If you’re a photographer or doing a lot of Photoshop work, chances are you’ve heard of Scott Kelby. He’s a renowned photographer, author and Photoshop guru. He co-hosts Photoshop User Television with Dave Cross and Matt Kloskowski.

Scott wrote his review on the new MacBook Pro. The jist of his review states that as a whole he adores the MacBook Pro but there are some issues with the trackpad and Photoshop that are preventing him from fully embracing the MacBook Pro.

Having been able to play with a MacBook, I understand the trackpad issues. It’s a great trackpad but there are still somethings that bother me about it. It also takes a bit of getting used to.

If you’re a Photoshop user and if you are considering the new MacBook Pro, Scott Kelby’s review might be worth a read.

Tags: Macbook Pro, Photoshop, Review, Scott Kelby

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Batteries are an important part of having a portable. Being mobile is one of the reasons you got a portable and it can’t be portable if it can’t run on batteries right? So having a good set of batteries is important.

Calibrating your batteries is important to making sure you get a good amount of time running with it.

The Apple support site has a good article on how to calibrate your MacBook/MacBook Pro’s batteries.

From the Apple support site.

PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD), MacBook (all models), MacBook Pro (all models), MacBook Pro (17-inch) (all models) and MacBook Air

The battery calibration for the PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD) and any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro has been updated because of a new battery released with this personal. With these computers, follow these steps to calibrate your battery:

1. Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook’s battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.

2. Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.

3. Disconnect the power adapter with the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You might use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, you’ll see the low battery warning dialog on the screen.

4. Continue to keep your personal on until it goes to sleep. Save all your work and close all applications when the battery gets very low, before the personal goes to sleep.

5. Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.

6. Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.

View the complete article here.

Tags: Batteries, Calibrating, iBook, MacBook, Macbook Pro, Powerbook, Tips

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One of my favorite and essential apps on the Mac is Quicksilver. It’s one of the very first if not the first application I install whenever I get a new Mac or do a clean install. I’m able to do most of the basic things I need with a few simple key strokes. It’s a time saver and productivity enhancer.

I came across tips on using Quicksilver from UsingMac.com. It’s a great read to help you maximize the use of this wonderful app.

Tags: Productivity, Quicksilver, Tips, Tricks

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Most new switchers to Mac that I know ask me this question, “How do I defrag on a Mac?”.

Defrag on a Mac is known as optimization. Files on your hard drive can become fragmented over time. Due to the way OS X is built, there’s little need to optimize your HD. As such it hasn’t been really a practice for Mac users to do this. However if you’re really OC about these things, you can use apps such as Onyx to help you with your maintenance.

Here’s a good read from Apple’s support site regarding optimization.

Tags: Defrag, Leopard, Optimization, OS X, Tips

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Sure there have been many reviews that have been written about the new aluminum MacBooks, I’ve read a lot of them. Until you’ve actually used one, the words you read don’t really do justice. That being stated, I’d like to toss in my 2 cents.

I was able to get my hands albeit briefly on the new aluminum MacBook. For a few hours I was able to play with the 2.4 Ghz model. What can I say, the MacBook is a beauty.

I’ve always been a huge fan of the aluminum finish. I’ve loved it since I first got my hands on the PowerBook, I love it still. There’s something about it that evokes class. I’ve never been a large fan of the white plastic of the previous generation of MacBooks. While they’re still way better than most Computer counterparts It’s just not as good. So I was happy to see the aluminum material get transferred to the MacBook line.

The build quality of the MacBook is top notch. If you feel bad about spending that much on a personal, don’t. You’re getting what you pay for. Cheap is not in its vocabulary.

The keys are similar to the MacBook Air. They’re fine. If you’re coming from the MacBook Pro they’ll take a bit of getting used to. I personally love the old MacBook Pro keyboards but the ones on the MacBook aren’t so bad either.

Performance wise it seems faster. It felt snappier but that’s just maybe because it’s still a new unit and not much in it.

The trackpad feels like the ones on the MacBook Pro. I know it’s made of glass but they made it in such a way that it still feels familiar. I thought I’d miss the button but I didn’t there are some quirks like clicking and dragging are a bit more difficult, at least with the way I do it. I LOVE the new gestures which were similar to the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The screen is both good and bad. The good is that it’s superior than the previous generation’s screen. It’s sharper, colors are better. Since it’s LED the colors are more even across the screen. It doesn’t get darker on the edges.

The thing I hate about the screen is the “glossiness”. The old one was glossy. This is glossy times 2. I love myself, don’t get me wrong but I hate staring at my face all the time. That’s exactly what happened the afternoon I was trying out the MacBook. It was looking at my face most of the time. If you’re coming from a matte screen, it will take a lot of getting used to. Some people have reported getting headaches because of it. Two of my friends told me they did.

As a whole the new MacBook is really a step up from the old one. I have the ability to compare the old MacBook as a boy and the new one is now a man. It feels more mature, stronger, seems tougher built. It’s a bit more polished but still with a rugged aura to it. It’s classier. It’s definitely a winner in my book.

Tags: Aluminum, Impressions, MacBook, Review

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There are a lot of great apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. One of them is the newly released Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It literally feels like the world is in the palm of your hands.

I downloaded the Google Earth app and installed in on my iPod Touch. Incredible. That’s what I can state. Envision having all that data in your hands. You can see the world without moving from where you are. That’s just fantastic.

This app fits the iPhone interface pretty well. You pinch and use gestures to manipulate the map. There’s an auto tilt function that allows you to change your perspective. Even though I did turn this feature off since it was irritating to use while lying down. That’s one of my gripes. I wish you could reset the neutral point of the app so that even you’re lying down you can still use the auto tilt function.

Naturally the Philippines doesn’t have maps that are as detailed as the U.S. but it was good enough. I recognized the street and the building where I live. I was able to browse through the general area and find my way around.

It was also fun looking at the various Wikipedia entries as well as view the geo-tagged pics by Panoramio.

This app is a must have. There’s some room for improvement but given that, it’s still something you should have on your iPhone/iPod Touch. Best of all, it’s free.

Visit the entry from the Google Blog
Download from the App Store

Tags: Apps, Google, iPhone, iPod Touch, Software

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Jason Snell of Mac World reviews the Netflix Instant Watching service for Intel Macs.

As pointed out by the article the service isn’t available to all Netflix users yet. They’re slowly rolling it out. Since I’m both not a Netflix customer and a U.S. resident I can’t try them out for myself. The review gives us all a glimpse though.

So with Netflix offering instant gratification will we see a contender to iTunes? Don’t think so, not until they improve their instant watching catalog. At least that’s what I got from the review.

Tags: Intel, Mac, Netflix, Streaming

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Last July, Jeremy White, President and CEO of CodeWeavers issued a challenge to President Bush to make his remaining days in office more meaningful by accomplishing some major political and economic goals by the end of his term.

The challenge was called “The Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge”. The goals of the challenge are

* Return the stock market to it’s 2008 high
* Reduce the average price of a gallon of milk to $3.50
* Create at least one net job in the U.S. this calendar year
* Return the median home price to its Jan. 1, 2008 level
* Bring Osama Bin-Laden to justice

and… Help to bring down the average gasoline prices in the Twin Cities to $2.79 a gallon.

This is what happened last Oct. 14. As such CodeWeavers is giving away copies of it’s software for free. This is a one day offer available today (Oct 28, 2008) only.

For the complete details and press release, please view it here.

CodeWeavers, Crossover software allows you to run Windows applications on your Intel Macs.

Tags: Free Codeweavers Crossover Intel Mac

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They say good things come to those who wait. Well Netflix probably seems that way to Mac users. Sure Mac users have iTunes but isn’t variety good?

Personal computer users have been enjoying streaming content from Netflix in what seems like ages. It’s about time Mac users got a a taste of it as well.

Powered by Silverlight, Mac users are now able to stream Netflix content on their Macs. It is cross platform, cross-browser. It also is touted to offer superior fast-forward and rewind functions.

View the press release here.

Tags: Intel Mac Streaming Netflix

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Inspired by this recent post at TUAW. I’d like to share my own “switcher” story.

I purchased my first Mac on June 2004. It was a 1.5 Ghz 15″ Powerbook. I’ve been wanting to switch to a Mac since I saw the Powerbook G3 of a former office mate. At first I fell in love with the design and began reading about Macs. I later fell in love with the OS. I’ve always knew that a Unix based system was superior than Windows but it wasn’t as friendly to use. I wasn’t a hardcore computer geek. I knew things but I don’t want to spend my time under the hood of a personal. I just wanted something that worked. OS X promised to give me that. A powerful Unix core under the hood with a simple, user friendly interface that Apple was known for. I was hooked.

So, I saved for a year or so. Putting extra money aside. On that faithful day in June 2004, I finally put my order. The dealer delivered my Powerbook a day after. The, rest they state is history. Since then I’ve been an Apple convert. I loved most of the things about it. From how the computer was designed all the way to how it just makes my life easier.

I began advocating for the Mac with my family. Showing it off to my brother, mom and father. I showed them how simple it was to do things on a Mac. They were skeptic at first but they soon realized how nice it was.

My brother was my first convert. He sold his few month old ASUS laptop and purchased a 12″ PowerBook. My mother later followed when her Sony VAIO died. Instead of replacing it with another Windows laptop, my father purchased her a 12″ iBook.

To date, it’s only my father in our immediate family that has yet to switch to a Mac laptop. Partly because he is tied to his office’s system which dictates that he has to use a Windows laptop. He’s however, a very happy iPhone user. If not for being tied to his office, I think he would have been a Mac user as well.

The biggest factor I switched to the Mac is that it just granted me to focus on the things I wanted to do. Do my design work, browse the internet, email, entertainment, etc. Instead of spending a lot of time, maintaining my personal. I don’t have to worry about virus, crashes or whatnot. It just life easier and more enjoyable.

So what’s your switcher story? Care to share it with us?

*Currently I’m using a 2.33Ghz 17″ MacBook Pro and wishing I could get a new 15″ Unibody MacBook Pro

Tags: Mac Switcher PowerBook iBook MacBook Pro

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