Mac Life 3

The inside of a Macbook. Nice.
Apple product battery life I have to say suck. My ipod barely last a year before the battery dies on me. Still, I do love Apple product. I want a Macbook Pro!!!!! I so want!!!!!!!!!

I usually lose data due to disk failure. For virus, never had a serious case b4 (coz I'm using dual OS, when one had virus, use the other one to backup data, the format the partition which have virus). Oh, BTW, i use Norton also (but didnt update the virus definition files for 6++ months now). My PC still safe though, by not recklessly open suspicious email attachments or programs, rarely download freebies (like flash games), didnt use Ares, Veoh etc, and be extra careful when accessing external storage (like thumbdrives, portable HDD)

holy crap that looks complicated.
i've never been the unfortunate victim of a virus wiping out content in any of my PC's. However, one 5G 60 gig iPod which i used as a backup drive had its entire memory wiped by a nasty worm which came (RavMon.exe). Got pissed off because it held a lot of my digital art (.psds and jpegs).
Right now I have a 500 gig and 1 TB WD acting as backup drives for all my stuff. I also use all 3 of my iPods as data storage.

This is the first time I have seen a MBP taken apart. Personally, I would never use one in a corporate environment because replacing that drive would be a huge hassle. If one of our thinkpads goes down it takes less then 2 minutes to move the user to a new machine.

My first day working at my last job and our servers got hit by msblast. That was a very fun first day. I never back up my data at home which is funny because I always yell at my coworker to change the backup tapes.

On my Mac I use Time Machine. On my XP laptop I use Acronis TrueImage for backups. On my Linux server, it's for testing and practice so I don't back it up. On my Vista box, well, I've come to loathe it so I use it for tinkering around with databases, programming (before I do the work on the other three OS's), gaming, etc. Deciding if I want to buy an MBP or a Toshiba laptop and slap Linux on it for my next major upgrade/hardware replacement

Macbook White here, first gen. Mine had issues at first, called up Apple they took my information, the next day I had a box to ship it back in. Took about a week to get it back. Been running like a champ ever since. I'll NEVER go back to Windows, hell I don't use any of microsoft's products. Macbook air is first gen and the issue it sounds like it's having was the same I had.

i used to do design work at a company and went thru 4 macs in 3 1/2 years(one of them was a cube, i kno, ancient times). i prefer to work on pc. i don't really like anything apple except for the ipod, never had one die on me (on my 3rd one now, the second is still running, and the first was traded up).

I usually backup my webserver every month ever since the whole thing got wiped out by a hacking incident, although I do backup my work server twice a day. ^^ regarding macs and windows, would love to switch to mac, unfortunately none of the system database and programs at work would run on it. ^^;

Since I'm using a windows machine I don't have much to say except "sucked like a chicken with lips"? LOL... wtf?
My sis uses Mac though, so I am familiar with Mac components. She does alot of backing up. At the moment we have an airport extreme for Wifi, but she's lookin to get the time capsule for easy backup capability. She gets pissed off when I steal her bluetooth keyboard to type on my PS3. Only Mac product I own is the Ipod touch, and you know I love it to death.
Have anti-virus, firewall, spyware checkers etc... I've been lucky, and haven't been terribly zapped by a virus I couldn't recover from. Also, I haven't had a HDD crash yet (knock on wood)

I used to back up my data until my worst nightmare occurred. I was using the IBM Thinkpad and had all my data backed-up on an external HDD. The Thinkpad was about three years old and started to get cranky which was the reason why I spent a great deal of effort and time to back-up all my photos (3 friggin' years' worth of travel photos in both the States/Europe!) and all my music and movies.

Only to find that... on my way back home to Singapore, my mom dropped my Thinkpad at the Airport (it obviously died after that) and when I got home, found that my HDD was corrupted for no particular reason.

T.T

Now I can't be bothered to back-up my data anymore... even though I say that, I do intend to burn important files into CDs but I just haven't gotten down to doing it.

what external hd casing is that?

I've got myself a macbook earlier this year and I quite like it ^^
I still use a windows PC and bascially I've got no preference between Mac and Windows. Like Danny said, you can probably do anything on the mac that you can do with windows.

i want this pc how much cost u.s dollar?

I bought my first mac about a month ago and I love it so far. It's perfectly fine for my "everyday use" machine - email, web, music, etc. I'm still going to keep building my own Windows PCs for gaming though. ^^ I also built a machine to use Debian Linux on as my server. Downloads, file storage, web hosting, typical server stuff. :D

Danny, the "egg shaped" Sony branded item on top of the Mac Mini in the first photo - what is that? It looks like some sort of speaker.

My faithful 12" PowerBook had a drive failure earlier this year. Fortunately I was able to save all my data and upgrade a a new, twice as spacious hard drive. Was not a fun time, though.

Before that, I had sent the same machine in a couple years ago (when my AppleCare warranty thingie was still in effect) to have the track pad replaced. Service was outstanding, like perfectly cooked chicken you could suck off the bone. Yum.

As for backups, since the drive death incident, I've backed up everything but my music onto my iPod once a month. Much of my music is on the iPod anyway, but I also figure since most of it was... *ahem* "easily" acquired, I shouldn't be too sad if it should be as easily lost. In the future I'd like to get a serious external drive and keep more complete backups.

Glad you got your machine fixed successfully, Danny, and thanks for putting in an authoritative word on the whole "but Macs can't XYZ" argument. I've been fighting that off since 8th grade.

I have been using windows since 2000. I just bought my first mac last month. I have used my windows desktop less and less these days. I still have my windows desktop for torrents and dvd recoding.

I have been backing up my data on an external seagate 750gb drive. I also back my macbook on another 250gb external drive. Im paranoid of backing my data, since I had my drive die on me last year and loosing almost have of the data on the drive.

my first couple personal computers were actually macs. I think I had 1-2 macs before it got too expensive to own ^^; I did have my macs die on me before and replacing it was so costly for a student =_= I use macs at my last office job. Then my last macintosh died and I used a laptop PC as a desktop for the longest time until I got a 2nd hand PC CPU I dare say macs are pretty idiot proof tho, was scared to use windows PC for the longest time until I met some PC users thru work lol up to know I still don't dare to install a PC OS ^^;

Oh, Danny was wondering doesn't opening up your macbook pro voids the warranty?

I know the macbook have manuals from apple on how to replace the hard drive and the memory.

Penryn Macbook Pro user here, took some time to get used to Mac OS X but after you get used to it, it feels comfortable.

I'll also be upgrading the internal HD when the 500GB 7200RPMS are out.

Macs also come with web server Apache and scripting language PHP installed as default.
Oh I didn't know that, could be useful. ^^ (+1 pt for Mac)

My motherboard died on my MBP too, I had no video on the screen, but it still booted up in OSX fine. Apple replaced the motherboard, and my DVD drive too, all for free. 1200$ for parts, replaced for free = happy me.
I'll probably end up getting Apple Care, just incase something happens again in the future.
Time machine is also a lifesaver, makes backing up really easy, and saves a lot of time.
Lastly, I never actually saw good photos of replacing the HDD inside, so I'm pretty happy you showed them, was kinda skiddish about replacing mine, but I'll probably give it a go sometime soon with s 7200rpm drive.

Oh and btw, that type of cable you were wondering about is called a ribbon cable.

i had an iBook that crapped on me (the screen started acting funny). now my MBP is acting funny, too...the battery dies even though it's not all the way drained. i should probably send it in and get the screen fixed, too (i have some dead pixels from my trip to japan).

Danny, always get the Apple Care protection, especially if you are buying a Mac Book. Best insurance you can buy.
As for backing up data, I should do it more often. Lost a 250GB Lacie Porsche last year. Had about 30-40GB of bootleg music that I can’t get anymore.

Still hoping to get a mac in the near future...hope my ipod touch lasts...>.<

Danny,i am glad you finally fixed it ,you have great skill

Very informative post, Danny! I'm too scared to open my own pc, for fear of breaking it.
I used to back up but, it just got troublesome after a while >.<
My pc is most lovable, it's only had one virus wipeout and one USB freeze.. beyond that, I have next-to-no problems with my pc. I run windows XP, have yet to mess with a Mac.

I always prefer windows systems for the game support.
True Macs don't need much anti-virus, but virus for Macs does exist...just not used.
Weird, I thought only windows have the major hardware issues...
I have like 3 sources of back up, one external hard drive for my anime and other critical or hard-to-get software, one online storage site for easy access to time critical files, and one USB stick for documents and contacts.

Only time I had major issues with a computer is when viruses attacked my first computer 4 times (killing it every single time) and then my laptop (which had neat files on it). Those 5 times really annoyed me and virus makers who waste their time making the viruses, had a few things deleted that I wanted to keep.

My Toshiba Laptop (that i had for a few years) still holds up well and has AVG on it. I'm not taking those chances again. As for my PC I have AVG 8 on it since I found Norton to be crap. Computers can be a blessing and a curse.

I can only "see" what people like about a Mac, they do look pretty. Is the function really there? I just can't wrap my mind around a one button mouse?

I attended the opening of the new Apple Store in Sydney yesterday. Its the 2nd biggest Apple store in the world (London the biggest) and its the biggest Apple store in the southern hemisphere. Considering the line was long and I got there a few hours after the official opening time, I still managed to get one of their special Apple t-shirts. There had 2,500 as originally announced for the first 2,500 customers but I'm sure they had more.
Immense all the hype, I was tempted to leave there with an iTouch and/or a Macbook after learning a bit about the hardware and its functionality but considering the expenses I had due, I had to hold back. T_T
Still, I'm interested in learning about new technology and considering I need a laptop soon, I might as well get a Mac to fulfill that.

I do sort of backup. I currently have a Windows 2k3 fileserver, and it has a 700GB RAID5 array in it (4x 250GB HDDs), and so if one goes I can replace it with no data loss. I do also have an external 320GB HD that I will regularly back things upto. My Debian mailserver has a cron job set to backup all the email off to the fileserver every Sunday night as well. I do also have a DDS3 tape drive, and a DLT drive but I dont really use them (yes, i should).

In my main workstation (Kubuntu 8.04) I have a couple of large drives, but they are temporary download locations before going to the fileserver, or they are for my virtual machines/extra space for ripping/encoding DVDs.

I'am planning on getting 3x 1TB drives to replace several of the single drives in my fileserver and create another RAID5 array, just waiting for the cost to come down a bit.

Hate to be the open source biget but what about Linux.

I use it for my web development environment. And Uinux for the web server.

May I also remind you that your belovid Mac OS X is based on Uinux (Thoe its not open source).

No backups on my pc, but I stuff the important files on my external HDD and some thumbdrives.

Me thinking of changing to mac when I enter polytechnic here ^^

When I got my MacBook, the keyboard/trackpad were not functioning. A bit disappointing but it was replaced.
I like that mini FW800 drive enclosure! I like FW in general. Easy to directly boot MacBook HD on my iMac. I backup my laptop over Gbit ethernet though. (disabled Time Machine feature)

I also name my hard drives (my friends do it too). I named one drive Miyuki, one Anime (should rename it, maybe to Soldat (soldier)) and named my main C drive Rodina (Russian for Homeland).

Mac products are overpriced and pointless to me. I think I would like a power book laptop for video editing, but when it comes to serious computing I like to mess around with Linux and PCs. I can build it the way I want it with the budget I have and run just about anything.
I don't really need to back up my data either, not unless someone opens up my case and takes an electromagnet to my hard drives.

I don't backup, I partition xD;; I've been meaning to backup but I always find something else to keep the computer occupied with so I never get around to backing up my c drive.
I've got one external HD, but I generally only store big files on there such as anime or scanlations and other things I share with my brother as I don't know how to share files over wireless (maybe have to change settings in firewall?). We also have about 3 HDs lying around, need to get an external case to test them.
I use Avast! Anti-virus and Comodo firewall, both free editions.

I backup regularly from TM, although the last time I needed a special file TM didn't actually catch it. I set the backup to once a day only and only when the drives are connected. Because I am afraid that the drives may die from over use, I decided to not connect them all the time.

I've had my Mac for abit of a year now and have loved it. It was probably the best $3000AUD I have ever spent.

I think they should make Applecare a lot cheaper. Applecare for my Macbook Pro costs €439!! On Ebay it's a lot cheaper, around €180. :<

Yeah, I backup video, pictures, and school data.

"I had just started computing at the time and thought that viruses where just something invented by virus software companies in order to sell software - which is why I didn't install any anti-virus apps."

GAH.

I could go on and on about the customer service in Gateway- but I will sum it up in less than a paragraph. Their customer service sucks. They absoloutely refused a refund. Techs were idiots. Supervisor tech replaced motherboard and all works well. Wasted 10 weeks of my time. Will not buy gateway again, but MAC.

I'm a mac user,now with Leopard I use the time machine....is fantastic....and you are sure to lose nothing.......yesterday i've bought the new iMac 3,06Ghz and with time machine in few minutes my new Mac, was the newest version of my ''old'' mac....everything was at the right place....you only need an ezternal hard disk....

Well, i do want to own a mac and want it more since mac engine can run windows.
Why windows?
Simple, i still need it since every game on PC mostly for windows and all of my work need to be done in Windows.

The reason to have mac, it is one of good OS although not popular as Windows.
Also, i like the simplicity from mac.

Interesting read, even for a Windows user like me. I'm wavering on the brink of conversion but might wanna test the environment first.
About viruses, haven't seen one in years (*fingers crossed*); only get buried to my neck in spam mail. I only use Clamwin antivirus but it doesn't run unless I tell it too.
And yes, I backup everyting; especially all my anime and software. I tried to have 2 copies + 1 orignal for everything; but then I start to loose track of where I put it all, plus that many HDDs cost a bundle.

Compared to a regular Macbook, it's silly the crap Macbook Pro owners have to go through if they want to simply swap out the HD. I hope a future version fixes this issue.

If you want to experience some real pain, try servicing a 12" PowerBook! You need a chart just to keep track of all the screws you'll be removing.

i love my macs too ^^. haven't had any problems with apple's service. tried to change the hd of my powerbook 12" once after it died outside the 1 year warranty period... didn't want to pay the extra costs, so i ended up replacing the hd on my own. cost = cost of hd. i'm probably going to get applecare for my mba when it gets close to its first birthday. i replace my computers every 2.5-3 years. i guess that's about the lifecycle of a computer these days. applecare lasts 3 years... just about right i think. the only problem i've had with my macs was just the harddisk failure with my powerbook 12". and it wasn't a catastrophic failure... there were signs ^^. i guess i'm pretty lucky not to have experienced serious hardware issues (fingers crossed).

I had a virus once, it was called jeefo. Attacks all the exe's nasty little bastard, made me cry

I had a virus once, forgot what it's called, it made my com explode... Okay, maybe not explode but it killed my computer and I had to buy a new one...
LOL, I'm using Windows, I've always wanted to try using Mac...

I just switched to a MacBook Pro, about 3 weeks ago. And still haven't installed a Windows XP through BootCamp ^^; I'm trying to get all the software I used before, also on the mac. Which has up until now worked fine for 90%. I only miss a decent music player (with decent multiple playlists like foobar) and a decent alternative for Total Commander (I was so much faster with Total Commander than anybody else with their explorer. Copying, going into zip-files, changing them on the fly, ftp, sftp, all in one... Now I have such serious signs of withdrawal, that I'm willing to write one myself ^^)
But overall, I like it ;p (also because it's actually a unix system underneath and I have a shell ;p)

Danny, you should check out www.drobo.com. It'll fulfill all your backup needs in one fell swoop.

Well the CPU cooling on the Macbok Air is minimal, so even a Core 2 Duo mobile would run hot, then again most laptop CPU's run hot as their cooling is quite poor most of the time, small heatsinks, almost non-existant airflow. Most often a notebook's components are just in a survival race, one will see how long they last while running (too) hot.

I'm not sure if Apple products break more often than other computer brands, but working in IT, I can say that all brands and part types break down, some more than others, and the warranty support also depends from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Yup, I do backups. Most of my documents are on the Google docs. I use the Mac and the PC too. I'm also lucky to have my company buy me a MacBook instead of a Windows based laptop. I wish I have the MacBook Pro tho.. someday some day...

Hardware? I guess its all about luck sometimes.... some nice tutorials can be found over at ifixit dot com with step by step instructions for opening up everything Apple. But somehow I feel their stuffs are a little overpriced compared to my local stalls. So far no major issues I met with Macs.

you don't wanna know... my first mac was an ibook. unfortunately, the i series of apple notebooks (this includes the macbook too to some extent) are not really made for a lot of commuting/traveling in a stuffed bag. in my case, it led to the well-known "ripped off voltage regulator pins". i got a logic board replacement FOUR TIMES. and a new ibook TWICE. after the 7 failure, apple gave me a macbook as the ibooks were already end of line.
i'm mostly happy with it, but use takes its toll: the keyboard/mouse bezel is chipped on the lower right corner (thanks to the distance bar on the cover), the display has keyboard imprints (they're not as bad as they were on the ibook though), the internal speakers are permanently off due to a broken optical cable detection contact in the headphone jack (only on windows and os x though, the linux driver simply ignores the signal, you have to tell it to switch to optical mode). oh and the combo drives are the worst poo i ever encountered.
i guess it's definitely time for a macbook pro now. event though i hate grey.

I started using IBM-style machines back when I was just a little kid. I switched to Mac 2 years ago and I am very, very happy with my decision I'll never go back. I don't think I have heard about many people switching from Windows to Mac, but I suppose it must happen sometimes.

My old PC was often attacked by viruses and adware, despite it being connect to the net via a separate DMZ network with a masked IP address. I had to do a lot of reformatting and re-installation, like someone else mentioned. I always kept one HDD dedicated to the OS and two dedicated to data. Unfortunately, one of the two data drives failed one day and I lost tonnes and tonnes of import information, documentation, health care material and music/video media files. * Sighhh * still makes me feel bad even now sometimes. It was shortly after that happened that I bought my MBP!

I definitely agree with X33b about the relatively simple access to a PC's components, in terms of hardware maintenance as compared to Macs. Luckily, Macs don't generally need that kind of work done as often as PCs do. Still, I am very glad that the years I spent working on hardware all revolved around PCs. (I still used Windows XP at work).

All that being said-- Danny my Mac is having that same problem where it shuts down without warning when the battery is at 28-30%! I gotta get that fixed. For me that will mean a quick trip downtown to the Mac store. I wish I had a Mac to use as a spare! Unfortunately, even if I did, I don't backup any of my data so I wouldn't have that much to work from.

I politely refuse to change to a mac. They're nice machines and all, but

1) I like the customisation allowed on PCs
2) for a couple of my major usage points (games and anime watching) the macbook pro falls short. The lack of games for macs is well documented and I really don't want to have to have 3 or 4 media players for the various file types my anime comes from. That and I refuse to use that piece of crap known as VLC player!!!

so until apple release a decent video player which plays all file types (or at least AVI, MKV and MP4) without issues then I'm steadfast in keeping to windows. Yes, I know you can just install windows on the intel macs, but what's the point of buying a mac if you are eternally running windows?

Tried OS X and can see its appeal for productivity, and haven't heard any stories of Macs being not worth using. Straightforward to use, but still feel kind of restricted regarding software since there are consistent usability guidelines.

Also feel the userbase consists of salarypeople and therefore not as many scoundrels releasing freeware. This immediate impression reinforces my perception of Apple maintaining its image of elitism, but a least there is quality control by barring entry; the payware tends to be worth it.

Like many, I am bound to Windows for 3D games, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't use both.

I haven't had trouble/corrupt data because of malware in my 10+ years of using Windows. Windows tends to walk slowly after a whiles however; longest installation of Windows I've had was 4 years.

As for data loss, I can't remember it being anything important when hard drives died. I currently now ensure that all hard drives are cooled, and haven't yet had a failure, but may consider RAID before current batch's reliability is set to expire.

until I've just been messing with a Hackintosh I installed in my secondary hard drive, it's quite a pain when the kexts aren;t working properly. ^^;; but it's a hackintosh anyway. as a conclusion I'm quite fond of the operating system especially leopard, but still can't say goodbye to windows cause there are still things that can be done in windows ^^;; I think I'll be a full mac user when the following softwares are available in macs, Autodesk 3ds max, autodesk ACAD, Corel graphic suite, and some tohers apps.

btw, what I don't like from the mac are the hardware which is not easily upgradeable(mobo,GPU,PSU) and if I want that I have ti buy MAC pro which is "WTFlying expensive" ^^;; so no...and one more thing is overclock ^^;; mac hardwares don't use the same BIOS as common PC do which make tweeaking the bus speed and voltage not possible(AFAIK) and one more thing that's still making me a bit hesitant to move completely(I'm like 50% windows and 50% mac...0% linux since I never tried LOL) that is gaming, well as u can see some major games aren't released for mac and if they do, what could u possibly expect with the mac's hardware(me pointing at GPU) CRYSIS?R6 Vegas?GRID?CoD4?

while eroges are possible to play in macs as danny said using parallels desktop, I wonder how touhou would end up played in a mac, check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLiyglcRcCA

ROFL, no offense, I love mac....and I;d really love to change my laptop OS from vista to dualboot vista mac if possible ^^

I would definitely sign up for the Apple Care protection thingy, especially since you do a lot of travel. While living in Taiwan, the hard drive on my old ibook g4 fried. At the time, Taiwan had zero apple presence (by the time I moved back to the US there was a knock-off apple store across the street from Taipei 101). When I called the US applecare folks, I was sure that I was going to have to ship the whole thing back to America to get it fixed, but they managed to find an English speaking apple tech guy in Taipei for me. Even though the tech didn't actually work for Apple, the company replaced everything for free and I had my laptop back in a matter of days.

Well, suppose I should have my little anti laptop rant.

The thing is, laptops are great, in theory, but in the real world(at least for me) they only dissapoint. They tend to overheat, breakdown, and are impossible to upgrade. I can't really find a reason to buy a 1500 euro laptop, when I can buy a faster desktop for way less.
On a side note, a friend of mine wanted to buy a macbook air aswell, so we went down to the apple store, because I wanted to show him it's not physically possible to build a laptop that thin, without it overheating every 5 seconds. So, some guy was telling how awesome the air was, that apple is the queen of everything, etc.

So I asked him, how long would it last without overheating?
And he mumbled about, not giving us a clear answer.
So I asked if I could try stressing it, ''sure'' he said.

And what do you know, after opening a few browsers, google earth, and a flashplayer thing with a video playing. Down the drain it went, and I had a angry salesman staring me in the face.

yay laptops?

I'm not saying there aren't any decent laptops, just that you need to spend ALOT of money for a decent one. And I'm sure some of you have found a decent one for 500 or less, but how decent, we'll never know I suppose.

Down to the mac thing.
Esthetically, macs CAN be better, but if you spend your money wisely, you can get an equally, or even nicer case for your desktop. As for software, OS.X is usually simpler for beginners, and visually more appealing, but when something does go wrong, in my experience, it's harder to fix than with windows XP.

I've been using windows as long as I can remember, and I've had my share of BSODs, mostly due to my own fault ^^;

But to summarize it, I''m a gamer, so duh to you.

My iPod died once before, the screen was frozen and I could not turn on or off. I immediately went to their website support and requested for repair or replacement. Apple shipped out a box for you to ship it to them. The shipping is free unless they find your iPod has no problem then you have to pay the shipping. But I didn't send it because it was healed after the battery went out ^^;

Been using my macbook (black) for about a year and a half now with no problems (other than the screen dimming). I've heard lots about batteries and other junk crapping out on my friends macbooks, and I'm actually starting to get worried. Might have to buy an apple care package soon. I'm just concerned about whether or not it works in different countries.

I've had quite a few viruses over 15 years of using PC's. Only once I've had a virus which damaged my HDD so badly, it was unusable, lost all my data along with it. That was back when I had only a single HDD.
I make regular backups now, but I can't bear the loss of any of it, Just hope I never come across that again.

Just ordered my Macbook Pro yesterday after being a Windows user for 12 years. Reading this makes me even more excited than I already was!

wanna know why mac is better than windows?
http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/

ROFL LOL LOL99x~

*btw, I collect the ads, they's so brilliant ^^ Love the ads, one of the reason I put on a hackintosh on my PC desktops(plural ^^ )

Hey Danny, the name of that cable is a Ribbon Cable. Also I usually am real bad about backing up my data. I know it needs to be done and tell myself I should, but never get around to it. Well, until I get the BSOD or in my case Vista would not allow me to log in. Welcome screen with no user accounts shown, real fun trying to rescue data from a RAID 0 setup. Learned from that and bought a 1TB external which backs up all my anime weekly.
Also I don't trust modern electronics, it will break so a service plan is really important. Because without one you are in for a very long argument which you will not win and end up paying lots of money.

Was it just me, or is this the longest post ever on dannychoo.com yet?

Great insight on the inner working of a MBP though, thanks Danny. And great to find out all the other techs and gadgets you use everyday to bring us this wonderful site. Finally found out what you name your HDDs.

I should really backup my files more often. I think I do it every month and that's only just the important files and nothing like folders and stuff. I'm really bad, I know. Do you actually backup your whole hard drive data as an image? Like including all the applications?

I actually installed a virus scanning program on my MBP just because I've used a PC previously and I'm paranoid. I used a software called ClamXav and it's schedule to scan every Sunday morning. On my PC, I use a free and pretty good anti-virus software called Avast!

Yeah my mac went off the grid the customer service was good at mac store didn t take long for them to call me up to pick up my mac.

Yeah my mac went off the grid the customer service was good at mac store didn t take long for them to call me up to pick up my mac.

Oook that not good.

And MacBook Air's are WAY too thin, stupidly thin....

I play a lot of games on my windows machine, so I'm not particularly convinced that getting a mac, and then having to install windows makes any sense.

Yes! I'm planning to get a Macbook. Can't wait for the switch to Mac. Hope I'll love it.

Btw 3 questions.

1. Danny, when you sent it back for repair, were you covered by Apple Care Protection Plan (ACCP)? Or is it just the normal warranty that comes with a new Mac?

2. Is ACPP a necessity? It's kinda pricey.

3. When you opened the casing to swap the HDD, will you be voiding any warranty stickers?

I don't back up my data. I have a 4x500gb RAID5 array so I feel pretty safe. If one harddrive goes I don't lose anything ^_^

Problem with this RAID5 array is that I want to expand it but as far as my (limited) knowledge of RAID can tell, the only way to do it is to add more 500gb harddrives. I'd want to switch to a 4x1tb RAID5 array but those drives are still fairly expensive, and then I'd be left with 4 500gb harddrives. Also to transfer the data I'd need another RAID-capable computer.

I've been thinking of setting up a sort of home server though. One huge, power-hungry behemoth computer in the basement, and several smaller computers (or laptops) around the house. Shrug.

I usually backup my data once a week using Acronis True Image and my external HDD. I always keep at least the latest 2 backups in case one of them is faulty. Particularly important data will be backed up a second time by burning it on CD.

The last time I had a virus was at least 5 years ago. I'm only 99% sure about this though as a lot of more professional maleware tries not to attract attention to secretly steal login or banking data. My anti virus software of choice is Nod32.
To me an anti virus program is only the last defence wall, I'm very careful about where I download my stuff especially when downloading software.
Another security measure is separating critical applications like the browser from the rest of the system using Sandboxie.

I found this site quite useful to check single files for viruses:
http://www.virustotal.com/
There you can upload files and they will be checked by more than a dozen of anti virus programs. A few of them, especially Prevx, are known for false alarms though. To be sure you should be very careful with files that more than one of these programs complain about.

As far as encryption goes I always encrypt my backups and also the whole HDD of my laptop using Truecrypt to make sure a thief or burglar can only get my hardware but not my data.
Important files (e. g. business-related documents or files containing login data) that I want to keep on my computer will be separately encrypted but either storing them as password-protected PDFs or into encrypted 7z archives (or both), because hard drive encryption can't protect them against trojans.
Additionally I give them random names to make sure strangers won't guess what's inside.

Remembering all the passwords is a pain in the butt! ^^'' Mnemonics help though...

I play cutting edge PC games that require a native environment and most of the computer resources so I dont see myself switching to a Mac anytime soon.

Apple quality Sucks! but OSX rules... I have been using their hardware for years and they have gotten worse and more expensive. That's why I switched to Hackitnosh :p $300 for a 8800GT from apple, lol I got mine for half that. "I'm thinking differently"

i'm a windows user. i've used macs but dont find any dfference in windows and mac pc other than the hype created by mac fanboys. i wont ever buy a mac cause its four times more expensive than a pc i can build on my own. The high price is not justified imo.

i started taking regular backups of my data after i lost my years of freelance work due to an os crash. second time due to hdd crash i lost about 200gb data. now i have a terabyte of hdd space and keep a 500gb hdd for monthly backups. i use acronis true image. And viruses? last time i got one was when i connected an external hdd to a friends comp to copy something. but avast detected it as soon as the hdd was connected to my machine and deleted it ^-^

Danny, I liked your idea of naming hdd's after anime characters.

I recently switched from a PC to a iMac last year for my main computer. My main reasoning was because I was really focusing on my artwork at the time. However, I've been getting back into Computer gaming, which a vast majority only work on windows. So I'm currently running XP via bootcamp. I was running VMWare Fusion before, but the graphics acceleration wasn't up to par to run many of the games. Bootcamp makes it run like a charm ;p.

BTW, I was just wondering, but does anyone use Leopard's Time Machine? I recently lost a lot of data because I was not backing up regularly.

I still use Windows because my dad says that most software programs out there are for windows. And it was somewhat true around last year, but now i see more softwares and programs working for mac. But i havent noticed any games that work for mac o_o. I might not be noticing things =p

Anyhow i took apart a computer once....and it didnt fit back in anymore lol. Thank God my dad gets brand new computers for freee :). Government jobs are amazing lol

...This is actually really, really useful. My Macbook Pro's had a dent in it for awhile and I haven't sent it in to Apple yet - for one thing, I don't know if the warranty covers my specific instance, and the other is that I'm paranoid about them screwing up my data.

My Acer Aspire 3100 notebook was fine for about 1 year, then i add an extra memory module to get 1.5 gb of RAM. Since then, my computer were overheating sometimes, so i need to buy a fan cooler to it. Never send my computer to tech. service because i was be able to resolve the problems by myself, so don't know the carry service to service.

Actually I just switched to Windows after using an 12" iBook G3 for three and a 12" PowerBook G4 for five years. Even though Macs work, they suck when they don't. In the end I spent around 300 Euro and 500 Euro in extras for keeping them running, and then I finally made the decision to switch to a Panasonic R7 I ordered in Japan, the only problem being that the very fast-running Ubuntu consumed too much energy, so I had to stick with the pre-installed Windows Vista. I then chose to downgrade it to XP, also being a strange thing because I didn't use Windows since ME came out! After having mastered the Japanese XP it runs fast, long (about 5.5 hours in heavy use) and is the most portable device I ever had! Panasonic is really great!

Got a 40GB main drive and a 240GB drive in my PC <---backup lol + some other stuff...

Currently dual booting, ubuntu, slackware and debian. Where i run both Windows XP pro and OS X Leopard in an VM.

Also, i would like a macbook pro for it's power, design and functionality but i would install linux on it

Yah, all that stuff that comes with electronics equipment really is poo. How do you keep track of your stuff Danny? Or do you? All my stuff gets thrown in a drawer or on my desk untill I can't see the bottom.

My parents told me they were thinking about switching to Mac the next time they buy a computer, but I'm not so interested. I'm sure they're nice, but I've already invested somewhat in PC. However most of my machines will be running some version of Linux pretty soon. Did you ever try Linux Danny?

I switched back in December and I'm a happy Mac user leaving Windows behind after 8 yers being a loyal user. I don't regret at all but now I'm more productive, comfortable and satisfied with my iMac Aluminium, it's simply the best computer I've ever had, although it costed a lot, it's every dollar worth. By now I haven't had the need to call the Apple support but I'm waiting Apple to open a Store in Mexico so we can have a place where make valid our warranty.

Mac OS X Leopard is the best OS I've ever worked with, it's not perfect I know but it's very user friendly, customizable, stable, secure and it's fun to work under Leo, it's another experience. I'm not a fanboy but I must admit that Apple makes great computers.

I think apple products are the best principally their OS, I've had to many troubles with windows, I was formating my computer every 2 two month or so, I moved to linux but I hope I can buy a Mac mini in the not so distant future.

I'm a very lucky man. I've had 17 different Macs, 5 iPods and one iPhone (most of them notebooks) and I have never had a single hardware problem.

I have a friend who is a Mac tech support worker, so I guess I would be lucky if I ever get a Mac.

Oh but there's one thing PC users can do that Mac users can't!
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

Never cared for Macs myself. I love my PC. Won't knock them though, as Macs seem to be fantastic if you want to be an artist or musician. But otherwise...I'll stay far away from them. I don't own any Apple products at all, actually, and probably never will. We did use Apple computers back when I was in elementary and jr. high; in the early 90s they were all over schools, I guess.
I don't backup my stuff. I do a full system wipe every 6 months to a year, where I'll burn everything off the C drive and re-format. That's as much backing up as I do. All my anime is on a separate (internal) HD without any sort of OS.
I run a firewall, anti-virus program, and a spyware scan program, on XP, and that keeps my computer pretty tight.

are you defusing a bomb? regardless, when my HD died on me, I actually got good service b/c I had (and forgot that I had) applecare... At times, I feel glad that I have insurance... Regardless, I got rather quick service because I knew what I was talking about. I think that's the key...

Last time when my screen went out I just brought my MBP into my local Apple store. They told me that it will take a few days to get a replacement part, so instead of keeping my MBP they let me take it home and keep using it until the parts comes in. Once the part gets in, they call me to tell me to bring the MBP in and it took them only 1 day to fix it. So all in all, I was only without my computer for 1-2 days. Really amazing service this is why I will never get a Dell, getting them to do anything takes so much effort and time.
I double backup my data especially for work related stuff. I use the Time Capsule for Time machine each night, and on top of that I use .Mac online backup nightly also. That way even if my apartment burned down my data is still safe somewhere on Apple's server.

my laptop gets lava hot all the time. it's also been freaking out for a while now, i feel your computer pains T__T

DANNY that external HDD enclosure looks sweet where did you get it? what is it called? thanks

Only got to use Mac like 10 years ago in lab of my university and never since -_- I'm sure it has progressed so much from then.

Heh. I once took apart a Macbook Pro and a Macbook to switch some parts between then. I had screws everywhere, but I got it all back together. Since you can throw 4 gb of RAM in the current Macbook Pro, I replaced my Mac Pro tower at home with it, using it with a 30 inch monitor. It's da bomb, I will never need a non-laptop for my home machine again.

Most of my experience with Macs is at school microcomputing facilities, which is pretty low key. I haven't had any serious issues with the PC's I've built though, so I don't expect to switch to Mac any time soon. If I ever had any problems, I'd just shuffle HD's or swap parts. Come across lots of free PC parts here and there too from other who upgrade, so that's another incentive to stay.

Wow! That's the first time I saw the inside of Macbook Pro. I see you got the rolling speaker thing, Danny!

I've been a Mac user for almost 2 years now and don't regret it a slightest bit. I hated my old PC and Windows and when I got the money I went and bought the coolest looking computer ever, 24" iMac :)

Earlier this year I bought also MacBook which Im using on my travels. No overheating problems or anything and damn these can be quiet, just love the quality of these machines, (almost) everything is perfect.

I use Time Machine for backups and the backups on external drive. So the backups are every hour if I just keep the external drive running. But that doesn't always happen so I back everything up at least 2-3 times a month.

I have an external to back up files, but really I dont have much to save that cant be reinstalled, really only use the external to store music and movies

I remember for Christmas a couple years back, I got my first ever iPod. It was a green nano and I loved it to peices. They got it engraved on the back with my name, and I carried that thing around religiously. I'd sooner carry my iPod than I would my phone.
I took it on trips a lot, and more often than I'd like, it would die, but only because I would forget to charge it before we left the house.
So we got a car charger for the thing. That charger fried my iPod. We called the Apple people and were on the phone for hours trying to make that blasted thing work right. The charger had fried the sound system and it wouldn't play our songs right; you had to halfway pull the ear plugs out for it to work, and if you jammed them all the way in, it switched background music with main lyrics. (Strangest thing I've ever seen.)
It turned out that Dad had to take them to an Apple store when he went to San Francisco. They fixed the thing. It broke again. So he took it back(again when he went back to San Fran for a second business trip and made them send me a new one.
They wouldn't believe it was broken. They told us something like, 'Are you sure you're using Apple headphones?' Yes I'm using Apple headphones you idiots, just fix my dang iPod before I come over there and kill you!
I know I sound like I hate them, but the Apple company really was nice. They replaced the iPod and apologized. It's just the fact that they wont let you send something off, even when you know it's broken. (Overheating in an iPod is not normal people. Something is fried, and I don't have to work at Apple to tell you that.)
So please people, only use Apple approved chargers, unless you want a dead iPod to cry over.

I have been using the MBP for almost a year now (got it for my wedding present!) and never had a major issue with it apart from some things like how folders replaces folders instead of appending the files inside to the folder that made me lose some pictures but that's a usability issue. I use Windows since version 3.1 (showing my age?) :-D .. and since Windows 95, I've had to reformat my PC .. on average every 6-12 months to keep it running smoothly. Can't stand the new Vista. But somehow I still think that some things like FTP .. seem to work better on Windows.

i'am Nt that much of a backuper (only my anime and movies) y have one external hard drive and a external case for a laptop hard drive, how ever a lose data using this, my external hardrive ias a WESTERN DIGITAL passport of 160, not much but its funtional.

By the way i have't switch to MAC, i'll do it by the end of the year

I have two extra 250GB SATA drives shoved inside my PC accompanying my brand-new 500GB SATA primary hardrive, a 120GB PATA kept as an emergency backup spare and tons of blank DVD-Rs. After going through a harrowing experience of losing my health folder 4 years ago, I always ensure that at the very least, I keep my favourite stuff backed up on a DVD. Larger files go to the spare 120GB.

Windows user here...thinking switching to Mac by the start of the school year

After twenty years with various systems, I made the switch to Mac in 2001. With a total of five around the house now (the original iMac G3 is still running), I'm contented with my decision. I won't suggest they're the right computers for every user, but they work for me. Once I got over it being about the computer and realized it's more about what I did with them, I became a backup nut. I currently have over 2Tb of backup drives running mostly from Time Machine (SuperDuper! is great too and the iTunes library is setup as a mirrored RAID).

Danny: If the MBPro has been a problem for you and the Apple Care plan is still an option, I'd strongly recommend it. I had three years of problems with an iMac G5 which Apple finally resolved with a shiny new aluminum iMac Core Duo at their expense under the ACP. Not saying this will always be the outcome, but Apple Care has worked for me.

For anybody feeling the Mac doesn't have a vibrant enough freeware community, perhaps they should start at www.opensourcemac.org. Great stuff.

Gah, and my desktop computer just gave up on me two days ago X_X
I don't know about the hard/soft ware problems of the mac, but i have a friend tell me to bin my dreams of having a mac, because it's a hassle trying to find software to fit... :/

>Do you run anti-virus software on your machine?
I have been using NOD32 for many years now both at work and home, and I am very happy with it. No virus problems. And it is a lot faster (and consumes less memory) than Norton because it is partially coded in assembler.

yup it is tough to lose data ...i remember my dad use to erase my data when i was younger ..he did on purpose...and i hate when lights go off all of a sudden or viruses that make computers slow and dummy....why people do that i don´t have a clue but......they should mind their own business and problems....

Had that chernobyl virus in my brother's laptop back in 99. I was able to get his files back using a program called Tiramisu (nowadays EasyRecovery); it ran in msdos. I used lanlink to transfer the files via a paralel cable to another pc.

I've never had any antivirus in my pcs, and never catched a virus either. Common sense is the best antivirus.

I dislike Macs btw :(

You're pretty lucky that your MBP died in Germany rather than in Japan. I had a macbook hit some trouble on the road in Japan a few weeks ago but far from an Apple Store and the responses from phone support include:

-70 minutes of the tech support person getting flustered and repeatedly saying "dou suru kana" audibly on the phone when dealing with a flakey battery . Then she dropped the call. (Can't blame her too much here it sounded like her first day on the job, but needless to say, you expect more from apple)
-When the DVD drive on macbook stopped playing DVD movies but still worked with CDs, the response from the tech was literally "Go find your Apple Install DVD. If that disc loads, then there's nothing wrong with your DVD drive. It's a problem with the DVD you're using. You can only test your drive with the Apple Install DVD, no other DVD will work."

These happened in the last two weeks...It's not quite resolved yet. I finally got back to the Shibuya Apple Store and the 'genious' said that he has write the comments into the system and then they'll be taken seriously. Hopefully your tactic of saying 'the guy at the apple store said' still works but he claimed that he had to type the comments in. The apple store guy also said that on repair service there's a 50-50 chance that they will wipe your hard drive and then tried to sell me an external hard drive. I'll then use the pickup/shipping service and see how well that works out.

Support was better in the past. As for the Macbook, now 2.5 years old, it's been far from bullet proof:
-Case/keyboard mysteriously starts turning brown (yes, manufacturing defect)
-Isight fails (no pun intended but I like it anyway :)
-Overheating
-Flakey battery
-Motherboard dies, causing the mac to not boot anymore

So yes, the 3 year warranty is worth it :) And generally the Ginza store has better support too.

Windows laptops are similarly a mixed bag. Toshiba quality's gone down lately whereas my ancient Gateway (aka generic taiwanese built thing) and Dell still run (although new dell's have pretty bad software quality control. I've never had a laptop with an accelerometer have a hard disk failure (knock on wood)...too bad those don't seem that common.

I shall be making the switch to Mac soon because my computer is dying. I can't wait!

Man, I want to try switching to Mac because of my laptop got BOSD about 10 times!! I'm so sad and mad at the same time T_T

Proud owner of a MBP for the past 1+ year, and also proud user of Apple products since about 7 years ago, starting with my trusty iBook G3. ^_^v Before that long time windows user, and there's no turning back for me now too.

I use a 1st gen macbook pro and I back up all the time. I'm that paranoid.

I absolutely HATE calling customer support! You know exactly what the problem is but NO they make you do 30 mins worth of nonsense to the hardware. its like playing a game of "simon says"! In the end they just say to hand it over and they'll fix it for you -.- could have done that in the beginning thx very much.

As for backups? I only save whats important to me like pictures,songs and videos. The rest can get lost in space for all I care.

And is the myth about "Macs can't get viruses" really true? -.-

There's no point in getting antivirus software for macs because right now they are really rare. Also, you have to manually install viruses, they can't self-extract and run like in windows.

The current trojans floating around right now are ones bundled with pirated versions of iWork and Photoshop CS4. That's it.

I have had a Mac all my life, and i have never ever think about switching to windows. Mac is far the best OS!
About viruses... I have never had one in mac. I have readed about and mac viruses can only be installed with your Admin password (encovered as another app) so be careful installing too much crap!

Actually, mac antivirus apps mostly delete only windows virus from your mac files so if you send a file to a win user he dont gets infected.

If you're buying anything other than a Mac Mini (which is cheap), the protection program is an absolute must; you should just factor it into the cost of the machine. I had a USD ~$1700 Powerbook G4 back in the day. No AppleCare. Just four months after my basic warranty expired the screen died. They wouldn't even talk to me on the phone once they found out it was no longer covered.

rolly! sony rolly yeah!!! that thing is awesome!
macs should be the living STANDARD.

I switched to mac only a month ago ... hated the idea of using Vista. I'm quite happy with it so far ... only worried about those hardware issues I'm hearing of. And iWork is strange. And AppleCare is for rich people. Well, actually all of Apple stuff is for rich people, but AppleCare pricing is ridiculous.

Replying to a very old topic but as no one mentioned, the cable connected to the hard drive is a flex cable, I know these all to well, just outside of warranty also my Macbook Pro has had many problems, replacing almost all of the flex cables inside of it, very delicate things, one broke I believe from heat issues, luckily being able to do all of this myself stuff though.

I switch to a MacBook earlier this year, since windows probably doesn't like my house. It was great. I haven't got any problems yet. I don't regret the switch but the lack of $$ means no windows, so i kinda have no games to play. But the Mac is very nice to use ^^. I don't backup my data as all the USB drive that i have bought somehow doesnt work after the first 2 weeks. I'm planning to buy a external HD soon, my doujin collection is getting bigger ><" It'll be a pain to find them all over again..