Apple Questions answered by the Mac Guy

<p>Thanks. Guess I must've missed it in the midst of the great phone debate.</p>

<p>i'm in the middle of the atlantic ocean right now, so i'll be quick, but one of my friends has the iAlertU downloaded on his MBP and MB. pretty neat, I must say, though I'd think i'd be hardly a deterrent. (see youtube video)</p>

<p>woohoo!! I have traveled across the globe and am now at USC!! Wait a minute, this has absolutely nothing to do with Macs... My bad.</p>

<p>which do you recommend for the 15" macbook pro... glossy or matte screen? any why?</p>

<p>Glossy Pros:
Richer color saturation
Though technically the same, contrast appears greater</p>

<p>Glossy Cons:
Annoying glare
Much more prone to dust and fingerprints. Just like the Macbook, always seems dirty.
Not true to color. The layer of glass over the LCD screen creates an artificial enhancement, which means that what you see on screen is not the color that is really there. </p>

<p>Matte Pros
No glare
Less finger-print prone
True to color</p>

<p>Matte Cons
Not as pretty as the glossy</p>

<p>Conclusion: If you are an art or film student, you MUST get the matte screen for it's color accuracy. For everyone else, it's purely a matter of preference.</p>

<p>ok sorry if this had already been covered but i've been considering buying a macbook but i'm still confused over the whole microsoft office 2004 vs. 2008. is it necessary for me to buy the microsoft office software right now? i'll be an upcoming college freshman so i'll be needing to use some type of word for notes, lectures, etc; as such, is there some sort of program that is already installed on the computer for word processing? thanks</p>

<p>also which printer would you recommend me buying in conjunction to the macbook (w/rebate of course ;0) inkjet vs laser, printer vs. 3-in-all</p>

<p>I would disagree that laptop locks are futile. While they obviously won't stop a determined thief, I think they can serve as a major deterrent. Imagine a stranger gets into your dorm room-- Your laptop is locked to desk while your roommate's is unsecured. Which one do you think is going to disappear first? A loss-protection plan is great, but isn't going to get your same computer back or solve the hassles of restoring your data from backups (assuming you have any at all).</p>

<p>Or say you step away from you computer at the library and lock the laptop down. A casual thief isn't going to risk making a scene with bolt cutters or pick tools just to get off with the computer. In general, a lock adds a few minutes that most thieves would consider too precious.</p>

<p>You will need Microsoft Office for school. Though it's possible to get by without it, it's not pleasant since the whole world works on the Office standard file formats. You will also need Office 2008 when it comes out because it will support MS's new .docx file format which will (for not logical reason other than that MS wants to push a new proprietary formate and force upgrades) soon become the new global industry standard.</p>

<p>You could probably get by with a free Office Suite like NeoOffice until 2008 comes out, but at that point I would strongly recommend getting it, especially with the great discount at the on-campus student store.</p>

<p>As far as free printers go, I would stick with the HP C4280 all-in-one or opt for the Canon MP460 ($10 after rebate) if you prefer the Canon brand (I do). A laser printer is not an option with the rebate promotion. The only alternative would be step up to a five cartridge printer, which gets far greater ink efficiency than a 2 cartridge inkjet, but still nowhere near that of a laser printer. There is a free Canon five-cartridge, but it lacks the scanner/copier functionality. I would recommend the Canon MP600 if you want to go the five cartridge route.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

<p>oh thanks so much! just one last question though. i've tried looking for the Canon MP460 on the Apple Store but couldn't find it, would a Canon PIXMA MP510 be a good alternative instead? if not is there a website you could direct me to the MP460? thanks again!</p>

<p>I know Costco is currently selling the HP OfficeJet 6310xi, which I just bought. It's an all-in-one (w/ fax); I don't know if an OfficeJet is overkill for college, but it's gotten good reviews. I've generally had a great experience with HP.</p>

<p>Thanks for the tip! I love my laser printer (Samsung ML-2150) and it saves so much money in the end.</p>

<p>we used to exclusively have lasers in our house, but the 1990s HP LaserJets had a lot of problems with the paper-feeding system, so we've shied away from them since. though i've heard that the new "consumer" HP Color LaserJet printer is supposed to be fantastic.</p>