MacBook Air :: How To Compute With Setup As Your Primary Computer
Nov 14, 2008
I know a lot of people think that the MBA is intended to function as a secondary computer. However, in some light users like me, I don't see why it can't be your primary computer. So out of curiosity I want to ask the question:
Besides me, who else in this forum uses MBA as their primary computer and how is computing experience with setup so far?
I just sold my 24" iMac and I'm looking to buy a notebook. I'm moving to Japan and I figure I want something smaller. I mostly use computers for iTunes/iPhoto/Safari and some video watching.
I'm curious if anyone uses this as their primary computer.
I'm looking at buying an MBA to replace my current rev D MB - there's nothing wrong with it, necessarily (I've become adjusted to the audio out red light of doom)
I don't really do anything more intensive than occasional Handbrake conversions and sometimes work in Flash, so I know that these would be suited to my needs.
Having said all of that - do any of you guys use the 11" as a primary computer? My roommate uses an Asus eeePC as her only computer, and I don't know how she functions on such a tiny screen.
I'm planning to buy a macbook and and one of those awesome Apple LED Cinema Displays (24� flat panel)... Many people say the Macbook air isn't built to be a laptop AND the main computer, BUT I'll have an external hd anyway, I don't need more power than needed for playing full HD and I haven't used a real dvd/cd in months...
For those who use a 13" notebooks as their main computer or many hours a day how do you find it?Do you feel the advantage of smaller size and lighter weight outweighs the smaller screen real estate / resolution?Is the screen size perfect or do you wish you'd went larger - 15/17"? Are you often plugging into an external 22/24" monitor?
This is my first post, I hope I am sending it to the right place. I want to use a new mac mini (not yet purchased) as a compute node to run day and night on some modeling code. I don't want to connect a keyboard or monitor - but I have access to these to set things up. The model accesses data on the internet, and I want to connect (wired or wireless) to my cable modem to get at these. Once set up and running I just need ssh access to see how things are going and scp to copy stuff onto and off of the mini. I have a MacBook that I plan to use for this purpose, that I want to connect wirelessly to the mini. Is this possible? Is it difficult? I don't really want to shell out for expensive remote desktop software when I only need terminal type access to the mini - to check on progress, copy stuff on/off and compile programs.
I want to use a macbook air as my primary computer [URL:...] and as it seems like mac codecs suck, I'm thinking about installingWindows 7/XP on it. Is that a good idea?(Especially if I want to link it to an APPLE LED?) Are there going to be any hardware issues/problems?
I have tried numerous times to authorize computer. It states that computer is already authorized but won't let me listen to song and prompts to authorize computer again.
My wife's macbook monitor is destroyed due to happy 2 year old. It won't be worthwhile to replace the monitor and it is not fixable without some expensive work being done on it, therefore I would like to use our TV as an external monitor and retire the macbook to being a mediia computer. I have connected it to the TV, and I see an empty desktop, as far as I can determine it looks like it is treating the TV as a secondary display - that the desktop is extended onto - so I cannot actually interact with the normal desktop. When I try to run things using keyboard shortcuts I hear some sounds of things starting, but I don't see anything on the TV. So what I need to do is to have some way to tell it to treat the secondary display as the primary display.
This is my computer setup. just joined on here so i thought id share what i've got and hear any suggestions/opinions
MAC PRO 2008 2 X 2.8 8 CORES 2 GIGS MEMORY, 320 HD, 8800 GT + ATI RADEON (2 GPUS) BLUETOOTH, AIRPORT 1 23 HD APPLE CINEMA DISPLAY 1 20 IN APPLE CINEMA DISPLAY 1 42 IN PANASONIC PLASMA HDTV TH-42PZ85U LOGITECH Z5500 SURROUND SOUND (CONNECTED TO BOTH COMPUTER AND HD DVR CABLE BOX) LOGITECH HARMONY 1000 UNIVERSAL TOUCH SCREEN REMOTE isight
Does anyone recommend a better speaker setup? is there a way to get a higher resolution out of my plasma (currently is 1920 x 1200)
I'm going to be selling my air and I want to do a fresh reinstall of the os . How do I do that so the new user can just turn it on and have the welcome screen with music? In the past when I tried the computer just automatically reboot and started the setup process.
I have a MBP 13", and I just got a magic mouse. Everything works fine, but every time I turn the mouse back on after turning it off, I have to manually connect my mouse to my laptop. Is there a way that the mouse can automatically connect to my computer, or do I have to "system preferences" it every time?
I've got limited hard drive space. In gmail, I keep my inbox pared down to just a few emails I'm actively working on (ie 3-10 emails at a time). Everything else gets archived. However, when I try to set up Mac Mail for gmail (as described on 50 different websites), my computer starts downloading thousands of emails - my sent mail, anything I've tagged, etc. I don't want all this. I just want the few active emails (my inbox) at any one time.
I've tried mapping folders in Mail (ie Use this folder for....), but can't seem to pare it down to just the inbox.
I am trying to setup a firefighter's apple laptop into our linksys net at firestation. She got access fine when we did not have it secured but now we setup a wep key. All other members can get in by entering wep key when they choose the wireless router but when we input the wep key to apple laptop airport I think we get connection error. Key is definitely right. What changed in the apple setup other than the wep key, again when signal was unsecure laptop safari worked fine. The linksys is a B about 3 years old.
I love the small foot print & great portability of the new MBA 11" but I am not sure how I can get around the storage issue since I keep lots of home multimedia files on my laptop. I do have a recent iMac with lots of storage in our basement and do have the Mobile me account.
I think this has been discussed but can't find it. In a SSD+HDD setup, should I put the SSD in the primary bay or in the optibay (replacing the superdrive). I believe there is a setup that has issues with sleep or motion sensor whatever, but I can't recall what the preferred setup is.
I had my hard drive switched out because the old one was going out. So while I was at work I set it up so I could start getting things together, but there was no internet connection available, so in my confused I accidently clicked "This Computer does not connect to the internet" without thinking. Not I can not get any of my internet apps dont work.I have looked through my settings but cant find anything. It does connect to my wifi, but wont get online.
I have a pre-Intel iMac G5, running OS 10.5.8. I have been using an HP LaserJet P3005, connected with a USB2 cable, with no problems. The fuser got "muddy" on the 3005 so I bought a new HP LaserJet P2035n. I've loaded and reloaded the printer software from the provided CD, downloaded the driver software from the HP support website, but the computer doesn't recognize the printer. Called HP support and everything they suggested came up empty; they told me to exchange the printer for a another new one, but I get the same results with it. I'm using the same USB cable I used with the 3005 -- it worked perfectly with that printer as recently as this morning. What's wrong with my iMac or setup?
I installed a second HD in my Macbook Pro via Optibay.1st drive is SSD and second "normal" HD for data.When I boot I get a strange loop with the apple logo appearing and disappearing. It looks like my Mac does not know which of the two drives to choose for booting. Only when I press the options button before booting do I get the Bootcamp selector for Mac or Win which are both on the SSD.
As I use the second drive only for data, I want to make the SSD drive the "primary boot drive" without me having to press the option button on startup every time.
I'm thinking about replacing my 24" iMac with a 15" MacBook Pro, however I'd like to keep my 20" dell monitor and use it as the primary display for the MacBook Pro, is that possible? By primary I mean having the dock and everything else on it, with the built-in display being like an external display that I can use for extra space. Also, would the same be possible at all with my iMac?
i am usning Preview on my MacBook Air, when ever i try to mail a documenet or a pdf in outlook, te Mail stamp jumps up which i do not use. My primary and only email sysmtem that i want to use is Outlook. can anyone suggest how to find where i can place the needied setting?
Apple ID and Primary Email Address are locked and cannot be edited... I accidentally clicked "make my apple ID and Primary Email address one" and now I cannot edit it. I don't use my @mac account and am not receiving any notifications. How can I change my primary email address back to an address I actually check?
Whenever I want to open an image or document on my external display, it is displayed on the primary display (the MBP one). It's annoying, the image or document should open on the display from where it was double-clicked.
I have a macbook air, I'm trying to use my airport extreme with a 1 tb hard drive plugged in over my network to store my iTunes etc i change the preferences but it always seems to forget it when the laptop is turned of..
Info: MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.3), using 3rd gen airport extreme
My brother is going to start school in June for Film. He is all set to buy a Mac and knows the software side of things but not so much the Hardware side.
I have a few questions:
1. Should extra hard drives be bought third party?
2. Should he do a raid setup for backups?
3. How much memory should he buy for Final Cut operations? (third party)
4. Should he look into getting a Dell monitor instead of Apple? What is a comparable Dell monitor?