Thinking about buying a Apple MacBook Pro...what do I need to know?

[racechick8293]

Definitely... but I highly recommend buying refurbished. Unlike other companies refurbished mac = basically new. Everything is replaced, and the way it is packaged and sent it is JUST like you are getting a new one. Plus, the price is a LOT LOT less.

I had the same situation about four years ago, bought a win vista laptop. It was a piece of junk, biggest waste of money ever. About 6 months later I bought the 13" mac book pro refurbished laptop I am using now. Still works great!

Only thing I would advise on is that all software (Microsoft office, adobe photoshop) is about 3-4X more with a MAC. However, it is 100% worth it, much better product.

As far as the equipment you have? You should have no problem both my husband and I have macs (he just upgraded to mac book air) and they both work with our 6-7 year old att 2wire gateway, that we used with our old PC's. I also use an old wireless mouse that I bought with my old win vista laptop. No problem. In fact, personally I think the attachments work better.

But really look into the refurb's don't pay $100's extra for really no reason.

Jennifer

I've never paid MORE for software on the Mac. I've actually paid LESS or the same. The OS upgrades are usually $29, versus $99 and up for Windows upgrades. Office for Mac (by Microsoft) is the same price as the Windows version. There are also a ton of free and cheap programs in the App Store. Also, the software that comes on a Mac is actually usable- iPhoto, iMovie, etc. It's quite a shock from all the junk that comes preinstalled on a Windows PC.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

If you can do the education discount, it really makes the brand new ones as appealing as refurbs. Not that the refurbs are bad, you don't seem to spend much more.

 

[Shazzasmd]

You've received lots of good advice already. I'll add some comments, as an owner of multiple Macs and Windows PCs over the years. I just purchased the 15 inch model - not the retina display (which I do regret, kinda, but didn't want to pay fork out the extra dough, and I wanted the optical drive in the "old" style for now).

Refurbished is your best bet if you are set on the 17 inch. I almost went that route, but find the 15 inch meets my needs and doesn't take up as much space.

If you go new, definitely check into the education specials that Apple offers. I'd also suggest you check Best Buy if that's possible. There was a huge thread on the MacRumors forum about getting $200 off, and some also got a $100 gift card.

Same for software - check the educational discounts. If you have photography software on your laptop, there are some things to keep in mind. iPhoto works well for basic stuff, and it's free. Aperture is $79. If you use Adobe products, an existing Lightroom license can be used on the Mac version. For Photoshop, you will first have to convert your Windows license to the Mac license before installing on the MacBook Pro

AppleCare - the extended warranty is good to have. Check out places like B&H Photo and possibly Amazon to purchase it for less than retail (although you may do better with the educational discounts). It's the same product, and gives you full coverage. I choose to forgo AppleCare and just rely on my credit card's warranty extension program. It's a personal choice.

If money is not a huge issue, consider the new 15 inch Retina display model. The base model is not much more expensive than the older style. The costs start adding up when you upgrade things like the hard drive, memory, processor.

Good Luck - I doubt you'll have much problem adapting to the Mac Operating System - it's much more similar to Windows 7 (and now 8) than it used to be.

You definitely pay a premium for the Apple products. I've gone back and forth, but find I almost never use my Windows laptop for more than a year before I sneak back to Apple

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

The mouse "buttons" are no longer an issue on the MacBook Pros...there aren't really mouse buttons at all. If you push down on the trackpad thing it is like a mouse click yes.

You can go in and set it up to where you never actually use that function, which is really cool. You can just tap the pad and it is like clicking, two finger scrolling, three fingers to move windows around. It is actually very fun to use. Instead of using the back and forward arrows in Safari, you just take two fingers and move the pages back and forth, it is really cool and I am still discovering stuff every day.

If you just HAVE to do the "right click" thing, just hold down the "control" key when you "click" on something.

If you push down on the trackpad things ALL kinds of fun stuff happens. Most of it you really didn't want to happen


That trackpad thing is the thing I hate most about that machine... It makes simple things like copy and pasting into an "adventure' in what the machine will decide to do now... it's too "cute" and "multifunctional" to be useful IMHO.

Seriously, I don't get the hype. Two months into it, I see nothing better about the Mac then a windows machine and the price....

If you do design work or lots of creative things spring for it. If you check email and cruise the web... don't waste your $$$$

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Orange, that helped me learn something...one hard press on the trackpad is just like doing the "right click" thing!

 

[luvthemouse71]

If you buy now, you can still get Mountain Lion for free if you buy after 6/11/12. very easy to install too-just download, no CD needed.

 

[jsmith]

I think its important that you really understand what you are getting when you purchase an apple procduct vs a 'pc'

Hardware wise apple hard ware is proprietary and expensive to replace if it breaks since you cant just go the the local computer store and buy replacement components. If your going to purchase an apple please do get the apple care warrenty-it can be a huge money saver. And apple hardware is not always more durable than pc hardware. We own three toshiba satellite laptops and two mac book pros-the toshibas have been much more reliable and have lasted much more thatn the "disposable" two years another suggested-one is 10 years old -one 6 and 1 5 and no issues.

Operating system. Many people operate under the illusion that MAC os is virus immune. The truth is that Lion has approximately 10 times the vunerabilites of Windows 7-there are just few exploits since there is not good return on developing them. You can achieve a better security profile but using Fedora Core, Ubuntu or RHEL on less expensive hardware.

good user awarness and and good anti virus software are import no matter what the platform or OS.
i generally perfer a linux or unix based os because i dislike windows tendancy to assume what you want-and i definatly think apples us based customer service is a plus-otherwise-its basically a toss up.

 

[wahmtexas]

love my macbook, have had it 3 years with no issues, it is my first apple, not much of a learning curve required at all

 

[cooldadtexas]

I converted to a mac about 3 years ago and will never go back to PC for work or home. I downloaded Microsoft Office for Mac and I interact seamlessly with friends and coworkers. I also recommend downloading Firefox and Chrome as web browsers as well. They work extremely well on the mac. Good luck on your purchase.

 

[mountdew1]

OP, look at what you want to do with it. OS X is a very different interface than Windows. Most people will have no problems finding either the same program, or an equivalent version to do their day to day work on a Mac. However, if you have some less than mainstream program you NEED to use, check it out first to see if there is anything similar.

Regarding compatibility for various peripherals you already have, it all depends on the device. USB keyboard/mouse type stuff should work fine. If you have a crazy 13 button mouse, or a keyboard with tons of programmable buttons, you may need to see if the manufacturer has Mac support to get those extra functions working. But the normal mouse/keyboard should be fine. Printers, can be the same way. Some will give you basic printing support out of the box, but if you have an AIO or an older less popular model, you may need to check to see if they have drivers. Your wireless router shouldn't be a problem, as long as it supports one of the wireless bands that the MBP does.

I think its important that you really understand what you are getting when you purchase an apple procduct vs a 'pc'

Hardware wise apple hard ware is proprietary and expensive to replace if it breaks since you cant just go the the local computer store and buy replacement components.

Not at all true. A vast majority of all computer type electronics are manufactured by a handful of companies, regardless of who the final name is on the product. Foxconn produces parts that are in pretty much every computer manufactured right now, and does the final assembly on lots as well. They have plants that have more workers than many US cities.

Most laptops are not user serviceable. The trend has been moving towards smaller systems. Smaller systems mean more components actually on the motherboard, and not attached via daughterboards or other peripheral type slots. Over the last 10 years I can only think of 3 pieces that are normally user serviceable. The memory, the hard drive, and in older systems you could swap the Ethernet card for a modem. Thats about it. Look at any modern laptop from any maker, the same part will be upgradable as in a MBP. Yes, the retina MBP has no user replaceable parts, but neither does the Samsung Series 9. When the customer wants a thinner lighter laptop, things have to be eliminated. And eliminating the slot to seat memory in by soldering it straight to the board frees up a few mm of height. Once again, it's not solely an Apple trait.

If your going to purchase an apple please do get the apple care warrenty-it can be a huge money saver.

Definitely. Much less problems getting it serviced than other brands, and in most cases you can just take it in to the genius bar, instead of having to ship it back.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I converted to a mac about 3 years ago and will never go back to PC for work or home. I downloaded Microsoft Office for Mac and I interact seamlessly with friends and coworkers. I also recommend downloading Firefox and Chrome as web browsers as well. They work extremely well on the mac. Good luck on your purchase.

Just go with Firefox, avoid Chrome (for the moment). A lot of people (myself included) have been unable to use Chrome very well on the latest version of Lion. Hopefully this will be resolved when Mountain Lion comes out. Myself I had like 3 complete system crashes in 2 hours after taking my MacBook Pro out of the box and installing Chrome. I deleted Chrome I have not had any problems at all. I think it has something to do with the latest version of Lion + Chrome + Java or Flash sites= COMPLETE system crash.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

The only software that I can't run in any meaningful way directly on my Mac is Quicken. The Mac version is not nearly as functionally as the Windows version. As a result I run Windows on my Mac through VWware Fusion just for that one program.

The Mac version may catch up, if the presence of the Intuit Chairman on the Apple board of directors is any indication. Until then, this works for me, but this did add additional costs to switching.

-- Suzanne

 

[luvthemouse71]

Just go with Firefox, avoid Chrome (for the moment). A lot of people (myself included) have been unable to use Chrome very well on the latest version of Lion. Hopefully this will be resolved when Mountain Lion comes out. Myself I had like 3 complete system crashes in 2 hours after taking my MacBook Pro out of the box and installing Chrome. I deleted Chrome I have not had any problems at all. I think it has something to do with the latest version of Lion + Chrome + Java or Flash sites= COMPLETE system crash.

Thanks for posting this.. I recently bought my 3rd MacBook(a MacBook Air) and didn't download Chrome because I read your post..

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Took the plunge and #1 son bought the Macbook Pro 13" basic model today for $1,199.00 with $100 off (new college student) plus $66 off of the Apple Care, and an additional $100 gift card for the App store.

We checked with his college to see if they had a better deal, and they didn't.

He chose the 13" for portability and cost. He is a business major, so no huge programs/graphics we figured. Plus we heard it is easy to add memory if needed. This is our first Mac in the house, and he is excited about it!

Still debating adding the One on One deal - it's $99 and we have two weeks to decide. He can download the new OS for free in the App. store. We will look for the best deal on Microsoft Office for student use. His college e-mail didn't work for the deal previously posted.

Happy shopping to all!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Took the plunge and #1 son bought the Macbook Pro 13" basic model today for $1,199.00 with $100 off (new college student) plus $66 off of the Apple Care, and an additional $100 gift card for the App store.

We checked with his college to see if they had a better deal, and they didn't.

He chose the 13" for portability and cost. He is a business major, so no huge programs/graphics we figured. Plus we heard it is easy to add memory if needed. This is our first Mac in the house, and he is excited about it!

Still debating adding the One on One deal - it's $99 and we have two weeks to decide. He can download the new OS for free in the App. store. We will look for the best deal on Microsoft Office for student use. His college e-mail didn't work for the deal previously posted.

Happy shopping to all!

If you are looking for a DEAL on Microsoft Office, I don't know if it is still working or not, but...

The Microsoft "Home Use Program" is amazing! You can get the Mac version of MS Office 2011 for $9.95. I don't know if we are supposed to post links to retailers in here, but a quick google of "Microsoft Home Use Program" will direct you to the appropriate site. It IS a legitimate legal copy you can purchase from Microsoft. You have to have an appropriate email address to be able to buy it. MANY .edu email addresses will qualify, if not....at least at one time myspace email addresses would work too.

If you can swing it, it is a killer deal. I did this one myself. They are really nice about it....be careful don't make the same mistake I did and accidentally download the Windoows version. Even doing that, they were really cool about it. I told them what I did, they let me delete the Win version before activating it, issued me a refund, and allowed me to re-purchase Office as the Mac version.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

If you are looking for a DEAL on Microsoft Office, I don't know if it is still working or not, but...

The Microsoft "Home Use Program" is amazing! You can get the Mac version of MS Office 2011 for $9.95. I don't know if we are supposed to post links to retailers in here, but a quick google of "Microsoft Home Use Program" will direct you to the appropriate site. It IS a legitimate legal copy you can purchase from Microsoft. You have to have an appropriate email address to be able to buy it. MANY .edu email addresses will qualify, if not....at least at one time myspace email addresses would work too.

If you can swing it, it is a killer deal. I did this one myself. They are really nice about it....be careful don't make the same mistake I did and accidentally download the Windoows version. Even doing that, they were really cool about it. I told them what I did, they let me delete the Win version before activating it, issued me a refund, and allowed me to re-purchase Office as the Mac version.

Thanks - that is the one I tried thanks to your previous post. It is a killer deal, but it didn't take my son's new college e-mail although it ends in edu I am going to keep trying though.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Thanks - that is the one I tried thanks to your previous post. It is a killer deal, but it didn't take my son's new college e-mail although it ends in edu I am going to keep trying though.

The myspace things MIGHT work. It might take it a few days for the email address to become active. It took mine a while. I had to set up a myspace account, as soon as I could start RECEIVING mail (seems like that's where the hangup is) I got my Office.

 

[Venomhatch]

Did you still have questions about the MBP I am a former apple sales agent and I can help if you have questions still or any further questions.