New Laptop

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Re: New Laptop
« Reply #30 on: September 11, 2013, 05:37:00 AM »
Okay folks, please help this virgin out. I just did 2 things that I have never done before. In all my life, I have never ever bought a new computer, not even once. And, I have never done Mac. Since I had my computer stolen in Malaysia, I decided to buy a new one in HK. So we splurged and picked up a Mac Air. I have no fucking clue how to navigate am not so good at this and the instructions are for simply turning the contraption on and off. I guess they assume you know absolutely nothing or everything

Is there a nice little website for simple minded folks like me who need hand holding to learn what to do quickly? I'm not into the movie editing, computer games or picture photo-shopping. I'd like to add some helpful programs (Microsoft Office for starters) and any other free stuff that might be useful.

So far, I love how clear this thing is. But like learning a new language it's going to be a bit getting used to. If I'm lucky, this thing will outlive me
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Borkya

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Re: New Laptop
« Reply #31 on: September 12, 2013, 01:51:35 AM »
I was a life long PC'er and went Mac last year, so I feel your pain.

You can do the "windows on mac" thing, but I found it isn't necessary. Just download Open Office. It's an open source free software suite of all the office programs; word, excel, powerpoint and can open and save files as .doc.

My school uses Windows and I use a mac and I have never had any trouble opening the files I created on my mac on the school PC's. As long as u save them

As for learning tips I don't know of a specific website (I'd stay away from the apple community boards, they get so techy so fast!) I just googled things like "tricks with a mac" and stuff like that to understand how to work it. Also, you can go to the itunes store and download apps just like you can for your phone. It's really easy.

Overall I feel like the functionality  is not that different between a PC and a mac for basic use (I might get skewered for saying that).

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old34

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Re: New Laptop
« Reply #32 on: September 12, 2013, 04:42:43 AM »
The biggest thing I had to get used to was the delete key only goes backwards and there is no forward delete. (Well, there is a way, but no key on the keyboard to do that. It's annoying for the first 2 or 3 days.

As Borkya mentioned, the other big issue is whether stuff you had created on your Microsoft machine would be usable on your Mac. Mac has an "office" suite called iWork for Mac. It includes the three big "office" type applications (MS OFfice equivalents in parens): Pages (Word), Keynote (Powerpoint), and Numbers (Excel). Unlike MS Office w can only read and use itself, the Mac applications CAN open documents, spreadsheets, and power points created in Word, Powerpoint and Excel. SOme functionality is lost, but they can be opened and used. Also, the three Mac applications (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers) CAN export stuff you create in them to MS Office formats (Word, PPT, Excel) for use on Windows machines. Moreover, all three Mac applications have a function where, say, you get an email from a colleague in Word format (ubiquitous in China), you can open it in Pages, edit it, and then click a menu item to send the result back to the original emailer in Word format so the luddite can use it in Word. In short, the Mac office apps have full import and export functionality with MS Office. MS Office has neither functionality. Plus the Pages, Keynote and Numbers stuff looks so much nicer and works so much easier just for creating content.

You can even test it out, now, because Apple has just released online versions of all three FOR FREE usable from any machine, even PCs, although the on computer versions work faster and are a little more robust. http://beta.icloud.com

The hugest benefit I've found from switching to Mac is that everything works together and the machine knows where everything is. Documents, photos, video, music, podcasts, etc. It's all accessible within each of the programs. If I'm building a Keynote (Ie PPT), and I want to add a video or music or photo, no need to fire up all those different apps, the Keynote app can read their content and show a popup box with the various content and just pop it in. It keeps track of where everything is rather than you trying to remember whichever dozens of third party apps you added and where they stored stuff.

Plus, Mac semi-automatically updates all apps (free) whenever something changes. No worries on out-of-date or even "pirate" versions creeping onto your machine. And did I mention that you almost never have to worry about various viruses and stuff no matter how many students stick their USB in your machines port to copy a lesson.

There's a lot of stuff not in the basic Mac manual that will amaze you with what you can do with them. I stumbled across an English copy of "Mac OSX - The Hidden Manual" written by Richard Pogue of the NY Times in a Chinese bookstore once, shortly after I got my first Mac. I spent that Spring Festival reading through it and got completely hooked. I also found 2 copies of it in my university's library and a few of my students who had made the move checked those two volumes out and passed them around.

There are lots of websites out there with good advice on using Macs. Since you're new, you'll probably want to scroll back through the older articles, but they'll teach you a lot. Once you get re-oriented, you'll find your workflow is much easier and more organized and efficient, and wonder why it took you so long to switch.

http://mac.tutsplus.com

http://www.imore.com

Also, spend some time in the help menu of the various applications and watch/read some of the Apple Help stuff.

Welcome to the bright side.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2013, 04:50:04 AM by old34 »
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Re: New Laptop
« Reply #33 on: September 12, 2013, 07:59:41 AM »
Thanks, yea, the switch is like reading in a bigger mirror. It's clearer and maybe better, but definitely different. The screen and speakers alone are worth the price of admission. It even has spell check in this box i.e. where I'm typing right know. So speling mistakes are hard to make when posting here.

Something I miss is that after posting, it was easy to scroll back by jumping multiple pages. Now it's one page at a time
For you to insult me, first I must value your opinion

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old34

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Re: New Laptop
« Reply #34 on: September 13, 2013, 11:52:54 PM »
Here's a little tip I came across last month, and just in time as I was traveling to a couple different cities. Macbook AIr has a router built into it so that if your Macbook Air is connected to the Internet via an Ethernet connection, you can quickly and easily set it up as a router and create your own Wifi Network so that devices nearby (all devices with Wifi, not just Apple ones) can connect and share the Macbook Air's Internet connection. Details below, but in short, in two separate hotels in two different cities which had Ethernet-only connections in the room, I quickly set up a private Wifi network so my iPhone and iPad Mini enjoyed Wifi within the room. Better yet, in one city, two of my friends each in adjacent rooms, were able to get their non Apple phones to connect to my Wifi so they could enjoy Wifi access. In fact, in one case, one friend's Windows laptop was having trouble connecting to his room's ETHERNET connection, but was able to connect his laptop through my Macbook Air's Wifi network. In another city, two girls who had travelled with me (for business) and had only brought their cellphones were a little pissed off when the hotel didn't offer Wifi and they had no way to connect their cellphones to the Internet. I showed them what I could do, but didn't want them bothering me whenever they wanted to connect (i.e. they wanted Weixin, Weibo, QQ access almost always), so I added them to the network and the signal was strong enough to reach 2 or 3 rooms down the hall. Another one of the poorly documented benefits of having a Mac. It'll also save you money if you haven't yet bought a router for your apartment, yet want to create a Wifi network to connect your other devices.

Details: http://mac.tutsplus.com/tutorials/networking/how-to-share-a-hotel-rooms-internet-connection-over-wi-fi/
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Re: New Laptop
« Reply #35 on: September 19, 2013, 12:51:37 AM »
Well, now that I have an up to date machine, I need to do something. How can I reformat a 7 year old Lenovo laptop without any Windows CD or even still, with a functioning CD drive. It's good to putter around with, but I want to get rid of all that unwanted ballast I've downloaded.
For you to insult me, first I must value your opinion

Re: New Laptop
« Reply #36 on: October 04, 2013, 03:30:44 AM »
I'm about to get a new laptop and wondering if I should go for a heavier high performance machine, or a more portable machine that is not as powerful. I'm drawn to the "ultrabooks" but as cool as they are, it seems like I'm spending extra money just to be able to carry my computer around and not charge it as much. I have an iPad and an iPhone which already basically allow me to have portable internet access, and I'm not a business person or a student, which are the types of people I could see really needing the ultrabooks.

So is wanting one of these lightweight and cool looking computers basically a vanity thing? I mean, if I ever wanted to start seriously gaming again I'd be screwed with an ultrabook, and yet ... I want! Is there some sort of happy medium perhaps?

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old34

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Re: New Laptop
« Reply #37 on: October 04, 2013, 05:19:45 AM »
You know this one is coming:

But since you already have an iPad and iPhone, just get a Macbook Air. The SSD drive is super-fast. If you're using it in the classroom, zero connection problems with AV systems. If you're using Mac's iWorks suite (Pages, Numbers., Keynote) changes on one sync to the others. Email, contacts, bookmarks, etc. Start reading an article on your other device and finish it off when you get home to your Macbook. And 200 hundred other reasons why the "closed garden" makes life using Apple products easier. Less time futzing with with systems and settings (c.f. anything by Calaph), and more time actually creating content. 

I had the 11 inch Macbook Air originally and it was sweet. I upgraded to the 13" one ONLY because I needed the larger hard drive. If price is an issue (as it usually is in these discussions of MacBooks vs. the world, check out the area of the Mac Store where they sell refurbished units.

 If you've got the other Apple stuff, there's really no reason not to stick with the system, because it all works really well together.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Re: New Laptop
« Reply #38 on: October 19, 2013, 01:40:00 PM »
Err..Old34, could you post a link to the refurbished units thingy? I looked at the site but my Chinese is awful.
"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.

"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.

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old34

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Re: New Laptop
« Reply #39 on: October 19, 2013, 02:05:58 PM »
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Re: New Laptop
« Reply #40 on: October 19, 2013, 02:46:00 PM »
I came close to buying a Macbook Air but I ended up getting an Asus Zenbook Ux51vz. In the end, I really wanted something a bit more powerful than what I could get with a mac in my price-range. http://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/asus-zenbook-ux51vz-review/ .  If I ever decide to start gaming again at least I'll have a machine where that will be possible, even if it isn't a top of the line gaming laptop.

And it is really a sweet little machine. I got it much discounted off of the retail price because I bought a display machine. Usually runs for close to 10k rmb, I picked it up for 7400k rmb.

Re: New Laptop
« Reply #41 on: February 04, 2014, 09:06:32 PM »
Well, my Lenovo is slowly dying. I am looking at these Apple refurbished units but I am on the fence. They do look nice.
"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.

"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.

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old34

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Re: New Laptop
« Reply #42 on: February 04, 2014, 09:42:37 PM »
etr, as I mentioned 4 or 5 posts up, since you already have an iPad and iPhone, that's good enough reason to go with a Macbook Air especially if you are into content creation (lesson plans, presentations, textbooks. This is especially so since, after I wrote that last post, Apple is now giving away its iWork Suite (pages, Numbers, and Keynote) if you buy a new machine (not sure it applies to refurb'd units) AND...it if you get them on one machine (a new Macbook for example), you are also entitled to get the iOS versions on your iPhone and iPad. They've consolidated the whole suite so anything you create or edit on one version, will automatically synch over to the other devices through iCloud. Which means you're always working with the same version.  I can run my lessons, in the classroom off my iPhone, my iPad or my Macbook Air (you'll need to buy the appropriate connectors). I can work on my textbook in my spare time on the macbook or the iPad (I have a BT keyboard for that). I can be reading an article on my Macbook in Safari or in iBook and finish it on my iPad without skipping a beat. I can take a picture on my iPhone and it's already on my Macbook in iPhoto there by the time I get home (as well as on my iPad). Stuff just syncs so it all works together.

P.S. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote can convert your old Word, Excel and Powerpoint files so you can use your previously created files in the iWork suite. You can also create files in Pages, Numbers, and Keynote and save and "share them" (i.e. email or make a copy) with others in Word, Excel, and Powerpoint formats so those using Microsoft Office (i.e. 100% of your students) can read them.

Really, it's a no-brainer if creating content is your number 1 goal in a machine. Now climb down off that fence and get busy.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Re: New Laptop
« Reply #43 on: February 04, 2014, 09:55:09 PM »
Yeeees...ummm...I have a gf who has an iPad and an iPhone, I have a something phone and no pad of any kind.  So the thing is that I do not have all those delightful machines, which then does make me question my decision to buy a Mac. I understand how wonderful the whole sync-all-machines thing is, AFAIK it's one of the main reasons people buy Apple.
I am still browsing.... agagagagag agagagagag
"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.

"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.

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old34

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Re: New Laptop
« Reply #44 on: February 04, 2014, 10:31:20 PM »
Oh, OK. Nevermind.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.