Is This The Right Mac For Me?

Mac_Grey

Mac_Grey

Active member
Mac Book Pro

13-inch : 2.53GHz

Memory - 4GB (included)

Hard Drive - 500GB (add $135)

AppleCare Protection Plan - 3 year support (add $183)

Total $1717

I'll be using it at school. Never owned a Mac but i've used them multiple times before. Will a 13" screen be too small? Hows the memory and hard drive looking? Do I need the applecare? I'm buying this on my own so I'm trying to keep it as cheap as possible but i want something ill like and be able to use for awhile. Any suggestions would help, something cheaper or something I'm lacking... thanks
 
I have a 13 inch macbook (non pro) with 1 gig of ram and it is definitely fine for school and everything. A bigger harddrive would definitely be better though, I think mine only has 80 or something. If your not doing a lot of gaming pr photoshop or editing then you wouldn't really neeed 4 gigs of ram
 
thats going to be a wicked fast computer. If you have the $$ for it, i don't see why not.
And mac's are super easy to learn and are way better than anything with Vista on it, I don't see a problem for you there
 
You most likely do not need the pro. How about you list what you plan on using it for. If your answer is browsing Newschoolers and writing papers, then go non pro.

If your answer is anything CPU/GPU intensive then the pro is beneficial (as long as you get the discrete gfx card)
 
using it for school... what kind of school? are you going to be editing or doing a lot of graphic stuff? or just typing papers on it? if its the latter, honestly you dont need that much power, if its the former, youll want the bigger screen. however you could also just go get a cheap secondary display to use when doing that stuff.
 
Holy hell that's expensive. I never realized when people said they were expensive they were THAT expensive. I could build that with pc components for half that.

But like Ben. said, you honestly don't need that kind of power unless you're going to be running a lot of applications that take up a large portion of the CPU.
 
i currently have about 20gb of music and that numbers growing. id like to use photoshop and final cut without any problems. dont game much if that matters
 
you just go to ur 700oth post! kepler.$
Karma : 11161
7000 Posts
Crazy Fool
88098.gif

but yea. that a fast mac and no need to having it that fast cuz if ur just typing papers, then....no, thats not the right mac for you.
 
i dont just type papers. i have an old dell laptop thats awfully slow at everything i do. it got so slow i had to remove photoshop and buy an external harddrive for my music and thats getting annoying
 
This is the old Macbook Case, but with the Macbook Pro label and a better CPU. Don't get the Macbook, it is a plastic piece of shitty-ness. The unibody MBP is far superior.

Good call on adding more HD space, but only get AppleCare if you can afford it, I don't think it cover's you in case of beer spillage, dropping etc.

This article is pretty useful for figuring out if you need it:
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/20/to-applecare-or-not-to-applecare-that-is-the-question/

If you got the $$ and can afford it, do it, as you'll be kicking yourself if it breaks and you have to pay loads.

The screen size depends on if your going to be photoshopping, editing videos etc. If you value portability then 13" is a good size, but if your going to be strainging over the laptop long into the night writing assignments, then you may want to consider the 15". The weight and size may be an issue for you, and again the cost will no doubt be a factor.

As said above, you can pick up a decent size monitor for not much these days, add a keyboard and mouse, and you've got yourself a workstation for home, with the added portability of a laptop when at school.
 
final cut = pro. as for the screen 13 is small, but as i said earlier, and external monitor is a good second option. i have a black 13 inch macbook, and when i do photoshop stuff, i use my tv at school as a display so i have a 21 inch monitor instead of a 13. plus then you can multitask like crazy with two monitors.
 
ill also schedule it to my parents homeowners insurance so it will be covered if stollen, lost, dropped or spillage. so hopefully applecare will handle the rest and not just be a waste of money...?
 
is the upgrade from 2.26GHz to 2.53GHz worth the $300 (its already included in my total above)

and will the NVIDIA GeForce 9400m graphics suffice?
 
its really only $165 increse for the increase in GHz because that 300 includes the increase from 2 to 4 gb and 160 to 250gb
 
you def want the 250 gb hd. honestly thats still really small. and 4 gb of ram would be nice. i have 2 and sometimes i wish i had 4, when im running a shitload of stuff all at once.
 
the increase in GHz also includes an increase in hardrive and memory and from there ill be increasong the hard drive to 500
 
Dude... I just picked up a PC with Core 2 Duo P7450 2.13Ghz, 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM, GeForce 9800M GS for $850 CAD (~770 USD). There's an extra hard drive bay so I got another 320GB hard drive for $85 (total 640GB). All for $930 Canadian + $6.99 shipping.

Mac's may be somewhat more reliable, but sorry, that seems to me like it was a complete rip off.
 
Sounds like a nice comp but I would suggest going with a refurb!!! You stil get a warranty and you can save some serious green..... Just think of what you could do with an x-tra $500 plus I mean you can almost pay for a day of heli skiing with that!!!
 
Oh, and if you didn't guess it's a laptop too. Granted, it's a 15.6" screen but I'd prefer to do my physics/architectural/CAD shit on a larger screen anyway.
 
They are giving monitors away now. Get a monitor for your desk at school, so you can hook the MBP up to it when you are in your room, it will be good for watching movies, browsing, and some serious multitasking when it comes to getting work done. Then, you have the ultra portability of the 13" MBP on its own for when you are out and about.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236047

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010190020%201106217860&name=1920%20x%201080
 
the only this is, is that ill get a free 8gb itouch which ill resell for about 200. so it will really only cost me about $1517

and if anyone can talk me out of applecare then it will cost me 1334
 
Check to see if your family has a credit card that extends the original warranty. Lot of credit cards have this and may save you some dough by letting you skip out on applecare. (Which really doesn't cover a lot other than hardware failures due to normal use)
 
u might be able to do with the 2.26 and upgrade the ram if you really need it. and u can get 1TB externals for 100. ur spending an extra 200 for .27ghz. idk if thats really worth it...
 
Upgrading the CPU by a small amount is not worth it. The places to invest are in the GPU and RAM. (Although apple rips you off on RAM upgrades. Check out how expensive it would be to add the ram yourself.)

And either way you will end up having to get an external. 250GB is small for video editing plus a music library.
 
so youre saying some credit cards warranty products that were purchased with that credit card? i dont have one personally but i do have a national city debit card which is what id be using to purchase with
 
you can choose what you want out of the refurbs so im sure you could find one with at least the specs you want, if not even better for less money.

depending on how much you have on the computer, you probably wont need even close to 500gb of harddrive space, but $135 for the upgrade from 250gb is a good price.
 
i have a 320gb external and its a pain when trying to listen to music anywhere besides my desk so i need to avoid that. also please read my first post, those are the specs ill be getting. 500GB not 250
 
Your specs are definitely great if you want it to be more future-proof and money isn't an issue. You could be using this for 5+ years if you play your cards right. All the people still using PowerBooks are a testament to that.
 
O.

K.

but what specs did you get on your refurb

you dont have to treat me like im 10. im just tryin to get some answers so i can base my decision off of a lot of information. not just buy a refurb
 
looks like 1349 to me and i didnt see where you got the educational discount since they dont sell refurbs at the bookstores. please correct me and lead me to that discount on refurbs if im wrong cause thatd be perfect. and is there any cosmetic damage or anything at all on refurbs?
 
If you beileve that non user removable batteries are superior. and the fact that if you ever break your track pad or keyboard out of warranty its going to cost ALOT more.

I do like the unibody though, its just the fact that I have had a few run ins with my keyboard
 
ok, whats your point? im spending a couple hundred bucks more to double my memory and hard drive because im pretty sure i need too. im not worried about the screen size because ill have a tv to use.
 
trust me you want apple care.chances are that for your laptops life span your gona have a few problems with it.apple care will take care of those problems.pretty simple
 
yeah that will be so nice. i got the same laptop but only 2.26 ghz and it works good. i have final cut express and it runs very smoothly, just wish i had the faster processor cause sometimes it takes a while rendering the video in final cut.
 
im pretty sure applecare covers pretty much anything...i didnt get it with my macbook, but now that my shell is starting to get some nice cracks in it i wish i did
 
Macs are so overpriced. I built my computer for just under $1000 (with a 20 inch monitor) and for sure it would blow away your mac.

intel q9300 OC @2.75 ghz (quad core for those of you who dont know)

500 GB HD

4 GB of Ram

Nvidia 9800 GT

And it Runs vista 64 great! Macs are so trendy these days
 
youre crazy man. its my computer, not yours. so i want it to meet my requirements. just asking for opinions on how i can save money. you send me a link to a computer with half my specs, sorry i dont want it...
 
I think what he meant was that a TV doesnt have even close to the resolution of a monitor, (unless you've got a fancy 1080p beast)
 
thats all allen needed to say. im sick of kids posting this effortless bullshit. if thats what your gunna give someone then why post? to get your post count up is why
 
he made this thread because he is new to macs and was looking for help, as he clearly stated, so thats probably why he didnt take note to your hint.

i see so many threads cluttered with your bullshit

grow up and stop acting like an ass
 
that's a harsh estimate, I've been using my MBP for 3+ years now, and it's still going strong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top