09-20-2008, 04:07 PM

I have been playing with the idea of getting a mac book pro for the last year and a half... and now that I just missed the deadline for the free ipod touch I am now serious about buying on errr...


There is a mac store 20 minutes from my house and I have an appointment to go look at them on Tuesday...

I am a student and I am planning on getting a 2.5ghz 17" mbp with the high res glossy monitor (unless it just doesn't impress me when I'm in the store)

I am cheap, but when the base mbp is 1800 it makes sense to me to spend 800 more for the better monitor more power and all the extras...

A couple of questions...
1.) Can I install my Microsoft Office 2003 Student edition onto it or would I have to buy a mac specific version?
2.) Will the mbp come with a word processor on it, or will I have to buy something?
3.) If I don't get MS, does anyone know if there is a free download to just open a power point to view it and print it?

Thanks ya'll!

09-20-2008, 04:12 PM

1. You need a Mac version, unless you install Windows to run it, via Bootcamp, or Parallels or VMWare Fusion.
2. I think you'll have the iWork '08 trial on it, but nothing more.
3. I think that you can still do that with the iWork trial after it expires... but I'm not so sure on that one and I can't think of another app off the top of my head.

09-20-2008, 04:14 PM

1.) You'd need a Mac version. Office 08 is the newest (04 doesn't run natively on Intel Macs). Windows software doesn't work on Macs, unless you install Windows on them.

2.) No, it just comes with a basic text editor. You'd need to buy iWork or Office, or download OpenOffice for free. It does come with iLife though - http://www.apple.com/ilife/

3.) OpenOffice has the lot, for free. Leopard will Quickview Powerpoint files natively though I believe.

09-20-2008, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Alexis

1.)
3.) OpenOffice has the lot, for free. Leopard will Quickview Powerpoint files natively though I believe.

Why didn't I think of that?!

09-20-2008, 05:46 PM

zman2408:

You might want to think about the glossy monitor a little more. I have a matte monitor, my wife's laptop has a glossy monitor. I find the glare from the glossy monitor very annoying while trying to read news.

Just my 2 cents.

09-20-2008, 09:07 PM

Wow thanks for the rapid replies...

1.) Yeah I wasn't at home and just didnt know if the mac version would be on a different disc or if it was the same... now I know
2.) Cool the iwork 08 trial will be nice so I can see which I'd prefer office/iwork
&
I will def. check out open office
3.) Leopard being able to open/preview/print power point files is awesome, b/c some of my professors post pp's of their lectures onlines..

douga:

Yeah I plan on checking all that out on Tuesday when I go w/ the personal shopper to check everything out...

Does anyone know of any digital voice recorders that I could take into lecture then plug into the mbp d/l it and save fast forward rewind that kind of stuff?

Thanks ya'll!

09-20-2008, 09:12 PM

You might also want to take into consideration the fact that Apple might be updating the Macbooks sometime in mid-October (the rumored date is October 14)

09-22-2008, 07:38 AM

Ok I have done a complete since I originally posted, my cheapness has changed my mind haha...

I plan on buying the cheapest mbp the 1799 w/ the student discount... Since this is my very first mac I decided I don't need the best most expensive one to learn on... & since I am looking at 8-10 more years of school, my photography & video hobby may be on hold for a while I don't need the extras of the better mbp...

I figured out that the 512mb gfx card vs the 256 isn't gonna make a difference to me and the only other reason to pay 500 bucks to upgrade to the middle mbp is for the 6mb of cache 2.5ghz cpu but since I'm not gonna be running any major programs I don't think I'll even know a difference...

From what I've read I think the updates in October are going to be mainly cosmetic which i dont care about b/c I <3 how they look now. BUT I do care if on October 14th my 1799 mbp becomes a 1399 mbp so I will talk to the salesmen and figure out what kind of "protection" I have or can get with that... How long do you have to return a mbp to a mac store? Hopefully it's 30 days that gives me until Oct 22 ish ...

What do ya'll think ?

09-22-2008, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by skaheadpunk

Why didn't I think of that?!

Even better is NeoOffice