voice on my new macbook is shyte

I just purchased a macbook pro and tried sl voice and its horrid everyone says i'm choppy and cutting out...I am a new mac owner so know NOTHING about them.
2.4Ghz
2Gbmemory
NVIDIA Geforce 8600 w/256 SDRAM
250GB Serial ATA DRive 5400rpm

any help will be greatly appreciated

are you using a headset?

I've talked to people using the built in mic and speakers on their MBPs and it was fine.

Either there is something wrong with the mic your using, or you are just having lag problems which can cause that too.

I have a year-old MacBook Pro (Intel chipset, running Tiger, not Leopard). Voice works great for me. Things to check or keep in mind:

First, unless they've changed the hardware since I bought my MacBook (which seems unlikely), the built-in microphone is located right next to the left speaker. This arrangement is likely to generate feedback--or, at the very least, extra noise. Do yourself a favor, and purchase a USB microphone/headset combination. I bought a US$30 Altec Lansing at the local Best Buy, and it works very well. Wearing the headset makes it easier to hear, because it headphones block out more ambient noise. Having a microphone right next to my mouth (and NOT next to a speaker) makes it easier for people to hear ME.

A Bluetooth headset is also an option, given the built-in support Macs have for Bluetooth. Bluetooth will allow you to walk further away from the machine, obviously, since it's wireless. But those headsets tend to be more expensive.

If you do use a headset, I recommend getting the SoundSource application, a free piece of software from RogueAmoeba. See "http://www.rogueamoeba.com/freebies/". SoundSource sits in your menubar and lets you change the microphone and speaker preferences quickly, without pulling up the System Preferences application.

The rest of these comments apply to audio in general, not to the Mac specifically. My apologies if you already know all this stuff. I'm not trying to be patronizing...

The quality of your network connection has an effect on SL voice. Voice uses UDP. Don't worry if that means nothing to you; the part you care about is that UDP packets can be dropped (e.g., in the case of network congestion), which can translate to choppy audio.

Also, it's sometimes necessary to adjust the volume of individual speakers. (By "speakers" I mean "avatars" in this case.) Sometimes, I can hear one person very well, but someone else nearby is soft. Adjusting the volumes independently often helps.

Finally, don't crank your own volume all the way up if you can help it. That, too, can dump extra noise in-world. Set your voice volume about half-way up to start. If people can't hear you, then goose it up a little bit at a time.

If you think I can help at all, feel free to IM me in-world. I'm happy to share what few Mac-related insights I have with you.

-Minott Freck