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coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
3 is the easiest solution that will probably result in you getting your computer back the quickest with the added bonus of the offending genius bar actually getting talked to about their lack of quickness.

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coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Doc Faustus posted:

So, on the Apple site, the Hi-Res screen is described as "useful when you’re working with HD content in pro applications, like Final Cut Studio". I don't intend to do any of those things. Is the upgrade still worth it for general usage/occasional movie playback, or will most people be perfectly happy with the standard screen?
It's more room. If you feel cramped when working in small environments then get the HD screen.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
It's the middle. You won't see new MBPs this year.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

qbert posted:

I bought one of those Kindle SO 20% off coupons on eBay this morning for $50. Everything went smoothly, and I just placed an order on the 13" Air for $988 w/no tax.

It's not estimated to ship until mid-September though :(
Good luck, but...

quote:

They do. I've already had one person try to get me to email them my coupon code (and on this forum, even though I haven't posted about this offer, here).

Note some of the rules:
Promotional code must be requested on Kindle with Special Offers device by 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time), August 8, 2011.
This offer expires at 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time), September 8, 2011. Amazon reserves the right to modify or cancel the offer at any time.
You must have a Kindle with Special Offers device registered to the same account as the qualifying purchase.
If any of the merchandise related to this promotion is returned, the promotional code value will be subtracted from your return credit.
Does not apply to orders placed with 1-Click.
Offer only applies to products sold by Amazon.com and not by any other merchant.
Offer is non-transferable and may not be resold.
If you violate any of the Terms & Conditions, the promotion will be invalid.


So, you must have a KSO to ask for the code, you must have it registered to your account when you use the code, you cannot give the code away or sell it to someone else and if you get caught, at the very least the purchaser of the laptop would be liable for the promotional discount and you both risk losing your Amazon account.

Not worth it (if you are going to save $600 using this code, then buy a KSO today, get it tomorrow, use the code, get your laptop ordered and then decide if you want to send back the KSO in the next few weeks .. or just consider it a free kindle and the discount to be a bit less).

Also, you bought a code for $50?! Goons are giving them away for free on the forums. :holy:

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
Get the Air.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

BlackMK4 posted:

The only dot I have connected is that all three 13" MBPs were of the mid-2010 variety. I had a 2009 13" for almost a year and a half completely problem free.
Do you smoke / have cats / live in dusty filth? I'm honestly lost at how that many failures in such a short period of time is possible.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Bob Morales posted:

Get either a Speck shell/case thing or some other case designed especially for it. Why scuff it up?
Don't these things actually cause more scuffs, because all sides of the Macbook are constantly in contact with another surface, whereas if you just left it naked it'd be mostly untouched.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
This might not be the exact place to ask, but does anyone know anything about TV Tuners for an iMac? Looking around online and not really coming up with much. Is there a clear favorite out there or can anyone share their experiences?

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Rubiks Pubes posted:

Any chance I can run Portal on my 2010 Air? I know the odds are slim but thought I'd ask.
Why are the odds slim? Portal isn't exactly the most hardware demanding game, and the engine has been optimized for OSX.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Jolan posted:

Man, this iMac screen is WAY more reflective than it looked in the store. Are there any good options to 'fix' this, aside from very expensive kits or taking out the front panel?
Turn off the lights.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
Buy a desk lamp when you want some ambient light so you can read? Or maybe just a standing lamp in the corner of the room or something.

Overhead lights in the center of the room makes it really difficult to offer any other solution.

EDIT: Or just get used to operating at full brightness all the time. It might make your eyes bleed for a little while, but you'll get used to it.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
Also, if you're going to go the full brightness route (it's not that bad), then installing some ambient light behind the screen will help alleviate some of the "gah it burns!!" effect.

Examples:

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
What do you mean by "hardware"? Traditionally there are no sales on any Apple products.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
The whole glossy/matte debate really doesn't deserve to get posted about as much as it does. There's nothing anyone on the internet can tell you to sway you one way or the other. It's simply a personal preference thing and you'll just have to try it out yourself and see if you're okay with it. Most people transition to the glossy display just fine, while others seem to really freak out at the slightest reflection. Either it will bug you or it won't. Try it yourself and find out.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
Can the dust issue be fixed by taking off the front glass and blowing around in there? I've got minor clotting in the corner of my screen and while it doesn't bother me that much it'd be nice to know that it's fixable when it comes resale time.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

bazaar apparatus posted:

Sorry if this has been brought up already but I just want to make sure: nothing was announced today as far as iMacs are concerned, correct? I've been holding off on buying one because I thought they were due for an update soon.

Even Macrumors' buying guide says not to buy one, although they're saying that 2013 is when the new one is likely to release.
Minor proc refresh this summer/fall, new model 2013.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

fleshweasel posted:

If that's so, and Diablo III is supposed to be Retina optimized, is that going to mean that the UI and font rendering will be 2880x1800 but the 3D rendering will be 1440x900 and upscaled?
Yes.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
Currently regular OS activities aren't even able to run at full resolution, there's no way you're rendering a 3D game at 2880x1800 on a laptop with that GPU.

EDIT: I don't think people realize just how big 2880x1800 is. It's more than twice the size of your 1920x1200.

coldplay chiptunes fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Jun 12, 2012

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Boris Galerkin posted:

Serious question, what good does a retina display on my MBP do for me if I'm not a photographer, graphics designer, or video editor?
There's various scaling options. You can have effective 1920x1200 resolution plus sharper graphics, and that sort of increase in work space goes a long way with a 15" screen. There's an article on the last page with screenshots of the different resolutions and how they look scaled on the screen.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
Be more careful?

If it's small then who cares?

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Sulk posted:

Here are some photos, all in 1920x1200 scaling mode. The pictures probably won't do it justice, though.

Whoa, I had completely forgotten what webpages with ads looked like.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Bob Morales posted:

He is getting the Air. The Pro's screen is 'better', it's just lower res.
I think he just missed a "not" in there. "Is there a reason you're not going with the Pro over the Air?"

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Bob Morales posted:

Free hard drive space has literally zero impact on performance.
What? A certain percentage of free space is essential for optimal performance. A 500GB drive with only 20GB of free space will run much slower than one with 100GB free.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

tuna posted:

Honestly I've been running it at the full 2880x1800 res
I thought this wasn't possible natively...

EDIT: Just saw about SwitchResX.

Are things actually readable? Seems like they didn't include the option for a reason. I know text on my 2560x1440 27" iMac is pretty tiny. I can't imagine native 2880 on a 16" screen.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Mug posted:

I'm working on a game for Windows, Mac and Linux and getting near the point where I need to start optimizing the Mac version a lot more than I have so far.
Just get a refurb mini.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
Depends on what the prices are like, but Apple's refurbs are like brand new items.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Nut Bunnies posted:

I think the Macbook is really great. It's much more advanced relative to the time of release than the original Air thanks to the SSD and RAM. It is perfect for rich people who use their machines as word processors than can access the web, of which there are a ton.
Fixed.

Seriously. If you want a device that you can write a screenplay on while browsing Facebook and listening to Spotify, you could do a whole lot better than a $1400 Macbook.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Kilometers Davis posted:

What's the best/highest capacity ram I can put in my mid 2011 27" iMac? I can't find a straight answer online and I'm also curious about what brand to go for. Preferably available on Amazon.
Just get two of whatever PC3-10600 16GB kit (2x8GB) is cheapest on Amazon. Shouldn't be more than $200 or $250. Brand doesn't really matter but if you're concerned then side with Crucial/Kingston.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Bob Morales posted:

I already have a not even a year old 13" rMBP, plus I tried living with the 11" Air a few time and it's just not enough screen space for me.
The 13" rMBP has essentially the same real estate as the new MacBook. (2560x1600 vs 2304x1440).

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Shaocaholica posted:

Except I like to have the same browser experience at home(win + mac) and work(linux) :(
Lol @ "browser experience"

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

wilfredmerriweathr posted:

I legitimately had no idea until a few days ago that people seriously used Safari in this day and age. But then again I do 99% of my work on desktops so battery life isn't exactly in the forefront of my mind.
What's wrong with Safari?

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

I said come in! posted:

Apple TV can stream stuff from Macs right?
Certain Macs (2012+) I think. Otherwise there are other options (Library Sharing, third party apps).

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

AlliedBiscuit posted:

So I finally gave in and bought a refurbished Retina iMac i7, with 500 gb solid state drive and upgraded video card. I was carefully tracking the shipment while I was at work, and my fiance was being amazing and hanging around the apartment just to be there to receive the package, which was just a few miles away.

And I get a message from Apple saying the thing was damaged in shipping and sent back. Was really looking forward to having the weekend to play with my first new machine in 6 years. They should, like, send me one with a 1 TB drive now.
Goondolences.

Also remember that you can throw 32GB of ram in that thing for like $200 off of Amazon easy peasy. Dunno how much ram the unit you got had but I saved basically $800 by getting a refurb unit and maxing the ram out myself.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
You need to go through your needs again and rank them in order of importance, re: portability, power, gaming, cost, etc. because currently you just all have them listed as "stuff" and there's no real way to hit every single base.

My initial recommendation would be a 13" rMBP from the refurb store for ~$1000 but those are pretty rare and finding one that meets your RAM/SSD requirements might be a bit of a wait.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

Ignite Memories posted:

Thanks for the responses. To put my priorities in order, I would say:

Durability
Power
Gaming
Portability
Cost


Does the retina MBPS have enough USB ports to have a mic and a mouse plugged in at the same time? Honestly, the more USB ports the better.

How's the quality of the refurbs? Saving a few hundred would be great, but I only buy a computer once every eight years or so. If durability is a concern, maybe a brand new computer would be preferable. I want the protection plan and all that crap.
Refurbs are effectively better than new units since they have to go through Apple's inspection process before they're put up.

Honestly based on that list I'd just go for a maxed out 5k iMac (get the 4GB vram, but do the 32GB ram yourself). It'll be close to $3k but it'll last you YEARS and will perform amazingly with absolutely everything you require. And it's freaking gorgeous.

Keep an eye on the refurb store and you might be able to save yourself a couple hundred, but at the expense of waiting until your particular combination shows up.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac/27

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

binarysmurf posted:

I was pretty underwhelmed with the recent spec bump to the Retina 5K. Would it be fair to assume there will be another 5K upgrade when Skylake is launched?

I could easily get another 12 months out of my current 2012 iMac, so I may as well wait for Thunderbolt 3 and potentially USB-C.
Was it even a spec bump? I thought they just introduced a more affordable version.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
Always make a genius appointment before addressing anything hardware related. I'm unsure their replacement policy on bulging batteries, but I feel like they would at least swap it out at a discounted price, if not for free.

But make an appointment beforehand. It takes like 5 minutes.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
If you're gonna go the "maxed out, 5 year lifespan machine" I'd at least wait for Skylake to get the most bang for your buck.

coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax
My dad bought his new iMac from the online Apple store and just said "It's a gift for my son in college" without providing any other sort of information and they gave him the edu discount, lol.

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coldplay chiptunes
Sep 17, 2010

by Lowtax

SourKraut posted:

Unless it's BTO (and even then too sometimes depending upon the desired configuration), why even go the Educational discount route if a refurb is available in the desired configuration? The refurb is almost always if not always going to be cheaper than the system with the educational discount.
Refurbs aren't always immediately available and some people are impatient.

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