Some Simple Mac/OS X Questions

[bliab]

I'm looking to get a new notebook, and a PowerBook is a tempting option. There are a lot of simple things I don't know about Macs. Could anyone answer these questions?

1. Can OS X use Windows network (disk/printer) shares? If not is there a 3rd party utility for this?

2. I have a few USB/Firewire external HDs. Will OS X recognize them if formatted NTFS? FAT32?

3. For the PC Card slot - Is it difficult to find cards that support Macs? Will a standard CF->PCMCIA converter card work?

4. Are most video codes (DivX/XviD/WMV9), available for OS X? What about video containers (avi/ogm/mkv/wmv)?

5. I assume RAM is user upgrade-able, but what about the hard drive?

Thanks
-bliab

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: bliab
I'm looking to get a new notebook, and a PowerBook is a tempting option. There are a lot of simple things I don't know about Macs. Could anyone answer these questions?

1. Can OS X use Windows network (disk/printer) shares? If not is there a 3rd party utility for this?

Yes, yes. Although, I', not 100% positive about printers.

2. I have a few USB/Firewire external HDs. Will OS X recognize them if formatted NTFS? FAT32?

fat32 = yes, not sure about ntfs.

3. For the PC Card slot - Is it difficult to find cards that support Macs? Will a standard CF->PCMCIA converter card work?

Not sure, check apple retailers.

4. Are most video codes (DivX/XviD/WMV9), available for OS X? What about video containers (avi/ogm/mkv/wmv)?

I know divx is available, and there is a crappy version of wmp from Microsoft.

5. I assume RAM is user upgrade-able, but what about the hard drive?

Yes and no. Pretty sure it voids your warranty. And if it's anything like changing the hard drive in an iBook, it's an all day affair.

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: bliab
I'm looking to get a new notebook, and a PowerBook is a tempting option. There are a lot of simple things I don't know about Macs. Could anyone answer these questions?

1. Can OS X use Windows network (disk/printer) shares? If not is there a 3rd party utility for this?

Yes.

2. I have a few USB/Firewire external HDs. Will OS X recognize them if formatted NTFS? FAT32?

Refer to n0cmonkey.

3. For the PC Card slot - Is it difficult to find cards that support Macs? Will a standard CF->PCMCIA converter card work?

Many aftermarket cards are Mac compatible.

4. Are most video codes (DivX/XviD/WMV9), available for OS X? What about video containers (avi/ogm/mkv/wmv)?

Probably yes.

5. I assume RAM is user upgrade-able, but what about the hard drive?

Yes, but why would you need to do so with a new notebook?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: bliab
5. I assume RAM is user upgrade-able, but what about the hard drive?

Yes, but why would you need to do so with a new notebook?

Anecdotal evidence shows a noticable increase in snappiness with some of the faster notebook drives out there.

 

[Shogun]

Originally posted by: bliab
2. I have a few USB/Firewire external HDs. Will OS X recognize them if formatted NTFS? FAT32?

Panther (10.3) reads/writes from/to FAT32 partitions. It can only read from NTFS formatted partitions.

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: bliab
5. I assume RAM is user upgrade-able, but what about the hard drive?

Yes, but why would you need to do so with a new notebook?

Anecdotal evidence shows a noticable increase in snappiness with some of the faster notebook drives out there.

You can BTO in the 5400 RPM hard drive.

I wouldn't encourage slapping in a 7200 RPM drive, esp. since you can use FW800 drives for anything that is absolutely performance-critical.

 

[bliab]

With my current notebook, when it started feeling a bit slow I slapped in a faster harddrive and more memory. That deferred having to get a new one by a year or two for me.

Replacing the HD was one screw on my Dell, I guess I cannot expect the same of these more compact notebooks I'm looking at now..

Thanks all for the answers.
-bliab

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: bliab
5. I assume RAM is user upgrade-able, but what about the hard drive?

Yes, but why would you need to do so with a new notebook?

Anecdotal evidence shows a noticable increase in snappiness with some of the faster notebook drives out there.

You can BTO in the 5400 RPM hard drive.

I wouldn't encourage slapping in a 7200 RPM drive, esp. since you can use FW800 drives for anything that is absolutely performance-critical.

DIY is often cheaper.

I thought about upgrading my iBook's hard drive, since it's about 4 years old now, but after looking at the directions I won't be attempting it anytime soon.

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: bliab
5. I assume RAM is user upgrade-able, but what about the hard drive?

Yes, but why would you need to do so with a new notebook?

Anecdotal evidence shows a noticable increase in snappiness with some of the faster notebook drives out there.

You can BTO in the 5400 RPM hard drive.

I wouldn't encourage slapping in a 7200 RPM drive, esp. since you can use FW800 drives for anything that is absolutely performance-critical.

DIY is often cheaper.

I thought about upgrading my iBook's hard drive, since it's about 4 years old now, but after looking at the directions I won't be attempting it anytime soon.

Certainly cheaper in a few years, but inane today since you'd void your entire warranty on a PowerBook. The 5400 RPM BTO option is a modest $50 upgrade.

Insisting on a 7200 RPM hard drive in a new PowerBook is simply illogical today.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Agreed.