Great news about the MR DVD collection. Except that I have a G4 Mac. I also have an iPad. An app that allowed access to the collection would be great and the photos would be stunning It would be available anywhere there was Internet access. Each new issue could be added as an update. Not a computer expert. Is this a practical idea?
Dunno.
It’s taken this long for MR to give us a DVD compilation.
It may take as long for apps to come through…unless everything of “printed material” becomes electronic.
Most newer Apple computers can have Windows loaded, but by the time you spend the money on Windows and find that it is very slow on your Apple, you could have just bought a small NetBook computer for under $300 that has Windows on it. I was expecting PDF issues, but I suppose the ‘search/index’ function is a Windows app. I have a small Dell NetBook that my son gave me a few years ago - it is my ‘notebook’ that I take to things like NMRA conventions and RPM meets to take notes of the clinics. I also have JMRI, my model inventory, and photos loaded on it. I have been building modeling clinics for next year’s NMRA-TLR convention as well. I usually build them on a larger home system, and transfer them to the NetBook.
Jim
Mike, i have had PCs since the 80s and can empathise. A netbook will not have a dvd reader. it looka as if the only format that will be supported is a stand-alone dvd or a pc based one. why not open it to the mac family,it could be software incompatability or cost, anything. its a question that the publishers should answer,
May not be a solution but I have bought an adapter off of ebay to connect a CD/DVD player or a standard IDE hard drive to my netbook using the USB port.
This may not be a solution either but my step son and I have bought standard laptops with DVD and with Vista and then W7 for about $350 max, the past three years. Vista was a bust.
We shop Walmart a lot and look at the PC section regularly.
I just purchased the Dell Streak 7 tablet and looking into using that device now. Love the tech.
Rich
Even though the Mac is a superior box, availability for PC based products is the reason I stick with PCs.
With PC’s, we have to remember, Failure is not an option, it comes bundled with every Windows PC. Some are better at using that option than others.
Any PC I get with Windows, I pull the drive, buy a new drive and install a Linux Operating System. I only use the Windows drive to make music files with Real Player for my MP4 player.
Rich
A computer repair shop here sells a tons of those things. I bought one and used the IDE/USB cable to connect a DVD drive in my parents desktop pc. The pc’s one and only IDE slot was already taken up by two hard drives and the SETA/IDE adapters are very iffy.
If you have a netbook, chances are you have a main desktop machine, or laptop that is able to read DVDs. If so, you can make a digital copy of the DVDs on your main computer, transfer the files onto the netbook, and use free video software to view the contents as if you had a DVD drive.
What he said, Goodreader is the app for IPad and Pdf’s. That how most of use read MRH on the IPad.
I didn’t intend to fire up the Mac vs. PC debate. To each his own. I use a PC at work and Mac at home. What I was interested in were the possible advantages of accessing the collection online, not the least of which would be not having to devote a lot of drive space to it. Thanks for all your replies.
After reading the responses you received, I don’t see where you feel a debate has started. Most of the replies are of other options you have available to you. If you want a true solution to your question, why not send MR customer service an email asking them if they plan on supporting non-PC OSs. The MR collection is on DVD disc but that doesn’t mean it’s to be played like a movie. Most video games also come on DVD discs but one can’t just play they on the old DVD player. I think you might get a better response if you contact MR directly.
Going to the “Source” for info. That is thinking outside the box you might say. What an original idea!
Rich
Mike, i am no Mac guru but as long as you are running 10.4.11 you should be fine. There is an emulator program but i am not sure how much that slows things down or what its requirements are.
I was given an original G3 with 9.5 in it, upgraded from 8.6. I am looking for a copy of 10.2 so I can upgrade that unit to serve an a wifi base.
BTW does anyone remember SUSE 2.2?