IT'S SNOWING
Dec. 16th, 2009 01:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ithikaEveryone said that London was a bad place to go if you want to see snow (rhymes!), but today it snowed! So happy. It snowed pretty well, too. The snowflakes started out really tiny, like just frozen raindrops, and as it got going a bit they became clumps of frozen raindrops. It was fantastic fun! :)
Turns out that our flight leaves at 9:15 pm instead of 5:15pm so we have the afternoon to watch the snow through the window (it's changed to rain now I think) and tv.
The weekend - I am going to see how my parents feel about me having a bbq at my place. More details to come, probably? Party party.
Non-holiday related stuff - I'm reasonably sure that I want to get a Macbook Pro at some point in the not-too distant future (before I go back to uni next year definately), but I have some questions and I think people in the Livejournal universe may be able to answer them. :)
Does anyone have one of the latest MBP's and is the touchpad as awesome as it sounds like it should be?
The whole only 2 USB ports thing worries me. I have a hub with my wireless keyboard that has 4 ports, and it's powered, but I've never used it for stuff like my external TB, I guess lag wouldn't be a horrible problem? As long as I have a port on the computer itself for a mouse for CAD and games I guess it's fine, right?
And is there a good info-page I could look at to understand more about what processing speed and RAM contribute to a system? Because with the 15" MBP, you can have a 2.8 or a 3.0 dual core processor, the faster being an additional $420, and you can have 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and the RAM is way expensive to upgrade ($840).
I know more is obviously better, but I assume that the unibody design means that RAM isn't easily upgraded like in other laptops. (Because normally I would get the better processor first and then upgrade RAM if necessary later on.) And I don't have infinite dollars, heh.
Geeez, the apple protection thingy is expensive, but I think it's probably necessary. I know my Dell's insurance paid itself off within a month of my having the computer, and then again later on in it's life so, I guess there's no choice. Ah well.
Has anyone used boot camp or whatever it's called to play games? Like spore, for example. I basically just play WoW on PC at the moment though, so has anyone played that on a Mac?
Oh yeah - how easy is it to share an internet connection between a PC on say, XP, with a Mac without a router? Is it possible to LAN? This is kind of important and I almost forgot about it!
Can anyone suggest a good mac community website where I could learn things/ask questions? All I've managed to find so far are dumb fannish websites with really biased reviews.
Pew-pew lasers.
I hope they feed us on the plane. I am going to be sooo hungry by 9pm tonight.
BA has quite good plane food actually.
Turns out that our flight leaves at 9:15 pm instead of 5:15pm so we have the afternoon to watch the snow through the window (it's changed to rain now I think) and tv.
The weekend - I am going to see how my parents feel about me having a bbq at my place. More details to come, probably? Party party.
Non-holiday related stuff - I'm reasonably sure that I want to get a Macbook Pro at some point in the not-too distant future (before I go back to uni next year definately), but I have some questions and I think people in the Livejournal universe may be able to answer them. :)
Does anyone have one of the latest MBP's and is the touchpad as awesome as it sounds like it should be?
The whole only 2 USB ports thing worries me. I have a hub with my wireless keyboard that has 4 ports, and it's powered, but I've never used it for stuff like my external TB, I guess lag wouldn't be a horrible problem? As long as I have a port on the computer itself for a mouse for CAD and games I guess it's fine, right?
And is there a good info-page I could look at to understand more about what processing speed and RAM contribute to a system? Because with the 15" MBP, you can have a 2.8 or a 3.0 dual core processor, the faster being an additional $420, and you can have 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and the RAM is way expensive to upgrade ($840).
I know more is obviously better, but I assume that the unibody design means that RAM isn't easily upgraded like in other laptops. (Because normally I would get the better processor first and then upgrade RAM if necessary later on.) And I don't have infinite dollars, heh.
Geeez, the apple protection thingy is expensive, but I think it's probably necessary. I know my Dell's insurance paid itself off within a month of my having the computer, and then again later on in it's life so, I guess there's no choice. Ah well.
Has anyone used boot camp or whatever it's called to play games? Like spore, for example. I basically just play WoW on PC at the moment though, so has anyone played that on a Mac?
Oh yeah - how easy is it to share an internet connection between a PC on say, XP, with a Mac without a router? Is it possible to LAN? This is kind of important and I almost forgot about it!
Can anyone suggest a good mac community website where I could learn things/ask questions? All I've managed to find so far are dumb fannish websites with really biased reviews.
Pew-pew lasers.
I hope they feed us on the plane. I am going to be sooo hungry by 9pm tonight.
BA has quite good plane food actually.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-16 02:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-16 02:21 pm (UTC)Well at least he... something something. Hehe.
(It's snowing lots... who knows if our plane will leave on time?)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-16 03:14 pm (UTC)As for laptops - that's awesome, though I'm afraid I know nothing about Macs. I'm FINALLY getting a chance to replace my seven-year-old HP - though that just means I'm getting Dad's Toshiba and he's getting a new one. All of my stuff is hand-me-downs, though since it means I have a laptop, a PDA, and a car, I really shouldn't complain.
Looking forward to seeing you back - I can't wait to hear your stories!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-20 12:18 pm (UTC)Macs are close to divine. Have you seen the new Macbook design? For one thing. The main reason, though, is that most people say that Architecting is faster & more efficient on a mac. So I'm in.
Having stuff is better than having nothign! :) What PDA do you have?
I'm going to upload a whole lot of photos onto facebook/flickr soon. I have already got >200 on FB - you're on FB right? :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-21 07:43 am (UTC)I've seen a few of the Macs - a couple of my friends are heavy Mac users. But I had the feeling you wanted it for your Architecture work. :)
And it definitely is better than nothing! I've got a Palm T|X PDA, apparently.
I am most definitely on FB. ^^ I saw some of your earlier photos - loved the French castle! Also as a new development in places I am, I am soon to be on WoW! Finally caved in, and I have been given it as a Christmas present. :P
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-16 05:03 pm (UTC)Upgrading the RAM in the unibody is still reasonably easy. Just need a Phillips #00 screwdriver (get a kit of them at Dick Smith for $20 - don't get the cheap ones). So buy with the minimum RAM, then upgrade yourself. Likewise the HDD is pretty easy to swap too.
I was using my mac with bootcamp to play games, and it was pretty good. But the built in Microphone doesn't work properly under XP. Liz played WoW on Mac, and it was fine.
You can share an internet connection from a PC to a Mac using Connection Sharing. It's pretty easy to set up, but it's better to get a router. And since you're getting a mac, I suggest either a time machine (so you have backups too) or an Airport Extreme.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-18 04:12 am (UTC)Hopefully I still work at DSE so coming by those screwdrivers won't be too hard. :)
When you said you suggest either a time machine or Airport Extreme, I assume they're compatible with windows too... I thought Time Machine was just a backup device? Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into them, too.
Is Mobile Me just useless fluff?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-18 08:40 pm (UTC)Mobile Me has its place, but I'm happy enough with gmail.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-19 11:14 am (UTC)Thanks :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-20 12:00 pm (UTC)Firstly, don't upgrade the RAM through the custom-build option - way too expensive. There are a lot of retailers out there who can do RAM for MacBook Pros at a fraction of the cost.
Yes, AppleCare is expensive, but you get not only the service support for three years, but also telephone support which is useful if you just want to know how you do something. Plus you've got 12 months to decide if you want it (i.e. you don't have to buy it immediately).
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-20 12:22 pm (UTC)Thanks for the tip, it's good to know that RAM doesn't have to be disgustingly expensive, haha. Can you recommend any?
So the first 12 months is the same kind of service as Apple Care, or I can just buy it at any point in the first 12 months? That's really good to know, because it'll be easier for me to save up the money for the machine without that extra ~$500 - If I can add that on later - do you know if it's always the same price?
How are you doing these days? Haven't heard from you in ages!