New Guy, trying to decide a few things

Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Minnesota, USA
Hi all,

I bought a MacBook Pro a few weeks ago. This was my first Mac in 15 years & I really liked it. Unfortunately it was stolen 15 days after I bought it (along with 2 fairly new Windows laptops and my 500gb external) :(

While I'm waiting for my homeowners insurance to get it replaced I've been surfing around doing some research into a few things & found this great forum.

Here are a few things I'm trying to decide. I'm in the process of deciding & if anyone wants to offer any opinions based on your experiences that'd be great.

1) Apple Care yes or no. So far I'm leaning yes. When I bought a $1,000 Windows laptop I didn't get the HP extended warranty since it was 1/3 the price of a new machine. It's been a long time since I've spent $2,500 on a computer & I think if nothing else Apple Care will give a little piece of mind.

2) XP or Vista. On the stolen machine I had installed XP Home via Boot Camp. Since my Windows disc & license disappeared with the computer I need a new copy of Windows. I know MS is dropping support/updates for the Home versions of XP this year, not that it probably matters. I have used Vista & while I wasn't overwhelmed it wasn't as bad as a lot of folks make it out to be either. Have any problems cropped up with Vista running on a Mac? If I go Vista it'll probably just be the basic version since I'm really only going to be using Windows to run a couple of specific apps. Price wise they're the same.

3) RAM. Any suggestions for the best place to get it. I won't be paying Apple not at $1,000 for what should be $100 to $200 worth of memory.

4) Office 2008, iWork or NeoOffice. I do really basic office type stuff. Have a couple excel spreadsheets I use to keep track of some stuff. Nothing special & I'm sure any of the would be OK. I'm familiar with Office since I use it at work & ran it on my PC. With the home version of Office being the most expensive & still only about $120 price isn't much of an issue. Thoughts?

5) Any handy little freeware apps I should be checking out? I found LiquidCD & it looks like it'll be all I need for burning (just basic data discs & occasional CD copying). Anything else?


Thanks
 
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
9,383
Reaction score
417
Points
83
Location
Irvine, CA
Your Mac's Specs
Black Macbook C2D 2GHz 3GB RAM 250GB HD iPhone 4 iPad 3G
1) For a laptop, AppleCare is simply a no brainer. Definitely worth the cost if you ever need repairs done.

2) Stick with XP simply because it uses fewer resources and costs less than Vista. I would also suggest buying an OEM copy to further reduce cost.

3) There are a variety of online retailers that have really good RAM prices. I would suggest checking out Crucial.com and Newegg

4) If you need to use Excel, then you should stay away from iWork as Numbers isn't really that good of a spreadsheet program. Try NeoOffice first, but if it doesn't suit your needs, then you can't go wrong with the industry standard, Office. Plus, Office 2008 is pretty ;P

5) Mac-Forums has a nice switcher's guide to OS X Software that you should check out. I got some programs from that list when I first got my Mac, and it was a great resource for somebody just starting out.
 

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