Finally pulled the trigger on new MBP

A

Ampsonic

Gawd
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
830
I've been thinking about this for over a year, and I just finally pulled the trigger on a new 15" MBP.

I went with the high res anti glare screen, 2.2ghz, 8GB ram, 6750M, 500gb 7200 RPM.

So excited! My first mac, so any suggestions for software would be greatly appreciated. I'll be setting up boot camp for gaming, but I'd like to make OSX my primary OS.
 
Very nice! I just got mine in yesterday. 2.0 GHz model with high-res glossy screen. Loving it so far, just getting all of my data copied over now.
 
Ampsonic said:
I've been thinking about this for over a year, and I just finally pulled the trigger on a new 15" MBP.

I went with the high res anti glare screen, 2.2ghz, 8GB ram, 6750M, 500gb 7200 RPM.

So excited! My first mac, so any suggestions for software would be greatly appreciated. I'll be setting up boot camp for gaming, but I'd like to make OSX my primary OS.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the new laptop! I love my 2011 MBP. Crazy fast. In terms of programs, here are few of my personal favorites when it comes to enhancing functionality:

1Password
Alfred
AppCleaner
BetterSnapTool
Caffeine
GfxCardStatus
MPlayerX
Growl
 
Cool, you are going to love it.

I got the 2ghz, 15 standard res, swapped in 8gig ram and a 120gb SSD and I couldn't be happier! I came from a mid-201 13" and the i7 is noticeably better :D

WIth the 8gb ram and SSD running Vmware win7 is INSANELY fast too. And unless your editing images or videos it isn't even noticeable on OSX.

Depends what kinds of apps you want ???
I came from Full-Time PC use to Full-Time MAC use a couple months ago so feel free to ask away.

iWork - Good. I had MS Office 2010 for OSX and returned it, hated it.

Adium - A must for any chatter. Trillian SUCKED on OSX everything I loved in Win was gone.

Chrome & FIreFox - Good for different browsers, safari is worst part of OSX.

RoboForm - Good but not as great as Winows integration. Works though, and works good on my iphone, and other PC's syncd.

VMWare Fusion 3 - If you want to run windows in osx.

CODA & Transmit - GOod DEV/Web Tools

DropBox - No Brainer

VLC - DITCH itunes, itunes SUCKS.

GIMP - OK, no photoshop, Switching back to photoshop soon.

EVERNOTE - Gotta love clipping tool.

The Unarchiver - Must have pretty much.

Textual IRC Client - Works Great

Kindle - Obvious

DTERM - Command line tools for selected files in Finder. Meh, OK.

TotalFinder - Sweet additions to finder well worth it. I may have my final friend-price left too as I got the 3pack for friends hit me up via PM if you want me to look into it for you.

MINDNODE - Awesome tool for so many aspects of planning. Have used it for software, websites, article writing and more.

Better Snap Tool & FlexiGlass - I purchased both to use on my 13" but haven't installed either on the 15" so far so good. I use SPACES a ton and Expose a little, these add functionality to "windows", organization and such.

NaviCat for MySQL - Haven't used yet, but obviously mysql desktop app.

HTTP Client - Debug HTTP Responses

I use MS Office 2003 in my Win7 VM for organizing e-mail for my business. Although I do use CHROME + Google Apps web (gmail really) for my daily e-mail stuff. Mail.app and others I tested in OSX could not prove themselves worthwhile to MS Office 2003 on windows WITH Google Sync. Google Sync kicks IMAP in the booooootay.

Any other questions/concerns let me know :)
 
Best laptops you can buy, IMO. I recently got the 2.0 i7 Sandy Bridge, 15.4" hi-res glossy model after my i5 MBP failed (bad PSU). Apple upgraded me to the newer model without hesitation. :D
 
As for Vmware, do I need a seperate win 7 license for my boot camp and the virtual machine? Is there a way to run the boot camp partition AS a virtual machine, or boot directly to it for gaming?
 
Whoo! Looks like you can.

I've got a buddy at vmware that's gonna try to get me a copy of fusion. Nice.

Thanks for the app suggestions! Anything other words of advice for switching?
 
How can VLC replace iTunes on either platform (Mac or PC)? Or do you mean VLC as an alternative music/video player?
 
Ampsonic said:
I've been thinking about this for over a year, and I just finally pulled the trigger on a new 15" MBP.

I went with the high res anti glare screen, 2.2ghz, 8GB ram, 6750M, 500gb 7200 RPM.

So excited! My first mac, so any suggestions for software would be greatly appreciated. I'll be setting up boot camp for gaming, but I'd like to make OSX my primary OS.
Click to expand...

I have the same laptop and love it!
 
Ampsonic said:
I've been thinking about this for over a year, and I just finally pulled the trigger on a new 15" MBP.

I went with the high res anti glare screen, 2.2ghz, 8GB ram, 6750M, 500gb 7200 RPM.

So excited! My first mac, so any suggestions for software would be greatly appreciated. I'll be setting up boot camp for gaming, but I'd like to make OSX my primary OS.
Click to expand...

Awesome bro, me too!

I went with 4GB of ram because I can add another 4 super cheap. Other than that we bought the same setup.

I bought a copy of Parallels so I'm going to try it out tonight, if you want I can report back with my gaming experience. My buddy claims it does awesome. A much better solution that bootcamp if it works well.
 
Jon55 said:
In Windows, okay, I can understand feeling this way. But in OS X? No way. iTunes runs like a dream in OS X.
Click to expand...

I don't know if I'd say it runs like a dream. It's certainly better than the Windows version, but even the OSX version leaves a lot to be desired.

Anyway, to the OP, enjoy your new laptop!
 
Jon55 said:
In Windows, okay, I can understand feeling this way. But in OS X? No way. iTunes runs like a dream in OS X.
Click to expand...

Your library must be TINY.

Everyone I know hates iTunes on OSX and Windows. It's bloated, and sucks.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
How can VLC replace iTunes on either platform (Mac or PC)? Or do you mean VLC as an alternative music/video player?
Click to expand...

As a player...

I have never purchased a mp3 from itunes and have no intention of ever doing so.

iTunes works great for apps. Updating, re-downloading and keeping track. I just hate I have to plug my iPad into the computer to do some updates and downloads that IS lame :rolleyes:
 
ToddW2 said:
Your library must be TINY.

Everyone I know hates iTunes on OSX and Windows. It's bloated, and sucks.
Click to expand...

What's OSX? I know of this OS X thing, but… :D

iTunes runs smoothly for me on OS X. My library is a little over 120GB, not counting apps, books, podcasts, and movies.

ToddW2 said:
As a player…
Click to expand...

VLC isn't even the best media player on OS X, so I'm not sure why you're recommending it for any sort of media playback.

I have never purchased a mp3 from itunes and have no intention of ever doing so.
Click to expand...

And…?

iTunes works great for apps. Updating, re-downloading and keeping track. I just hate I have to plug my iPad into the computer to do some updates and downloads that IS lame :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

iCloud. Next.
 
Ampsonic said:
Whoo! Looks like you can.

I've got a buddy at vmware that's gonna try to get me a copy of fusion. Nice.

Thanks for the app suggestions! Anything other words of advice for switching?
Click to expand...

Sweet, now that is great!

Glad to have learned about this - going to probably do this and delete my VM itself.

I wonder if I can make a VM a Bootcamp partition that-way.
 
ToddW2 said:
Sweet, now that is great!

Glad to have learned about this - going to probably do this and delete my VM itself.

I wonder if I can make a VM a Bootcamp partition that-way.
Click to expand...

Just be mindful of this note:

Note: VMware Fusion does not support partitions created by any program other than Boot Camp Assistant. VMware Fusion only supports partitions created by exactly following the instructions in Apple's Boot Camp Installation Guide.
 
ToddW2 said:
Your library must be TINY.

Everyone I know hates iTunes on OSX and Windows. It's bloated, and sucks.
Click to expand...

If by "tiny" you mean nearly 70GB (or 3,700 songs), I guess. I consider it to be pretty damn huge. And I think when it comes to qualify something sucking, "everyone" has to include more than just yourself.

But please, don't let me stop you from trolling.
 
SirMaster said:
Seems like bad timing to me. New Macbok Airs and MacBook Pros are rumored to be coming out in about a month or so.

New models always have the same prices and better specs for the most part.

Also, have you considered using Parallels 6 for gaming instead of bootcamp?
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2010/09/parallels-desktop-6-the-ars-review.ars/

Depends how much of a gamer you are I guess.
Click to expand...

MacBook Air, yes, and the regular white MacBook are both expected to be updated very soon. But not the MacBook Pros. They were just recently updated, and probably won't be updated again until sometime later this year/early next year. The next update for the MBP's is rumored to be a complete design change, meaning a major update.

As far as gaming goes, virtual machines just suck at it. I mean yes, you can do some stuff, but overall it just doesn't perform anywhere near as good. Boot Camp will run Windows and programs at native speeds (as fast as your machine can physically handle). The primary complaint I see about Boot Camp is that you have to reboot, which to me is just a retarded complaint. Any VM is going to take just as long to boot into, only now you're paying $70 to get sub-par speeds out of your Mac. Rebooting into Windows (via Boot Camp) takes all of 30 seconds. Plus, Boot Camp is free. Sometimes the virtual machine programs don't allow for DirectX, which significantly prohibited you from playing most Windows games. So definitely go with Boot Camp.
 
Ah I misread a headline. It's new Macbook Airs and new Mac Pros. Not Macbook Pros.

For most games I've seen Parallels 6 does an excellent job and only runs 5-10% slower than bootcamp. Might be worth it to some people who want to stay in an OS X environment. Unless you are a hardcore gamer. But then you wouldn't be buying a mac if you were :p
 
Next question: iPhoto or Picasa? (I've been using Picasa for years, but I'm not married to it.)
 
SirMaster said:
For most games I've seen Parallels 6 does an excellent job and only runs 5-10% slower than bootcamp. Might be worth it to some people who want to stay in an OS X environment. Unless you are a hardcore gamer. But then you wouldn't be buying a mac if you were :p
Click to expand...

That may very well be, but it still makes zero sense. Again, the only upside to running Windows in a virtual machine is so you don't have to reboot your Mac to get into Windows. But booting into the virtual machine takes around the same time anyway, only now you're paying $70 to do it and running Windows/programs at much slower speeds (I honestly doubt it's only a 5% to 10% performance hit). Boot Camp is free. So there is absolutely no upside to running Windows 7 in a virtual machine on a Mac with regards to gaming.
 
Oh, by the way, it's HERE. So excited.

I'm impressed how much of my steam library is mac compatible.
 
Right zoom - when you click the + button it will maximize the window
gfxcardstatus - let's you see which graphics card is being used and the ability to enable/disable the discrete gnu.
Perian - divx/all other codecs for QuickTime
 
Jon55 said:
If by "tiny" you mean nearly 70GB (or 3,700 songs), I guess. I consider it to be pretty damn huge. And I think when it comes to qualify something sucking, "everyone" has to include more than just yourself.

But please, don't let me stop you from trolling.
Click to expand...

3700 isn't tiny, but it's a lot less than my nearly 14k which makes itunes cry.

I didn't say the whole world, I said "everyone I know"... I suggest reading what I say more thoroughly next time. All of my MAC buddys don't use itunes to play their music, so therefor it's more than just myself :rolleyes:

For a troll I sure post long helpful replies :p
 
Jon55 said:
That may very well be, but it still makes zero sense. Again, the only upside to running Windows in a virtual machine is so you don't have to reboot your Mac to get into Windows. But booting into the virtual machine takes around the same time anyway, only now you're paying $70 to do it and running Windows/programs at much slower speeds (I honestly doubt it's only a 5% to 10% performance hit). Boot Camp is free. So there is absolutely no upside to running Windows 7 in a virtual machine on a Mac with regards to gaming.
Click to expand...

Windows running in OSX is useful for a bunch of things gaming I've found not to be one of them. The price for being able to run Windows in OSX is worth it to me, I would never buy it to game in though.
 
^ agree with ToddW2 in regards to buying it to run windows game. I like to use parallel desktop to run the Windows emulation.
 
Are there any OSX equivalents to OneNote?
Are mkv's hardware accelerated? (I don't care which player, but I'm hoping the video previews in Finder will also be accelerated)
 
MrCrispy said:
Are there any OSX equivalents to OneNote?
Click to expand...

Check out Evernote.

Are mkv's hardware accelerated? (I don't care which player, but I'm hoping the video previews in Finder will also be accelerated)
Click to expand...

Depends on the player. I don't believe Quicktime X (which is what controls Finder previews and iTunes audio/video playback) accelerates MKV files, but installing the Perian codec set might change that. There's also the strong possibility that Quicktime X has been upgraded for Lion, so it's really impossible to say.

Personally, I use iTunes for music and MPlayerX or MPlayer OSX Extended for video.
 
Downloading Fusion now (got my free copy), any suggestions on configuration?

My plan is to install bootcamp first, then use fusion to boot that.
 
MrCrispy said:
Are there any OSX equivalents to OneNote?
Click to expand...

Evernote is the closest I've seen, but from what I hear it's not really the same unfortunately. Really hoping that Microsoft will bring OneNote to the next version of Office for Mac.

ToddW2 said:
Windows running in OSX is useful for a bunch of things gaming I've found not to be one of them. The price for being able to run Windows in OSX is worth it to me, I would never buy it to game in though.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with that. I can completely understand why someone would want the usability/convenience of having Windows open in OS X. I just mean, in regards to gaming, it's silly.

ToddW2 said:
3700 isn't tiny, but it's a lot less than my nearly 14k which makes itunes cry.

I didn't say the whole world, I said "everyone I know"... I suggest reading what I say more thoroughly next time. All of my MAC buddys don't use itunes to play their music, so therefor it's more than just myself :rolleyes:

For a troll I sure post long helpful replies :p
Click to expand...

Well, then maybe you don't know a lot of people? In any case, how would VLC allow for better management over iTunes, especially with 14K songs?
 
Jon55 said:
Evernote is the closest I've seen, but from what I hear it's not really the same unfortunately. Really hoping that Microsoft will bring OneNote to the next version of Office for Mac.



Nothing wrong with that. I can completely understand why someone would want the usability/convenience of having Windows open in OS X. I just mean, in regards to gaming, it's silly.



Well, then maybe you don't know a lot of people? In any case, how would VLC allow for better management over iTunes, especially with 14K songs?
Click to expand...

I use VLC for lists, and playing music. It does that job very well.
I don't need anything else to play and enjoy music. As long as it plays the songs I want, organize options, and doesn't consume too many resources I`m happy :D

I haven't used OneNote personally, but I`m a big fan of EverNote and screen clipping and sharing. What features make OneNote even better? I`m interested now :D
 
I guess from where I come from that's a pretty small library. I just passed 20,000 songs recently and my collection is 700GB as it's lossless and I know people with larger collections yet into the terabyte range. Winamp and Foobar2000 both work with a library that size quite excellently. iTunes, not so much. It really can't compare.
 
ToddW2 said:
I haven't used OneNote personally, but I`m a big fan of EverNote and screen clipping and sharing. What features make OneNote even better? I`m interested now :D
Click to expand...

OneNote is probably the best implementation there is currently of a true digital spiral note book with pages, tabs and sections much like a physical spiral note book. Evernote while it is a note taking application and very good is really more of a free form word processor in terms of its interface. Evernote's strength I'd say as most see it is it's cross-platform capability though I'd say OneNote has caught up a lot in the last year as there iOS clients and a browser client.

What really separtes OneNote from every other note taking application is it's digital ink features, they simply are remarkable and unique but require a Windows tablet and of course a lot of folks aren't into pens but I'm hooked. OneNote let's me capture, organize and search any type of information, even searching on hand written notes as though they were typed and that works much better than you'd ever believe probably if you've ever seen it.

Been using OneNote for 8 years now and it practically runs my life, I keep just about anything I don't want to forget in it. It's one of the coolest things that Microsoft has ever done and I REALLY hope that Microsoft has good things in store for it with Windows 8 and the next version of Office.
 
I've always omitted OneNote whenever I installed Office. I just thought it was some useless add on. After reading all these raves about it, I'm gonna have to give it a try. :D
 
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