Converting to a Mac

bringitdown

Okay, back in System 7 days I was a Mac head ... then as college came around and I needed (free) compilers etc I went Linux/Windows. Then as a gamer - Windows rules the roost, sorry to say.

Now it would seem going Mac might be an idea again....

Anyway most of the time I now use my PC as follows:

Watching DVD's - VLC media player (available on Mac).
BitTorrent - uTorrent (not available, however Mac equivalent).
Converting/Encoding DivX/XviD files to DVD - dvdSanta (no Mac equivalent?)
iTunes + iPod - no brainer.
Internet - Firefox (available on Mac).
Digital Camera - Fuji F610 - (works with Mac I believe).
GIMP (available for Mac)

What Mac would you guys recommend, what other apps might I like to look at and anything else I should consider before I make a final decision.... looking toward a media center type jobbie - a souped up Mac mini might work?

Cheers
Si

ZENER

bringitdown wrote:

Anyway most of the time I now use my PC as follows:

Watching DVD's - VLC media player (available on Mac).

OS X includes a pretty good DVD player.

BitTorrent - uTorrent (not available, however Mac equivalent).

Azureus does the job for me.

Converting/Encoding DivX/XviD files to DVD - dvdSanta (no Mac equivalent?)

Ermmm... !

Digital Camera - Fuji F610 - (works with Mac I believe).

Yeah works fine with iPhoto.

GIMP (available for Mac)

Once you install X11 it should work. Although Photoshop is way better.

What Mac would you guys recommend, what other apps might I like to look at and anything else I should consider before I make a final decision.... looking toward a media center type jobbie - a souped up Mac mini might work?

Depends on what you intend to use as a display. The Mac Mini uses on board Intel graphics - not great for games I believe.

Maybe a 20" iMac would be the better route or maybe the new 24" with a DVB Tuner ?

As for software:

Mac The Ripper
Visual Hub
Fink Commander - Ethereal - lots of Linux apps.
LimeWire
BBEdit
Popcorn
Toast
MP3 Rage
VLC
Rax
PSPWare (If you have a PSP)
Missing Sync for <your PDA> (Palm or Windows Mobile)
Google Earth
KisMac
BootCamp & Windows or Parallel Desktop

ZEN

Urban Weigl

I'd definitely recommend the iMac as well, especially now that the prices have been reduced -- it's very good value.

As far as DVD ripping, my favourite application is Handbreak. You can get it from http://handbrake.m0k.org/. It lets you rip DVD's directly to MPEG4 or the new, high quality h.264 codec (should look even better than divx). And it's very, very easy to use.

My favourite text editor is TextMate. VLC is a good media player, but for playing DVD's, I prefer using Apple's own "DVD Player".

Ham'nd'egger

Defo use iPhoto for the Pix transfer, I got a Fuji back in June and as of then, it won't even support a Tiger Mac, let alone an Intel powered Mac. Besides, iPhoto is miles over Finepix for pic managing.

bringitdown

Cheer guys...

I have a 23" HDTV/Monitor that I would like to reuse ... so was shying away from an iMac - do they have external video out?

Finally I have a Creative 5.1 speaker setup, am assuming that is out too ... it uses 3 analog inputs from my 5.1 sound card ... what 5.1 and up options are available for Mac?

Urban Weigl

That kind of monitor is it? Many HDTV's don't have great quality for computer input, and the iMac does have video out (both digital DVI and analogue VGA). You just need a €19 adapter.

bringitdown

A Philips 23PF5320 ... DVI + S-Video input, max analogue res of 1280x768 pixels or HD at 1080i ...

limey_tank

I'd definitely recommend this. A package manager(!) for OS X.
http://www.maclibre.com/
It's like fink, but for appliations native to the OS X GUI.
It's kind of new and a bit rough around the edges, but it'll set you up nicely for a start.

WUSBDesign

And if you want a more exciting way of viewing your photos, try "Motion Pictures HD" (free with Toast 7) or "Photo to Movie". Either can sequence your still digital photos in a movie-style presentation (with wipes, dissolves, Ken Burns effects, zooms, etc). (iPhoto "attempts" the same, if you're asking) You can later export these into a .mov file and then re-import into iMovie and then add music, titling, etc.

I use this to burn DVDs of my family photos and then post them to relatives to watch - they loved it!

uncle_sam_ie

Toast- for converting/encoding your files to DVD. http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/toast/titanium/overview.html

Mactheripper- Great free app. you can get the latest version off limewire. http://www.mactheripper.org/

Bits on Wheels- BitTorrent client. http://www.bitsonwheels.com/

iSquit- A really easy video converter. http://www.isquint.org/

sofireland

Hi, i'm currently a PC user, but i'm toying with the idea of switching to mac.

I've currently got a dell desktop, so was wondering what you guys would recommend for switchin to...

I was looking at the mac mini... (cheapest cost) any suggestions would be great

uncle_sam_ie

It all depends on what you want to do with it. If it's just web surfing and e-mail go with the mini. But, If you want to use some of the iLife apps like iMove and iDVD then go with a iMac. If it was me though I'd go with an iMac it's a great machine.

sofireland

Cheers, it would prob be just surfing, email, itunes, thats about the limit.

I don't plan on binning my desktop, (that will probably come after my conversion where i spit on windows!) and then buy an imac or Mac Pro!!!

its interesting to note the apps and things, but i kinda just wanna try one out and see... so it seems the Mini is the right option, with the wireless keyboard and mouse.... i can connect it to my lcd tv anyway,

Re the ram on the mini, is upgrading it yourself easy enough, cos i was looking on the apple store, and i'd be confident i could source the memory on the net cheaper and put it in myself... get apple to ship with the minimum

dubmick

I was in the same position as you last year ie. had a dell desktop and wanted to try out a mac. I bought a mac mini in the states in September but I sold a few months back because it simply was not getting the use. Don't get me wrong it is a great piece of kit but I think you have to fully transfer over from a pc to get the full use of it. I never transferred my email over so I spent all my time on the pc and just occasionally used the mac.

If you can get a mac mini in the states go for it. I bought mine for about €515 euro and sold it seven months later for €440, so it wasn't much of a price to pay.

sofireland

dubmick wrote:

If you can get a mac mini in the states go for it. I bought mine for about €515 euro and sold it seven months later for €440, so it wasn't much of a price to pay.

So did you just get a different power cable for it? I'm hopefully going to NYC in March next year... looking at the prices i could get the mini for about six hundred euro, the one that retails on apple's store for 809!

Basically its go the whole hog or don't bother...

I'd be using the mini as a sampler to help me decide if i will go the full way

I saw this little item too and thought it looked useful

Link to Belkin Switch

So i could have the best of both worlds!

uncle_sam_ie

I switched in 2001 to a G4 iMac only because my wife really wanted one. At first the Mac really annoyed me because I couldn't run a lot of the Apps I was familiar with using on my old PC. I only started using the Mac when my PC finally died a few months after. Once I found the alternatives to those apps( which turned out a lot nicer) and really started using the Mac did I see how much better it really was. My advice is to go cold turkey and not use the PC ( unless of coarse you game) at all when you first get the Mini. If you did that for a few months I reckon you would find it very hard going back to a Windows PC ever again.

Also, another good thing about getting the Mini in the US is that you will get a world wide warranty with it. All Apple laptops and Mini's have this.

dubmick

yeah you are right Uncle Sam I'd say if I had of stopped using my pc I would still have the mac mini today.

sofireland, you just need an adaptor for the plug (€5 in a diy store) or you can actually just change the plug yourself.

I used a switch (an iogear kvm, highly recommended) at first but then I upgraded my PC LCD to a 19" and then I had a spare 17" which I used with the mac mini.

sofireland

Like a US - Ireland travel adaptor?

Thanks for all the feedback... thats what i'd be doing, using the mac mostly... to make an informed choice as it were! Then perhaps look at bigger/better things...

I really like that belkin unit though, cos it fits snuggly underneath the mac mini