The Mac Experience – part 1
by Mark ~ January 25th, 2008. Filed under: Mac, switch to mac.
Well, OK, this is kind of just a start off post since my Mac is ordered but I don’t have it yet. Hopefully you folks won’t get too tired of my babbling about this. The anticipation is building though for this Mac newbie. The new MacPro’s have an option for a fairly high end Nvidia graphics card, but that option is going to cost you in availability – they aren’t shipping yet. But I have patience since my PC is running for now, I have some orders to work on, and it gives me time to spend reading up on how things are going to change a bit.
Ordering it from the Apple store was pretty straight forward, and I was glad I remembered that NAPP offers discounts with Apple. The amount I saved by ordering with the NAPP discount paid for 4 years worth of membership fees! That’s right, I got about $400 bucks off the total package. The discounts applied to nearly every option available in the configuration. If you are considering buying a Mac, definitely look into joining the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. They publish one of the best Photoshop magazines, and offer discounts on all kinds of other stuff.
Since I also ordered an Apple Cinema Displays at the same time, it shipped the very next day. That was cool, but does me little good without the computer. Just a pretty box to drool over for now. Also ordered separately 4 GB RAM (to give me 6 GB total) and an additional hard drive since Apple charges quite a bit for these installed. Being new to the Mac world, I am looking for recommendations on the best sites for information about them, configuring hardware, forums, etc. I imagine some are better than others. I have been browsing MacRumors mostly. That’s it for now, I’ll try to refrain from posting about it until the machine actually arrives. 
You can follow this adventure in these other posts:
January 25th, 2008 at
While I do not have recommendations concerning websites for your mac, I do have years of experience working with a macs and also the new 23″ LCD monitor. Macs are wonderful, user-friendly, reliable and produce excellent results concerning photography. Enjoy!
January 25th, 2008 at
What is this “configuring hardware” you speak of?
As for websites, I check Macintouch almost daily. It’s a barebones, highly informative site that keeps you up to date on system updates, news, new software, etc.
January 25th, 2008 at
I have been reading your computer issues lately and know myself how much of a love-hate relationship it can be. I’ve got my own blue-screen reaper.
But, its the image here that I’m really interested in. Plant oils? It’s an amazing piece – great color and texture and I like the diagonal placement of the stem. The bit of oil displacement catches a different reflectivity.
Hope the computer situation works out as you hope.
January 26th, 2008 at
Hi Mark,
I really hope that your frustrations with your PC will belong to the past now. I personally do not like the company and the hype they create on the cost of their customers and especially not for their irresponsible attitude towards all environmental issues but that’s my very personal view. As usual there is too much emotion involved instead of common sense and the opinions are very biased and oppositional. I really hope you will have unlimited and un-shadowed joy with your new play tools and I am looking forward to new photographic miracles from you!!
January 26th, 2008 at
Nice image, leaf in swamp oils. What interesting things we find in nature, eh?
I’m a pc user for now, but will watch your mac posts for future reference.
January 26th, 2008 at
For those interested in these plant oils, I wrote a bit previously about them here;
http://grafphoto.com/wordpress/2007/03/23/more-investigating-on-swamp-oils/
January 26th, 2008 at
Looking forward to hearing how your Mac experience goes. NAPP is definitely worth it for discounts alone, and the magazine is great. Don’t forget, it also gets you free shipping from B&H.
January 26th, 2008 at
@Daniel; What is this configuring hardware you speak of? –
Well, I have been reading various things about RAM, the slots they go in, etc, etc It will come with a 320 GB installed, and I ordered a 500, leaving space for much, much more.
@Howard – yep, I use that one a lot as well!
January 26th, 2008 at
Considering I use PC myself, I can’t be of much help regarding Mac issues. However, I’ve just gotta say … congrats on the monitor! I would love to have one of the Apple Cinema Displays at some point. Enjoy it (I know I do when I visit the Apple store)!
January 26th, 2008 at
Another beautiful photo. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the Mac. Sounds like you got a heck of a deal.
January 28th, 2008 at
Thanks for the NAPP tips…
I will be ordering the Mac Pro soon as well and was wondering if you ordered the RAM from Apple or another vendor. I believe that there are special heat sinks that need to be attached to the DIMMS.
I opted for the NEC 2690 instead of the Cinema display.
You may have already seen this since you mentioned the macrumors site:
http://guides.macrumors.com/Buying_RAM
Great photos, great site, GL with the new hardware.
January 28th, 2008 at
Dave, I ordered from OWC (the Netlist certified kind that is supposed to have the heat sinks) per recommendations I have read on Macrumors. RAM from Apple seems extremely expensive.
Lana and Chris, thanks! I actually have a pretty decent 23in Sony that I use for my PC, but figure I am going to need 2 monitors for ea. computer for awhile until the full transition is done.
January 29th, 2008 at
Hey Mark
You’ll love it. You know what they say, “once ya go Mac, you won’t … ”
Cheers
Carl
February 3rd, 2008 at
Mark,
I hope your waiting pains don’t have to last too long! A few tips, you’ll want to use firefox as the browser and check out FirFox Mac website for a version that is optimized for the mac, they make a huge difference in performance (especially if you keep a lot of windows open like I do).
I subscribe to the MaxOSXHints blog, but I only browse the topics (usually 5+ a day
) and find gems once in a while. I haven’t found too many other sites that seemed worth subcribing to.
Honestly, I only have had to do a search for info on something about 4-5 times. Otherwise, everything just works. Always drop a line if you have questions on anything…
February 3rd, 2008 at
Congratulations on getting another computer and I can’t wait to learn more by reading about your experience.
Another great exploratory photo found where few others dare to tread! Awesome shot Mark.
February 5th, 2008 at
Update: Now I am kind of glad for the delay. I am reading numerous problems with Photoshop CS3 and Leopard, to the point of people recommending “Don’t switch yet if you want to use Photoshop.” Seems there are numerous issues with the CS3 suite. Ugh! Seems a few new MacPro users are also experiencing a variety of problems.
Hopefully by the time mine arrives, new updates are out! Fingers crossed. I am really hoping this is a pleasant experience.