Hi Guys,
Around 6 months ago now I purchased my first every MacBook Pro (Mid 2012) after being a Windows user for over 10 years however I've run into some difficulties;
In the 6 months I've had it, its had to go in for repair twice due to hardware faults which were not caused by myself - the 1st time was for a logic board replacement and the 2nd time was as the keyboard stopped working. These are issues that I was prepared to overlook however recently I was required to re-install OSX which I did with the guidance of an Apple Care specialist...
The only thing is that when I re-installed OSX, it somehow backdated itself to Lion when the system came with Mountain Lion pre-installed. I've spoken to Apple Care about this for over a week to try and resolve the issue and the current update is that they cannot give me a redemption code for Mountain Lion and also cannot explain whats happened. After numerous calls to them about this I've now got 3 options available to me...
1) Purchased Mountain Lion for £14 and Apple Care will give me £60 worth of Apple Store vouchers due to the issue
2) Full refund on my MacBoo Pro Mid 2012 (Spec Below)
15-inch MacBook Pro
With the following configuration:
•2.6GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
•8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
•750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
•SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
•MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display
3) Take the refund and purchase something like this laptop which is almost the equivalent cost of my MacBook Pro;
Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2 x NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM (Special Offer)
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
Now don't get me wrong, I have really and still do enjoy using my MacBook Pro - the interface is great, it doesn't feel clunky, everything feels smoother and simpler, it can handle mid range gaming (Which I was surprised about) and although I'm yet to try it - I can only assume its going to be great for Photo, Video and Music Production as well but the fact that a few things have gone wrong so far hardware wise and that that its been difficult for me to get reimbursed for the Mountain Lion loss has obviously been quite frustrating;
I've done countless hours of research online to try and find out what system (Mac or Windows) will be best for what I want and for the most part the overall conclusion is a Mac...
I'm just looking for some final advice on whats best for what I want / need before I go back to Apple in the next 1-2 days with my decision on how I wish to proceed;
What I'm Looking For
I want a system primarily for;
1) General Use
2) Photo and Video Production / Editing
3) Music Production
4) Casual Gaming
Now, as discussed I know that a MBP can do all of the above but for the cost which was circa £1750 in the Christmas sales I can get a Windows specced laptop as above which I was advised would blow my MBP out of the water in terms of power and capabilities. In fairness, the company advised that it is a "Gaming Laptop" but that I will find that top end gaming laptops are almost identical spec wise to what you need for Photo, Video and Music Production / Editing...
I would have considered buying a replacement MBP but as the sale is no longer on it would mean paying an extra £150 - £200 for a system that is ALMOST like for like;
I dont want to ignite a Windows vs Mac war but for what I want I could use some guidance from the more experienced users. If its best to stick with Mac for the stuff that I want then thats what I'll do however if based on the issues that I've had / money and cost of another system with higher specs will be a better option then this is something I'll consider!
Around 6 months ago now I purchased my first every MacBook Pro (Mid 2012) after being a Windows user for over 10 years however I've run into some difficulties;
In the 6 months I've had it, its had to go in for repair twice due to hardware faults which were not caused by myself - the 1st time was for a logic board replacement and the 2nd time was as the keyboard stopped working. These are issues that I was prepared to overlook however recently I was required to re-install OSX which I did with the guidance of an Apple Care specialist...
The only thing is that when I re-installed OSX, it somehow backdated itself to Lion when the system came with Mountain Lion pre-installed. I've spoken to Apple Care about this for over a week to try and resolve the issue and the current update is that they cannot give me a redemption code for Mountain Lion and also cannot explain whats happened. After numerous calls to them about this I've now got 3 options available to me...
1) Purchased Mountain Lion for £14 and Apple Care will give me £60 worth of Apple Store vouchers due to the issue
2) Full refund on my MacBoo Pro Mid 2012 (Spec Below)
15-inch MacBook Pro
With the following configuration:
•2.6GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
•8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
•750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm
•SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
•MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display
3) Take the refund and purchase something like this laptop which is almost the equivalent cost of my MacBook Pro;
Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2 x NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM (Special Offer)
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
Now don't get me wrong, I have really and still do enjoy using my MacBook Pro - the interface is great, it doesn't feel clunky, everything feels smoother and simpler, it can handle mid range gaming (Which I was surprised about) and although I'm yet to try it - I can only assume its going to be great for Photo, Video and Music Production as well but the fact that a few things have gone wrong so far hardware wise and that that its been difficult for me to get reimbursed for the Mountain Lion loss has obviously been quite frustrating;
I've done countless hours of research online to try and find out what system (Mac or Windows) will be best for what I want and for the most part the overall conclusion is a Mac...
I'm just looking for some final advice on whats best for what I want / need before I go back to Apple in the next 1-2 days with my decision on how I wish to proceed;
What I'm Looking For
I want a system primarily for;
1) General Use
2) Photo and Video Production / Editing
3) Music Production
4) Casual Gaming
Now, as discussed I know that a MBP can do all of the above but for the cost which was circa £1750 in the Christmas sales I can get a Windows specced laptop as above which I was advised would blow my MBP out of the water in terms of power and capabilities. In fairness, the company advised that it is a "Gaming Laptop" but that I will find that top end gaming laptops are almost identical spec wise to what you need for Photo, Video and Music Production / Editing...
I would have considered buying a replacement MBP but as the sale is no longer on it would mean paying an extra £150 - £200 for a system that is ALMOST like for like;
I dont want to ignite a Windows vs Mac war but for what I want I could use some guidance from the more experienced users. If its best to stick with Mac for the stuff that I want then thats what I'll do however if based on the issues that I've had / money and cost of another system with higher specs will be a better option then this is something I'll consider!