I just got an iBook

[headnugg]

So I just got a G4 and I'm real psyched, what a beautiful machine. I think I made the right choice.

To make sure I start things off right, my first question for all you mac people, particularly laptop users is this:

The instruction manual says to calibrate the battery by charging it fully, then draining it fully, then charging it again. I charged it all night last night and when I turned it on this morning I went to check the battery icon and it was at 99%. Should it say "Full" or "100%" or something if it is fully charged? Also, the light on the wire when you're charging it never turned green. I just want to make sure I don't screw even this simple task up.

Alright, moving on I've never really used a mac before, it's a new world to me. Can anyone give me some tips or advice, or recommend some cool shit to get for it? I dropped a lot of loot on it so I'm not really looking to spend anymore right now.....I'm getting photoshop and MS office from my brother. I'm kinda looking for a program to maybe start recording music....is there anything you can DL for free on the web for that? Or does anyone have a program lthey want to share w/me?
What's some other cool shit to get?

It really seems like this computer is just a lot better built than anything I've ever used and has some really cool features. It's going to take me a while to get used to it though and to learn all the shortcuts and other stuff.

This is my first DVD burner as well. My brother was telling me last night that you can't burn DVD movies because they're all copy protected, but another friend says he burns netflix DVDs all the time, anyone know the deal w/that? Also, should I be buying DVD + or DVD - ?

I'm excited to move into the wide world of macs.......

[macfly]

mmmmm...G4.....



i'm not a Mac owner but someday i want one. as far as music software, definitely check out Ableton Live (www.ableton.com). in a nutshell it's a digital audio workstation focused on loop-based audio sequencing. but then, it's basically whatever you want it to be. there's a free version and if you really wanted to you could probably find the full version at a bittorrent site.



you should probably get Sound Forge as well.

you'll have to look at the documentation that came with your G4 or on the box, or on the DVD drive itself, to see what DVD formats it supports. i imagine it supports both DVD-R and DVD+R. you can burn commecial DVDs, but it can be a complicated process. check out videohelp.com for step by step guides.

[H Nugg]

someone gave me Soundforge a while ago and I haven't even checked it out yet, but I'm assuming it's for a PC......I guess that's the one thing w/Macs since only 4% of computer owners own a Mac.

Maybe I'll pop in the disc and see what happens.....

Is soundforge a program for recording music, or just for editing? This guy gave it to me and said I could use it to turn Track at once CD's into Disc at once CD's.

[Cleantone]

nugg, shoot me an email/pm. definitly already posting statements that probably shouldn't be displayed.

Soundforge is for PC only. You have to sort of know what your doing to get rid of gaps on a track at once disk. I'm sure you figured that out already.

[macfly]

definitly already posting statements that probably shouldn't be displayed.

d'oh, i was only tryin' to help! i better stick to the stuff i know...PCs...

[headnugg]

OK, well disregarding anything inapropriate I said, and when I said I'm looking for some free shit, I'm not necessarily refering to illegal pirated stuff, even stuff on Download.com or other sites like that, I just don't know where to begin at all, I figured some of you tapers w/macs would know where to begin with recording programs or if some sites offer free demos, etc.

[lumpy]

hey headnugg, my girlfriend got an ibook a few months back and it was also my introduction to macs...

The 99% battery thing is fine, that's what hers did too. Her charger turns green though, so I'm not sure whats up with yours.

My favorite helpful program so far is Itunes-Lame

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/13048

it is an interface for iTunes that converts .aiff or cd's into LAME mp3, and I find it much more helpful than any available program for PC.

[magpie]

audacity is a decent, consumer-end multitrack recording program you can download for free (just google it).

the downside to having an ibook (vs a powerbook) is that you don't have audio-ins... so you'll have to get an audio interface via usb or preferably firewire. there's a relatively cheap gadget called an iMic (griffin) that's useful for dumping tapes and vinyl onto the computer, and can be used for basic recording, but it's limited as far as functionality.

also be aware that some higher-end recording programs don't recognize usb input devices, for some reason.

there's several useful mac user forums out there to get help with just about any question you may have. (again, check google)

congrats on your new mac! personally, i wouldn't use anything else...

[headnugg]

thanks magpie, I've been using it for a few days now and it's sweet.....I dl'ed mactheripper and have been having fun with that. Regarding the Imic you were talking about, it looks like it's relatively easy to use and pretty inexpensive. I'm definitely pretty interested in being able to transfer my old tapes and records on to CD. However, I was wondering if you really need an Imic to do that? I have a monster cable that has a headphone jack and audio connects on the other side, would that work? Or do you need the Imic to do something like that?

[magpie]

hey, nugg

i wasn't familiar with "moster cables" so i just looked it up...
from what i can tell, it's good for connecting your 1/8" headphone jack (audio OUT) to your stereo or whatever via splitting the signal to two RCA's, which is cool cause then you can play all your mp3's and whatnot through your stereo speakers. any ole cable splitters will do for that purpose, i got mine at radio shack. BUT that's not going to help you get audio INTO your computer.

that's the thing. ibooks don't have audio IN jacks. nor does my powerbook, actually, cause it's an old first generation titanium, before they started including audio inputs. so i've looked into all this myself...

the only way to get audio INTO an ibook is via USB or firewire. that's where the iMic comes in. like i said, it's nifty for it's price and size, and works just swell for dumping tapes/vinyl, but i haven't been successful using it for multitrack audio, for several reasons. if you want to do good multitrack recording, invest in a good audio interface... there's many to choose from, and prices range considerably. one thing to consider, if that's the route you want to take, is whether you want any mixing capabilities or effects outside of the computer program. you can get interfaces that are just input devices, or ones that are complete mixing boards with onboard effects that also serve as audio interfaces to the computer. think about what exactly you want to do with it, do some research, ask careful questions... let us know what you find out!

[headnugg]

thanks for the headsup, I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to computer stuff......I'm still trying to figure out garageband, it seems supercomplicated to me. As far as I can tell the only way to get play the sounds is on the little piano they give you. But what if you want to play a chord? Or if you want to solo a little bit, it's hard to move around on that little piano with a trackpad.

anyway, I went ahead and ordered Imic from amazon, only $30 w/free shipping. It's worth it just to be able to put tapes and records on to CD, I can't wait to start doing that. I have all these sick jazz records that I'll now be able to make portable, I'm psyched.