deaf person needing info on macbook, no love from apple

There is no e-mail address. TTY is one of the only support options Apple currently has for sales for deaf people. If you feel this is wrong, you can post a suggestion to http://www.apple.com/contact/feedback.html

They do have e-mail to particular services such as .Mac, and iTunes Music Store, and if you buy an iMac, they do have chat. In addition, you can use chat at http://store.apple.com/ to inquire about products as well. That chat on the online store becomes available at certain times, so you might want to call them and ask when it does become available. While not the same as e-mail, at least it is interactive with a text based system.

I'm a little confused here. The question is...what kind of info is the person after? These discussion forums right here are one of the best places to ask general, how-to questions, so why not send her here?

If the info she needs is more serious, a tech question or problem, Apple has and has had on-line chat support since 2005. It used to be 24 hours, but I suppose it's not now. Never the less, anyone with a problem who has just bought a computer (within 90 days??) and/or has Apple Care can have an on-line chat with a tech.

The person has to be registered to Apple (like on this site)--enter their "Apple i.d." (email) and password. Just go here:

http://www.apple.com/support/chat/

From there you tell them the product, issue, and serial number--hit the button and talk to an agent.

An email to Apple for info would be slower and much more problematic than either of these--because when you ask a question about a computer, you sometimes end up in a dialogue. "I want to do this--" you say, and the person answering has to ask, "Well, exactly what will this be for? Because if it's for one thing then there's one way to do it, if another thing, then another...."

And it goes on from there. Hence....these forums. Soooo...Why not send her here?

The person has to be registered to Apple (like on this site)--enter their "Apple i.d." (email) and password. Just go here:

http://www.apple.com/support/chat/

That only works if they have an iMac or iPod Shuffle.

But I do agree, send them here. We'd be glad to answer any questions they have. We are users who have experience with Apple's products, and third party products that work with Macs.

This is a great forum to find out what works, what doesn't, what workarounds exist to solve problems.

It is free, and you don't have to own a Mac to enter it.

Hi Amber
I noticed you said you are a college student, did you look at the education discount? also check out the refurbished computers you can find some good deals there.

Mort is right you can definitely put windows on an intel based mac, you would use either bootcamp (which puts a partition in your hard drive) or you can purchase parallels (which allows you to use both mac and windows at the same time. If you do put windows on the mac you would need a virus protection for windows.
Heres info on bootcamp and parallels:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303572
http://www.parallels.com/

Macs are great, and they can take a bit to get use to if you've really only used windows. But you will love it once you get use to it.
you may find these links helpful for switching from windows to mac
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

hope you find that helpful

deal for all this? im trying to understand "why"
does a mac out weight a pc? i have been searching
dell since i can get a discount through the company i
work for. and get a nice machine with the features i
need for less then a mac. but like i said, i dont
know anything really about a mac besides its graphics
quality and less bugged but i can get things for that
on a pc for possibly less.

What exactly do you need? Can you give us a list? And how big is the price difference from a Dell with all you want on it and a Mac?

Here's what you get on a Mac:
Hardware:
*Built in Camera
*Magnetic plug (it pops off, keeping your computer from crashing to the floor if you trip over the wire)
*Magnetic latch (no clicking latch, so no chance of that breaking)
*Fantastic keyboard
*Fantastic Screen
*Fantastic Trackpad
*4 hour battery (approximately--depends on what you're doing)
Along with the usual for a laptop (disk drive, hard drive, etc.)

Software Included: Does NOT cost extra
OS X--rock solid, virus resistant, fast
Safari browser
Photo booth (fun program to take pictures of yourself with the camera)
iChat (to video chat with people via the camera)
Mail
Calendar
Dictionary
Spotlight (to instantly find stuff)
Dashboard (you can download a lot of free widgets that do fun things like translate languages, show you weather, find movie times etc.)
iPhoto (arranges your photos and helps you make slide shows, crop them, etc. NOT a professional tool like "Aperture" but very good)
iMovie (helps you make videos)

And that's just the ones I can think of. Now. You ask, why does a Mac outweigh a PC. Because it come bundled with cool programs and an OS that really works--all those programs are integrated, they work flawlessly with each other. So you can download your photos, arranged them on iphoto, make a slideshow, click on a button in iphoto that will allow you to create an e-mail with the slideshow to mail off to all your friends. It all works together.

Speed was mentioned here--and yes, the Mac is fast, but that doesn't mean it'll be so fast if using Windows. The big problem with PC's is that you must use Windows. You have no other choice. And Windows is often slow, buggy, virus ridden. The whole idea of a Mac is to have a choice. You can use Windows if you need to--but you can also use the Mac OS X if you can and avoid all the problems that come with windows. Slowness and viruses included.

That's the biggest difference. So, in the end, it's all up to you as to what it's worth. You pay extra for the extras and for an OS that you can rely on, which integrates programs, and is super fast. We can't speak for the MacBook as its only been on the market for a year, but other Mac laptops have lasted upwards of five years and maintained a good resale value.

In the end, we don't know your circumstances. If you can't afford a Mac and have no use for all those extras anyway; if you have all the Windows programs ready to go and if the Dell deal with your company is especially good, then go with the Dell. Macs are a luxury in that respect.

But if it sounds like Macs have all you want and more, and if you might be thinking of making the switch and are just unsure, then go to a store and play on a Mac. See it up close and personal. That's the only way to really decide if it's worth the extra money to you.

Leopard--the next version of this OS--is due out in October and it will have even more stuff and advanced versions of the things I named. Here's a website that'll give you a tour if you're interested in seeing what it can do:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/

Hope that helps!

It's actually a bigger question than you might imagine since it depends on what kind of support your friend needs. For instance a Mac can flash the screen for alert messages to cue. Growl can be used to give visual notifications for some programs actions. A built in iSight camera can be used with sign language. iPods can be adapted for some hearing devices. The possibilities are quite endless.

My nephew uses computers, Mac's and PC's, like a pro. That he cannot hear is no obstacle.

Well I gave you the link to submit feedback. I suggest using it. That feedback link gets a lot more attention across the board than others. And while it may be one way, you can be assured it is observed. I even once actually got a response when they thought I hadn't read their unsolicited ideas policy.

Depending on where you're located you might want to check in with a few resources. Here in NY we have the League for the Hard of Hearing and they are an incredible resource.

There are also IP and Video relay services that use a computer instead of a TTY.

As for support, there are screen sharing programs such as Apple's Remote Desktop where a person can take control of another persons computer. For instance, rather than trying to describe "the blue Apple on the top left" you access the remote computer and actually move their cursor and demonstrate the process while they watch. There are other VNC programs out there.

The point is that these are incredible times in computing. Programs such as iChat and Skype, both of which are video and text chat capable, may be able to open new channels of communications.

Sorry but my knowledge of the topic ends right about here. I hope this helps...

Hello everyone!

Thanks laura for the site. I am the “deaf person” 🙂 and here is my situation that im trying to figure out. I am a collge student and I do my work online. Im a graph design major and plan to do photography later down the road. I love taking pictures. I currently only a dell desktop. It runs windows XP. I am in the market for a laptop that will be my personal computer for my school work. I currently have a creative suits from adobe that runs on windows. I have had and used windows my hole life. I can run this in my sleep. Im pretty techy in my family so I am naturally good with it. so, another issue is I cant drive. And I travel a lot (camping or out of state trips) I also go into my familys business every Monday because I get to the gym and then I have speech to help me lip read (im late deafned :)) and since I cant drive myself home nor is there adequate public transportation, im stuck at work all day. I cant do any school work because its home on my main desktop computer. This is the reason I would like a laptop for porting around my school work and whatnot.

So first thing that comes to mind is a mac. Soly because of its graphics and I personally like it but I also hear if your in the graphic design business you need to understand a mac. Is this fully true? Isn’t there companys who run off windows? Im in a less populated area, nothing like a major powerhouse of graphic companys but am curious.

The problems…cost is definitely the biggest issue. But I hear a mac is a great investment? The second thing is, im a windows user and so everything I own runs on windows XP. And wouldn’t it cost me a lot more to convert or let alone buy all new software I would need for a mac? I have the illustrator and photoshop and indesign and the hole design bundle creative suits program for my home system and feel it will cost me a lot more just to change that? I plan to use this laptop as my own b/c going back and fourth between the two will confuse me of where I store files. So that means more programs I once had to change to a mac. This plan for the macbook pro is kinda put on hold b/c of all these problems and cost. Im basically wondering why I should convert from windos to mac? Besides the good graphics and virus free. (my dell now runs great and im very carefull with it and if I got a new windows laptop I would make sure to have good protection for it.) but I don’t fully know why I should put in all this effort and money. I have used a mac before…frankly im computer retarted when it comes to them compared to windows 🙂 but wanted to see what other users had to say about them. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

Here is one thing to consider. You can run windows on the MacBook so all your windows programs would still work so you wouldn't lose your investment. Later on you can replace them with Mac versions or just keep using them in windows. I have some software that is only available in windows so I run it in windows XP. My Photoshop CS3 I run in OSX and like it. So I have the best of both worlds, I have a great Mac but also a built in windows machine so it is is all in one neat package.

Mort

thanks guys. i do know that a mac can run windows. and my college is a distant learning school and so i havnt found a site that provide for it unless i pull out some kind of documentation to show im a student there. thats not fully the problem tho. i heard to get windows as well onto the mac its another couple of hundred and then im jsut gonna need virus protection. i dont really know waht im getting as a deal for all this? im trying to understand "why" does a mac out weight a pc? i have been searching dell since i can get a discount through the company i work for. and get a nice machine with the features i need for less then a mac. but like i said, i dont know anything really about a mac besides its graphics quality and less bugged but i can get things for that on a pc for possibly less. i think this laptop will just need to get me through school (another two years id say) and then id probably not use it as much. and then would more likly think of something more long term. possibly even a mac(non notebook style) i just dont have enough good enough facts to convert right now to a mac. any thoughts?

I guess the important thing is to decide how much money you can spend.

I am very biased towards Macs. I used DOS and Windows machines for around 18 years. Two years ago I got my first Mac. The difference to me is like choosing between a Porsche and a Volkswagen. Both get you where you want to go but one is much more fun and just feels better to drive.

To add windows to a mac you would need a copy of windows. That is an extra cost. You would also need virus protection since it is windows.

I bought my Mac at the same time my wife bought a windows PC. I zip around the net and have very few problems. Her machine is slow on the net. Have done everything possible to try and fix it, it just is slow. It is always locking up and just a pain in the posterior. She is considering a Mac when it finally croaks.

Mort

thanks guys! it does help. im going to wait a couple of months. see if i can save some extra cash and see what this new thing is. then will go from there. thanks again for the comments and links!