Author Topic: Looking for advice, tips, wisdom: Adding my 1st Mac into the [tech] family... (Read 55,103 times)

wraith808 · « **Reply #25 on:** June 11, 2011, 09:37 PM »

Quote from: Stoic Joker on June 11, 2011, 09:25 PM

it should make for an excellent cautionary tail.

Already looking at it as demonic, eh?

40hz · « **Reply #26 on:** June 11, 2011, 10:20 PM »

Quote from: Carol Haynes on June 11, 2011, 09:00 PM

Actually you are probably stuffed if you want to do much with faulty memory or hard disk as Apple laptops are notoriously difficult to take apart and probably require specialist tools.

For a Mac Powerbook, you'll need a T6 and T8 Torx screwdriver plus an (I forget which size) mini-Phillips. Keep track of which holes you take each screw out of too. They're not interchangeable. There's something like 6 different screws used in the Powerbook case assembly if my memory serves. Talk about smart industrial engineering practices. Is it any wonder they cost what they do? $:-\$

40hz · « **Reply #27 on:** June 11, 2011, 10:22 PM »

Quote from: Stoic Joker on June 11, 2011, 09:25 PM

[Desperately scrambling for a "bright side"]

If the entire experience is documented throughly, it should make for an excellent cautionary tail.

. Evil. But still

.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #28 on:** June 12, 2011, 04:09 AM »

Quote from: Stoic Joker on June 11, 2011, 09:25 PM

[Desperately scrambling for a "bright side"]

If the entire experience is documented throughly, it should make for an excellent cautionary tail.

I bash Apple all the time. I've been a long-time Mac hater. I despise having one damn mouse button. The idea of using laptop parts in a "desktop" system drives me up the wall and I use it commonly as fuel in arguments. But at least when you run into someone that is liek "z0MAI GAWD D00d U haZ a MaC tOo???" you're going to get more valuable intel and help from them than the average Dell customer who wants "lots of RAMS" and "MEMORIES for his files" and bought Norton AND McAfee because he gets "all teh spyware" from his Hotmail inbox (and the Apple hipster is like "lOl We DuN gEt ViRuSeS tHaT OnE gOiNg ArOuNd RiGhT nOw DoEsN't CoUnT cAuSe YoU gOtTa PuT YoUr PaSsWoRd In So It DoEsN't CoUnT lOlOlOl" and then proceeds to Apple+Q his copy of McAfee before the Dell dude notices). And I'd totally take the side of Linux users because I dig the idea behind it all, and the execution isn't half bad either, but then you get with people wearing digital watches and thick-rimmed glasses and start talking about how you'd like to "sudo that chick all night long" while you're in your basement/attic/someone else's basement/attic talking over Skype to 5 other people whom are having "WAY more fun in the Terminal than those newbs running Windows 7 with their DirectX and closed-source drivers and fancy transparent window borders"

TL;DR
I hate all the sides, I just hate Windows the least. Not due to the OS, but due to the damn people that use the OS. I guess that holds true to all three though, after typing that out. Heh.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That upper/lowercase "Apple-guy" line pained me so bad typing it. Not just the effort, but it actually killed a part of me.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #29 on:** June 12, 2011, 04:13 AM »

Quote from: 40hz on June 11, 2011, 10:20 PM

Quote from: Carol Haynes on June 11, 2011, 09:00 PM
Actually you are probably stuffed if you want to do much with faulty memory or hard disk as Apple laptops are notoriously difficult to take apart and probably require specialist tools.

For a Mac Powerbook, you'll need a T6 and T8 Torx screwdriver plus an (I forget which size) mini-Phillips. Keep track of which holes you take each screw out of too. They're not interchangeable. There's something like 6 different screws used in the Powerbook case assembly if my memory serves. Talk about smart industrial engineering practices. Is it any wonder they cost what they do? $:-\$

*Googles for images and bookmarks them* Good to know

thanks

40hz · « **Reply #30 on:** June 12, 2011, 04:43 AM »

Quote from: wreckedcarzz on June 12, 2011, 04:13 AM

Quote from: 40hz on June 11, 2011, 10:20 PM
Quote from: Carol Haynes on June 11, 2011, 09:00 PM
Actually you are probably stuffed if you want to do much with faulty memory or hard disk as Apple laptops are notoriously difficult to take apart and probably require specialist tools.

For a Mac Powerbook, you'll need a T6 and T8 Torx screwdriver plus an (I forget which size) mini-Phillips. Keep track of which holes you take each screw out of too. They're not interchangeable. There's something like 6 different screws used in the Powerbook case assembly if my memory serves. Talk about smart industrial engineering practices. Is it any wonder they cost what they do? $:-\$

*Googles for images and bookmarks them* Good to know thanks

You can blow serious money on this stuff buying "pro" tools made by people like Xcelite and Jensen. But the simple truth is any decent quality screwdriver set will work equally well.

I keep one each of these two sets made by Husky. They're available at any HomeDepot store. One is a mini slot/Phillips, the other is the Torx set. They're small, fit comfortably in the hand, and all the bits get stored in the handle so they're completely self-contained. I probably do 95% of all my laptop tinkering with these two combo screwdrivers. (A small roll of Scotch Tape, a paperclip, a wooden or plastic toothpick, a small pair of non-conductive tweezers, and a hemostat takes care of the remaining 5% in case you're interested.)

[attachthumb=#] [attachthumb=#]

They used to run about $8 USD each although somebody told me they just went up significantly in price. I wouldn't willingly pay more than $10 for either. Right now they're $7.00 and $8.49 at my local store.

Sears also has a nice selection of precision screwdrivers available either in sets or as singles. Singles run between $3 and $4 per. Nice because you only have to buy what you need. (IMO only amateurs show up with a tech case brimming with every screwdriver and pair of pliers known to mankind. A real pro packs only what she/he needs to get the job done.)

[attachthumb=#]

There's also a nice 3-piece pen-style combo precision screwdriver made by AmPro that Sears carries for about $22. Comes in three colors and oozes 'Tech-Ninja' vibe with those knurled aluminum handles. This little set has more than you'll ever use. And it should last forever unless you lose one - or it gets stolen. Which happens far more often than we'd like in places (like corporate offices) where you'd normally least expect it.

[attachthumb=#]

The only problem with the AmPro (or any combo tip screwdriver) is the shaft length and diameter. If there is a screw in a deep well in the case, the diameter or length of the shaft may not allow you to reach the screw that's lurking down there. Which is why I prefer screwdrivers like the above Husky 'multis' or the Sears precision singletons which have narrower and longer shafts.

That's my 2¢ anyway.

P.S. If your bits aren't already magnetized - magnetize them. It won't damage anything in the laptop since the magnetic field will be very weak. But it will save you time by allowing you to pull a tiny screw out of a hole without needing to turn the laptop over to do so.

Not having to flip the laptop will also save your sanity by eliminating the need to go searching for that same tiny screw when it bounces off the tabletop and disappears into the rug or gets lost in all the dust and debris found on most office floors.

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #31 on:** June 12, 2011, 05:31 AM »

Whoa, long post. Helpful information, though; I never used magnetized screwdrivers at all because I was once told that it will damage the parts beyond repair and you'd have to go purchase a new whatever-it-was that you touched with it.

I believe I have what I need sitting out in the garage already, but I might go out and buy a kit just for techy stuff. It's really annoying having to scrub down tools before you use them on computers because the last place you used the tool you need was in the messiest environment possible

That, and my dad would stop blaming me for losing his screwdrivers. He just lays them down and then asks for them days later, oblivious to where they may have gone.

40hz · « **Reply #32 on:** June 12, 2011, 05:47 AM »

Quote from: wreckedcarzz on June 12, 2011, 05:31 AM

I believe I have what I need sitting out in the garage already, but I might go out and buy a kit just for techy stuff. It's really annoying having to scrub down tools before you use them on computers because the last place you used the tool you need was in the messiest environment possible

Very true. Don't know how much of this you plan on doing, but it's always nice to have a set of tools for a specific purpose. And you don't need to spend gobs of money assembling a kit as long as you don't get sucked into the marketing hype. Good hand tools tools are still relatively cheap, and they don't wear out servicing computers like they do when you're working on car engines or big appliances. I just keep mine in a zip pouch all ready to go.

Quote

That, and my dad would stop blaming me for losing his screwdrivers. He just lays them down and then asks for them days later, oblivious to where they may have gone.

There is a certain satisfaction to cutting that umbilical cord. I used to have a similar problem with my Dad. It was a major turning point in my life (age 16) when he one day asked me if he could borrow some of my tools with a promise he would take good care of them and return them promptly.

I think that was the first time he started to look at me as another adult rather than just "his kid." (Revenge is sweet!)

Shades · « **Reply #33 on:** June 12, 2011, 06:26 AM »

@40hz:
Rite of passage would describe it better, I think.

40hz · « **Reply #34 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:04 AM »

Quote from: Shades on June 12, 2011, 06:26 AM

@40hz:
Rite of passage would describe it better, I think.

Hmmm...

Quote

turning point
(turning points plural ) A turning point is a time at which an important change takes place which affects the future of a person or thing.

Quote

rite of passage
a ritual event that marks an individual's progress from one status to another

Maybe...but I think I'm going to stick with turning point.

It wasn't so much an acknowledgment of my attainment of any sort of social status or maturity.

It was more a realization that I now had resources of my own and therefor could be expected to grant a favor as well as request one. Which is typical of my family. Real old-school New England. There's not much patience with ritual, so there's nothing like a "coming of age" process or ceremony. "Growing up" or "becoming an adult" (in my family) simply means taking on more responsibilities and being held more strictly accountable for your actions and words. Which makes for a rather austere outlook on life. But I guess that's us...

jgpaiva · « **Reply #35 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:08 AM »

Quote from: wreckedcarzz on June 12, 2011, 04:09 AM

I despise having one damn mouse button.

Actually, they may have given up on that

The recent versions (my imac a macbook are from 2009) all have right-click, even though you have to enable it in the "control panel", since it is disabled by default

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #36 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:22 AM »

They disable right click by default .... WTF !!!

One of my pet hates with Macs is the mouse/mousepad. I particularly hate that you can't tap the mousepad to click - my bottom is more ergonomic than that

40hz · « **Reply #37 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:26 AM »

Quote from: Carol Haynes on June 12, 2011, 10:22 AM

They disable right click by default .... WTF !!!

One of my pet hates with Macs is the mouse/mousepad. I particularly hate that you can't tap the mousepad to click ..

.

Guess they don't want to license the drivers from Synaptic like everybody else does. One more example of N.I.H. $:-\$

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #38 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:30 AM »

NIH???

Sounds like what the knights say in the "Holy Grail"

40hz · « **Reply #39 on:** June 12, 2011, 10:35 AM »

Actually, the Knights "Nih!!!" isn't too far from what it means in this sense.

Quote

Not Invented Here (NIH) is a term used to describe persistent social, corporate or institutional culture that avoids using or buying already existing products, research or knowledge because of their external origins. It is normally used in a pejorative sense, and may be considered an antipattern. The reasons for not wanting to use the work of others are varied but can include fear through lack of understanding, an unwillingness to value the work of others, or forming part of a wider "turf war".[1]

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #40 on:** June 12, 2011, 01:03 PM »

Quote from: 40hz on June 12, 2011, 10:04 AM

Quote from: Shades on June 12, 2011, 06:26 AM
@40hz:
Rite of passage would describe it better, I think.

Hmmm...

Quote
turning point
(turning points plural ) A turning point is a time at which an important change takes place which affects the future of a person or thing.

Quote
rite of passage
a ritual event that marks an individual's progress from one status to another

Maybe...but I think I'm going to stick with turning point.

Having been through the event from both sides (my father to me & me to my son), I must agree with Shades completely. While not necessarily ritualistic as it has no specifically structured steps, it is none the less a key and necessary transition that affords one a prideful look of approval from their patriarch...(inclusive of the rights earned from the accompanying respect)..when they finally "pass" this very crucial (and specific) test of responsibility.

40hz · « **Reply #41 on:** June 12, 2011, 01:35 PM »

^Wouldn't know. Never got that approval.

jgpaiva · « **Reply #42 on:** June 12, 2011, 07:10 PM »

Quote from: Carol Haynes on June 12, 2011, 10:22 AM

They disable right click by default .... WTF !!!

From what I know, the logic behind it is that the right mouse click "hides" options. So, they force the developers to make interfaces where the right mouse click is used as least as possible.

Quote from: Carol Haynes on June 12, 2011, 10:22 AM

One of my pet hates with Macs is the mouse/mousepad. I particularly hate that you can't tap the mousepad to click - my bottom is more ergonomic than that

Actually, that's not true (at least not in the recent macs). The touchpads do pretty much everything that PC laptops do (form "tap to click" to "tap and drag" to drag/select) and wayyyy more (two fingers to scroll, pinch, rotate and if you install BetterTouchTool, you can customize a ton of gestures using several fingers and stuff like that). And all that way more smoothly that I've seen in any PC.
Actually, to be fair, I think it's one of the few things they got right. (that and the charger with magnet connect, the keyboard with light and stupendous touch and the great laptop battery). What I really hate is that you get an entry-level PC for the cost of a high-end PC, (and to make matters worse, if you install windows on a mac you get to play games with better framerates), an OS with way more errors than one would expect from their publicity and, the worst part of all, the worst support community ever: it is totally impossible to find solutions for problems with the OS, and the users are complete idiots with the "mac superiority".

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #43 on:** June 12, 2011, 07:57 PM »

Quote from: jgpaiva on June 12, 2011, 07:10 PM

Actually, that's not true (at least not in the recent macs). The touchpads do pretty much everything that PC laptops do (form "tap to click" to "tap and drag" to drag/select) and wayyyy more (two fingers to scroll, pinch, rotate and if you install BetterTouchTool, you can customize a ton of gestures using several fingers and stuff like that). And all that way more smoothly that I've seen in any PC.

I obviously haven't used a recent enough Mac - I don't feel like I am missing anything ...

Quote from: jgpaiva on June 12, 2011, 07:10 PM

the worst part of all, the worst support community ever: it is totally impossible to find solutions for problems with the OS

That's because it is a perfect OS that never goes wrong - get with the pack ...

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #44 on:** June 13, 2011, 12:37 AM »

Quote from: jgpaiva on June 12, 2011, 07:10 PM

The touchpads do pretty much everything that PC laptops do (form "tap to click" to "tap and drag" to drag/select) and wayyyy more (two fingers to scroll, pinch, rotate and if you install BetterTouchTool, you can customize a ton of gestures using several fingers and stuff like that). And all that way more smoothly that I've seen in any PC.

FWIW, my Asus EeePC 1005HA-P (netbook I bought back in 09 because my then-primary laptop's screen broke off) has all those features, including the "extra ones," built in. And the "clicker" is one button, but does both left and right click.

jgpaiva · « **Reply #45 on:** June 13, 2011, 09:59 AM »

Quote from: wreckedcarzz on June 13, 2011, 12:37 AM

FWIW, my Asus EeePC 1005HA-P (netbook I bought back in 09 because my then-primary laptop's screen broke off) has all those features, including the "extra ones," built in. And the "clicker" is one button, but does both left and right click.

I don't know how it works on your Asus, but my sister has one from 2008 with some of these features and the gestures are terribly inaccurate and keep triggering stuff you are not doing, I even had to disable them. From what I understand, what Apple did with their touchpad was replace it with something like the iphone surface, so it's a much more accurate and truly multi touch surface which actually does what you want it to do. If you ever have the opportunity, you should try it to see the difference.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #46 on:** June 13, 2011, 11:41 AM »

Actually the multi-touch feature in the new Dell touch-pads works quite well. I haven't used it extensively, but I did play with it for about 10min before shutting it off as it was confusing the hell out of the techno-impaired user that owned the machine. Best I could tell it worked perfectly before getting disabled for "safety reasons".

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #47 on:** June 13, 2011, 12:34 PM »

Quote from: jgpaiva on June 13, 2011, 09:59 AM

Quote from: wreckedcarzz on June 13, 2011, 12:37 AM
FWIW, my Asus EeePC 1005HA-P (netbook I bought back in 09 because my then-primary laptop's screen broke off) has all those features, including the "extra ones," built in. And the "clicker" is one button, but does both left and right click.
I don't know how it works on your Asus, but my sister has one from 2008 with some of these features and the gestures are terribly inaccurate and keep triggering stuff you are not doing, I even had to disable them. From what I understand, what Apple did with their touchpad was replace it with something like the iphone surface, so it's a much more accurate and truly multi touch surface which actually does what you want it to do. If you ever have the opportunity, you should try it to see the difference.

Things change a lot in 3 years

JavaJones · « **Reply #48 on:** June 13, 2011, 08:32 PM »

Am I the only one who hates gestures and was happy with the simple "scroll areas" on the sides of touch pads, along with a right and *physical* button? My new ASUS laptop is great in most respects but the touch pad does not impress...

P.S. Sorry for contributing to thread creep.

- Oshyan

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #49 on:** June 13, 2011, 08:54 PM »

The multitouch and gestures work just fine for me. I have the occasional issue where big fingers + small touchpad = super zoom 100000x, but I never really had actual problems with it.