9 posts tagged “macbook”

Here is my situation. Most all I do and want sync'd to the iPhone is on my Macbook. This includes my personal contacts, music, video, podcasts, photos and bookmarks. What is on my work Windows XP computer is my schedule in Outlook.

I have tried multiple solutions. First, I connected to the work network via Entourage on my Macbook and sync'd the calendar via Entourage. Entourage had issues with any Outlook event that was and all day event. It put part of the event the day before and created duplicates. So that did not work.

Next, I tried the new Outlook to Google Calendar sync to get my schedule in Google Calendar and then subscribe to the calendar in iCal. However I could never get the Outlook to Google Calendar Sync to work. I may be due to the corporate firewall.

So I decided to try syncing just the Calendar on the Windows PC. I plugged in the iPhone, made sure no syncing at all would take place. Put a check mark only under syncing Calendar with Outlook and pressed sync. It gave me a notice that the iPhone was paired with another computer and did I want to merge or overwrite the data. I clicked on overwrite and prayed. It worked. I have my Outlook calendar on the iPhone and no other data was messed with.

I then connected the iPhone with my Macbook. I made sure everything was selected correctly EXCEPT the calendar. I also got the merge or overwrite question regarding the contacts and bookmarks. I believe this is due to the calendar, bookmarks and contacts all being on the same tab in iTunes.

Therefore, whenever I move from the Macbook to the Windows PC, it will ask to merge or overwrite. Not the most elegant solution, but it seems to work so far.

I have recently had a situation regarding my Macbook that caused me to make my first appointment and visit with a Mac Genius at my local Apple store. Long story, short, I dropped my Macbook and the Superdrive started to make a grinding noise whenever it was accessed. The body of the Macbook was also distorted around the slot for the Superdrive.

When I met with the "Genius" and told him the story, he did nothing with my Macbook. He only looked up the cost to replace the drive and said it would be over $800 to fix. Hmmm. $800 is a bit much so declined his offer. My thinking was to just purchase an external DVD drive or take it to a 3rd party authorized dealer to see what they would charge.

After some time, I decided to take my Macbook apart just to see the extent of the damage. After a couple dozen screws - almost all different sizes - I had my Macbook apart and saw that some plastic clips that hold the exterior body of the Macbook to the interior had come off, with one of them jammed sideways in the Superdrive. I took each of these plastic clips and reattached them correctly and rebuilt my Macbook. Even with never taking a notebook apart or looking up how my Macbook was put together, I did all of this in under 15 minutes. And guess what. My Macbook AND Superdrive are as good as new.

Cost? $0. Thanks for NOTHING Mr. GENIUS.

I have not been impressed.  Many of the shows never start to play, or the start, then I get a message stating they are unavailable.  Definitely BETA.  What will happen when the masses sign up???

I have installed it on my Macbook, both in OS X and Vista.  Also installed on my home Vista box.   On each Vista install, I have gotten the following message which makes no sense to me:

I downloaded to my Macbook (running Vista Ultimate via Bootcamp) this weekend the Windows DreamScene.  For those who do not know what this is, it is a Microsoft Vista Ultimate Extra that adds the ability to use motion or video as your desktop background.  I was listening to Windows Weekly from last week in which Paul said that it did not look like it added much overhead to your system.  However, on my Macbook, which has on-board video, it does add a lot of CPU usage.
I am running a Macbook with 2GHz Core2 Duo and 2 Gig of Ram. 
When my system has a normal background and is sitting idle, Core 1 is at 0% and Core 2 fluctuates between 2-4%.
Switch to DreamScene, and when the computer is idle, Core 1 is between 25-30% and Core 2 is between 15-20%.
That is quite a lot of CPU usage for just a background.  Quite the Hog.
My recommendation if you are running Vista on a Macbook, stay away. 
Perhaps tonight I will test on my dedicated Vista desktop.  Keep an eye out for that.

This is an update to a previous post I did back in December.  In that post I talk about building my own Vista PC and I posted the "Windows Experience" scores of my current PC.

As you can see, my lowest score was my Athlon XP processor.  So in order to improve, I would have to get a new processor, thus new motherboard, etc....

I have also since, installed vista on my Macbook.  Here is the "Windows Experience" score for the Macbook.

Onboard Graphics kill my score on this one.  Otherwise, the scores are pretty respectable.

Last night I finished upgrading my home PC and ran the "Windows Experience" to see the difference.

I finally decided to try to install the final release of Vista.  In an earlier post I talked about how I got the RC1 installed with little issue.

I followed the same procedures to fix the wireless, but it did not work.  I had to download the Atheros drivers from Softpedia.  Actually it is a IBM Thinkpad install that you need to pull the drivers from the WINXP_2K folder.

Also, the right-click and scroll issues are back and I have yet to figure out how to fix.   When I try to manually install the Apple drivers, Vista keeps telling me the Best Drivers are already installed.  It won't allow me to change/update them - thanks for nothing.  If I ever figure it out, I will post here.

Being a relatively new user to Mac, and having lived in an Windows world for so long, I thought I would share some of what I think is critical for those switching from Windows to OS X.

First, a little history of my situation:  About 1 year ago (Nov. 2005), I was one of those that decided to take the step of becoming a switcher.  My drug of choice at the time was the Mac Mini.  It was cheap and I had a 43in HD TV with a VGA in that I could use as the monitor.  I purchased the Mac Mini, as well as the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.  Very quickly I learned I needed a new mouse and switched to the Kensington bluetooth mouse.  I MUST have right-click and scroll wheel.  It is what a must for Windows users switching.

My Mac Mini is basically how I view all of my Video Podcasts, as well as, is my always-on server so I can securely tunnel in via Putty and VNC from wherever I am.  Click [Here] to watch a video on how to set this up.

More recently, I have purchased a black Core 2 Duo Macbook which is running XP under Parallels and under Bootcamp.  I have also purchased an iMac for my wife. 

The iMac replaces the "over-the-air" TV in the Kitchen and uses Slingbox to view Directv and Tivo from our bedroom.  Better selection, better picture.  Plus she has her own computer that I do not mess with (her main complaint about the Windows machine at home).

From these 3 new Mac endeavors, I have the following "10 MUST HAVE" freeware/shareware/software for switchers.

1. Parallels and/or Bootcamp.   You will need this for those apps you must have that are Windows only. 
2. Camino and/or Firefox.  I could never get use to Safari.
3. MainMenu or OnyX.  Coming from Windows, I just feel the need to always be cleaning up the system.
4. Remote Desktop so you can Remote into your Windows machine.
5. Cyberduck FTP
6. Adium, since there is not Trillian for Mac.
7. Transmission or xtorrent for your torrents.
8. VLC Media Player - plays most all types of video unlike Quicktime.
9. AppZapper - I must feel like I am uninstalling most everything vs. dragging just the .app to the trash.
10. Flip4Mac - so you can play windows media files in Quicktime.

Of course there are many, many others, but from personal experience, this is where I would start.

Then I would also subscribe/download and listen to The Mac Attack with Steve Stanger, NosillaCast with Allison Sheridan and Mac ReviewCast with Tim Verpoorten for the latest tips, tricks, freeware and shareware for your Mac.

Good switching!

I decided to go with Boot Camp so I would get the full Aero thing.  It looks amazing.  Everything is working but the wireless card.  Not sure if it is because with the new Core 2 Duo Macbooks, they may have updated the card and there are no windows drivers.  If you have a solution, let me know!

Also when I install the Apple drivers from the Boot Camp CD I burned, it gives me an error at the very end of the install.  However, it looks like most all but the wireless card drivers installed.

Hmmmm.

Update: I decided to do it manually.  I ran the Boot Camp CD on my XP machine to extract the folders it creates with the drivers.  I then copied them to my thumbdrive, and then copied back to Vista on my Macbook.  I then one at a time ran each hardware device driver update.  I also was not able to right click on the touchpad.  Eventually both issues were updated and fixed!

I am shopping for a backpack.  I need it for an upcoming trip I plan to take and feel a backpack would be much more travel friendly than my messenger bag. 

My first stop is the web, and there are so many backpacks out there, I am at a loss of how to choose.

• AXIO
• Jansport
• Brenthaven
• Booq
• Spire
• Targus
• Tom Bihn
• Oakley
• MobileEdge
  

and the list goes on and on and on.

I also rewatched Episode 71 of DL.TV and Episode 426 from Call For Help where Amber reviews a backpack that keeps people from stealing you laptop.

Since I would like one that will carry a new Macbook safely, so I went to the Apple store here in town.  They carried one I liked called the Swiss Gear Synergy Backpack.

So I am basically very confused.  How does one know if they are all not in the same room side by side?