[cutman]

I'm in New Zealand and my family is in the US, and we have started using iChat AV with iSight cameras to communicate. It works great, and everyone is very pleased with it.

First question: does anyone know how much bandwidth (upload and download) the current version of iChat AV uses while participating in a videoconference? Bandwidth is extremely limited in New Zealand, so I need to know how much bandwidth to budget for the month for iChat. I have the bandwidth limit in iChat set to 500 kb right now, and my DSL connection is 2 mb down/128 k up.

Second question: my family is not very computer literate, and I don't want them to mess up my computer back home (the one they are using iChat on), but they are going to need to install Tiger by themselves next week. What will be the best way for them to install the OS? Normally I back up all my stuff and do a clean install, but that's not an option for them because they don't understand how to back things up. I don't want to lose any my data.

Should they "archive and install" Tiger over the old OS (10.3.9), or is there another option?

I realize that it would be easier to just wait until I get home from NZ to do this myself, but the new H.264 codec with iChat AV makes it worthwhile for us to upgrade now. The improvements in videoconferencing alone are worth the trouble.

Thanks.

[SpecMode]

The latest version of iChat AV (in my case, with an iSight for video) allows you to select bandwidth limits of 100/200/500 kbps, 1 or 2 Mbps, or none at all (max available, I'd guess).

I'm not sure about the 'best' Tiger install option (I did a straight upgrade myself, with only a few isolated issues), so I'll let others speak up for that.

[dougiemac]

On this same note, for someone who is computer literate and would like to do a clean install but isn't familiar with the process. How do you back everything up? I have a 200gb external by the by.

[Brad]

Drag and drop everything you want to keep to that extra drive.

When you're ready to restore it, just drag and drop it back into place.

[ghoti]

Where the tricky part is not the "drag" but the "everything". You should be sure that you have all your personal files, music, applications, email, etc. with you. I'd say do an archive&install, it's much safer (but do a backup anyway, just in case).

[dougiemac]

Originally Posted by ghoti Where the tricky part is not the "drag" but the "everything". You should be sure that you have all your personal files, music, applications, email, etc. with you. I'd say do an archive&install, it's much safer (but do a backup anyway, just in case).

Yeah I was worried about finding all my emails, Safari tabs, iChat screennames, iCal dates, address book info, etc.

[dfiler]

To check bandwidth usage, i recommend the program MenuMeters

It will allow you to display bandwidth usage (up and down) in the menubar. It works in 10.3 and 10.4 with no problems. I set the colors to black and it looks polished enough to have been included in the OS.

I've yet to test tiger to tiger vid chatting so I can't tell you how the new iChat compares in bandwidth usage. iChat scales video resolution based upon the processor speed as seen in the system profiler... so usage will depend on the speed of the computers involved.

[cutman]

Originally Posted by dfiler To check bandwidth usage, i recommend the program MenuMeters It will allow you to display bandwidth usage (up and down) in the menubar. It works in 10.3 and 10.4 with no problems. I set the colors to black and it looks polished enough to have been included in the OS. I've yet to test tiger to tiger vid chatting so I can't tell you how the new iChat compares in bandwidth usage. iChat scales video resolution based upon the processor speed as seen in the system profiler... so usage will depend on the speed of the computers involved.

Wow, thanks for the great help. Menumeters is awesome...I can't believe I had never heard of it before. It not only allows me to display my bandwidth (I kept the colors green and red; they don't bother me), but now I can get rid of the CPU Viewer in my dock.

Are there any other must-have apps that add great functionality to the menubar?

[BlueRabbit]

Originally Posted by dfiler To check bandwidth usage, i recommend the program MenuMeters It will allow you to display bandwidth usage (up and down) in the menubar. It works in 10.3 and 10.4 with no problems. I set the colors to black and it looks polished enough to have been included in the OS. I've yet to test tiger to tiger vid chatting so I can't tell you how the new iChat compares in bandwidth usage. iChat scales video resolution based upon the processor speed as seen in the system profiler... so usage will depend on the speed of the computers involved.

If you have Tiger, it looks like this Dashboard widget will do pretty much the same thing, except with a bit more stuff added in. Not as convenient as the menu bar, but still cool.