Just splashed out £1,400 for an iMac

Feeling a little queasy...

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Twitter | Mecha_Jay

It's here

Oh my, it's in my room in all it's 27" heavenly glory/Enter The Dragon. I can't get over how easy it's to setup and use. I had my wireless/mail/other accounts setup within minutes of each other. Things just...work!

Can't wait to test the power of the almighty beast

Happy

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Twitter | Mecha_Jay

We need pictures.

Apple pervert...













Of course I will, still yet to move off the PC so will take some pictures late on

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Twitter | Mecha_Jay

I've got a Macbook Air, my first Mac (though I had used them before). It's been fine up to now but about a week ago it's started becoming extremely sluggish. Youtube is almost unwatchable and Skype video calls are frustrating. And now even web browsing seems to be a little slow.

I've had it a couple of months, not installed anything new (aside from software updates), barely used the HDD (saved a few Word Documents and some songs). Is there anything I can do or am I best off reinstalling OSX? It's frustrating and kinda souring my first experience of owning an Apple computer

Try repairing your permissions (worth a shot) with the disk utility.


1: To open Disk Utility, from the Applications folder, open Utilities, and then double-click the Disk Utility icon.

2: In the column on the left, click your startup disk.

3: Click the First Aid tab, and then click Repair Disk Permissions. Disk Utility will reset any files and folders with incorrect settings.

Whoa there... you're not using a pc mate.

First things first, you say you've barely used your HDD so I'll assume you have plenty of space left on it?

Right... when did you last do a software update? Is everything up to date? Check by going...
 > Software Update.

Once that is all up to date you want to do something called repairing permissions. Most apps/programmes that you install on a mac use something called the Apple Installer, and when it does that your mac stores a little receipt of how your permissions(settings) should be. So repairing permissions is always a great way of making sure things are in the right order.
Quit all your programmes and make sure nothing is running bar the Finder.
Go to your Utilities Folder via Go > Utilities and you're looking for a programme called Disk Utility.


It will look something like this.

Select your main HDD(1) and then click Repair Disk Permissions(2). It could take a while depending on how long your HDD and how full it is.

Once you've done that, do a restart and see how it feels.

I did an update last night just before posting my last message. No affect

I'm gonna try repairing disk permissions. Fingers crossed!

OK, tried that and seemingly no result. Still having the same problem with surfing the internet/Youtube.

Suggestions?

1. Check the machine on another wireless network (mcdonalds etc) to make sure it isn't your wifi. If its only your internet that is playing up then it could be a problem that end.

2. Check your broadband provider isn't either throttling your internet speeds or doing any repairs.

3. http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jsp ... D=11321430

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I think Carlos is right, sounds like its more something to do with your Internet connection.

Does it happen with any other programmes? What exactly are the symptoms?

It's not my internet connection. My girlfriends PC running Vista is having no problems.

Symptoms include:

While watching youtube (or other video sites) the sound works perfectly, the video is jerky and stuttery
Skype video has the same problem with the picture
Sometimes when I'm typing in the address bar there is a huge delay before the whole text fills he address bar
Even writing this I'm noticing it feels sluggish
Minimising windows takes place in slow-mo (hard to explain without showing how it happens)
Opening other programs takes much longer than it used to - they work but there is a noticeable pause
I'm getting the spinning umbrella thing coming up quite a bit

Try something on YouTube for me. Sign up for the html5 trial at YouTube.com/html5 and see if it still stutters while watch an html5 video as opposed to flash. Flash works notoriously bad on macs.
What is this spec of your MacBook Air? Do you have more than one user on it? If so, try logging in as someone else and see if the problem persists. If not, set up another account and log in to that.

OK, signed up for the html5 trial - same result on the video front.

My MacBook Air is the 80GB model. A recently refurbished (bought through Apple) model.

Mine is the only account on it, I set up another account and it's doing exactly the same thing on the new user account.

Hmm... Well we know it's not an issue with your user folder, flash, or permissions.
Best thing to do is a back up. Do you have an external drive? Use Time Machine, it's as simple as plugging it in and letting the Mac back itself up.
I'd then get on the phone to Apple, and see what they say. Perhaps being a refurb it has experienced some sort of damage which was over looked when they checked it over.
Does seem strange though.

Edit: Forgot to ask, how much memory do you have(ram)? And processor speed? It's all under 'About this mac'.
Is your hard drive the SSD model or is it a traditional spinning drive?

Does anyone have MobileMe?

I'm off on holiday next week and am looking at services where I can dump my photos onto an online repository which will quickly display them in a gallery with minimal fuss. I'd go for Flickr but with the anticipated number of photos being uploaded I'd have to go for the 'pro' option and the cost is a little high, seeing as I'm not a regular online photo sharing type. I was hoping to use Tumblr but there's no suitable theme I can find and it would mean uploading each photo, one by one.

I'm thinking about signing up for the MobileMe 60 day trial and use the big iMacs that are free-to-use in the hotel to dump the pictures online. Is this making things needlessly complicated?

I sold my MacBook around 6 months ago and I need to reacquaint myself with OS X as I need to support a few people at work, so I just bought a new 13” MBP for a very reasonable £880.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MacBook-13inch- ... 595&sr=8-1

So, what ‘essential apps’ would you recommend I install? I have become a Mac Noob.

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Yes, I've got it, mostly for the ability to locate and remote-lock and -wipe my iPhone (and now the iPad). The 60 day trial thing is probably perfect for your needs right now, and you'll get the bonus of the remote access to your other devices. You get a bookmark sync across Safari on your Mac and iPad as well, which is a nice bonus.

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"I'd call him a sadistic, hippophilic necrophile, but that would be beating a dead horse." Allen

Get a proper computer.

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www.samgwilliam.com

I already have thanks.