Going Mac

[*NikkiBell*]

So, I've finally been converted. I'm going to buy a Mac Book in the near future. I've never owned an Apple before and was wondering what I should know.

I did take a look at a few Mac Books at the Apple store yesterday. I want something small and was thinking that the 13 inch one might be a good size. I did notice that there is a Mac Book Pro, too. What's the difference between that and a regular one? What should I be looking for? Would I be able to open Word/Office documents from a PC on there?

 

[chirurgeon]

The Mac Book Pro starts at 15" I think. I know my niece went with the Mac Book instead of the Pro because she didn't think she needed the differences. It was a gift from my mom and me for her high school graduation and I was the designated purchaser with her at the Apple Store. I believe there was more power and memory on the Pro also. I got the 15" pro 2 or 3 years ago. All I have to say is I haven't had a lick of trouble with it. I couldn't say that about the HP laptop I had prior to that.

Oh and once you go Mac, you never go back. (Or if you do, you regret it.)

Kim

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

The Macbook Pro does start at 13". I have the 15" and it suits me just fine. I it. I agree with Kim - once you go Mac, you don't go back. Even going to work on my PC is difficult. I don't understand why my PC doesn't do the "handswipe" thing.
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
I suggest you watch as many video tutorials as you can. That will get you sucked in appropriately. And of course, teach you the differences between the macbooks. Also, when you get the macbook, make sure you watch your tutorials as well. It was a few months before I actually watched the tutorial for iphoto and I was blown away by what it could do.

 

[DisneyKevin]

In the past year, I've completely migrated to Mac / Apple.

I have a Mac Book and an iMac (which I positively LOVE).

I'm very happy with my decision.

You can find the answer to almost any question you have in Apple's tutorials and their discussion boards.

 

[sunkissed73]

There are a few differences between the MacBook and the MacBook pro, at least that I am aware of. The regular MacBook may have more memory than the MacBook Pro (the Mac Genius told me this at the store), but it does NOT have a light up keyboard as the MacBook Pro does. The MacBook pro also has an SD slot whereas the MacBook does not, and the MaBook pro also has a FireWire port. I guess it really just depends on what you need. When my PC broke a couple months ago, I bought the MacBook pro because I was taking a class and used a program which required us to use FireWire drives, and just figured that it would be worth it.
I really love the macbook pro, and am glad that I got it over the macbook, although I'm sure I would have loved that too.

If you are a student or an educator, see if you can get the discount. It might make a smaller difference in price between the two models. Another reason why I went for the MacBook Pro.

 

[Mish19]

I have a 13" Macbook and I love it! I felt I didnt need the extra power of the Macbook Pro for my purposes. I asked questions at the Apple store and the salesperson gave me honest answers, he didnt try to upsell me to the Pro. I would take advantage of Apple store.
I just took a look and the Pro has 4GB memory with a 10 hour battery life, quicker processor (2.4 GHz) and an SD card slot. That seems to be the base model.

The Macbook really isn't that far below - 2GB memory, 7 hours battery life, processor is at 2.26, I don't see an SD card slot option. Both models are customizable so it's just a matter of preference.

I email Word/Excel docs from my PC at work and can open then at home at home on my Mac and I also send it back to my work PC from my home Mac. I purchased Microsoft Office for Mac, I am not sure if it would work the same if I just used the Mac word processing program. I suggest getting the Student and Home Microsoft Office edition, cheaper and you can put it in 3 computers. It doesn't come with Outlook but I use Mac's Mail program. Don't forget to ask for the education discount! I definitely love my Macbook! Good luck and have fun

 

[princesskelz]

I have a 13" MacBook that i got for Christmas. I love this thing so much. The features and graphics on it are amazing. I don't think i will ever be a PC again.

 

[TMcDwyer]

In the past year, I've completely migrated to Mac / Apple.

I have a Mac Book and an iMac (which I positively LOVE).

I'm very happy with my decision.

You can find the answer to almost any question you have in Apple's tutorials and their discussion boards.

This is me exactly, except I made the switch 3 1/2 years ago. I LOVE my Macs and dread the times I have to work on a PC.

I also agree that if you get Microsoft Office for Mac it makes sending files between your PC and Mac seamless.

Have fun!

 

[daneenm]

Good for you Nikki!

I just bought a MacBook for my Dad to give my Mom. It does everything she needs, so we did not feel the need to bump up to Pro. She is doing mostly e-mail and Web based stuff. If you do heavier processing like very large and complex spreadsheets, photo editing, etc. I would suggest Pro. if you are doing word processing, simple to medium complexity spreadsheets, etc. it is likely the MacBook will meet your needs well.

I would absolutely talk with the folks at the APple Store. Of course they will advocate Mac, but I have never heard them try to sell folks on more than they need just to make a sale.

On the sharing of docs between PC and Mac, DH and I share MS Office based docs with no issue at all. Using iWork will mean that you put it through a 'translation' process. Not a huge deal, the program does it for you, but not as straight forward as sharing between Office.

 

[kab407]

I'm currently using a MacBook. This is my second Apple laptop. I will never go back to a PC for personal use.

I bought MS Office for Mac when I bought my new laptop. I have never had a problem in starting something at Work (PC) sending it home to finish on my Mac and then sending back to the office to reopen on the PC.

The folks at the Freehold Apple store are very nice to deal with. Being a teacher, do you qualify for any discounts? Good Luck Nikki.

 

[eeyorelvr09]

You should get that HUGE desktop that we saw. Lol. I think the 13 inch would suffice. I'm a PC person. I have used Macs and love the photo booth.

 

[cslittle999]

Unless money is a major issue I recommend the 13" MacBook Pro over the 13" MacBook. The extra memory, better battery life, faster processor, SD card slot and faster graphics will give the MacBook Pro a longer productive life. The aluminum case is also more durable.

To decide between the 13" and 15" you have to decide what you're going to be using it for and if the larger screen and higher resolution will make that easier. Keep in mind that you can use an external monitor and keyboard to have more of a desktop setup. I do this when I'm in my office.

 

[dpuck1998]

Bigger is better....

 

[*NikkiBell*]

-erasing response to Don-

 

[tlhbdm]

I have a macbook pro, an imac, and DH has a macbook. I LOVE my macbook pro, they just came out with a new one two weeks ago and I got it. It has 4 GB of ram, 2.4 processor, 250 GB hardrive, and a 10 hour battery life. I love the backlit keyboard and the 10 hour battery life. I love my imac too and DH loves his macbook. I would say go with the macbook pro just because of the ram, the 2 GB really does make a difference, I also love the backlit keyboard, and to me between the ram and the backlit keyboard were worth the extra cost to me. HTH!

 

[k5jm]

Anything built on FreeBSD is worth it. I am trying to be M$ free at my house. Since Mac OSX us really UNIX, I would recommend it over M$.

I will have to admit, I still have my Mac Plus and Mac LC.

 

[rotlex]

In the past year, I've completely migrated to Mac / Apple.

I have a Mac Book and an iMac (which I positively LOVE).

I'm very happy with my decision.

You can find the answer to almost any question you have in Apple's tutorials and their discussion boards.

What Kevin said, and, you may want to pick up a copy of The Missing Manual - http://www.amazon.com/Mac-OS-Leopar...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272286033&sr=1-2

It's an excellent way to learn OS X that is simple, yet detailed in it's presentation.

 

[smphbear]

I am another recent Mac convert. I have a 13' Macbook Pro and Imac for work. We also bought an Imac for home.

The new Pros have 4 GB of Ram. I upgraded mine myself and 4 GB runs noticeably better than 2.

For documents, I am using Iwork 09. I have had no problems opening all my Word documents. It also allows you to save a copy of anything you create in IWork as a Word document. I found the transition pretty easy.

 

[dgthree]

I will have to admit, I still have my Mac Plus and Mac LC.

I still have my original Mac Plus, but the screen is dead, and has been for some time. Every so often, I think about converting it to a Macquarium. =)

 

[JennyG]

You will love converting to a mac. We have an old iBook, got it just a few months before they switch the name.

Our computer is about 5 or 6 years old. The only trouble we have ever had is once it wouldn't start, we took it into the apple store. They plugged it into an external hard drive and ran a diagnostic and one other program to clean it. I was planning on this costing me $$$. 30 minutes later the Genius handed me back my computer and said no charge. That is what cemented us into being true mac fans. (we already were close). Try doing that with another brand.

I would love my work computer to be a Mac.