Anyone buy a PC laptop lately?

[MombasaFlash]

Horses for corses I suppose.. etc .......

"... Horses for courses even ..."

Gee Whiz Dave. Is all that a Lancashire dialect or do you just ignore the spell checker?

My first computer was a used Mac Powerbook 1400. At the time I was not even aware that there were two camps. "PC" meant Personal Computer to me, so what was a Mac if it wasn't a personal computer? Anyway, I have been thankful ever since that I started off with a Mac because generally you get used to whatever you use and I might have been one of the unfortunates who got used to Windows and then found a Mac foreign.

I was forced to enter the Wonderful Windows World with the CARVEC helicopter flight control programme, and later all the Picloc and MR stuff, and it was at that point that I was introduced to the Device Manager and special Drivers and COM ports etc. Coming from what I had become accustomed to, and what was to me an organised and clean interface, the Windows environment was ugly and complicated with essential tools hidden in secret places. Everything concerning appearance and performance on a Mac is in one place: System Preferences (which, by the way Bart, is where you will cancel the Bouncing Dock icons - not Finder preferences - System Preferences/Dock/Animate Opening Applications). Windows might well offer total customisation but finding the tickboxes to make the changes is a nightmare because everything is so hidden and 95% of Windows users live with annoyances because it is so difficult to change.

One major advantage that Windows always held over Mac is the wealth of applications. However, that now means little because Boot Camp / Parallels / VM Fusion etc. permits access to all that. And it is true. Windows invariably runs more reliably on a Mac !!

Boot Camp is free but it is not convenient because you have to reboot into Windows and then you have lost your Mac. It also prevents you from having a TechTool eDrive (a bootable temporary partition for running TechTool maintenance, instead of external drives or CD's). I use Parallels because it runs Windows on top of the Mac OS, allowing both to be open at the same time and permitting drag-and-drop between the two. Your live internet connection is automatically ported through to the Windows interface and if you have a second screen you can have Windows on one and Mac on the other.

Personally, I do not like the way the Apple is going and I do not like the way that the OS is going but it is streets ahead of Windows and always has been in terms of operational reliability and overall user experience.

 

[Bartman]

new laptop has been here for a couple of weeks and I'm slowly getting used to Windows 8. shot some 60P AVCHD video the other day and the new laptop plays it smoothly from the SD card full screen. that's better than my 27" iMac which struggles with MP4 files displayed on a quarter of the screen.

just uploaded photo software and the usual selection of flight control software/set-up stuff so it's all good and ready to go!

tried a repair on the old laptop too but it didn't work. i think it needs a new screen w/ backlight and inverter. replaced just the inverter tonight and it's still dark.

 

[Bartman]

Aye Up Bart just turn of the bouncing icons in the finder preferences, two click and your done!

when i searched for guidance on how to turn them off i came across a post that said there was a bit pf programming to do! if i can just turn them off i'll be so happy. thanks dave.

 

[gadgetkeith]

hi there bart

did you remove the pannel above the keyboard on the old laptop to find where the screen cable connects as said somtimes they just need to be disconected then reconnected as they can work loose and cause screen to go dark

its a free fix that often works on old latops when you think the screen may have gone

worth a try

keith

 

[DennyR]

My Macpro has started to give up on me after a few years, so I went out today to buy the latest in what used to be the flagship model. You cant get one in Europe for love or money so I guess I'll be throwing out my really great Black Magic Deck Link and I'll have to go with the trend and get a Retina Display Mac Book pro. It just doesn't seem right working from a keyboard.
If I had the time I would build a high end PC just to have the Adobe CS to play with. I expect that FCP and Cineform will do most of what I will be needing in the future.
I wondered into my mates very high end studio earlier expecting to see him playing with his Reds and Blackmagic stuff and all he could talk about was this preproduction GoPro-4 that he was asked to do some testing on.

 

[Bartman]

hi there bart

did you remove the pannel above the keyboard on the old laptop to find where the screen cable connects as said somtimes they just need to be disconected then reconnected as they can work loose and cause screen to go dark

its a free fix that often works on old latops when you think the screen may have gone

worth a try

keith

Keith,

I actually had the whole lower body of the laptop apart when i was trying to find the fuse for the backlight. I was going to put a jumper across it but it wasn't where I thought it was going to be. The cable has been on and off a few times and it hasn't made any difference. What is happening is that when you first turn it on it lights up for a second and then goes dark. With an external monitor it's fine. Maybe the replacement inverter was no good? I'd love to get it working again so it can at least be used on the bench with the motor test stand and eagletree stuff.

I also updated Windows Defender and ran a full anti-virus scan but that didn't seem to help.

Thanks,
Bart

 

[MombasaFlash]

when i searched for guidance on how to turn them off i came across a post that said there was a bit pf programming to do! if i can just turn them off i'll be so happy. thanks dave.

NO!

Tut, tut. It is your forum, it is your thread, read the posts:

...(which, by the way Bart, is where you will cancel the Bouncing Dock icons - not Finder preferences - System Preferences/Dock/Animate Opening Applications)...

 

[Bartman]

NO!

Tut, tut. It is your forum, it is your thread, read the posts:

I missed that post. THanks for the re-run!

bart

 

[Bartman]

There is a setting in Preferences/Dock regarding the bouncing icons but that only covers when applications are opening. What annoys me is when an application opens a dialogue box to alert me to something and I'm aware it's there but I'm trying to ignore it and the icons at the bottom start bouncing to get my attention. It's a goofy feature and makes me bonkers. I don't think there's a way to stop it without doing some hocus-pocus apple programming.

 

[tiggybengal]

we aint all rich or posers (even though my collection of computers include them)
different tools for different jobs etc.

Macs crash just as often as pc's and are just as unreliable but the posers try and tell you different

MONEY no object like PRETTY looking computer get a MAC
aint well of just want to get a job done get a pc (work it out programs for windows millions programs for macs 1000's businesses running macs few millions businesses running pc's mega millions

my collection in use
apple cinema 30" display and 22"hd tv
second silly posers wireless keyboard that refuses to connect reliably (first one i threw out the window for same reason this one will be on its way soon)
toughbook cf-29 for datalink ground station software
toughbook cf-29 for fpv live video from nex5 and switchable to live from sony 700 line had camera
windows Workstation 12gb ram 3xpci express x16 ( 2 sli'ed) win xp and win 7 off 2 ssd drives one 2t drive for data used for rendering fom photoshop and premiere
Mac Pro Workstation 12gb ram 3x ssd drives one 2t data storrage drive with another 3 usb 3 sharkoon hot swap drives
mac pro hates connecting to these usb 3 drives without re booting every time YES they ARE HOT SWAPPABLE!
MacBook Air with parallels and xp/win7 for surfing/researching in bed

Hard wired lan 1000 on cat 6 through entire house including garden
wifi with extenders in various parts of house and garden

so i have some experience

Mac's do the same job as a pc's and crash just as often (my definition of crash is hangs or does not do what you want it to )


they just COST MORE! people with brains buy pc's people with money buy macs
you choose