Mac book Pro - new network - new in 2015?

[jer99]

I've been a PC person that went kicking and screaming into Windows back in 1993(?)
I'm a database/programmer person by day and Love my iPhones, iPads and iPod.

So over a recent cruise and taking a few beginning MAC classes, I'm seriously considering replacing my PC network to a MAC network. In speaking with the techie person on the ship who was extremely helpful, I asked what I needed to replace:
1) 1 Terabyte drive mirrored
2) 8G (or more ) memory
3) Intel Core i7
4) and support

• using 3 displays
• Scan Snap
• Cannon Photo Printer
• HP Color LaserJet
• 2 DVD drives - one internal, 1 external
• THX surround sound 5 channel surround
• External 10T Drobo for use with my Apple TV(2)

I was told that the answer would be a Mac book Pro with a docking station
The Mac book Pro would be a 1 TB SSD 15 inch
The docking station was non-apple brand that might allow for 2 monitors with the Mac book using 1 monitor. They would all act like 1 large monitor.

So now I have a ton of questions and I was hoping someone could help.
The new Mac Book Pro 13 inch was just announced.

Typically, does this mean that a 15 inch will soon be announced with the new items?

What type of docking station would you recommend?

My monitors are HDMI/DVI Asus 22 inch monitors. Should I bite the bullet and get MAC monitor(s) - will they be that much better?

When I ask about multiple MAC monitors, most people just look at me funny - why? I do programming and also watch stocks and multiple monitors have really spoiled me. Is it different in the MAC world?

I'll stop there for now, but really appreciate any guidance and help you might provide.

Jerry

 

[S.SubZero]

The "docks" for Macs are Thunderbolt-based port replicators. I don't think I've seen any that handle more than one or two monitors tops.

You may want to look at this Matrox multi-display device: Matrox TripleHead2Go DisplayPort | Multi-Monitors for Laptops

Tho it is limited in resolution.

Not sure what PC laptop you have now that natively supports three displays. I've never seen that in a laptop.

 

[bobtomay]

Not sure the op has a laptop now - never told us - that's just what the one giving the classes recommended. Didn't see anything you mentioned that would cause me to recommend a notebook for you.

Personally, at the price of a 15" MBP with 1 TB flash storage and a semi-real video card, would recommend you call an Apple store and set up an hour time slot to visit and have someone walk you through the Mac Pro and answer all your questions. The cheapest model supports a minimum of 3ea 4k monitors out of the box. The percentage of folks running dual and triple monitors is very small, no matter the OS selection.

No one can answer whether all your printers will be supported without model #'s.
You can google that as well as the rest of us.
If you don't find easy links with a few complaining they can't get them to work, you're likely good to go.

No one knows when Apple will update the 15" model - it is, however, due for an update imho - the GT 750M is getting long in the tooth for a new computer, so you'll have to join the club of those waiting for it.

And what is a 10T Drobo? Unless you meant 10 TB...