I need some serious advice!

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I am looking to finally get a MacBook Pro... I was deciding with that and the iPad and think I have made the right choice with the MBP because of its superior productivity.

I have to very general questions:

1) Is the standard 13" model sufficient for an average user? If not, should I go to 15" or just upgrade the 13"?

2) Is it the right time to buy a MBP? Are there any updates coming that I should wait for?

Any help is beyond appreciated and I apologize if these questions seem incredibly general!
 
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I am looking to finally get a MacBook Pro... I was deciding with that and the iPad and think I have made the right choice with the MBP because of its superior productivity.

I have to very general questions:

1) Is the standard 13" model sufficient for an average user? If not, should I go to 15" or just upgrade the 13"?
Yes. If you want to upgrade anything tho, do it yourself. Much cheaper than buying from Apple.
2) Is it the right time to buy a MBP? Are there any updates coming that I should wait for?
If you wait, you might as well never buy another computer again. New things come out all the time. If you need it now, buy it. If you can wait, wait. Yes, there's rumor of Apple upgrading, but personally I don't see them having a big refresh.
Any help is beyond appreciated and I apologize if these questions seem incredibly general!

Answers in red.
 

cwa107


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I am looking to finally get a MacBook Pro... I was deciding with that and the iPad and think I have made the right choice with the MBP because of its superior productivity.

I have to very general questions:

1) Is the standard 13" model sufficient for an average user? If not, should I go to 15" or just upgrade the 13"?

More than sufficient for the "average" user - in fact, I'd venture to say that the standard MacBook is overkill for what most people use a computer for.

2) Is it the right time to buy a MBP? Are there any updates coming that I should wait for?

No one knows that answer, anything else you read is nothing more than speculation. But as has already been said, if you're always waiting for the next big thing in tech, you'll be waiting forever. Buy the computer you need when you need it and it will continue to suit those needs long after an updated model is released.

Any help is beyond appreciated and I apologize if these questions seem incredibly general!

My advice is to find an Apple Store or reseller near you. Go play with all of the models and see which one feels most comfortable for you. Personally, I prefer the 15" models, since the screen is not something you can upgrade later.
 
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I have the 13" MacBook Pro, and I can safely say it's way more then you'd ever expect on a computer.

I've had mine a year now and it's been perfect everyday I've used it!

The screen size isn't a issue for me, It's a handy smart size, not to big not to small, but as others said you should take a visit to the apple store test them out!

Hope my little review was helpful :)
 

pigoo3

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I love the title of this thread..."I need some serious advice!" As opposed to:

- regular advice
- non-serious advice
- goofy advice
- quick advice
- free advice
- etc.

;););)

- Nick
 
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I love the title of this thread..."I need some serious advice!" As opposed to:

- regular advice
- non-serious advice
- goofy advice
- quick advice
- free advice
- etc.

;););)

- Nick

I need some seriously regular, non-serious, goofy, quick and free advise! Any takers?
 

pigoo3

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I need some seriously regular, non-serious, goofy, quick and free advise! Any takers?

What's the topic?;)

- how to stay slim?
- thinning hair?
- how to get rich quick?
- problems in the bedroom?
- how to get chicks ("Sheila's" down-under);)
- flashing "?" on a Macintosh.;)

Just teasing...;)

- Nick
 
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Howdy!

OK, first of all, I'm almost _never_ serious. :D

We just scored our first Mac in several years (my business #2 had a few for our design staff). It's a new MBP 13" (4GB, 250GB HDD, 2.4 Ghz C2D). We're adding it to a fleet of Windows machines, and it's looking like it will work out without many issues. I bought this after pretty extensive consideration of the wife's next machine. She also an iPhone user, and the iTunes (combined with iLife) experience is much better under OSX. I also wanted to revisit the Mac since I've always had an interest in them and am also considering some possible iOS (iPhone/iPad) development.

1) Is the standard 13" model sufficient for an average user? If not, should I go to 15" or just upgrade the 13"?

The 13" is pretty stout. Unless you're dealing with incredibly CPU intensive tasks, I'd say it's more than enough for most folks. We'll be using it for office chores, web, email, some photo management, handling iTunes for the iPhone 4, and some light video work (mainly short, personal movies). I'll also be messing around with some development, in my non-existent spare time :D

If portability is high[er] on your list (you know, THE list), then the 13" is pretty hard to beat. The 15" has the perk of a higher resolution option, a faster CPU option and a faster GPU (probably most crucial for 3D work, video production, gaming, etc).

FWIW, even though you didn't mention it, I was sold on the MBP vs the MBA because of the faster CPU, better expandability, and backlit KB.

2) Is it the right time to buy a MBP? Are there any updates coming that I should wait for?

Right now is an excellent time to buy. If you keep a look out, you can score some outstanding deals. Ours was discounted $150 (via a rebate), no tax, free shipping for a total of $1049. Of course, there's some latency with the rebate, but I don't have any worries about that.

Like someone pointed out, if you wait, you're just giving up time you could be using an outstanding computer. Also consider that Apple machines seem to have incredible resale value (vs. Windows machines), so if in 6-8 months, there's an amazing replacement, and I can sell this at a ~$200 loss, that's not bad "rental" cost. :D
 

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