The official thread for any and all discussion related to Apple Inc.

[IronManForever]

@jamesbond007

You got a macbook right? What are your primary uses? And please tell me if you have any externals attached to it. Do you use an external display?

 

[jamesbond007]

^^^Yep I got a MacBook, the mid 2007 White model. Primary use ?? ....are you kidding ?? This is what I use all the time and for every thing, you name it. On on average my computer usage is 10 hrs per day. I got a PC and a Laptop too but I hardly use them. As for externals, I recently purchased a usb external DVD Writer. Its an ultra slim DVD Writer from a little known brand called Enter. Next month or so I plan to setup up a dual display, I plan to buy a 24inch wide screen display and upgrade to 4gb ram.

 

[din]

@jamesbond007

How much for the DVD writer ? And ignoring the brand name, does it serve the purpose ? I mean worth buying it ?

 

[IronManForever]

Next month or so I plan to setup up a dual display, I plan to buy a 24inch wide screen display and upgrade to 4gb ram.

Dual display? By that, you mean one on the macbook and one external?
I am also planning on it, Im waiting for some yet to be launched monitors..

A question:
What happens to the Menu Bar when you connect an external display for a dual display setup? Your app on the external and the menu bar on the macbook?

 

[Pat]

@jamesbond007

How much for the DVD writer ? And ignoring the brand name, does it serve the purpose ? I mean worth buying it ?

I have the same brand. Works well if you ask me. You ofcourse need it, if you own a combo-drive macbook (like me ) AFAIK, they were available for around 3-3.5k! I got a used one from another forum!

A question:
What happens to the Menu Bar when you connect an external display for a dual display setup? Your app on the external and the menu bar on the macbook?

I think it depends on the way you configure it, i.e. Display Mirroring or Display Extension!

 

[jamesbond007]

@din

Its an Ultra Slim USB DVD Writer from Enter for exactly 3000/- The first one I purchased didn't work well, I burnt 4 DVDs and 3 of them failed so I got it replaced within first week under 1 year warranty. Now I've been using the replaced one for about 2 months now, having burnt more than 3 dozen DVDs, I guess only 2 failed. BTW its got 2 USB cables, so while using it you can't use any other USB device

@IronMan

Hold on IronMan you got it all wrong with this dual display setup. Let me explain :
By dual display I mean I will extend my desktop real estate by another 24 inches. When you connect two monitors to a computer, there are 2 setups. One is the default setup when you get to extend your workspace. I mean, I open iTunes and Safari, when I am browsing internet I like to listen some music. 13 inch screen of MacBook is too small for reading content from sites like wikipedia, so what I do is I put iTunes on my MacBooks screen itself and drag Safari on to my external monitor. Another possibility is I run Transmission on MacBook screen and drag QuickTime player on to ext display and enjoy 'The House Bunny' in glorious HD while Transmission downloads 'Gossip Girl' (again in HD). The possibilities of this kind of setup are limitless. Just imaging what you can do with Spaces and ext monitor, also if you are using Virtualization you can drag your Windows or Linux to ext display and keep OS X on MacBook!! The main reason why I am opting for this setup is Movies and Photoshop.

The second setup with dual displays is called Mirroring, which basically means that you have a bigger carbon copy of your MacBook screen on you ext display. In other words when you connect an external display in mirror mode, you will see on your ext display exactly what you see on your MacBook. I have no idea why people will want this kind of setup.

As for your menubar thing, in the first setup you will have separate menubar and dock for each display. That is to say, you can launch an app from the dock of your MacBook and move your cursor to the ext display and launch another app from its dock
In mirroring setup ... you get the idea.

 

[din]

@Pat and jamesbond007

Thank you very much for the info. I was looking for an external DVD writer. 2 USB is ok as I am not planning to use it frequently.

 

[cyberbuddy_jake12]

I want to buy a good pair of in-ear headphones for my ipod 4GB nano . Please suggest. My budget is Rs.1500.

 

[jamesbond007]

^^^ No second thoughts about this ... Creative EP630. Using this for more than an year, just amazing phones.

 

[SunnyChahal]

^^
Creative EP-630 for Rs.900/-

 

[IronManForever]

^ It is cheaper. 700 or less, original.

@ Azeem (could I call you that, it is kinda funny writing 'jamesbond007')

Thanks.
Actually I meant the same thing, just didnt have the correct words. Extension it is, desktop extension. I want that too.

 

[jamesbond007]

Azeem (could I call you that, it is kinda funny writing 'jamesbond007')

Yeah I know my last movie kinda sucked!!
Azeem ...... way to go IronMan

 

[IronManForever]

[offtopic]
Going over the thread, I found you being called Azeem and it sounded cool so..

BTW I dont if I should be asking this again, but whats the primary use of your MacBook? Something you do for a living? Where does your MacBook come into play in your job?

 

[jamesbond007]

^^^Heyy!! My name is Azeem and you are more than welcome to call me Azeem.
As for my work, I don't have a 9-5 job, I do freelancing, stocks and stuff
Everything I mentioned above requires MacBook.

 

[SunnyChahal]

People we need some editing to be done in the first post. Aayush/Milind if you're still alive in some corner of this planet,please edit it.

 

[IronManForever]

^ +1

I thought, when I get a Mac, macboys would flock around me with trumpets, congos and a nice samba dance! Nothing.. The world is cruel..

I want my name on the first page! That's what I bought a Mac for!!

 

[Pat]

Pat
Name: Pathik
Age: 24
Location: Mumbai
Website: N/A
Twitter: pat007
iChat:
Mac: 13″ MacBook White (2.1GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM)
Favourite application: Adium, NetNewsWire
iPhone: Yes, 8 GB
iPod: 4 GB iPod Nano
Other Apple stuff: MobileMe
Apple stuff you’d like to own: Unibody Macbook Pro

 

[cyberbuddy_jake12]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions . I'll go for EP630 ......

 

[SunnyChahal]

Can anybody tell me why VLC crashes like every 15 minutes and pisses me off real bad?
In QuickTime there is some sound flickering with a .mkv file so have to do with VLC only. WMP is much better!! I wanna watch TDK in HD.

 

[IronManForever]

^ Try a different release. Older one if you have the latest.

----------- My Problem ----------
Strange Problem, I think its hardware. VLC is indispensable to me because of its format support and features that Perian could never provide.

I have DVD Video folders on my HDD. VLC opens them up just like a real DVD with all the menus.

2-3 days days ago, at some point in a DVD Folder (has many movies) I got a loud enough 'crackling' sound. After that no sound comes, nothing! I start up iTunes, it also gives no sound while playing music. Sound is turned up in all possible places. But no sound while playing.

A restart, everything is okay. But the problem shows up again, in some other part of the DVD. The part which gave problem earlier played fine with no problems this time, but some other part gives error. Restart is what I could only do.

Today morning, I was playing over the same DVD. Crackling sound first time, no sound thereafter. Then a second crack after 1-2 seconds. Unbelievably sound comes back, but its highly amplified, with lots of treble and ambient noise which makes the original sound un-understandable. open up iTunes, the sound is same, amplified, high-trebled and noisy!

I will be on the lookout, if its a problem due to the VLC Alpha edition. I hope it is, but rationally, I do not think so. How could an application tear down the sound output of whole system? Its Mac OS, I dont think applications have much rights into the innards.

Do point me out if this is a real problem among others as well. I do have a 2 year warranty running though.