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Got a MacBook :)

ca Offline derekmac

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Got a MacBook :)
on: June 26, 2015, 09:54:50 PM
Well I'm finally back to a Mac. :)  I bought my brother inlaws Mid 2009 Macbook Pro 15 to use.  Yeah it's older, but he almost never used it as he bought an Air shortly after this.

It's not insanely fast, but seems to be holding its own so far.  I wanted one so I could work on photo and video editing, and not have to be stuck upstairs on the PC.

It has 4 gb of RAM, but I'll eventually be putting 8 into it.  I'll also be getting an SSD for it, along with one of the bays that removes the CD drive, and replaces it with a HD enclosure.  That way I will get the speed of the SSD, and will have the storage of a regular drive. :)

It's been a while since I've used a Mac, as our iMac is now the kids Netflix machine, and it's running Windows 7 so they can play the games they have, and they are also learning on Windows PCs at school.

So, what apps should I get?  I'm going to get Lightroom for my photos as I LOVE that program, but not sure what to try for video editing.  I'll give iMovie a go, and see what it's like.


00 Offline kosmo

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #1 on: June 26, 2015, 11:53:06 PM
Linux  :D
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ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #2 on: June 27, 2015, 12:10:25 AM
Linux  :D
:twak:     :rofl:

I really like OS X, and I do have our PC dual booted with Windows and Linux. :P


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #3 on: June 27, 2015, 12:23:20 AM
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


au Offline PTRSAK

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #4 on: June 27, 2015, 01:38:27 AM
I have a 13" '09 MacBook Pro, bought it new and am still happy with it.
About to go the SSD option and that along with bumping the RAM up to 8GB will no doubt stretch it another few years.
The Thinkpad I had previous to the MacBook didn't even make it to 4 years before I got the smurfs with it. (But to be fair, it was running Vista).

I have the Mac dual booting  OS X (Yosemite)  and Win 7.  Windoze is there mainly because of a few programs that I need for plugging into devices to tune them where there is no Mac equivalent. Main culprit being the Power Commander tuning software.

I've had a lot of computers and laptops over the years but this little silver beauty has "somthing" over most of them. it's almost like an Alox laptop... :D :D


fi Offline AlephZero

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #5 on: June 27, 2015, 12:42:25 PM
Win7 PC for the win  >:D
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nz Offline Henry

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #6 on: June 29, 2015, 07:42:25 AM
Like you, I am a big fan of lightroom, so that is always the first thing when I get a new computer.

Important ones for me are VLC (quicktime drives me nuts), Stickies, Skype (for work and non apple users), and uTorrent. So much stuff is web based now that I don't run anywhere near as many as I used too.
Surge, Wave, Rebar, Micra, C33x


ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #7 on: June 29, 2015, 04:11:41 PM
VLC, I'll have to get that. Not a big fan of QuickTime either.

Yesterday I setup my external hard drive for Time machine. Now to get some spare cash, and order an SSD and drive enclosure for it.


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bg Offline N_N_R

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #8 on: June 29, 2015, 04:13:42 PM
Is this why you call yourself derekMAC :think: :D


us Offline sawman

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #9 on: June 29, 2015, 04:15:47 PM
Just judging by my iPhone and iPad I'm a huge fan of Apple products. I bet I'd love a macbook :drool:
SAW


ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #10 on: June 29, 2015, 04:38:54 PM

Is this why you call yourself derekMAC :think: :D
Lol. No, but I can say it is. :D


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ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #11 on: June 29, 2015, 05:18:16 PM
Just judging by my iPhone and iPad I'm a huge fan of Apple products. I bet I'd love a macbook :drool:
Everything works SOOOO well together!!  I had to sell my iPad to get this, but I really only used it for surfing, and playing the odd game.  With the MacBook, I can do the same, and much more!

My wife has a MacBook Air, and it's no heavier than an iPad, and just as easy to carry around.

The biggest downside is the price of them.  But, if you can find a good used one, then it's not too bad.


ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #12 on: July 04, 2015, 11:36:14 PM
So I had noticed that after extended use, the MacBook would get pretty hot.  I read that this is common with the older MacBook Pros, and that people would install a program called smcFanControl.  It allows you to set a different min speed for the fans, but it will still speed them up if needed, and you can't set them below factory specs.

Thought I'd throw that out there incase anyone else would be interested in it. :)


us Offline detron

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #13 on: July 04, 2015, 11:47:33 PM
Linux  :D

Seconded.... :P

Def

agreed,  OSX is based on BSD, which is a UNIX/Linux type OS. 
If I can help, let me know 


ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #14 on: July 16, 2015, 01:34:07 PM
Well for Prime Day, I ordered a Crucial MX100 256GB SSD, and a 1TB Segate external drive.  I'll be taking the 1TB out of the case, and using it in the Mac.  I'll then used the 320GB drive in the Mac in the enclosure and hook it up to the Xbox. 

The SSD was on for an awesome price (at least for Canada) $99, and the 1TB was $64.


gb Offline ryan1835

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #15 on: July 16, 2015, 10:03:52 PM
im still using my early 2009 white polycarbonate 13" macbook

ive upgraded the ram but its the 120gb hard drive that i could really do with being bigger.

id love to upgrade to a new pro but they are lil out of price at the mo!
I


ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #16 on: July 16, 2015, 10:47:48 PM
Yep, they are very pricey!! That's why I'm going the SSD route, and will get 8GB of RAM for it.

Watching videos, it looks like the SSD really speeds everything up.


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ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #17 on: July 20, 2015, 11:36:21 PM
Today's project. Install 250 GB SSD, and 1 TB disk where the super drive was.


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ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #18 on: July 20, 2015, 11:37:31 PM
It was cheaper to buy an external 1 TB drive than a stand alone drive, plus I can use the case with the old 320 GB drive and hook it up to the Xbox One.


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ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #19 on: July 20, 2015, 11:38:40 PM
Now waiting for the restore to finish.


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us Offline 82brutus

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #20 on: July 21, 2015, 03:31:56 AM
I had used Macs back in the early days and have seen lots of good reviews about them in recent years.

We recently had a choice to buy a Mac for my daughter or a Win machine that might only partially do the job for her school classes.

Less than six months later and we've had it at the shop twice for a hard drive cable which was a known issue, a OS problem and now another potential OSX problem tonight that we need to take it in for. I want to like it but good grief what a pain.
“We shall neither fail nor falter; we shall not weaken or tire...give us the tools and we will finish the job.” - Winston Churchill


ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #21 on: July 21, 2015, 01:29:23 PM
Sorry to hear about the problems she's been having. :( 

I have to report, my MacBook is quite a bit faster after swapping the SSD into it. :)  Read/Write speeds were between 60-80 with the stock HDD, and are now above 250 each with the SSD!  Now I just need to copy my 300+ gigs of photos/videos from the PC over, and the PC won't really be used anymore.  I will also need to switch our online backups from the PC to my Mac.


it Offline danilo

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #22 on: July 21, 2015, 03:56:09 PM
Linux  :D
[/thread]

LOL you are evil.

(but you are right)

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us Offline raistlin65

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #23 on: July 21, 2015, 04:39:45 PM
I have to report, my MacBook is quite a bit faster after swapping the SSD into it. :)  Read/Write speeds were between 60-80 with the stock HDD, and are now above 250 each with the SSD! 

SSD is a great way to speed up an older machine. :)


gb Offline ryan1835

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #24 on: July 21, 2015, 07:29:03 PM
Now waiting for the restore to finish.


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stupid question,  if i wanted to do this how do you put the operating system on the new drive?
I


ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #25 on: July 21, 2015, 07:43:01 PM
Now waiting for the restore to finish.


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stupid question,  if i wanted to do this how do you put the operating system on the new drive?
There are a couple of different ways you can do it.

The first thing you want to do is to download OS X from the app store, and make a bootable USB drive.  You'll need a min of an 8 GB drive to fit the OS on it.  Some say you can boot from a Time Machine backup, but some also said that it didn't work for them, so I used the bootable USB drive.

I followed the directions in this link to make the bootable USB drive: http://www.macworld.com/article/2367748/how-to-make-a-bootable-os-x-10-10-yosemite-install-drive.html

Here are the required steps:
Connect to your Mac a properly formatted 8GB (or larger) drive, and rename the drive Untitled. (The Terminal command used here assumes the drive is named Untitled.) Also, make sure the Yosemite installer, called Install OS X Yosemite.app, is in its default location in your main Applications folder (/Applications). This means that if you moved it before installing Yosemite, you need to move it back before making your installer disk.

Select the text of this Terminal command and copy it:


Code: [Select]
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction
Launch Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities).

Warning: This step will erase the destination drive or partition, so make sure that it doesn’t contain any valuable data.

Paste the copied command into Terminal and press Return.

Type your admin-level account password when prompted, and then press Return.

The Terminal window displays the progress of the process, in a very Terminal sort of way, by displaying a textual representation of a progress bar: Erasing Disk: 0%... 10 percent...20 percent... and so on. The program then tells you it’s copying the installer files, making the disk bootable, and copying boot files. Wait until you see the text Copy Complete. Done. (see the screenshot above), which could take as long as 20 or 30 minutes, depending on how fast your Mac can copy data to your destination drive.

You now have a bootable Yosemite install drive. If you like, you can rename the drive from its default name of Install OS X Yosemite, though I think it’s kind of a catchy name.



After you make that, if you use Time Machine, make sure to have a current backup of that.  Once you have that, install the new disk.  After you install it, when booting the Mac up, hold down the option key, and then select the USB drive.

When that loads up, use disk utility to format the drive.  Select the drive, then on the partition tab, change it to 1 partition, and format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).  Select the partition you just configured, and then click the Options button. In the sheet that appears, select GUID Partition Table and click OK.

Once that's done, you can either install a fresh copy of the OS, or select restore from Time Machine backup.

I use Time Machine to backup, so that's what I used.


nl Offline bmot

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #26 on: July 28, 2015, 07:42:18 PM
So, I figured I'd follow your good example :) officially my first post from my new fancy macbook :D
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ca Offline derekmac

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #27 on: July 28, 2015, 07:47:23 PM
Awesome Tom!!


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gb Offline ryan1835

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Re: Got a MacBook :)
Reply #28 on: August 02, 2015, 10:34:13 PM
i gave up on the thought of upgrading my 2009 macbook and bought a new pro yesterday oops!

the sad is fast though takes about 3 seconds to boot up to the password screen.

I'm getting a write speed of 586.2 mbps and a read speed of 1162.6 mbps
I


 

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