Apple stuff - Mac, iPad, iphone
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2012 iMac
Was looking forward to getting the latest iMac, now having to forgo the purchase, there's no Optical Drive.
How on earth can software be loaded for the a printer say, or to watch a movie without a DVD drive.
What's happening with Apple after the ios 6 appalling maps debacle.
How on earth can software be loaded for the a printer say, or to watch a movie without a DVD drive.
What's happening with Apple after the ios 6 appalling maps debacle.
Ramasseur des pommes
p1fel,
The assumption is that all people are now online. This isn't always the case, of course. Printer drivers are often more up-to-date download from the manufacturer, than the disk in the box. Movies can be downloaded or streamed. Again, this isn't always the case.
If you need a DVD rewriter, you can pick them up for peanuts. I've got one for one of my MacMinis and it cost £25 from Tesco. Works a treat.
The assumption is that all people are now online. This isn't always the case, of course. Printer drivers are often more up-to-date download from the manufacturer, than the disk in the box. Movies can be downloaded or streamed. Again, this isn't always the case.
If you need a DVD rewriter, you can pick them up for peanuts. I've got one for one of my MacMinis and it cost £25 from Tesco. Works a treat.
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How on earth can software be loaded for the a printer say, or to watch a movie without a DVD drive.
As AppleMacster says, you should not be installing drivers (printers or otherwise) using stuff that comes in the box. Boxes sit on various warehouse shelves along the distribution channel for months on end..... you are always better off downloading the latest driver from the manufacturer website.
And anyway, you'll find OS X has many printer drivers built in, and Apple can also provide automatic download options for many of the printer drivers that are not built in.
If you like watching DVDs on your computer then just buy a cheap external DVD drive. Its no big deal.
To be honest, all my present computers have DVD/CD drives, and I hardly use them. I do my backups to external hard drives connected via Firewire or USB because DVDs don't have enough capacity, and I download the latest drivers and software updates from the internet.
When I want to watch a DVD, I much prefer watching it on a TV attached to a DVD player.... sitting on the sofa is much more comfortable....
The internet (and local LAN and WLAN networks) are rendering traditional technologies such as DVD/CD redundant. And if you can't manage to transfer a file to someone over the internet, LAN or WLAN, there's always the ubiquitous USB stick which are cheap as chips these days.
What's happening with Apple after the ios 6 appalling maps debacle.
Apple were the first company to drop the floppy drive.... many people were making mountains out of molehills back then .... tell me, do you honestly miss your floppy drive now ?
Same goes for ADB, serial ports, SCSI, built-in modems and all the other technologies Apple dropped at various points in time.
Now go buy that iMac you wanted in the first place and grab a DVD drive off Amazon.
Last edited by mixture; 23rd Nov 2012 at 11:01.
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Thank you AppleMacster, I appreciate your more measured and informative reply. Rather disgusted by mixture's response. Clearly not a friendly Apple Mac user. I've never owned an iMac and would like to, but I'll think I'll use another forum to get advice in future. I thought I posted in Jet Blast by accident 
Last edited by p1fel; 23rd Nov 2012 at 19:08.
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You may not like it, but mixture is totally correct about this.
Except for renting DVD videos, the optical drive is well on the way to obselescence.
Installing device drivers from a CD/DVD is pointless. My experience is more with Windows than Macs, but with Vista / Win7 / Win8 virtually all drivers for common hardware are available online through plug n pray and windows update. The device manufacturers often have more advanced drivers available for download, but these will always be newer than those "out of the box"
I haven't used a hardware setup disk in years - except on the odd occasion where the customer doesn't have broadband, or on the really rare occasion when I was reinstalling a piece of geriatric kit.
Virtually all software is available for download, while for backup optical drives aren't big enough (as as we all know, no-one does backups anyway)
Except for renting DVD videos, the optical drive is well on the way to obselescence.
Installing device drivers from a CD/DVD is pointless. My experience is more with Windows than Macs, but with Vista / Win7 / Win8 virtually all drivers for common hardware are available online through plug n pray and windows update. The device manufacturers often have more advanced drivers available for download, but these will always be newer than those "out of the box"
I haven't used a hardware setup disk in years - except on the odd occasion where the customer doesn't have broadband, or on the really rare occasion when I was reinstalling a piece of geriatric kit.
Virtually all software is available for download, while for backup optical drives aren't big enough (as as we all know, no-one does backups anyway)
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Hello MiloMindberbinder, thank you I understand all. I don't doubt he's is correct, but attitude!! when I'm seeking advice?
I've always run a PC with Windows and I'm getting sick to the teeth of problems and security issue's with MS products and it appears like most enlightened computer users, the Apple Mac seems to be a superior product, but at a price in the UK.
My concern is that I also have large CD collecton where I transfer only the tracks I like to my desktop PC and play them with iTunes. Apple Macs are very tidy looking machines and seems that with the new 2012 iMac, I will require an external optical drive to transfer my music and thanks to yours and Apple Macster's reply, I see it may not be an issue. The 2011 iMac does have a neat optical drive to the side of the display though and I was wondering if I should buy the outgoing version over the latest version, that's all.
I've always run a PC with Windows and I'm getting sick to the teeth of problems and security issue's with MS products and it appears like most enlightened computer users, the Apple Mac seems to be a superior product, but at a price in the UK.
My concern is that I also have large CD collecton where I transfer only the tracks I like to my desktop PC and play them with iTunes. Apple Macs are very tidy looking machines and seems that with the new 2012 iMac, I will require an external optical drive to transfer my music and thanks to yours and Apple Macster's reply, I see it may not be an issue. The 2011 iMac does have a neat optical drive to the side of the display though and I was wondering if I should buy the outgoing version over the latest version, that's all.
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I think your question ignores the reality of the fact that Apple and Foxconn have really screwed up on production and distribution and left the sales channels very short of stock. There has been disruption by the staff in some of the factories, while there are unconfirmed reports of production issues with the new machines. Production of the old machines was stopped some time ago to allow the stocks to shift before the new ones arrived
Except the new ones haven't shipped from China yet...................Apples stores are screaming for stock in the runup to Christmas - and they're expecting nowt to arrive
If you really want to buy a Mac before Xmas, it will be a case of whatever you can find, will be it. So prices will be high.......if you can hold on till later, then do so.
Except the new ones haven't shipped from China yet...................Apples stores are screaming for stock in the runup to Christmas - and they're expecting nowt to arrive
If you really want to buy a Mac before Xmas, it will be a case of whatever you can find, will be it. So prices will be high.......if you can hold on till later, then do so.
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Only if you get a very good discount - external optical drives are dirt cheap so shouldn't have any bearing on your decision. The new version has much better performance and you will using this performance all the time, a built in optical drive is used very rarely.
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Clearly not a friendly Apple Mac user.
Ask anyone round these' parts about my stance on Apple and they'll tell you, I'm a bit of an Apple supporter (for all the right reasons, not just a fanboi). My first wholly owned Mac was the SE/30 and I've always used Macs at home ever since (my current work desktop is also a Mac, as is my work laptop). They are great pieces of kit, well worth the investment.
I guess my post above could look a little harsh and too the point, but the fact is I've been heavily involved in the IT industry for many years now, and I can spot the difference between a manufacturer that's "lost it" or spouting bull .... and a manufacturer with a healthy future that is making reliable, high-quality equipment.
I also found it somewhat depressing that you would forgo your purchase of an excellent piece of equipment that is an Apple iMac just because it had no internal DVD drive.
As far as I'm concerned there's nothing "happening with Apple" as you put it. Yes the IOS Maps issue was an embarrassing hiccup ..... but other than that, I remain confident in their future and their decision about DVD drives in iMacs.
Last edited by mixture; 24th Nov 2012 at 06:57.
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Thanks to all and mixture too, all comments appreciated.
I guess like so many Windows users, there comes a time when one sees the light and considers going Apple Mac.
Ever since I first flew with capt pprune in the late 90's he advocated going the Apple Mac route. I baulked due to their high pricing and remained PC since Windows 3.1 until Windows7 (thankfully skipping that dreadful Vista)
My kids bought me an iPad2 and I was very very impressed with it, until I updated to ios6. Ever since the 'Slide To Unlock' has taken up to 8 seconds to become functional when with ios5 it worked almost immediately. Also when I needed the maps most driving in Germany the iPad was a big let down.
So my desire to go iMac was tempered somewhat with niggles and doubts just when I'm about to invest in an iMac. I do use my optical drive admitedly not often, so when I find out the 2012 iMac didn't have an optical drive, I was some what concerned.
Thanks for all in trying to reassure me.
Thanks, regards p1fel
I guess like so many Windows users, there comes a time when one sees the light and considers going Apple Mac.
Ever since I first flew with capt pprune in the late 90's he advocated going the Apple Mac route. I baulked due to their high pricing and remained PC since Windows 3.1 until Windows7 (thankfully skipping that dreadful Vista)
My kids bought me an iPad2 and I was very very impressed with it, until I updated to ios6. Ever since the 'Slide To Unlock' has taken up to 8 seconds to become functional when with ios5 it worked almost immediately. Also when I needed the maps most driving in Germany the iPad was a big let down.
So my desire to go iMac was tempered somewhat with niggles and doubts just when I'm about to invest in an iMac. I do use my optical drive admitedly not often, so when I find out the 2012 iMac didn't have an optical drive, I was some what concerned.
Thanks for all in trying to reassure me.
Thanks, regards p1fel
Last edited by p1fel; 24th Nov 2012 at 10:51.
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p1fel,
Back in those days it used to be a tougher decision because Apple were using the IBM PowerPC processors.
However now they are using Intel processors, it means Windows virtualisation can be done more than adequately using VMWare or Parallels in conjunction with a Windows license.
This means that unless you are doing heavy gaming, graphics rendering or other significant work that would require you to use a hardware PC, you can always have a copy of Windows readily available at hand to maintain computability with applications that don't run on OS X (or the odd Internet Exploder only website).
N.B. I said above access to a hardware PC, but you can also use Apple Bootcamp to the same effect.... a quick reboot turns your mac into the same thing as a hardware PC, absolutely no difference. However for most people, the virtualisation route is a better one as it means you can run both systems at the same time (and drag files back and forth).
Back in those days it used to be a tougher decision because Apple were using the IBM PowerPC processors.
However now they are using Intel processors, it means Windows virtualisation can be done more than adequately using VMWare or Parallels in conjunction with a Windows license.
This means that unless you are doing heavy gaming, graphics rendering or other significant work that would require you to use a hardware PC, you can always have a copy of Windows readily available at hand to maintain computability with applications that don't run on OS X (or the odd Internet Exploder only website).
N.B. I said above access to a hardware PC, but you can also use Apple Bootcamp to the same effect.... a quick reboot turns your mac into the same thing as a hardware PC, absolutely no difference. However for most people, the virtualisation route is a better one as it means you can run both systems at the same time (and drag files back and forth).
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now you just have to find one..........try the Trafford Centre or John Lewis, that the most likely places for you to find one in Manchester
Personally, I've never liked Macs, but after the recent trialling of Win8, given the two I think the MacOS is the least unlikeable. Microsoft are really going to suffer from Win8 - IF Apple can get their distribution channel sorted
Personally, I've never liked Macs, but after the recent trialling of Win8, given the two I think the MacOS is the least unlikeable. Microsoft are really going to suffer from Win8 - IF Apple can get their distribution channel sorted
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One other thing I would say is that RAM is cheap as chips....when buying a new computer (Mac or PC) you should always max out the RAM to the most that's affordable to you.
Although having said that, I see the new iMacs seem to come with 8GB, which is probably adequate for most average users.... however if you're thinking about implementing my virtualisation note above and therefore installing a copy of VMware with Windows, getting more RAM won't hurt as it means you can allocate a realistic chunk of RAM to the Windows virtual machine.
But you can always add RAM easily at a later date, so can always be done later if you see your utilisation could do with more RAM.
Although having said that, I see the new iMacs seem to come with 8GB, which is probably adequate for most average users.... however if you're thinking about implementing my virtualisation note above and therefore installing a copy of VMware with Windows, getting more RAM won't hurt as it means you can allocate a realistic chunk of RAM to the Windows virtual machine.
But you can always add RAM easily at a later date, so can always be done later if you see your utilisation could do with more RAM.
Last edited by mixture; 24th Nov 2012 at 15:20.
I suppose if you have a library full of blu-ray discs then the best thing is to buy an blu-ray external drive for a Mac. But what software would you need to convert to 1080 mp4?
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if yiu just want to play back Blu-ray on a Mac without messing about
note it needs an internet connection during playback
there must be other players that work OK though. How about the Mac version of VLC?
note it needs an internet connection during playback
there must be other players that work OK though. How about the Mac version of VLC?
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Visited Apple at the Trafford centre.... uhm, spoken down and patronised somewhat by an agent. However something that did come out was, all I've backed up on an external hard drive from my Windows PC will not be recognised by an iMac machine. Flowery dismissive work arounds suggested, but over all, another issue of concern moving form PC to Mac.
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uhm, spoken down and patronised somewhat by an agent.
However something that did come out was, all I've backed up on an external hard drive from my Windows PC will not be recognised by an iMac machine.
another issue of concern moving form PC to Mac.
But in the end, its your personal decision... nobody here wants to force you to own a mac. But then Windows 8 has probably brought quite a few changes that will take some getting used to if you've come from a world of Windows XP. So you'll be in a bit of a Catch 22. Personally, I reckon' in the long term you'll buy a mac and look back in ten years time and wonder what all the fuss you were making was about.
Last edited by mixture; 28th Nov 2012 at 08:44.
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Hi mixture, re your last paragraph, I'm begining to feel a little more confident with a prospective plunge into the unknown and I'm sure you are quite correct in what you say.
The agent made a comment, saying ".... blame Windows, but an iMac will not see your Hard Disk Drive" leaving me a little dismayed. He said I would have to get a USB memory stick and transfer files a MAC will recognise, such as .jpg, .doc, .pdf, .mp3 individually. I have video's in mpg4, avi, wmv and I'm hoping that an iMac will play them. I have pdf files in a folder and I'm uncertain if iMac will see the folder.
I've either dragged a file and/or folder from the C Drive to, (what my PC shows as) 'New Volume H:' the USB connected Hard drive. or..
I've clicked on 'Send To' - 'New Volume H:' I haven't used any imaging back up software to back up my C drive onto the H drive, if that makes sense?
As for the work arounds you mentioned in earlier post's, to have Windows work on a Mac, I think that's probably too complicated a task for me.
The agent made a comment, saying ".... blame Windows, but an iMac will not see your Hard Disk Drive" leaving me a little dismayed. He said I would have to get a USB memory stick and transfer files a MAC will recognise, such as .jpg, .doc, .pdf, .mp3 individually. I have video's in mpg4, avi, wmv and I'm hoping that an iMac will play them. I have pdf files in a folder and I'm uncertain if iMac will see the folder.
I've either dragged a file and/or folder from the C Drive to, (what my PC shows as) 'New Volume H:' the USB connected Hard drive. or..
I've clicked on 'Send To' - 'New Volume H:' I haven't used any imaging back up software to back up my C drive onto the H drive, if that makes sense?
As for the work arounds you mentioned in earlier post's, to have Windows work on a Mac, I think that's probably too complicated a task for me.
Last edited by p1fel; 28th Nov 2012 at 17:03.