[Jeff Carpenter]

I can’t help with thunderbird, but as for apps, you should re-instal some but just drag others.

The key is if you can remember how you got them. If they’re things you just download and copied to the application folder, it’s fine to just copy them again. Examples of these would be Firefox, Google Earth, or most FTP programs.

Things that you instal using an installation program should be done from scratch. Things like Photoshop or iLife would be examples of these.

When in doubt, install from scratch, but if you can remember that a particular program was just downloaded and copied over, then it’s fine to just copy it over once again.

[Jeff Carpenter]

My suggestion? Go back and put the Final Cut install DVD in the system and instal anything that was checked “off” the first time.

There’s things like DVD Studio Pro templates and Motion plug-ins, but more importantly there’s a TON of royalty free music in Soundtrack Pro.

Make sure you have the free space, and then load all of that onto your computer. Search for the track you want in Soundtrack Pro. When you find one you like, export it as an AIF file and import that into Final Cut.

There’s a lot of good stuff in there. I just did a 5-minute romance video using nothing but Soundtrack Pro and I found everything I needed.

[Jeff Carpenter]

Is this DV?

There is no scaling. DV 4:3 is 720×480 and DV 16:9 is 720×480.

Of course, it scales it in the Final Cut viewer for your own viewing purposes, but that’s just an effect so you can get the proper view. The video itself is un-changed.

Meaning, you’re fine. Anamorphic is just a viewing mode you’re turning on or off. The video stays the same.

The 2 places where scaling comes into play:

1) If you make a 4:3 letterboxed video it will scale the video down to fit in the frame. This IS actually changing the pixels, but it’s shrinking it, not blowing it up, so there’s little to worry about here.

2) If you make an anamorphic DVD, the DVD player will either stretch it to fit a 16:9 tv or it will shrink it to fit a 4:3 TV. Either way, it’s the DVD player doing the work, so there’s nothing you can do to make it look any better or worse.

[Jeff Carpenter]

Did Tiger come with the computer, or was it an upgrade you bought later?

iLife come free with a new Mac, but not free with OSX. So, for example, if your computer came with 10.3, you’ll find iLife on that disk. If you buy Tiger (10.4) later,then it will not contain iLife. If you wipe your drive to instal Tiger, you’ll lose the programs.

If this is what happened, go back and find the CD that originally came with the computer. You can use that to install iLife without installing all of the OS.

[Jeff Carpenter]

Go through the menus and find the one that says “Reset Background Processes.”

(Or something like that, I’m working from memory.)

Do that, reset the computer again, and give it a try.

[Jeff Carpenter]

The really bad thing about flash media, David, is that they come in different speeds. Ok, great. The problem is that the speeds aren’t often advertised along with the product.

If you ask me, that’s why more people haven’t gotten into this. There’s so much trial-and-error involved which isn’t too cost-effective.

[Jeff Carpenter]

Those sort of upgrades work fine, but think long and hard about whether the price is worth it.

Remember, even though you have a faster processor you still have:
– Slower RAM than modern Macs
– Slower hard drive connections than modern Macs
– Slower system bus than modern Macs
– Older video card than modern Macs

So if you do some kind of render in Final Cut, that will go faster because the processor is faster, but a lot of the ‘day-to-day’ things you do with your computer might not change at all, because these other components are limiting how fast they can work.

I’m not saying not to do it (I did it once back in the G4 days) but you need to compare this plan with the idea of saving the money and buying a newer computer next year. For example, wait until 2009 and then buy a used 2006 Intel model. A used, 3-year old computer might not cost much more than this upgrade will and I can promise you it will be a LOT faster!

[Jeff Carpenter]

I couldn’t say for sure, but I have these 2 thoughts:

1) I’ve been using Time Machine for months now without any problems.

2) I have to imagine there would have been reports or complaints SOMEWHERE on the internet if this was actually a problem. I have seen nothing, has anyone else?

(And 3, I guess…how stupid would Apple be if they didn’t think of this? I know…stranger things have happened, but I’m betting they thought about it.)

[Jeff Carpenter]

No adpater needed.

And I say keep it for now. That’s the nice thing about Mac Pro towers. You can upgrade the monitor whenever you want.

Buy the tower now and see if you can get some more life out of the monitor. Wait for the next price drop on the monitors (may happen this year…maybe next year) and then buy a new one.

No reason you have to buy everything right now.

[Jeff Carpenter]

The processor speed…I doubt you’ll notice any difference. What you’re really buying there is the better video card and 50 extra GB of hard drive space. Is the video card worth it…for some, yeah. But for you?

I’d suggest getting the cheaper model and giving it 4 GB of RAM ($200) and buying 2 USSB hard drives for it. (Western Digital MyBook 500 GB is $100.) Get a little USB hub too, so you’ll only use 1 port on the computer. Use 1 drive for file storage and the other drive for time machine to back up the laptop and the file drive. (Remember to format each drive as Mac Extended when you get it using the Disk Utility.)

Now you’ve spent $400 instead of $500 and you’ll have more RAM, more storage, and a good backup solution.