i know im of on a slight tangent here but

i only use a gfx os for games / as a gateway to a shell

imho all driver issues should be well and truely resolved before a launch - especially when you look at the cost - i mean it isnt like it hasnt be in dev for long enough

also micropap have made you think its ok for machine to cash cause thats what they do - reboots are hardware related etc

i have a mac mini thats hasnt needed a reboot since i got it but thats only 4 months now - it runs windows but i dont need to reboot it to install updates i just use it as a media pc ( HDDVD / Blueray rips ftw )

i know of 3 486 servers on campus still running bsd ( im talking 93 machines here ) that have never had a reboot other than for mem upgrades

i have a sun sparc on my desk i use everyday - it has 40mb ram and a 120mb HD and in 8 years its never crashed once

fancey gfx interfaces offer nothing than gimmicks and eat system resources

yes id pay for a updrade for a game - but not for a OS - why other than eyecandy what do i get for it ?

all the linux clusters i look after are a 30mb install , including the gchq stuff - there is no need for a extra 1GB of ram just for a desktop etc
the gchq weblog for a day is bigger than the OS

just a few pointers

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Slappy - I've just got a HDTV and wired my macmini to it - dvi:hdmi - is this the best way in your opinion or would VGA be better (sony bravia s series 32inch)?

You can't polish a turd

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The Pancreas of S.T.F.U. | Never take life too seriously - nobody gets out alive anyway.
Disco_jim: um..... I have no excuse. | Chips: Thank the Beef | Rev Dr: Beef, I think i wee'd a little

thats defo the best way mate

you got a amp as well i take it - fiber to amp for sound ?

vga will only manage 1080i tops

which mac mini u got as well ?

the 1.66Ghz core duo is what is needed really for 1080 stuff ( what i got with 2gb - got a 2TB nas back end) - divx will play on lesser but you didnt get ur tv to play that - 264 is where its at

install bootcamp
install XP - yes for a media player it uses less mem / cpu
install mplayer classic
install ffdshow
install coreavc
install Haali Media Splitter

thats all u need

do not install divx / codecs what ever you do - if you want help pm me
also if you help with 1080 / 740 films / rips - giganews - pm me for help with that and nzb`s etc

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Hmm - if he can't figure out to press the Shift key, his security and admin reviews are hardly going to be taken seriously

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Insert unfunny comment here ->

sounds like i've gone about this wrong way then......my Macmini is an old one - 1.4g power pc........and my tv is s series, so not 1080 (though compatible 1368x764) - i got this one nice and cheap and couldn't stretch to the v-series .....but my sound is digital - i run a firewire 410 card into a yamaha rxv640rds. so a vga would have probably done.....nvm......

the good news is, next to the mini i have a dual core powerbook pro (intel) 2.16gz with 2 g ram..... so i'm swapping the leads later to have a play will be interesting to try playing an fps on a big screen...the gfx are great on the macbook (ati1600 256mg)

I will follow your guide above and be in touch if i hit any walls cheers matey ! Colt

that might just play 720 stuff
you`ll be fine with 720 divx`s

even when playing divx - dont install the divx codec / player - use ffdshow and mediaplayer clasic mate

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So let me get this right. You pay loads of money for an O/S that hogs resources, is unstable and has a lot of security holes.

But that's OK 'cos you get a really nice GUI!

Personally, I use an O/S to launch applications. I don't sit at the O/S level gazing at it all day.

As far as I know OSX is built on FreeBSD code. Now, I haven't used FreeBSD in a while (Solaris and AIX seem to be the choice for most telcos these days), but FreeBSD was the most robust, secure, efficient free UNIX in its prime. I can only imagine that it's been built on since then. I'd be surprised if OSX has any low level problems. More likely Apple has ballexed something up. I used Tiger on my PC off the back of Darwin, and eventhough it was a little slow, it seemed OK to me. I'm more a UNIX person.

my question is

'is it worth me buying a macbook pro?'

not because of what people have said about Vista or XP, its just that i'm curious

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mmmmYou sir, are a swaggering addlepated jackanapes!
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if i was going to buy a decent notebook id get a mac one defo

if i had £300 quid ish id get a crappy dell

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if someone can list the genuine advantages of having a mac

ie what can i do that cant be done on a pc (apart from fixing the bugger)

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mmmmYou sir, are a swaggering addlepated jackanapes!
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Before I say anything - please please please Chad - i dont want a Mac v PC debate.

These are my personal reasons for loving my macbook pro.....

1) it supports the quad core g5 in my studio, as a wireless node - which gives me 4x2.5g in the studio and 4.4G in the lappy - which i can take anywhere in my house and control my studio cos its OSX and it gives me loads of dead easy to understand networking ability. i personally dont know enough about windows to acheive this.... in practical terms it means i dont have to be in the studio with a band - they can play away, and i can sit outside in the sun with my phones on monitoring the mix sweet. I can run multiple plug ins on loads of channels (128+ if needed) and i never get a crash - and if i need more power, well, i just use my mac mini as another processor node

2) ^^^^ I have to have OSX for my audio hardware / software Motu 2408 based with TC electronic DSP and Logic Audio pro.

3) OSX is beautifully consistent and (i know this will sound cheesy) but it makes me more creative. Out of the box the Macbook has the usual suite - great DVD authoring software, iMovieHD, Garage band, iPhoto......plus lots of other useful stuff - none of it is high end, but if you fancy having a go at creating a film, making music, etc etc, the tools that come boxed are all very competent start points and are all very intuitive...

4) Biggest seller of OSX - stability. If my mac crashes i will spend serious time trying to find out why.........but it hasn't yet

5) Biggest downer of OSX - loads of my mates use windows - Games production is awful on the mac - theres so few. Although DC runs like a dream on my Quad

6) Solution - and for me the deciding factor - install bootcamp and have a Mac and a PC in one box !!!

7) The macbook may not now be the fasted notebook. But one thing i've found is that Apple tend to put decent components in their machines, so nothing feels plasticky or tempremental. (and this is my second - last one ran for 5 years without trouble but needed updating)

Blah blah, i'm boring myself now. You probably wanted a techy answer - but i cant give you one......7 years ago i'd have been able to on a pc, but since i've used apples for so long, i havent had to spend time being technical - just creative, which suited me

Shift doesn't work for me..I just use the arrow keys lol, can just press windows key+tab, then hold windows key down and press arrow keys left and right ..

Not that theres much point anyway if you miss the tab you want to go on your a nub cake anyway.

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n1 colt, thanks for the input

only recently (as compared to most here) got into computing so all the stuff i know about pc's were self taught, read about in mags and in these very pages of the forum (large community to tap into) have thought about linux and stuff, but tbh, it sounds a little too technical for me

it is tempting to mess around with another OS though

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mmmmYou sir, are a swaggering addlepated jackanapes!
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