, when I went to look up the details on it, I realized that that device had pretty much the same internal components components as the Xoom and it had been on sale for that price. Was the Xoom really worth what I was about to spend? So many questions came up in my mind. I started to think about my last electronics device that I had purchased to stand out from the crowd and be different, and there again I was reminded of what a mistake that was. My Zune had never been what the iPod has become. I was doubting my own decision about purchasing and Android Tablet, so the next day, I cancelled my pre-order.

After cancelling, I felt good. Like I had done something really smart. I continued to compare tablets, and thought to myself that it would be good for me to get an iPad becasue that might be a good way to get started with Apple products before going out and spending so much on an Apple laptop. I wanted to get a device that had lots of apps that were useful now, and that was going to be relevant now. I didn’t want to buy something obscure and base my decision on what I hope that it would be at some point in the future. I decided that the iPad was for me, and so, I went and bought myself and iPad 2, and I couldn’t be happier.

A few days later, I went back to the Best Buy and saw a Xotorola on display, and I picked it up to compare to my iPad.  I noticed that the screen seemed much smaller, and darker. The Xoom felt like it was not made to be as sturdy as the iPad. It felt much heavier and clunkier overall. It was made from thick plastic, like a kid’s toy.  I was not impressed. I am glad, that for once, I finally stepped back from my misconceptions about Apple, their iTunes platform, and their devices, and decided to try something different.  I have learned that even though the iPad is not perfect, it is the best tablet out there for me. I really have enjoyed the nice selection of apps, both free and paid. I like reading, playing games, and watching movies on it. I am enjoying the larger screen, and that’s what I wanted all along. I do not have to wait fro the device to be completed before I can enjoy it, and I don’t have to worry about whether or not it will be supported with future software, or accessories. It seems like now, my only issue is convincing others that I am not an Apple fanboy.  Check back soon for a full review of my new iPad 2.

 

Xoom vs iPad

 

 

 

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Why I Am Switching to a Mac

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Apple MacBook Pro 13" (Mid 2009), 15"...

Image via Wikipedia

OK, so last week I dropped the blog bomb. For anyone who knows me, and didn’t already know about my desire to switch to an Apple Macintosh computer I’m sure that my last blog was a surprise. Historically, I’ve never been a fan of Apple products. I have always owned PC’s running Windows software. I waited for what I thought was a viable competitor to the iPod to come out before I decided to purchase a personal media player. I decided to get the first and the most recent generations of Zune players from Microsoft, and consequently, I have read just this week that the Zune hardware may cease to exist. I have mocked Apple and it’s products for years and years, and now I’m staring at Apple MacBook Pros on Amazon on a daily basis and asking myself, “How could this happen?”  And that, my friends, is exactly the story that I am going to tell today.  This is this is my personal story of how I was engulfed in the hype machine that is everything Apple.
It all started a couple of years ago.  My family and I were at a kid’s birthday party and a mutual friend happened to be there with his family. He is Certified Cisco Network Engineer, and I am a computer programmer, so when everyone else was busy, it was natural for us to talk about tech. Troy is one of those people who just strikes me as very smart, and not just because of what he does for a living, because he’s not someone who I would consider capable of being caught up in the hype. In the past when I would forward some dumb email about a new computer virus that was destined to take down everyone’s computer, Troy was the only person to respond with a link to Snopes.com exposing the email as a hoax, or some rational explanation as to why that email made no sense.  I respected this guys opinion, and always liked to hear him talk about what his opinion was on the latest hardware was, and how he was implementing it. So, naturally when he mentioned the word “Mac” I thought he was joking, or maybe he had lost his mind, or maybe he had just won the lottery and ran out shiny things to buy.

I decided not to question my friend at this birthday party about his latest purchase, and managed to listen to how much he loved his new computer without one singe outburst or any anti-mac tirades (Yeah, I was that bad). I went on after that day not giving much thought to Apple products other that the occasional snub as I was sure to purchase hardware that I presumed was superior.  Products like my Microsoft Zune, and my Android smartphone. Last summer, I decided to write a few articles about Android apps as a way to get involved in the Android community, and practice my writing.  It was fun for a while.  I compared apps and posted screenshots, and even managed to shoot some video for the reviews. I got really into it, and realized that not only was I able to shoot video, and I had the know-how to edit the videos into something really spectacular, but that’s where the wheels fell off. When I went to edit said videos on the laptop that I currently own, I realized that trying edit movies was going to require a beefier computer.  I was not even able to cut a few seconds out of a short two minute video and watch the clip. I would usually just see a still image and hear some jerky audio. The dual-core-2GB-of-Ram Toshiba that I had was not going to make this enjoyable, and after that, writing articles with video just felt like a waste of time.  I decided then that it was time to find a new laptop, a laptop that was going to make video editing less of a pain.

So I was off in search of a video editing beast. I knew that my current status as a dad with two young children required me to get a portable machine, not a bulky desktop pc. I wanted to find the best of the best laptops;  one that had plenty of power to edit video, and all of the features that I would require of my main workhorse.  One of the first things I decided to do was post on Facebook to see if any of my friends who liked technology had any suggestions. It was not long before I got lots of helpful replies, and when I went to see the suggestions, I was overwhelmed with the number of responses urging me to look at Macs.  I was surprised to say the least, and thought to myself, that since Macs always seem to be geared more towards the “artsy-fartsy” (it’s a technical term) crowd, maybe I had a need to check the Apple computer out afterall.  At the very least, I needed to rule them out as an option in my search for a new computer.
One of the first people I decided to contact about Macs, given my lack of knowledge about them was my friend Troy. He had moved off far away since the day he had first mentioned his Mac computer to me, so I decided to send him some private messages on Facebook about what made him decide to buy a Mac, what his current thoughts were about his computer selection, and how much he didn’t realize that I was not wanting a Mac.  His responses were lengthy.  Troy went on an on in detail about how much he loved his Mac, how he liked the way it worked, the simplicity and design of the hardware, how he thought it seemed to be more secure if only for the fact that there were fewer hack targeting the Apple machines at the time, and how he understood where I was coming from.  You see, Troy had been in my shoes.  When I had mentioned that I had considered running Linux in the past because I really didn’t like Windows Vista, and wasn’t sure about buying a new Microsoft OS, he said he knew what I meant.  He had considered running Linux himself, but didn’t see the need it for everyday average use. He had come upon a good deal on a Mac at the time, and decided that he’d give it a try, and he never looked back. After reading Troy’s replies, I decided that in the future I would honestly consider getting a Mac, and that I would take advice from others into consideration.
A few days later, when I asked my friends at work if they could help me spec out a decent laptop for video editing, I was once again caught off guard. It turns out that two of the guys I regularly eat lunch with had recently bought Macs, and both of them were pleased with their machines. One of the guys even took me over to his desk and showed me his own MacBook Pro that he had brought in from home.  My first impression was, “That’s it?”, it was so plain, yet It was really well made, and the simplicity of the design was refreshing. No unnecessary web navigation buttons, no media player keys, just a keyboard. The casing on the machine was made of actual metal, and not plastic. It seemed quite sturdy, and solid, unlike my current laptop casing that can torque when handled, and had even had pieces of it crack off.  The MacBook Pro was actually really nice. He then showed me how well it handled launching Photoshop and editing pictures, and I was sold.  I decided that I had to find one of these for myself.  Since that day I have been keeping up the latest news on Apple products like I always do for all other tech gadgets, and I was sure to take notice when Apple released their latest MacBooks last month.
In my last post, I wrote about my experience trying out one of the new 2011 MacBook Pros at the Apple Store, and since then, my wife and I have been planning for the actual purchase of the laptop.  Some may call my change of heart an awakening, others may liken it to joining a cult, but whatever the case, the decision was mine to make, and it will be mine to live with.  Or at least, it’s mine to live with until I decide to upgrade again in the future.

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So, A PC Guy Goes Into an Apple Store…

Monday, March 7th, 2011
Image representing Apple as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

Anybody who knows me well knows that I’ve never liked Apple products. I’ve always had a difficult time holding back my opinion on iPhones, iPads, Mac computers and the “people” who buy them.  I have pictured them all as mindless, hopeless, turtle-neck-wearing, Starbucks-sucking, cash-dispensing, easily-influenced sheep.  Is that fair? No, but I felt like it was my way of justifying why anyone in their right mind would pay the boatload of extra cash required to own such shiny electronic status symbols.  I have been a proud .Net Developer, and I have had no intention of ever becoming caught up in all the hype.  Yet last weekend, I did the unthinkable.  After months of internal struggle and information seeking, I visited my local Apple Store.

 

So, what brought me to change my mind about Apple is a story for another post or three, but I had already gotten the idea in my head that I wanted to look at one of the new 17″ Macbook Pro laptops.  I have kept up with all the recent news on Macbooks for the last several months, and that is the laptop that I have chosen to most likely purchase. First of all, I had no idea that we even had an Apple Store in Oklahoma, but I was probably the only person who didn’t know because it seemed to me like everyone else in Oklahoma City was already there on the day I stopped by.  There were people everywhere.  All over the place.  The were playing with the nicely displayed Apple products, and working on their own laptops with the help of the “geniuses” (glorified geek squad) on site.  The amount of people gathered around the tables near the “Genius Bar” was hard to believe, and it seems like everyone else in there was playing with the iPads.  My first thought was, “OMG!  I will never get any help in here, because it’s too busy in here. I should just leave.”, but I decided to stick with my game plan of looking at a laptop, and went looking for the 17” Macbook Pro.

 

My attempt to find the device on my own failed because I was not sure which one was for certain the 17 inch model.  That’s when John the genius asked if he could help me.  I wasted no time and asked to see a new 17″ Macbook Pro, and he took me over to a laptop that had two young boys planing on it.  He politely asked them to let us have a look at it, and I was finally able to view the machine that I’d been reading about.

As I looked at the machine I thought that it was rather simple, and yet quite beautiful.  It was a minimalistic work of art.   Yes, I know PC lovers, it sounds stupid, and I never thought I’d be uttering such words about and Apple product either.  Nonetheless, I was blow away by how nice it looked, and how it looked so small even though it was the largest laptop in Apple’s line.  It was much more compact than my 17” Toshiba at home.  I was impressed, and I was looking forward to interacting with it.

 

John was still there with me and on the way over he had asked me why I was coming in to look at the laptop.  I had told him that I was a PC user who was thinking about making the switch to Mac, and I had noticed that he immediately looked excited to hear that.  I though maybe because he was glad to see another client won by Apple, but I quickly realized he thought this was his opportunity to sign me up for one-to-one personal tech support, and extended warranties.  Both services did not appeal to me because as I am quite familiar with computers, and I feel confident in my abilities to figure things out using my powers of Google search. I was also not interested in tacking another $500 onto the final price of the laptop that I was not even planing on purchasing that day.  I almost chuckled when he asked how I planned to learn to use the laptop.  I simply said, “I’m a computer programmer by trade. I’m sure that I can figure it out.”  I also found it odd that he asked me why I thought I needed the 17″ Macbook Pro.  He asked me if it was just because it was bigger, and I said that I of course wanted the biggest screen.  He then asked if I understoold the difference in the Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, and I informed him that I indeed understood that they were quad core processors, and that there were generally speed enhancements with each level. I really don’t know what the guy was getting at.  Was he trying to down-sell me? Maybe he was trying to save me a few hundred bucks so that I could buy his service plans.  Whatever the case, I didn’t like it because it made me feel like he was telling me he didn’t think I could afford this computer, and a salesman should never underestimate the ability of someone to pay for what they want. Overall, John was very helpful and informative about what services the Apple store provided, and told me to ask him if I had any questions for him.

 

In a short while, John walked away and I was left with the computer that I had come to see. Now, I haven’t used a Mac since I was in Jr. High, and things have changed quite a bit since then.  That was back in the day when a 2880 modem was all you needed to hit the BBS systems and chat your heart out.  I had a few simple tasks to complete in mind, and I was ready to try them out.  Immediately I used the touchpad to navigate to one of the icons on the launcher bar at the bottom of the page. I double tapped on the touchpad and nada.  Nothing happened. “What? I double clicked? Why didn’t something launch? Is there something wrong with this new Mac?” I tried to do the same with a few more program icons, and still nothing.  Finally, when I pressed down harder, I noticed that the touchpad had some give to it, and I realized that this was the “click” action.

 

Using my newly found powers of “clicking”, I was immediately able to launch a program from the launcher bar, and there I was, on the screen in High Definition.  I could see a huge grin on my face because for one, I had not planned on launching anything that was using the built-in HD camera, and two, I had realized just how gorgeous the resolution of this screen was.  After closing down the iChat ap, I launched Garageband (music mixing software) and Safari (Apple’s in-house browser).   I played a bit with the Garageband app, making some noise, and that was fun, but it was not really my thing.  I then decided to check out YouTube and GameTrailers to try and see how the processor handled HD video streaming, but I was quickly annoyed to see that the display models did not have flash installed, and they did not allow non-employees to install software.  You might say in a sense that it was like an iPhone, flashless!   As an Android phone owner, I had to throw that one in there.

 

So after seeing that flash was not available I decided to shut down the Safari window by clicking on the red dot on the LEFT-HAND side of the window and then I opened Apple’s email program.  Now, I am an avid fan of Google’s Gmail, and I use it every day.  I have no idea how well this email client will handle gmail, but I though that the setup of this client was fantastic!  Whether or not it was the crystal clear screen or just the program itself, I was truly wanting to use this to read my own email, and not the dummy ones put there by the sales staff. I had done my research, and I was ready to hit the road.

 

My assessment of the Apple Store overall is that it was a cool, trendy place, and I’m not a cool, trendy guy, but the customer focus was obvious, and that made it nice.  The frenzy created in that place was amazing.  It had people clamoring all around to buy the latest do-dad to add to their current apple products.  As far as the laptop was concerned, the hardware and software across the board had managed to amaze me, and I left the store wanting a Macbook Pro even more that I had imagined that I would. Now I realize that it’s time to save up a little more coin, look over the budget again, and make room for this beast at home.

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