Wanting to Switch, but...

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I'm in serious need of a new notebook and I've been looking hard at the 13 inch Macbook. I've been to local apple stores and I've been to the Apple site and even looked around at other websites dedicated to Macs, but I still have some questions that can't seem to find the answers to on my own, so I came to you all.

I've been using PCs as my primary system for the past 12 years. So I'm acclimated to Windows and its quirks, I consider myself quite proficient with a PC as I've built several systems for myself and friends and I'm usually able to trouble shoot problems quickly. My first computer was an Apple IIe and since getting rid of that I did have a G3 Power PC for awhile that I mostly used to watch movies or surf the net while gaming on my PCs. I'm not much of a gamer these days though, life gets in the way much of the time. So my questions are few, but I still would like to get some answers before I drop over $1,000 on a system I may regret purchasing in a few months time.

1. Battery Life - I've heard of people saying that the battery on the MacBook lasts up to 9 hours and as little as 3 hours. What does it actually get?

2. Start up time - How long is it really? I've rebooted them at the store although I'm sure they must be optimized. 30 seconds seems awfully fast to me.

3. Heat - I've heard the horror stories of people receiving 1st degree burns from the MacBooks sitting on their laps. I realize that all laptops get hot, and the smaller ones usually more so than larger ones. But is this really an problem?

4. When to purchase - I know that Leopard is coming out in a few months, but I'm not really concerned about that. What I am concerned about is the new 45nm processors from Intel. Are there any plans to use these in the MacBook in the foreseeable future, as they will create less heat and have better energy conservation and therefore better battery life?

5. Add ons - Being a PC guy I'm use to having to purchase add on pieces/software for every machine I have. And I realize that Mac's big thing is that you pull it out of the box and your good to go. But for actual daily usage for the average person what needs to be purchased with the MacBook? I already plan on picking up iWork or Office for Mac. I want to use the system for editing of video on the prosumer level, podcast producing, and normal web surfing/email.

6. Is there a cheaper option to Final Cut Pro with equivalent functionality? $1300 is a bit high for my budget as it is.

Thank you for your sincere answers to my questions. And hopefully I can convince my wife that a Mac is a superior option.
 
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Hiya and Welcome to Mac Forums!

1) You get a maximum of 6 hours, with Airport off and bluetooth off. You can increase it by turning your brightness down etc. You get 3.5 hours when watching a dvd.

2)Start up time is rather fast around 20-30 seconds tops.

3)Yes they do get hot, but as they are called notebooks they are not exactly designed for your lap! you could get an ilap or a heat mat thingy.

4) There is really no need to wait unless you must have all the features in Leopard and can wait, as you said you are in desperate need so i would buy now if i was you.

5) For podcasts garage band is designed for that. which comes part of ilife. Also i think iwork will be sufficent for your needs.

6) Don't final cut have 2 versions; express and pro?

Hope i helped.

JTM
 
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Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP 2.0 GHz, Core Duo, 2 GB Ram
I'm in serious need of a new notebook and I've been looking hard at the 13 inch Macbook. I've been to local apple stores and I've been to the Apple site and even looked around at other websites dedicated to Macs, but I still have some questions that can't seem to find the answers to on my own, so I came to you all.

I've been using PCs as my primary system for the past 12 years. So I'm acclimated to Windows and its quirks, I consider myself quite proficient with a PC as I've built several systems for myself and friends and I'm usually able to trouble shoot problems quickly. My first computer was an Apple IIe and since getting rid of that I did have a G3 Power PC for awhile that I mostly used to watch movies or surf the net while gaming on my PCs. I'm not much of a gamer these days though, life gets in the way much of the time. So my questions are few, but I still would like to get some answers before I drop over $1,000 on a system I may regret purchasing in a few months time.

1. Battery Life - I've heard of people saying that the battery on the MacBook lasts up to 9 hours and as little as 3 hours. What does it actually get?

2. Start up time - How long is it really? I've rebooted them at the store although I'm sure they must be optimized. 30 seconds seems awfully fast to me.

3. Heat - I've heard the horror stories of people receiving 1st degree burns from the MacBooks sitting on their laps. I realize that all laptops get hot, and the smaller ones usually more so than larger ones. But is this really an problem?

4. When to purchase - I know that Leopard is coming out in a few months, but I'm not really concerned about that. What I am concerned about is the new 45nm processors from Intel. Are there any plans to use these in the MacBook in the foreseeable future, as they will create less heat and have better energy conservation and therefore better battery life?

5. Add ons - Being a PC guy I'm use to having to purchase add on pieces/software for every machine I have. And I realize that Mac's big thing is that you pull it out of the box and your good to go. But for actual daily usage for the average person what needs to be purchased with the MacBook? I already plan on picking up iWork or Office for Mac. I want to use the system for editing of video on the prosumer level, podcast producing, and normal web surfing/email.

6. Is there a cheaper option to Final Cut Pro with equivalent functionality? $1300 is a bit high for my budget as it is.

Thank you for your sincere answers to my questions. And hopefully I can convince my wife that a Mac is a superior option.

1. Depends on what you are using it for...high cpu usage means more fan speed, means less battery life. Low cpu, less fan speed, more battery life. I would say 3 hours of use is pretty good, but probably maximal.

2. Startup time is fast...about 30 seconds, of course as you add more stuff, it takes longer, but still very fast.

3. I think the heat issues are pretty well solved at this point, but they do have a safety warning about putting the notebook computer directly on your lap.

4. Things will always be coming out that are better, cooler, faster, quiter, and so on...so I would just place the decision on whether you want to wait for Leopard or not. If you keep waiting for the latest update to hardware, you'll be waiting for a lifetime.

5. Add-ons. I would say for video editing...an external hard drive of substantial size. Office for mac is great, but NeoOffice isn't bad, and it's free....you might see if it will serve your needs.

6. iMovieHD is a great little piece of video editing software. If you really wnat to get complicated, I would say bump up to Final Cut Express...it has more features, but not as many as pro, and I believe runs around $300.

Best of luck in your decision making,

Brian
 
Joined
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Your Mac's Specs
20" iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16Ghz, 500GB HDD, 1GB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600
The guy above mentioned iMovie HD which has now been completely replaced by iMovie '08 three days ago.
 

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