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
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