!!! Getting a new iMac!!! OS X!!! Incoherent glee!!!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Actually, your new machine should arrive with X.1 pre-installed. So no worries there.

And also iTunes, which I am enjoying much more than I thought I would. The Beloved Boyfriend is having a ball burning mix discs of his stuff. And it’s really easy to use.

Another supplemental-to-the-dock app you should investigate is the ever-fabulous Drag Thing. I’m rather enjoying the dock myself, given that I only like to keep a small number of apps that close at hand. And DragThing can give you access to some unspeakable number of applications and files, organized as you please, via a simple, customizable, flexible, pretty-to-look-at GUI. It’s available for any MacOS post-8.6, including X. I don’t think I could live without it.

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I had to poke around the web to find this since my pro video guy is out of the country, but I finally found out your storage requirements for digital video. The info I found said that 4 minutes of DV takes approximately 1Gb of storage (storage varies depending on compression). So it looks like you’re fine for storage for small projects.
Pretty much any camera with a Firewire port is ready to go with iMovie. If you just have a plain old camera with no firewire, you’ll need a NTSC>DV converter box, which will set you back somewhere between $300-500. Probably cheaper to sell the old camera and get a new one with the features you want.

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Amen, yosemitebabe. I for one don’t generally care for Macs very much (I find the external design to be ugly and since I grew up with PCs the switch in terms of features and accessibility issues would not be fun), but I happily share in your glee:D

I, for my part, am just finishing up building a Fun New System, including a 100 Gig HD and 750+MB of RAM. Hehehehe . . .

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You want to stack my Mac preferences, my Masters’ degree in computer science, and my fourteen years’ experience developing military software systems against your ability to buy a generic beige box? Sheesh, just because some of us have the good taste to go for power and style is no reason for you to be jealous… I’m sure you enjoy driving your nice generic white car around town, too.

As for yosemitebabe, don’t sweat iMovie – it’s amazing how easy the program is to use. Just run the tutorial and you’ll be off in no time. I produced my first iMovie on Thanksgiving eve in five hours “under the gun,” and it came out great…

45

I recently got a computer myself, a 1.5Ghz PIV with 384MB of RAM, 64MB GeForce2 400MX 3D card, 20 GB hard drive. Pretty sweet, I can run Max Payne at 1280x1024x32, maximum detail, with no framerate hitches (I can’t turn on the full screen antialiasing at that resolution without it getting choppy, I’m already craving a GeForce3). Got it from Gateway for just over a grand, though I upgraded the RAM myself (scavenged from my old box).

46

Only a day until my new iMac arrives! I can hardly wait!!!

Grandfather Trout - really? My new iMac will arrive with all the latest OS updates already in there? I wasn’t sure. The Apple site just said “OS X - OS 9” and were not specific. I get the impression that this model of iMac is pretty new though. (I believe it came out this month? A lot of the catalogs don’t show it yet.)

I have another question to ask - a newbie Mac user (coming from the PC side, first Mac ever) on my Mac mailing list bought an Indigo 500/CD-RW iMac from a friend who just bought it like a month ago. (The guy was broke, he needed to sell it right away…sad!) Anyway, for some reason, the guy’s co-worker threw out all the disks. So this Mac newbie guy on my list is getting the iMac (all legal, and everything - going to register it with Apple) but without the disks. Some of the people on the mailing list were getting really anal about how this guy could get replacement disks. When someone suggested that maybe he can just find a friend who has a simular iMac, and just borrow (or copy) the disks to use. And other people were saying how this was illegal. But I don’t see why - the guy isn’t bootlegging the CDs, he just wants what he’s legally entitled to, something that came with the iMac. I emailed him privately and told him that I’d make copies of my disks, if it came to that. But it looks like he can get copies through Apple, AppleCare, or something like that. So I doubt I will need to make him copies. My question is - would my iMac’s disks even work on his machine? They are virtually identical models, except for the CD-RW. I’d imagine it’d be easier for Apple to make a disk that would cover all the current models, since they are all so simular in configuration, rather than make an individual set of disks for each model.

Thanks for the information on DragThing! I will put it on my list of stuff to get!

ChasE: Yeah, I have an old non-digital camcorder. It doesn’t sound like it’ll be worth trying to connect to the iMac. I will be on the lookout for a newer model! And thanks for the information. Supposedly my sister’s digital camera can make small, short movies. But I don’t know what format, or anything. I’ll have to look into it.

By the way what kind of video camera should I be looking for, and how much do they run?

iampunha and Badtz Maru - thanks for sharing my joy! I know you will enjoy your systems too! :slight_smile:

rjung: I will not worry about iMovie, then! Thanks! Could I make a makeshit iMovie from just stills (Photoshop pictures) and effects, and goof around with it that way? It’ll be a while before I can get a decent video camera.

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Oh, I forgot to thank Beagledave! I will look into the iMovie book. I love getting books!

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You might want to check out the Apple supported models. Other models “may” work, but I like Canon and Sony models for the best FW compatibility.

I bought a Canon ZR10 a few months ago for about $600…I’m sure the newer models are better and cheaper by now…

You may want to check DealMac for pricing deals and specials.

yes you can make a video out of stills…check out the iMovie book by Pogue for the how-to…or check out this web site

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Thanks Beagledave! I am bookmarking the links. I will have fun making “still” movies, then, until I can get a camcorder!

It will be a while until I can afford a new video camera. I’ll look for used models, or good deals. Next year. But it looks like I’ll want to get QuickTime Pro soon.

Man. This is so cool. I am still preparing this current iMac for sale. It’s weird, to think I will (hopefully) have a new iMac tomorrow! This 266 model has been reliable, and faithful.

50

I’d be very surprised if Apple legal (or anyone else) cared about bootleg copy of the System restoration CDs. It’s not exactly like there’s a big black market for bootleg Macs that can benefit from bootleg CDs, after all. Heck, just last month Apple was encouraging folks to burn copies of the MacOS X 10.1 upgrade CDs just so everyone who wanted one could have 'em.

Most likely. I believe the System Restore CDs simply let you format the hard drive and reinstall all the software that came with the computer when it first rolled out of the factory.

I spent $300 for a Sony Digital Media Converter, and it was easily worth the money IMO. Not only can I connect my old analog camcorder to my iMac, I can also hook up my TV and my VCR and digitize all sorts of stuff. Much cheaper than buying a new digital camcorder ($800-$1000), though I wouldn’t mind doing that someday as well… :slight_smile:

Sure can – in fact, I believe iMovie will import any PICT file, so you can take a whole bunch of pictures, chain 'em into a slide show, slap a soundtrack on it, and have an instant multimedia “album”. iMovie is IMO the best example of Apple software at its best – powerful as heck, flexible as sin, yet easy enough for anybody to use.

51

Well, it’s here. I am typing on my…

NEW IMAC!!!

I swear, I am a total geek. I made sure to be around all this morning (I work evenings) so I wouldn’t miss the Fed Ex Man. I squealed like a kid when he came up with the big iMac box.

Man - it is fast. Beautiful, and fast.

Everything (so far) has worked seamlessly. It’s got OS 9.2 and OS X on it. I guess I’ll have to get the updates for it. Oh well, so far, it’s working fine.

I got my email all set up, and I installed Photoshop. All is well. I can’t get over how fast I can transfer files. I was dragging some files from a backup CD to the HD, and it was just so zippy and snappy! The “old” iMac kind of d-r-a-g-g-e-d a bit when transferring a large amount of files.

Well, this will be a drive-by post. Gotta go to work now! Can hardly wait to return tonight, to play with my new toy! :smiley:

And - 768 megs of RAM! I can’t get over this. At first, I wondered why so much HD was used up. More than I expected. Then I realized that they had set it with Virtual Memory on. So 769 megs were being used for that! Oh my!

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Ooh! I just looked in my iMac box. They included the OS X.1 and OS 9.2.1 update CDs! Cool!

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All you need now is one of these. Apple unveiled it this morning. Grooooooovy.

Congratulations, yb!

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Thanks Grandfather Trout!

The iPod looks nifty, but I didn’t know how much it cost (a real issue for me). Beagledave has even started a pit thread about it - it costs $400! That’s a lot. But it does look nifty. I must go and admire it.

The iMac has ben fabulous. I bit the bullet and updated to OS X.1 and OS 9.2.1. They seemed to update fine. Everything seems to be fine.

So much to do…I don’t want to install tons of software and pile too much stuff on it , too fast. So I installed Photoshop and the OS updates today. I’ll wait a bit to install Dreamweaver, and then Illustrator, and then Painter…and on and on.

OS X looks lovely. I admit I am a bit lost with it. I ordered an OS X book, and I really look forward to consulting it. Sure, I was able to get around OK - get email, get on the Internet. But there’s a lot of unfamiliar stuff on it. But it will be fun to learn!

Any OS X books the rest of you would recommend? And - this is a dumb question, but how do I set wallpaper on OS X? The default wallpaper is pretty, but I want to use my own.

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I remember what my sister said when she upgraded from an old Performa to an early iMac. She said, “it’s like having a whole ROOM full of computers!”

I would work on stabilizing your 9.2.1 environment and then you can shift over to MacOS X and Classic when you’re ready. You have to get all your packages installed that still run in 9.2.1, and you have to do those installs while booted in 9.2.1.

Hey rjung, how well does that Sony digital media converter work? I was thinking of buying one but its a lot of money to spend without hearing an opinion from someone who uses the device. I guess it’s cheaper than buying a new camera.

56

Two stories.
1.) One day, my father’s dodge shadow died on his way to work. He got to work, and on his lunch hour, had my sister drive him to the Saturn dealership and bought a car. Just like that. On his lunch hour. Surprised the bejeezums out of my mom that night.
“Hi. How was your day.”
“OK. The car died.”
“Damn. What are we gonna do?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I bought a Saturn.”

2.) I bought my beloved 446 SE iBrooke right after they came out. I was really proud of myself, because I had been seriously looking at them, and then the new ones came out. More speed, DVD drive, Firewire. Hoohah.

THREE MONTHS LATER the new smaller, lighter iBooks come out with combo DVD-CDR drives. Not to mention OS X. Now, I’d be OK if it was a year between releases. But THREE months? So I am stuck with OS 9.

Be sure to tell us the fun little things that you discover with X, Yosemite!!!

57

Chas: Thanks for the advice. I will be more than happy to gradually install all my software, and do it all in OS 9. I hadn’t really thought about installing it in OS X, but you never know…I might have done it out of ignorance, had you not told me to stick with 9 when installing!

Right now things are running stable. But for some reason Netscape is crapping out (I’m in OS 9) so I guess I’ll have to reinstall that. I like having both browsers, to preview my web pages.

Another thing I’ve noticed is how bright and fresh the monitor is. The old iMac’s monitor is OK - it isn’t really dim and dingy. But it is a 1999 iMac, and has had a lot of use (I bought it from a graphic designer who had it on constantly) and obviously the monitor had dimmed a bit over time. Not a huuuuge difference, but I noticed it. Or maybe it’s just that model of iMac. I don’t know. All I know is that this iMac’s display is especially crisp and bright!

Swimming: Yeah - it looks like your dad really made a definitive decision, in a short amount of time! And I’ll bet the Saturn has done just fine for him!

And it’s weird about Apple and their sudden updates. You certainly still have run OS X if you like though - a 466 G3 should be fine. (How much RAM and HD does your iBook have?) And it is weird how Apple suddenly came out with new iBooks! I liked the colored ones, myself. So I think you lucked out in getting an iBook when they were a little more…colorful. (But the new ones are to die for as well!)

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I suppose you’re hung like a horse, too.

Some people just don’t get it, do they?