New Mac User!!! Help!!

J

J3 L U N T

Registered
Hey guys,
Just jumped into my very first Mac! Im excited but worried.

Specs:
Dual G5 1.8
23" Cinema Display
80 Gig HDD
160 Gig HDD

here are my questions, please be kind! I have looked around for a few nights and have not gotten any difinitive answers.

1. Arranging folders first.. can i do that? and have them alphabetically.

2. Using 2nd HDD for storing media (photo, music, video) How do i integrate the photo folder into iPhoto? Why do the files need to be on the HDD where iPhoto is located?

3. What is the Best all around Video Player ( Does QT Pro have more file ext. when registered?) I'm using VLC but want an all-in-one.

4. 23 Inch Flat leaves screen burn. is that normal? Goes away after a few minutes.

5. Using Text Wrangler. I save a doc to the desktop. when i open it automatically creats a duplicate file. Why? can i stop it? Whats the reasoning?

Any of these questions is greatly appretiated!

peace.
mike
 
Welcome, mike,
J3 L U N T said:
1. Arranging folders first.. can i do that? and have them alphabetically.
Click to expand...
At the top of each Finder window, there is a cog icon. If you click it, there is a list of options, including 'Show View Options'. Also, next to it, there is a group of icons that will change the way the files are displayed. It's pretty self evident after you start playing with these things.

J3 L U N T said:
3. What is the Best all around Video Player ( Does QT Pro have more file ext. when registered?) I'm using VLC but want an all-in-one.
Click to expand...
I use VLC and can't find anything better. There are only a few codecs that VLC won't do, so I have found it to be the most dependable. I'll be interested to see what other people have to add. I don't think you will get much milage out of Quicktime, though. Most open source media players build upon, er, legally questionable codecs, which most brand name media players won't let you touch.

J3 L U N T said:
5. Using Text Wrangler. I save a doc to the desktop. when i open it automatically creats a duplicate file. Why? can i stop it? Whats the reasoning?
Click to expand...
Text Wrangler doesn't do that for me. Try playing with the preferences. Generally, when an editing application does that it is so you can recover the document after a crash. emacs does it. Even Word does it.
 
hey thanks guys... but the folder issue is not resolved i did play with all those things. what i want is to have the folders listed first then the files. as of now the file hierarchy puts the files/folders alphabetical and does not distinguish between files or folders. i want it to be more windows like. isnt that how it should be? why mix folders and files together... its confusing!!!

i got textwrangler working.

will try the iphoto thing now.. thanks a ton!
 
Try sort file by type to get folders and files seperated. I remember reading something about screen burn and from what I remember on certain monitors it can be a problem in the long term. I think there are things you can do to help though like using animated screen savers instaed of static ones etc you should try googling for screen burn problems and solutions.
 
J3 L U N T said:
1. Arranging folders first.. can i do that? and have them alphabetically.
Click to expand...
You can sort your items by type, but that won't always put your folders at the top. They might be in the middle, or at the end. But they'll be grouped together. The Finder just doesn't distinguish between files and folders in its sorting; they're all just items.

J3 L U N T said:
3. What is the Best all around Video Player ( Does QT Pro have more file ext. when registered?) I'm using VLC but want an all-in-one.
Click to expand...
To power up QuickTime, download these codecs (all free):

Divx: necessary for playing AVIs with audio.
3ivx: decodes most MPEG4 video variants, like Xvid and Divx.
FFusion: decodes some older faux-MPEG4 variants
AC3 Codec - decodes AC3 audio

The only reason I ever use VLC if to play OGM or MKV files. QuickTime's it for everything else.
 
Mikuro - Thanks for the QT tip... do i need to have pro to do that though? and what about WMV and such?

mw84 - The screen burn happens when im working in photoshop or flash for long periods of time... its not a permanent thing... but i fear that one day itll really mess it up.

thanks though for all of your tips. the switch has been uncomfortable... but i think ill learn to adapt. i still dont like how iPhoto has no sub directories and gah... im hoping for the best. this investment was HUGE!
 
No, you don't need QT Pro. The only thing QT Pro does is add more features to QuickTime Player, like converting options and full-screen mode (don't ask me why that's a "Pro" feature). Apparently the new version of iTunes will play movies in full screen, too (using QuickTime; no pro version needed), so you might want to check that out. There are also countless QuickTime-compatible players out there. Just search a site like MacUpdate and you'll find plenty. That's the great thing about QuickTime: it's not just a player, it's a system-wide service that any application can use.

For WMV, there are now two main options: Windows Media Player (duh), which is free, and Flip4Mac's WMV Player, which costs $10 (the demo version will only play the first half of your movies). VLC and MPlayer can also play older Windows Media content.
 
I had the screen burning thing going on with a 23 inch that I setup last week. No one seemed to have an answer but it seemed to happen a lot less the more the monitor was used and if you dim it just a little bit, those displays get REALLY bright.

I hope you like your Mac, I find my self to be a lot more productive on the Mac and the experience in general is a lot more pleasant. There are a lot of little things that you learn to appreciate on Mac OS X that you can't do in windows. Like spring loaded folders for example. I get really annoyed with that because I keep trying to do it. Check out some hint sites and figure out all the neat things that you can do to become more productive.

You definitely took a big leap of faith, that is definitely a big investment. I think overtime you will learn to love OS X, after using windows for years it is kind of hard to get used to.
 
It is strange that your screen burns so easily, but dont worry in lcd displays its only temporary and they will always fade. It takes about double the time your screen was on to fade (so if you left your screen on for 2 hours then closing it for 4 will do it.) anyway you should contact the place you bought it and ask them about it, and also if possible dim the screen and use enegy saver preferences to automaticly dom the screen when youre not using it, that will prolong its life.

And to the videoplayer question... I like quicktime (have it with the codecs), but still vlc can play more files than qt even with the add-ons..
 
ok cool... the spring loaded thing is cool. i have been surfing for the past week on about everytopic... tryin to get used to it!! thanks for all of your support.

mike.
 
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