a new mac (as in apple)!
Posted by: lutyens on 16 January 2013
I know a number of you have macs out there. I have just bought one and while many things are very fine some seem very clumsy! I assume that is me.
Any good guides out there I might consider getting? The question with the help button is asking the right question to get a useful answer i have found!
My download speeds are terrible and it is not my broadband, I have checked. Similarly the cd rip speed is pedestrian even at MP3 speed.
Any happy advice gratefully received.
you might want to look at the website from iLounge. very good guides
iLounge is good for iTunes, iphone, iPod... and has detailed guides on various things. If your broadband speed is slow and/or you prefer a book then try a search of Amazon using something like "OSX books" there's plenty there. When I switched over I found "The missing manual" series a good starting point but I only used it for a few months then it was all online from there. I also subscribe to Macformat magazine. a website macforbeginners.com also looks good.
Enjoy and hope this helps
Try the "one on one" at the apple store for $99 a year.
Or if an Apple Shop is not easily available see if there is a Mac User Group nearby and go to a few meetings this will help you to get up to speed
search for Apple User Groups on the Apple UK web site.
It seems that we cannot provide links to useful reference web sites now - are we in Soviet Russia ?
Try the "one on one" at the apple store for $99 a year.
Good call, I forgot that one. If you are trying to do something specific they can help you along in a "One to One" session and you can use it as much as you want for a year. I think you can only buy it when you get new kit from Apple but not sure.
I thought they just worked?
Sorry - couldn't resist 
I thought they just worked?
Sorry - couldn't resist
You're welcome
. They do but you still have to know how to drive them and get things done.
PICNIC?
PICNIC?
Nothing is BigH especially when it comes to tech.
We cannot make any real comments until you tell us what model of Mac you have got, how much memory is installed in it, how are you connecting the Mac to the internet and also telling what the download speed is. What applications you are using etc?
As for books, there are several swtcher-type books available. eg go to Amazon and search on Switching to the Mac and there are some by David Pogue, there is also "Macs for Dummies", plus the range of glossy magazines that are Mac focussed.
thank you all. I will explore. Really I wanted a guide when i was working of an evening when there was no one to ask.
It is a 13" MacBook Pro with 2x4G ram and 750G HD, not the retina display! the broadband is BT Infinity and while i know this fluctuates some things can get very much slower with the mac than with the windows based pc. I am assuming i have not set something or am doing something not as well as I should, hence my question re guidance.
Something is not right here. I am using a late 2008 MacBook Pro with 4GB of memory. I am developing on it, I have 10 tabs open in Safari, Mail is running...
I have an ADSL+ connection currently giving 15.30 Mbps download and 0.76 Mbps upload, Infinity should be much faster than this.
I have no problem with speed of anything. It may be worth trying Speedtest.net and running a Broadband speed check. If it's giving a good speed in line with expectations then go to the Apple shop and let them check out your Mac. If not then get on the case with BT.
If and when you go to the Apple store demonstrate what you think is slow.
Spartacus
what speed to you get when (if!) you rip a cd, 5x, 10x? I would get 20 plus on my old pc laptop. And what download speeds do you expect, in kps etc? I get 50 to 80? I know this varies with the connection but on the other laptop i get 300. So i am confused!
other bits are just me learning short cuts etc really and i wanted a useful desk side tool.
Hi Lutyens, when I rip a CD the speed varies depending on the CD (the music). The CD is usually in good physical condition. CD's are usually ripped using iTunes with error correction on.
I usually get 10x....->20x plus. When I first purchased my MacMini Got 6-10x and the drive was noisy. I took it in to the Apple store and they just swapped the whole thing. No problems since in over 2 years.
Regarding download speeds I can't really say because I have not had cause to investigate because it has been fine. I'll see if I can check and get back to you.
I Just tried a download of a 17.4MB file and it came down at approx 180Kbps. It does depend on the site that you are downloading from. I usually have no problems with this either, It often is a lot faster.
But as I said book an appointment with the Apple Genius bar and ask some questions if you really thing that the Mac is faulty. I always find them helpful no matter what I throw at them.
Hope this helps.
Spartacus, thank you. I will monitor and visit the shop if it doesn't improve
atb
james