Apple stuff - Mac, iPad, iphone

[MrWomble]

MacBook Air With Lion in 2011

I'm about to receive my first ever Mac, a MacBook Air and while I know there are lots of "invaluable Mac app" lists, I know things move on.

Therefore, could people advise on their thoughts for:

anti-virus software
virtualisation software to run Windows in a VM
DVD ripping and watching software

Thanks in advance.

[DuneMentat]

Originally Posted by MrWomble

I'm about to receive my first ever Mac, a MacBook Air and while I know there are lots of "invaluable Mac app" lists, I know things move on.

anti-virus software
virtualisation software to run Windows in a VM
DVD ripping and watching software

Congratulations of making the move - once you go Mac you never go back

Having made the move fairly recently myself here's my take on the software.

For Anti-virus i use Virusbarrier Plus (can be found in the Mac App Store for around 8€)
For visualization I use Parallels Desktop even though VmWare Fusion is just as good - I just got a good offer on Parallells but have used the VmWare trial with just as good results.

For ripping dvd's I own so i can watch them on the move without having the dvd drive with me I use MacTheRipper 4.0 (MTR). For watching DVD's I use the build in DVD Player which can also play the ripped folder or you can convert them into any format you like to save space for which I use DVDRemaster or Turbo 264.HD

DM

[mixture]

anti-virus software

Personally, I've never run anti-virus software on my mac. But then I don't run a WiFi network etc, which may theoretically increase your risk. You have to be a bit of a muppet to get a virus on your mac (even more so if you use it logged in as a standard user), and the "viruses" out there for OS X are not really true viruses like the nasty things you get on Wind-blows.

However, I have heard good things about intego's products, so will happily second the recommendation of the DuneMentat. If you're just an average consumer user, then some AV software won't do any harm (although make sure you set exclusions on your VMWare/Parallels disk files... run AV in the VM, not on the disk image).

For visualization I use Parallels Desktop even though VmWare Fusion is just as good

Personally I've always been of the impression that Parallels is always playing catch-up with its elder brother. VMWare Fusion has always seemed to be more stable and focused on getting the job at hand done than Parallels which just wants to have a long feature list for marketing purposes, most of which you'll never use. The network stack implementation is also much better in VMWare.

If you have not done so already, you should probably max-out your RAM too. RAM is cheap, and you can never have enough of it.

[AppleMacster]

Womble,

Welcome to Macintosh!

Forget antivirus software. You don't need it, and it will only slow down your Mac. I've not used any antivirus in 24 years using Macs and have never had any problems. It's *still* not an issue. Don't waste your time and money.

Parallels is good, and I've always had good customer service from them.

Ripping DVDs makes more sense if you use Handbrake, which means that you don't have to fight with encryption and you get away with using a lot less disk space. If you have a collection of mixed-region DVDs, it won't ask you to reset the region on your DVD drive all the time either. A typical DVD movie will take up around 1.2Gb, whereas ripping the whole DVD will take up around 4Gb. It also has settings for iPods, iPhones etc. You can use VLC to watch them, or use an App like Boxee as a media interface to access things with a bit more style.

[mutt]

I traded up to a Macbook Pro with the Intel 2.7 Ghz i7 core and 4 GB memory about a month ago. I expected this to be super fast in comparison to the 2.0 Ghz machine that it replaced, but the opposite is happening, the new machine is giving me lots of spinning wheels, and in general is just slower.

I'm not in a country with real Apple dealers, so can anyone tell me if there is any known issues with the I7 core?

Also, what is the Apple replacement policy in the USA and/or UK? Will they swap internationally purchased machines?

Rgds

Mutt

[AppleMacster]

Mutt,

As long as the machine wasn't a grey import, the warranty is an international one on the laptops, for a year if no AppleCare purchased, a total of three years if you bought AppleCare.

They will ultimately swap machines within warranty if they can't be fixed, but they will try to fix them first.

Are there any Apple Authorised Service Providers where you are? They are listed here: AASD/AAD list

[mixture]

You can review the terms and conditions of the standard (non-AppleCare) warranty here.

[Background Noise]

Womble,

Do you need to have windows in a VM - ie running at the same time? Lion will come with bootcamp which allows you to selectively boot into Windows on Lion (in either case, you will need a copy of Windows to install).

Lion will include a DVD player. As for ripping, I've used Mac the Ripper but find handbrake better.

[mutt]

Lots of stores selling Macs and offering repairs, but none are AASD. I spilled cleaning fluid on the keyboard of previous MacBook, repair took 7 weeks due no parts. So I have no interest in giving them the new MacBook Pro to repair.

But your comment does sound as if you expect the new MacBook pro to be blistering fast.

Mutt

[WillDAQ]

Originally Posted by MrWomble

anti-virus software

Ignore the "head in the sand" crowd, Sophos for Mac is free.

virtualisation software to run Windows in a VM

VirtualBox

DVD ripping and watching software

Handbrake
VLC

[Rush2112]

I recently replaced the router we had with an Airport Extreme, and jolly pretty it is too, and faster than the old Linksys, so far, so good.

Trouble is the HP C4580 that was running happily and wirelessly refuses to talk to the AE unit and if I want to print anything, I have to reinstall the blessed thing each time. The scanner function won't initialize (sic), and it's all driving me nuts.

I have updated software which claimed to have new printer drivers and I have also been the HP site and downloaded what should be the latest drivers from there but to no avail.

Any thoughts anyone?

I know these things are essentially disposable and a new one will be as cheap as chips but I won't have time this weekend to go and get one.

[mixture]

Check the settings on your HP C4580 match your Wifi settings (e.g. wifi network password and encryption level etc.)

[Rush2112]

Originally Posted by mixture

Check the settings on your HP C4580 match your Wifi settings (e.g. wifi network password and encryption level etc.)

Thanks - but I am not sure I can find that(!)

[mixture]

Manuals - HP Photosmart C4580 All-in-One Printer - HP technical support

(I'll come back and update this with a page number once i've had a quick flick through)

Edit:

The information around page 19/20 (user guide) shows how to print a page showing the current configuration and how to access the network configuration menu on the printer.

[Rush2112]

Cheers for that, I will give it a bash!

[crewmeal]

Bootable disk for Lion

I made the above disk yesterday and reformatted my Macbook Pro and it all worked out very well. After having saved all the necessary files, photos, music and movies, I recon on saving 51,000gb of hard drive space. It runs smoothly and faster too.

The whole process took around 1.5 hours from start to finish.

[mixture]

51,000gb

What do you store on your disk ????

[crewmeal]

Mainly movies and music, but I have a feeling a lot of it was copied in itunes and downloaded elsewhere.

sorry a slip of the 'pen' 5100 gb

[aviate1138]

A Mac Finder question

I am sure there are some real Mac Aces on here so I wonder if there is a solution to my problem?

When clicking on the Finder Icon in the Dock with the "View" set in the "Columns" I get [from left to right]
a column with all my Devices listed and then to the right a column listing all the relevant files [which can be expanded to allow for long file names].

Are you with me so far? Good.

If I then close that particular window if I return later and reopen it the column listing the files has contracted to its original narrow width and the long filenames are once again partially obscured. This can be very annoying.

Any solution as to how I can keep the relevant column widths as desired rather than the unwanted default setting?

Thanks in advance.

I am on Lion 10.7.1 but various friends on Leopard/Snow Leopard have the same problem.

[Foniac]

Wouldn't class myself as a Mac ace... but here you go :P
If you hold option down and then drag the width of the column to your desired setting it'll save it