**Listener Interactions**

The third and final question is from Bobby, who recently purchased an IMX G5 with Final Cut pre-installed. Bobby was wondering if it was worth the $300 price tag, considering he has worked with other professional editing programs before. The host acknowledges that they have not officially used Final Cut HD products but has briefly used Final Cut Pro at an Apple store. They explain that while the application may look complicated, the learning curve should be less steep for Bobby due to his prior experience with other professional editing programs.

The host suggests that if Bobby can go without all the pro features of Final Cut Pro, using Fonic Cut Express HD would be a great option. This software is close to Final Cut Pro in terms of price and functionality, but with a few missing features. The host hopes this information helps Bobby make an informed decision about his purchase.

**College Student's Concerns**

The fourth question comes from John, who is starting a media course in college that covers topics such as radio broadcasting, film editing, photography, and script writing. As part of this course, John will likely be using multimedia programs for graphic design, packaging, and poster creation. He expresses concern about whether his MacBook will handle everything he needs to do smoothly.

The host emails John a response beforehand, but shares the answer with everyone else in the audience. They assure John that while Photoshop may not be native on MacBooks, it should still work without significant performance issues for now. However, they recommend upgrading the RAM from 512 GB to at least 1 GB and consider purchasing an external hard drive due to the vast storage needs of film editing.

The host also mentions a firmware update recently released by Apple that fixes the MacBook rebooting issue, but cautions against downloading it if John's MacBook is not faulty. Instead, they suggest waiting until they have more information about the reliability of newer MacBook models.

**Episode Notes**

This week's episode was slightly delayed due to time constraints on YouTube. The host tries to fit everything in quickly, but promises to do better next time. They encourage listeners to send their questions via email or social media platforms, as this helps save them time and allows for more engaging interactions with the audience.

As a reminder, listeners can reach out to David DeFranco at gmail.com or myspace.com to submit their questions or audio queries. The host looks forward to hearing from everyone and continuing the conversation in future episodes.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello and welcome to episode four of wagon Mac podcast I'm your host David Franco I've had a lot of questions this week so I tried to pick the best ones for you guys so let's just start right away first question is from Brian Gage I'm going to be purchasing a MacBook Pro sometime this week and is wondering if I should hold off until the new Core 2 Duo chips are are put into the MacBook Pros will they be significantly faster than the ones now um September is the PO Expo for Apple we can expect new uh computers either MacBook or MacBook Pro most likely the MacBook Pro would receive the update first so yes it will receive the course to Doo trip eventually if it's in September nobody knows for sure except for Apple but it has been predicted that we will see this upgrade next month and will it be faster yes it said they provide a 20% increase in performance while using the same amount while using the same amount of powers that so hopefully that helps you out how hard is it to install RAM in the MacBook Pros I bought an extra 512 megabyte and I was just wondering it is very easy to install RAM in the MacBook Pro literally you just take out the battery take out a few screws and the ram slot is right there you just clip it in place be sure to force it in though sometimes people don't put Ram in um all the way it it may seem like you're forcing it too much but just keep forcing until you get a little click or until it feels like snug in place just just don't force it too hard though but yes it is very easy to install you you should be able to do it at yourself um oh and also somebody mentioned in the comments do not get extra Ram from Apple Apple overcharges for Ram I suggest going to deal ram.com deal d a l r.com put in your um systems configuration and model and it'll show the cheapest Rand places from all the websites out there this includes neck crucial you know all all the good brands are there so I hope that helps thank you Brian Gage next question is from Clayton on MySpace hi David my name is Clayton I've been using Max for a while starting of course my computer lab at school and I've been using PCS for about 10 years of my life and I'm 13 while lately they have been irritating me out of my mind so for my birthday I want a Macbook 2 GHz and I want to upgrade to 1 G of RAM on YouTube I've seen some people running Half Life 2 on their MacBook on high graphic details I was wondering if there was a graph a trick to do this or if it is possible to actually do this um yes I've seen these videos you speak of it it is possible don't expect excellent performance though I've watched these videos I've seen a few hookups here and there um just make sure you have plenty of ram keep in mind that the MacBook has integrated Graphics which is why it'll be a little jumpy sometimes I've also heard of bugs where the game will lock up when trying to auto save so also keep that in mind so a short answer yes it will run but with a few drawbacks um also I wondering if you have tried the MacBook and wonder if you like it I trust your opinion what do you think are some of the greatest features of the MacBook yes I tried at the Apple Store actually several Apple Stores I've played around with one I love it it's a very nice notebook trust me if I could afford it I would get one um excuse that noise in the background that's our clock um the greatest features it has a great keyboard the glossy screen is a pro to someone and a con to other people I I find it to be a beautiful screen very bright a nice a nice resolution for that size notebook um it's very fast for what it is the integrated Graphics are more impressive than you think they would be um I want this Mac for high school what do you think it would be a good for wireless internet and of course word processing yes it would be great for wireless internet 13.3 in is a very not very light notebook but it is a light notebook very very portable so and of course word processing yes it's excellent for word processing Microsoft Office will run but keep in mind it's not native so there are also free free Alternatives out there such as abiword if you go to version tracker.com V RS i o n tracker.com type in word processing and you'll get a free a few free alternatives for the Mac some are some are better better than others so I also suggest suggest checking out Apple's Pages as part of the ey workk Suite uh 30-day trial comes with every Mac so that may help you also on the scale of 1 to 10 what would you rate it much I appreciated thanks bro um scale of 1 to 10 what would I rate it um I haven't used it enough to give it a full rating but I would probably rate it an eight the only reason I don't give it a perfect 10 is cuz a glossy screen the glossy screen can give you a big reflection in you know outside um conditions or if a light's directly behind you like say the lights like right around here you'll see the light like it's a mirror this doesn't bother some people so it may be fine to you I I would get one it it doesn't bother me that much and plus I mostly I mostly use my notebooks inside so and so I hope that helps you thank you Clayton next question is from Bobby hey just got done watch watchingg your podcast and I was just wondering if you worked with any of the Final Cut HD products I recently purchased an IMX G5 with Final Cut pre-installed and was wondering if it was more if it was worth the $300 and if it is easy to pick up one I have worked with other professional editing programs thanks for your help thank you for the question Bobby I have not officially used Final Cut HD products I've used Final Cut Pro very briefly at an Apple store I liked what I saw it looked very complicated but of course you know these applications have a steep learning curve however you mentioned you have worked with other professional editing programs before so the learning curve should be less steep for you since you're familiar with it I plan to get fonic Cut Express HD I've heard that's a great application especially for the price only $300 it's very close to Final Cut Pro I've heard just with a few features missing so if you can go with Final Cut Express HD if you don't need all the pro features of Final Cut Pro gives you so I hope that helps thank you Bobby the fourth and final question is from John I'm starting media course in college which covers everything from radio broadcasting to film editing to photography and script writing this means I will be using a lot of multimedia programs I also be doing things like graphic design or just designing things like package packing and posters and while I don't know what yet what software I will be using for that probably Photoshop I also wanted to run without any problems I will also be using MacBook for movies music and photos for leisure use I'm thinking of buying the most basic version of the MacBook 1.83 GHz 512 Ram 60 G hard drive do you think this Macbook will handle everything I need to do smoothly if not then please suggest any upgrades you might make okay it seems like you want to do a lot with this MacBook um I already emailed you you know the answer this but I will tell everyone else you actually a lot of people already know this Photoshop is not native so expect a few drawbacks and performance but you mentioned in your reply to my email that you will you should be fine with the drawbacks that it gives you for now so you can wait until March you should be fine with the MacBook for now you'll just get a few performance hits now then 52 Ram definitely not at least get it 1 gig but it's again don't do this from Apple get a one gig uh stick so then you can pair it with another gig stick later on since it's D memory um 60 GB hard drive I honestly don't think this is going to be enough that might be enough for you internally I definitely suggest purchasing an external hard drive since you're going to doing since you're going to be doing film making that takes up a lot of space trust me I know that takes up a lot of space very quickly 60 gab internal should be fine maybe for starters but definitely get an external drive for all that extra stuff like film editing and your music and photos and you also ask also could you please tell me if Apple has fixed a problem such as randomly rebooting MacBooks yet or do I still risk buying one of these faulty products I checked Mac Rumors forums week 30 machines and older no week 30 machines and newer are said to be okay so I hope that helps I haven't seen any more problems in the MacBook also Apple just recently released a firmware update which fixes the mo book that's that's what we call the moo um downloading and installing this firmware update should fix your moo uh your Moo Book people call it and the moo should be gone only drawback is your fans will always be on slightly I believe how however if your MacBook does not have this Moon problem I do not suggest upgrading I mean downloading this update because if you do you'll be stuck with your fans always on so if your system's already okay don't download this update you know what to say if it ain't broke don't fix it all right that's it for today's episode well this week's episode I apologize for this slight delay you may have seen I'm sorry I'm going so fast here I only have 10 minutes with YouTube and I tried to fit everything in very quickly um I would love to hear more questions please I have not have any I have not had any um audio questions yet you know voicemail so if you can send those in it saves me a lot of time but if not that's okay I don't mind reading these and keep saying those questions David DeFranco gmail.com or myspace.com insanely great thank you and I will see you next weekhello and welcome to episode four of wagon Mac podcast I'm your host David Franco I've had a lot of questions this week so I tried to pick the best ones for you guys so let's just start right away first question is from Brian Gage I'm going to be purchasing a MacBook Pro sometime this week and is wondering if I should hold off until the new Core 2 Duo chips are are put into the MacBook Pros will they be significantly faster than the ones now um September is the PO Expo for Apple we can expect new uh computers either MacBook or MacBook Pro most likely the MacBook Pro would receive the update first so yes it will receive the course to Doo trip eventually if it's in September nobody knows for sure except for Apple but it has been predicted that we will see this upgrade next month and will it be faster yes it said they provide a 20% increase in performance while using the same amount while using the same amount of powers that so hopefully that helps you out how hard is it to install RAM in the MacBook Pros I bought an extra 512 megabyte and I was just wondering it is very easy to install RAM in the MacBook Pro literally you just take out the battery take out a few screws and the ram slot is right there you just clip it in place be sure to force it in though sometimes people don't put Ram in um all the way it it may seem like you're forcing it too much but just keep forcing until you get a little click or until it feels like snug in place just just don't force it too hard though but yes it is very easy to install you you should be able to do it at yourself um oh and also somebody mentioned in the comments do not get extra Ram from Apple Apple overcharges for Ram I suggest going to deal ram.com deal d a l r.com put in your um systems configuration and model and it'll show the cheapest Rand places from all the websites out there this includes neck crucial you know all all the good brands are there so I hope that helps thank you Brian Gage next question is from Clayton on MySpace hi David my name is Clayton I've been using Max for a while starting of course my computer lab at school and I've been using PCS for about 10 years of my life and I'm 13 while lately they have been irritating me out of my mind so for my birthday I want a Macbook 2 GHz and I want to upgrade to 1 G of RAM on YouTube I've seen some people running Half Life 2 on their MacBook on high graphic details I was wondering if there was a graph a trick to do this or if it is possible to actually do this um yes I've seen these videos you speak of it it is possible don't expect excellent performance though I've watched these videos I've seen a few hookups here and there um just make sure you have plenty of ram keep in mind that the MacBook has integrated Graphics which is why it'll be a little jumpy sometimes I've also heard of bugs where the game will lock up when trying to auto save so also keep that in mind so a short answer yes it will run but with a few drawbacks um also I wondering if you have tried the MacBook and wonder if you like it I trust your opinion what do you think are some of the greatest features of the MacBook yes I tried at the Apple Store actually several Apple Stores I've played around with one I love it it's a very nice notebook trust me if I could afford it I would get one um excuse that noise in the background that's our clock um the greatest features it has a great keyboard the glossy screen is a pro to someone and a con to other people I I find it to be a beautiful screen very bright a nice a nice resolution for that size notebook um it's very fast for what it is the integrated Graphics are more impressive than you think they would be um I want this Mac for high school what do you think it would be a good for wireless internet and of course word processing yes it would be great for wireless internet 13.3 in is a very not very light notebook but it is a light notebook very very portable so and of course word processing yes it's excellent for word processing Microsoft Office will run but keep in mind it's not native so there are also free free Alternatives out there such as abiword if you go to version tracker.com V RS i o n tracker.com type in word processing and you'll get a free a few free alternatives for the Mac some are some are better better than others so I also suggest suggest checking out Apple's Pages as part of the ey workk Suite uh 30-day trial comes with every Mac so that may help you also on the scale of 1 to 10 what would you rate it much I appreciated thanks bro um scale of 1 to 10 what would I rate it um I haven't used it enough to give it a full rating but I would probably rate it an eight the only reason I don't give it a perfect 10 is cuz a glossy screen the glossy screen can give you a big reflection in you know outside um conditions or if a light's directly behind you like say the lights like right around here you'll see the light like it's a mirror this doesn't bother some people so it may be fine to you I I would get one it it doesn't bother me that much and plus I mostly I mostly use my notebooks inside so and so I hope that helps you thank you Clayton next question is from Bobby hey just got done watch watchingg your podcast and I was just wondering if you worked with any of the Final Cut HD products I recently purchased an IMX G5 with Final Cut pre-installed and was wondering if it was more if it was worth the $300 and if it is easy to pick up one I have worked with other professional editing programs thanks for your help thank you for the question Bobby I have not officially used Final Cut HD products I've used Final Cut Pro very briefly at an Apple store I liked what I saw it looked very complicated but of course you know these applications have a steep learning curve however you mentioned you have worked with other professional editing programs before so the learning curve should be less steep for you since you're familiar with it I plan to get fonic Cut Express HD I've heard that's a great application especially for the price only $300 it's very close to Final Cut Pro I've heard just with a few features missing so if you can go with Final Cut Express HD if you don't need all the pro features of Final Cut Pro gives you so I hope that helps thank you Bobby the fourth and final question is from John I'm starting media course in college which covers everything from radio broadcasting to film editing to photography and script writing this means I will be using a lot of multimedia programs I also be doing things like graphic design or just designing things like package packing and posters and while I don't know what yet what software I will be using for that probably Photoshop I also wanted to run without any problems I will also be using MacBook for movies music and photos for leisure use I'm thinking of buying the most basic version of the MacBook 1.83 GHz 512 Ram 60 G hard drive do you think this Macbook will handle everything I need to do smoothly if not then please suggest any upgrades you might make okay it seems like you want to do a lot with this MacBook um I already emailed you you know the answer this but I will tell everyone else you actually a lot of people already know this Photoshop is not native so expect a few drawbacks and performance but you mentioned in your reply to my email that you will you should be fine with the drawbacks that it gives you for now so you can wait until March you should be fine with the MacBook for now you'll just get a few performance hits now then 52 Ram definitely not at least get it 1 gig but it's again don't do this from Apple get a one gig uh stick so then you can pair it with another gig stick later on since it's D memory um 60 GB hard drive I honestly don't think this is going to be enough that might be enough for you internally I definitely suggest purchasing an external hard drive since you're going to doing since you're going to be doing film making that takes up a lot of space trust me I know that takes up a lot of space very quickly 60 gab internal should be fine maybe for starters but definitely get an external drive for all that extra stuff like film editing and your music and photos and you also ask also could you please tell me if Apple has fixed a problem such as randomly rebooting MacBooks yet or do I still risk buying one of these faulty products I checked Mac Rumors forums week 30 machines and older no week 30 machines and newer are said to be okay so I hope that helps I haven't seen any more problems in the MacBook also Apple just recently released a firmware update which fixes the mo book that's that's what we call the moo um downloading and installing this firmware update should fix your moo uh your Moo Book people call it and the moo should be gone only drawback is your fans will always be on slightly I believe how however if your MacBook does not have this Moon problem I do not suggest upgrading I mean downloading this update because if you do you'll be stuck with your fans always on so if your system's already okay don't download this update you know what to say if it ain't broke don't fix it all right that's it for today's episode well this week's episode I apologize for this slight delay you may have seen I'm sorry I'm going so fast here I only have 10 minutes with YouTube and I tried to fit everything in very quickly um I would love to hear more questions please I have not have any I have not had any um audio questions yet you know voicemail so if you can send those in it saves me a lot of time but if not that's okay I don't mind reading these and keep saying those questions David DeFranco gmail.com or myspace.com insanely great thank you and I will see you next week\n"