[JohnR]

PS JRiver is a good choice for playback software, plays well with NAS and you can set up multiple libraries (e.g. one for the NAS and one for whatever you have on the internal drive).

[GentleBender]

Thanks GB, would you say that's a good choice for a NAS first-timer? The Sonos rep didn't take an "official" stance, but just as I've seen with some of the other people in the Sonos support forum, the one that comes up a lot over there is the WD My Book Live 1-2tb NAS. Seems to have lukewarm ratings on Amazon, but for some reason it seems that every NAS on Amazon has lukewarm reviews...so given that, I'll probably go with what appears to be the most user friendly since this is my initial NAS experience?

8GB of RAM is what I use as a minimum unless user replaceable (not likely on a Mac unless it's older) I like the UI of Synology for the most part, just make sure you do a little reading of the manual before setting it up. I went to their website and looked through the guide before Amazon delivered mine and had no problems.

Spend the extra for the 2 bay if you can afford it and set it up in SHR (their version of RAID, but allows you to expand storage) that way you have protection if one HDD fails. Doesn't replace backups, but give you extra peace of mind in my opinion. Yesterday it was only $149 and today it's $199 so watch the prices.

[ajzepp]

Thanks John and GB...Synology looks like the way to go then...the reivews Ive read on the WD seem to indicate a lot of product failures after 3mo...I'm not real keen on that 


So gentlemen...I pulled the trigger a BIT faster than I thought I would, but last night I came to a decision. Considering all the feedback you guys were kind enough to share in this thread, along with an endless number of youtube and web reviews, I am now the owner of a new 13" Macbook Air. What put it over the top was that I had completely forgotten that I had a $100 Best Buy gift card from when I purchased a Panny plasma display a year ago...so combined with their sale price on the 2015 version of the Air, it was $799 plus tax out the door.

I was REALLY tempted to wait a bit longer, but since I'm a first time Mac user/owner I went ahead and took the deal...the $600 in savings over the new macbook will go into savings and will be earmarked for a NEW Mac sometime around 2019 or beyond 

This weekend I'm going to focus on the peripherals while I acclimate myself to the Apple topology.

I'm pretty excited...so in closing (for now at least)...I only have one thing to say. Considering that they essentially called me a LIAR when I called to report that my 2011 XPS laptop smelled like something was burning and stopped working, TO HELL WITH DELL!!!!!!!

Thanks again all!!

[brooklyn]

I left Dell a while back when I called customer service and couldn’t understand
the person I was trying to remedy my problem with over the phone..

Congratulations on your new Mac Book Air, you should like the Mac Operating
System. Like JohnR said, they are getting harder to recommend…

I’m starting to think that if they were to take a lump of dog shit and make a
computer out of it, dedicated Mac users would flock to it.

[JLM]

Congrats!  My wife still slugs through with a big clunky Dell laptop.

Got my early 2014 MacBook Air at BB too.  Went in thinking iPad for my consulting gig, but with 2 GB RAM, 64 GB, and a cover with pretty crummy excuse for a keyboard it was only $200 cheaper than the MacBook that was on sale.  With 2 times the RAM, 4 times the memory, bigger screen, real keyboard, and 2 USB ports the MacBook was an easy choice over the iPad.  Plus I now have two sources to pick from for my main audio system: iMac via $6 Monoprice 35 foot optical from the back of the room or MacBook via $74 Straight Wire 3 meter USB cable from my listening chair.      

Yes, once I decided on a MacBook, I wanted 8 GB of RAM, but of course that model wasn't on sale.   

On the plus side I've now got an Apple store 30 miles away.   

[brooklyn]

Well, before I went to work today I stopped at BB to look at the movie selection and one
of those 4K TV’s. I asked the salesman about the Mac Book Pro they had on sale last week
and if they would honor the price.. before I new it… I was walking out of the store with it.
I never owned a laptop but I’m looking forward to it..

[ajzepp]

Congrats!  My wife still slugs through with a big clunky Dell laptop.

Got my early 2014 MacBook Air at BB too.  Went in thinking iPad for my consulting gig, but with 2 GB RAM, 64 GB, and a cover with pretty crummy excuse for a keyboard it was only $200 cheaper than the MacBook that was on sale.  With 2 times the RAM, 4 times the memory, bigger screen, real keyboard, and 2 USB ports the MacBook was an easy choice over the iPad.  Plus I now have two sources to pick from for my main audio system: iMac via $6 Monoprice 35 foot optical from the back of the room or MacBook via $74 Straight Wire 3 meter USB cable from my listening chair.      

Yes, once I decided on a MacBook, I wanted 8 GB of RAM, but of course that model wasn't on sale.   

On the plus side I've now got an Apple store 30 miles away.   

It's funny, cause I kept thinking I was misreading all these comments where people were implying their choice was between a macbook and an iPad. At first I ignored those comments, but when they kept showing up I eventually started to get curious enough to figure out what the heck they were even talking about. My Dell laptop is only five years old, but it's probably a good 40lb or so...who the hell would be torn between a decision like that? Well now that I have one, I can see why. I got the 13", and even this one would be super easy to carry around anywhere I wanted to take it, especially with that usb-to-4g adapter you can buy for it. I see there are some really cool skins/sleeves and cases for these macbooks, as well, so I've finally been enlightened as to what the hell everyone is talking about.

I used to never get caught off guard with technology or feel like I was falling behind...


PS: I just had one of those "moments" in reverse...when I was a kid and my Dad/mom/grandparent couldn't figure out how to do something simple, I sort of laughed...well...full disclosure, it took me about ten mins to figure out how the hell to close all these damn windows I had open on the macbook 

[ajzepp]

Well, before I went to work today I stopped at BB to look at the movie selection and one
of those 4K TV’s. I asked the salesman about the Mac Book Pro they had on sale last week
and if they would honor the price.. before I new it… I was walking out of the store with it.
I never owned a laptop but I’m looking forward to it..

Congrats! That's very cool of them to honor last week's deal...I'm almost exclusively an Amazon shopper these days, but a few of my last larger ticket purchases were from Best Buy (plasma, PS4, mac) and I have to admit they have been a true pleasure to deal with.

Enjoy that beautiful work of mechanic art 

[GentleBender]

Congrats! Welcome to the dark side. I find both Windows and OS X to be very similar, but there are some hmmm moments. Instead of control shortcuts you have command shortcuts. Google is your friend.

If you ever decide you need Windows, Bootcamp and Parallels make it easy. My macs have been the best Windows machines I've ever used! Just don't think you are invulnerable to viruses and be sure to setup Time Machine to do regular backups to an external device, the Synology works for that too if you decide to get one.

[ajzepp]

Thanks GB

Interesting you mention the virus thing. My preferred virus protection software is Avira (as a German, this seems to be the natural choice lol)...I've been using it on my laptops for years now. I installed it on the Macbook, but oddly enough they don't seem to be charging me anything. Avira doesn't allow a license to be transferred to another machine, so I know it's not that...it almost seems like their Mac version is just...free. I didn't see any way to upgrde it or anything. Not really sure what to make of that...maybe they just don't offer a full version for Mac?

Oh, and do you have a recommendation for which word processing software to get? I use Open Office on the Dell, but didn't check yet to see if they have a Mac version (assuming they do).

Thanks again!!

[GentleBender]

I don't do a lot of documents, but Pages is Apple's go to. I use mostly Word, due to workplace. Pages lets you save as a Word doc though. Here is a link to Open Office I found by googling Open Office for Mac. Make sure it is legit first since I haven't tested it. http://www.openoffice.org/download/

[ajzepp]

Ohhhh, okay, very nice. I thought that was some sort of Apple version of Powerpoint...I'll play around with that, then...I just opened it. Thanks!

Overall this mac is just plain "smooth", man...just ordered a case for it, cause I can be a klutz.

[ajzepp]

Hey guys...

Just wanted to show you the case I got...I found some REALLY great stuff, and came close to pulling the trigger on a couple....but this one just spoke to me and is the most practical for my needs. Sorry for the poor quality...was dozing off when I took em:

[AllynW]

My wife needed a new MBP and just had to have the Retina screen.  I am not happy with the RAM & HD hardwired to the motherboard.  So we purchased an older refurbished MBP off the apple web page.  We got a lot of machine for a lot less money.  She has the HiDef screen and I can replace the HD if it quits.   

[ajzepp]

My wife needed a new MBP and just had to have the Retina screen.  I am not happy with the RAM & HD hardwired to the motherboard.  So we purchased an older refurbished MBP off the apple web page.  We got a lot of machine for a lot less money.  She has the HiDef screen and I can replace the HD if it quits.

The retina screen is very alluring...

[JohnR]

I love my Retina. BUT, you know, before I had one, I didn't miss it.