absolute beginner

Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
hey everybody as the title suggests i'm a beginner to all things mac, i'm currently a student saving up to get a mac for college and wanted to know what i should get and all the pros and cons to a mac as i really don't know much about them.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Two important questions to answer:

1. What do you expect your eventual budget to be? This will help narrow the choices.
2. Do you need portability (laptop vs. desktop)? This will also help narrow the choices.

One additional important question...Are you committed to buying a Macintosh computer...or still deciding between a Mac or a Windows computer?

If you're still deciding...you really have to experience a Mac for yourself. This really is not an experience other users can convey to someone who is not familiar with Mac's. I would suggest going to a nearby store that has Mac's...and try them out.

- Nick
 
OP
M
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
My budget is about £1200 and it would have to be portable so I can use it in college. Also yes i have tried one before and am set on getting one just don't know where to start
 
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
452
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Location
Canada
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook Pro, 2.4GHz Core2 Duo 10.6.8, MacMini
You could also look at the Mac Refurb store. Pagoo's post are good questions to ask yourself but I'd add 3) What do you want to use it for (Graphics, gaming, will you need windows progs for school etc).

A lot of additions, maintenance and alternatives are free and 'payware' is more of a matter of choice..
 
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
452
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Location
Canada
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook Pro, 2.4GHz Core2 Duo 10.6.8, MacMini
I like the ease of portability of my mac mini.. I just grab it and take it home when I visit (my parents have an extra power cord, monitor and keyboard etc.) If you are looking to do things on the run, in a cafe etc then that would be a laptop or tablet or something and I know little about them. I think also (I'm not really sure) the new mini's do not come with a DVD writer, so if you go mini then you would also need an external.
 
C

chas_m

Guest
If your needs are typical and you're not a hard-core gamer, then the just-discontinued White MacBook should be showing up on the refurb store at a good discount, and should be well under $1000.

The next step up hardware-wise is the 13" MacBook Pro. They've just recently switched them to the Core iX series of chips, get that if you can afford it. The refurb Core2Duos should be perfectly excellent for typical use, but are not much of a step up from the White MacBook (which is why they discontinued it).

If you don't need an optical drive (most people don't, really) and can live with the limited (but lightning fast) space of an SSD drive, you might want to look at the MacBook Air (also just updated). VERY sweet machine for $1000, but again won't be great for 3D gaming (you gotta go for a 15" MBP to get a good portable hard-core gaming machine).

Any of these machines will play any "casual" game on the market, so if you're not a big gamer it's hard to go wrong with any of them.
 
OP
M
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
well i wouldn't play it for hardcore games as i have a games console for that, but i want to also have some money if possible at the end to get some software for it because although i'm not doing a music course i like to record what i play and so would want to get software for that. @aqua if you know of any good refurbishment sites for mac could you give me the address for them
 
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
452
Reaction score
9
Points
18
Location
Canada
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook Pro, 2.4GHz Core2 Duo 10.6.8, MacMini
OP
M
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
ok well il look into a new or refurbished mac. so what would you say would be the best document program for the mac and where can i get the software
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
ok well il look into a new or refurbished mac. so what would you say would be the best document program for the mac and where can i get the software

When you say "document program"...do you mean "word processing program"...or something else?

- Nick
 
OP
M
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
not just that put things like PowerPoint and excel as well, just i don't want to have to buy the Microsoft office program as its expensive and i never liked microsoft's products anyway
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
OP
M
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
i have heard of the program as that's what i currently use, i just didn't realize that there was a version for mac
 
C

chas_m

Guest
iWork (available as a whole or per-app via the Mac App Store) is another alternative that is far more "Mac-like" but does cost a (very modest) amount of money. For presentation software in particular, however, Keynote simply *cannot be beat.* Let me put it this way, it's what Steve Jobs uses. Nuff said.
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2011
Messages
30
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Desert
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro 15", i7 2GHz Quad Core, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, OS X 10.7.1 - iPhone 3GS
Welcome and congratulations on your choice!

I use Open Office and I personally cannot tell the difference between the Mac version and the version that has to run on broken computers. ;) You have all the same options and functionality within the program itself. My use for it is simple as I just put together papers as assigned in college or presentations that are content focused on just a grade such as your general English requirement classes. If you save these files to something like Dropbox (2GB free account) or even a USB drive you of course don't use or need a lot of local drive space. I like to use Dropbox as I can do all my work on my Mac and then just use one of the Windows computers in the library to login through the Dropbox website and access my assignment to print it off the school laser jet; they use Office and it still comes out fine saved as a doc file.

Good luck and I hope you get the classes you want this semester. :)
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Messages
223
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Location
NYC
Your Mac's Specs
2011 27in iMac i5 3.1GHz, AMD 6970, iPhone 4, Wi-Fi iPad 2
They are 19.99 per app through the mac app store.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top