Macbook Pro, Questions Needing Answers!

Im a new college student looking to purchase a Macbook Pro, but I have a couple of questions. Im looking at a 15" 2.4ghz, 160gb 7200rpm harddrive, with a 3 year warranty. Should I get the glossy or matte screen. Is the glossy really that bad in the sun, especially the LED one? Will I be able to install windows vista *shock* easily enough? Should I install it, or just Parallels it, with games and such? Is there a good media-center like add on I can use so I can plug a co-ax cable and view TV on the Macbook? Could I use a 32" LCD HDTV as an external monitor and will it look bad if I do? Should I get a Mighty Mouse, or another wireless mouse, I need one to carry around? What additional products (peripherals) should I get? Thanks all!

Alright, I can't answer most of your questions- but I can help with at least one. If you want games in Vista, use BootCamp. Parallels doesn't do a very good job with 3D games and graphics cards and such. I believe the current version supports DirectX 8 or something. (DX10 is the current version. ) LED is just the backlight, won't change reflections or anything... It isn't sharper, and it isn't reflective- it uses less energy and is more eco-friendly, I believe.

I have the glossy (just got it about 1.5 weeks ago) and use it out on my deck occasionally (in indirect sunlight) and haven't had any problems with glare. I don't know if you can wait but I know that leopard (coming out in October) will have boot camp (a program to install/boot windows) already built into the OS. To view tv on your MBP you could use this(though I have no experience with it) http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0259604

I just use the mouse I had with my desktop PC. I also plan on occasionally using my 20" samsung lcd hdtv as an external monitor and have heard it looks great as a monitor so you shouldn't have any problems.

Though I'm still a newbie to macs if you have any more questions feel free to PM Me.

glossy is the way to go, if you are not into professional photography or imaging as glossy does not give you "real" colors. The glare issue is relatively moot, but for some people it has happened, although not to me or anyone that I know that has a glossy MBP.

melow71 said:

The glare issue is relatively moot...

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Oh ?

There's a handy little USB device called Eye TV you can use to hook up to your cable.

I'm a grad student and have the wireless Mighty Mouse. I really like it because no USB adapter needed and it's nice, low-profile design makes it great for tossing in a bag without bulk. The little scroll ball will take you about a day to get used to, but once you do, you'll like it and old scroll wheels just feel clunky and rough.

If you're big in games you have to go with Boot Camp install, but you can still use Parallels too if you want from the same Windows copy. If you're a gamer though, I would highly recommend going with XP rather than Vista as Vista does not work well with games as far as graphics. On my 2.16 C2D MBP, I was getting over 100 FPS on Counter Strike with XP and after I installed Vista the FPS went down to 70!! Just imagine a more graphics-intense game.

Some claim glossy isn't that bad. I don't buy it. The first time I saw an MBP in the Apple store, they had a matte and glossy side-by-side. Angled up towards the overhead lights, I could read the matte just fine and only saw a glare reflection on the glossy. I knew I had to have the matte as I move around with my MBP a lot in varying lighting conditions. I didn't want to have to be bothered by any glare. If I'm gaming or watching a movie, it's on my external monitor at home anyway, and movies and games are about the only time glossy is advantageous.

The LCD TV will work, but just keep in mind you won't be able to set it to a high resolution like a monitor. It'll only go as high as the screen, like 720, which I think kinda makes it worthless to use as a monitor.

Hope that helps. Congrats on your Mac purchase. You have already made the most important decision, and it was a great choice!!

Im a new college student looking to purchase a Macbook Pro, but I have a couple of questions. Im looking at a 15" 2.4ghz, 160gb 7200rpm harddrive, with a 3 year warranty. Should I get the glossy or matte screen. Is the glossy really that bad in the sun, especially the LED one? Will I be able to install windows vista *shock* easily enough? Should I install it, or just Parallels it, with games and such? Is there a good media-center like add on I can use so I can plug a co-ax cable and view TV on the Macbook? Could I use a 32" LCD HDTV as an external monitor and will it look bad if I do? Should I get a Mighty Mouse, or another wireless mouse, I need one to carry around? What additional products (peripherals) should I get? Thanks all!

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You might want to keep the latest mac osx its way better than the windows for GUI and Stability way more practicality and fun.

If you wanna connect your macBook pro to your 32" LCD there are a lot of options:
you might wanna check this link from the apple store site:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...mco=88D0EC6B&node=home/mac_accessories/cables

For the warranty actually what comes with your macbook is a 90day phone support warranty and 1 year hardware warranty.

If you wanna extend the warrnty to 3 years you need to purchase the apple care protection plan. for macbooks its $249 it would extend your phone support to 3 years and the hardware as well. When you purchase the apple warranty they will also send you utility CD called a tech tool CD.