Buying my first Mac in June

Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
United States
Your Mac's Specs
Getting a Macbook Pro i7 in June. I also own an iPhone 3GS.
I have been a PC user since AOL was first released. The only Mac products I have ever owned have been the iPhone (I have owned all the generations) and the flat Apple keyboard that I use with my desktop PC. I have even built my past three desktops.

Honestly, I'm sick of all the upgrading and the random problems I have with each computer... all the frustration and money spent on various stupid things. I want a computer that works without all the headache.

I'm getting into schooling for Graphic Design, and I need a laptop mostly for Adobe software and also for Pro Tools on the side (I have an audio engineering certificate). Obviously Macbook Pro is the way to go. I have been doing a bunch of research on the MBP and have come to the conclusion that once I get it, I no longer have a need for my Desktop PC as the MBP will be more powerful and more reliable.

I have been frantically trying to figure out how to come up with the money early by selling some things (including my self built PC), but it looks like I won't have enough total money to buy the computer until June when I get my financial aid for summer classes at school. I thought about the credit card that you can get through the online Apple store, but my credit isn't great and I hear that it's bad for your credit to get a card and automatically max it out.

It's going to be a long month and a half, but I'm definitely looking forward to the switch.

I have some questions. I have read some articals about the difference between the glossy and antiglare screens, but I still can't make up my mind. I will be using my MBP away from home in classrooms with bright lights. I know for a fact that having horrible reflections and glare will drive me crazy... but I wonder... is it really as bad as I'm assuming it is? A Mac friend of mine went with glossy and he said it isn't as bad as I think. If I'm going to be working with art applications, I definitely want rich color and contrast. Regardless, I'll be going high res.

Also, I can't decide which hard drive to get. The SSD has less space and is more expensive, but it's faster... which would definitely make me happy. However I can get considerable more space for less by going with the 500g 7200rpm drive. My friend says that having the space is more important until SSD prices go down. What do you think?

I am going to read through all of the links in the stickies.... I have already started. Any other advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Oh and I can't wait for iPhone 4!
 
Joined
Jun 13, 2008
Messages
38
Reaction score
0
Points
6
I don't have any advice for you.

But I do want to welcome you. I switched a little over two years ago. I would never go back.

Terri
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2009
Messages
473
Reaction score
8
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook Pro 13"
I would try your friend's MacBook before you decide on glossy or anti-glare screen. If you find it to be reflecting too much for you, get the anit-glare.

Since money is a concern for you, stay away from SSDs. They are too expensive right now.

My #1 suggestion for you is to try out a MacBook Pro yourself.

Also, sometimes Apple has a summer deal for students. Last year it included a free iPod Touch with the computer.

Good luck
 
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
216
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Location
Finland
Your Mac's Specs
iMac 27" 12TB Yosmite
Trust us when we say this. You will not regret migrating away from the windows environment. It was the best thing I personally ever did my friend.
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
2,116
Reaction score
123
Points
63
Location
Rocky Mountain High, Colorado
Your Mac's Specs
1.8 GHz i7 MBA 11" OSX 10.8.2
I've used both an antiglare and currently a glossy. I made a compromise on getting the glossy but now that I have it I like it. I am not sure I would go back to anti-glare. There is a reflection sometimes but the colors are great. I use my computer on the road - in airports, bright rooms, on planes with windows open - I have to say the reflection doesn't really bother me. But you have to go try it yourself. Many people still swear by anti-glare.

As far as SSD and speed - for the price I would get the 500GB 7200 RPM drive and 8GB of RAM. That way you can keep more stuff open - and running. So initial startup would take a little longer but you could run more at once - and keep stuff running. You are talking $450 vs $1250 in addons. The real world use - you'd probably be running faster as you would have what you needed open and switch between them. Other than disk-write intensive operations - maybe like video editing and rendering - you will probably see better performance with more RAM.
 
OP
HonestIllusion
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
United States
Your Mac's Specs
Getting a Macbook Pro i7 in June. I also own an iPhone 3GS.
Thanks for the responses so far.

I'm definitely ready for the switch. In fact, I'm trying to ensure in every way possible that I don't need to dual boot Windows 7 with the MBP.

I didn't know about the summer deals. Do they have a normal window of time that they do this? Maybe I'll be lucky and they will have something going in the middle of June. I have an iPhone, but I could give an iTouch to my son.

My mac friend lives in another state and I don't know anyone else with one. Too bad I can't borrow one of them from the bookstore at school for a few hours to walk around campus with. The best I can do is make a judgment based off looking at the screens there or at the Apple store.

I'll go with the 500g hard drive. I'd really like 8g of ram, but my friend says that it's cheaper to buy it from another company instead of Apple. I still have to worry about buying some sort of case for it and some accessories.... and I need a good portable hard drive as my current one is small and ancient.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Messages
2,073
Reaction score
68
Points
48
Location
Ithaca NY
Your Mac's Specs
13 inch alMacBook 2GHz C2D 4G DDR3, 1.25GHz G4 eMac
Trust us when we say this. You will not regret migrating away from the windows environment. It was the best thing I personally ever did my friend.

Agreed. Even if you go to Ubuntu 10, you probably won't regret moving away from Windows.
 
OP
HonestIllusion
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
United States
Your Mac's Specs
Getting a Macbook Pro i7 in June. I also own an iPhone 3GS.
Actually... I have developed an unhealthy obsession with getting my MBP. I feel like a crack head... trying to figure out what I can see that I own in order to get it faster.
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
2009 imac 21.5", 256mb radeon card, etc
and a direct yoda quote. I'm pretty sure he was talking about macs.
 
OP
HonestIllusion
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
United States
Your Mac's Specs
Getting a Macbook Pro i7 in June. I also own an iPhone 3GS.
and a direct yoda quote. I'm pretty sure he was talking about macs.

Hehe.. right on.

I'm printing out a bunch of material to put in a folder that relates to OSX and Mac computers in general. I already printed out the keyboard shortcuts list, and a bunch of the pro tips from the Apple webpage. I'm also going through the stickies to find other useful stuff. I want to have this stuff right at my fingertips for when I get my Macbook next month. Like I said... I'm obsessing.

If anyone wants to point me to some links of some stuff I might want to print out, I would appreciate it.
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
318
Reaction score
8
Points
18
Location
Australia
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP i5 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD 7200 + iPhone 4 32GB iOS4.1
There's no reason to rush into your Mac when you don't even own one yet! :)

Take your time with it and enjoy the experience of switching. First start off navigating around the OS and getting yourself familiar with it. Then once you are happy with it, start customizing it to suit your needs and.

These are the applications that I use regularly:

Skype
Firefox
XCode
Transmission
Microsoft Office
Photoshop CS4
Flash CS4
iSquint
VLC
Quicksilver
VMWare Fusion
AppFresh
AppZapper
JumpCut or ClipMenu
LittleSnapper


-Ben
Have a look at some of those if they interst you. :)
 
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
8,428
Reaction score
295
Points
83
Location
Waiting for a mate . . .
Your Mac's Specs
21" iMac 2.9Ghz 16GB RAM - 10.11.3, iPhone6s & iPad Air 2 - iOS 9.2.1, ATV 4Th Gen tvOS, ATV3
I feel like a crack head... trying to figure out what I can see that I own in order to get it faster.

And what does a crack head feel like ?? lol ;P
 

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