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Going to buy a Regular MacBook Pro

S

Santo20

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
25
0
Bahrain
Dear Folks,

I am planning to buy a Regular MacBook Pro 13 inch one.I use my laptop for browsing,downloading apps etc nothing very specific.Yes I would like to try out the iLife suite extensively.So,please let me know if my choice is good.
 
P

pmontanarella

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2012
321
7
Vancouver, Canada
Santo20 said:
Dear Folks,

I am planning to buy a Regular MacBook Pro 13 inch one.I use my laptop for browsing,downloading apps etc nothing very specific.Yes I would like to try out the iLife suite extensively.So,please let me know if my choice is good.
Click to expand...

Why MacBook Pro? What apps are you going to download? What are you going to want to do in iLife?

You're going to have to provide a LOT more information if you want us to be able to help
 
talmy

talmy

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2009
4,726
332
Oregon
The base model MacBook Pro will run all iLife apps as well as Safari and the built in applications (Mail, Calendar, Address Book...), iWork apps or Microsoft Office, and just about everything else competently. Unless you have some specific, demanding application in mind (like Final Cut Pro X or most action games) it will suit you fine for years to come.
 
T

troy14

macrumors 6502a
Mar 25, 2008
773
130
Las Vegas (Summerlin), NV
pmontanarella said:
Why MacBook Pro? What apps are you going to download? What are you going to want to do in iLife?

You're going to have to provide a LOT more information if you want us to be able to help
Click to expand...

I think that in this case, more information isn't needed. Nothing super specific or demanding has been stated so it will probably just be for light normal use.

In this case, a Macbook Pro will serve you great.
 
JoeRito

JoeRito

macrumors 6502a
Apr 12, 2012
505
155
New England, USA
troy14 said:
In this case, a Macbook Pro will serve you great.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. The standard MBP is an outstanding general use machine with quality construction and nice features. Has enough horsepower to tackle most tasks or processes with ease. Give thought to adding some additional RAM on your own as Crucial manufactures some that is cheap and reliable. Can never have too juch RAM in my opinion.
 
S

Santo20

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
25
0
Bahrain
troy14 said:
I think that in this case, more information isn't needed. Nothing super specific or demanding has been stated so it will probably just be for light normal use.

In this case, a Macbook Pro will serve you great.
Click to expand...

Thanks Troy.. You are right! I'm an Apple fan who has bought his Macbook Pro yesterday. And I'm very excited to get my hands on.I have been using Windows for my entire life. Now I'm so happy I switched to Mac. Thanks again.

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talmy said:
The base model MacBook Pro will run all iLife apps as well as Safari and the built in applications (Mail, Calendar, Address Book...), iWork apps or Microsoft Office, and just about everything else competently. Unless you have some specific, demanding application in mind (like Final Cut Pro X or most action games) it will suit you fine for years to come.
Click to expand...

Hi Talmy, I have nothing in specific to use I just wanna experience Mac. I love the experience on iPhone so this had to happen eventually #

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pmontanarella said:
Why MacBook Pro? What apps are you going to download? What are you going to want to do in iLife?

You're going to have to provide a LOT more information if you want us to be able to help
Click to expand...

I am gonna be normal user for now without any specific needs. I have been using Windows for my whole life and now I have switched to Mac to experience it! I hope I love it. My computing needs are basic! I just download app,s watch movies etc. Thanks for the reply mate

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What is the best backup solution I can use

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What is the best backup solution I can use ?
 
talmy

talmy

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2009
4,726
332
Oregon
Santo20 said:
What is the best backup solution I can use ?
Click to expand...

I'm paranoid so I use several at once. Time Machine is a good place to start. It's basically set it up and forget it -- it works in the background and gives you versioning as well (if you change a file you can go back to an older version). Since you will have a portable computer the easiest way to go about this is to buy a TimeCapsule so the backups are wireless.

Using TimeMachine by plugging in an external drive (on a portable system) is a pain and an easily "forgotten" task.

I'd also strongly recommend an off-site backup to take care of loss by theft, fire, or natural disaster. A "cloud" service is the easiest way to go here. I use CrashPlan. The third backup method I use is disk cloning which isn't as effortless as the others, but with a cloned drive you can boot from it and be up and running after a disk drive failure basically instantly.

I have to disagree with an earlier post saying to buy a Thunderbolt or USB 3 drive for this (although USB 3 drives don't have much of a premium). A speedy drive isn't really needed for backups. Four systems here are backed up using TimeMachine to a drive on my server system. It's USB2 and works fine. Since the backups are incremental (even the cloned drives) rather than copying everything with each backup, not much data needs to be moved. Typically more time is spent determining what needs to be moved than actually moving the small amount of data!
 
S

Santo20

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
25
0
Bahrain
petvas said:
If money is not an issue I would suggest you get a Retina Macbook Pro 13". You will love the display.
Click to expand...

Yes I think the display is definitely eye pleasing.I felt it was way above my budget.In addition to that I did not find the regular display bad,if you would like me to give an analogy it's like the difference between iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.I don't think so I'm gonna be bothered with the non -Retina display.Anyways thanks for the suggestion mate.On the other hand I already purchased a MBP 13.3 inch non-Retina,still haven't got ime to unbox it and set it up :-(

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talmy said:
I'm paranoid so I use several at once. Time Machine is a good place to start. It's basically set it up and forget it -- it works in the background and gives you versioning as well (if you change a file you can go back to an older version). Since you will have a portable computer the easiest way to go about this is to buy a TimeCapsule so the backups are wireless.

Using TimeMachine by plugging in an external drive (on a portable system) is a pain and an easily "forgotten" task.

I'd also strongly recommend an off-site backup to take care of loss by theft, fire, or natural disaster. A "cloud" service is the easiest way to go here. I use CrashPlan. The third backup method I use is disk cloning which isn't as effortless as the others, but with a cloned drive you can boot from it and be up and running after a disk drive failure basically instantly.

I have to disagree with an earlier post saying to buy a Thunderbolt or USB 3 drive for this (although USB 3 drives don't have much of a premium). A speedy drive isn't really needed for backups. Four systems here are backed up using TimeMachine to a drive on my server system. It's USB2 and works fine. Since the backups are incremental (even the cloned drives) rather than copying everything with each backup, not much data needs to be moved. Typically more time is spent determining what needs to be moved than actually moving the small amount of data!
Click to expand...


Thanks for the suggestion.I come from a Windows world so all these ideas listed out are gonna take me some time to grasp.Nevertheless I'm looking to just backup files to have a bettery compatibility between Mac and Windows for sharing and stuff like that.What I thought was to get a 1TB External HDD
and format it to ExFat and backup files manually.What do u think about it?

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One more thing I wanted to say is that I'm just blown away by the design of these Apple notebooks!They look great! Honestly,I felt if I did not use it and just showcased it in my house,I would be so satisified;I know it sounds a bit stupid! It's just crazy love for it... Superb engineering!
 
talmy

talmy

macrumors 601
Oct 26, 2009
4,726
332
Oregon
Nevertheless I'm looking to just backup files to have a bettery compatibility between Mac and Windows for sharing and stuff like that.What I thought was to get a 1TB External HDD
and format it to ExFat and backup files manually.What do u think about it?[/QUOTE]

Well I don't call that a "backup" but would instead say it's file sharing. If you can have both systems run at the same time, you should be able to synchronize groups of files using a program like Chronosync and eliminate the need for an external drive. Otherwise your manual approach with an external drive would work.
 
D

davidinva

macrumors 6502a
Mar 29, 2009
591
30
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, USA
Santo20 said:
Dear Folks,

I am planning to buy a Regular MacBook Pro 13 inch one.I use my laptop for browsing,downloading apps etc nothing very specific.Yes I would like to try out the iLife suite extensively.So,please let me know if my choice is good.
Click to expand...

I need to update my 2008 MacBook so am thinking the same route (saw later that this is what you got). I use mine mostly connected to an external display (21.5 inch) and keyboard. Like to play with Photoshop Elements and some other lower level photo editing software. Only occasionally take my Macbook out, so the cost of the better display is not worth it. You will enjoy your new machine.

PS, I use SuperDuper on an external drive for backups (also use Time Machine as well). SuperDuper makes a clone of the hard drive that can be used to boot from in case of problems.
 
Last edited:
S

Santo20

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
25
0
Bahrain
davidinva said:
I need to update my 2008 MacBook so am thinking the same route (saw later that this is what you got). I use mine mostly connected to an external display (21.5 inch) and keyboard. Like to play with Photoshop Elements and some other lower level photo editing software. Only occasionally take my Macbook out, so the cost of the better display is not worth it. You will enjoy your new machine.

PS, I use SuperDuper on an external drive for backups (also use Time Machine as well). SuperDuper makes a clone of the hard drive that can be used to boot from in case of problems.
Click to expand...

Thanks man!Can I use Time Machine and SuperDuper on the same external drive?

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talmy said:
Nevertheless I'm looking to just backup files to have a bettery compatibility between Mac and Windows for sharing and stuff like that.What I thought was to get a 1TB External HDD
and format it to ExFat and backup files manually.What do u think about it?
Click to expand...

Well I don't call that a "backup" but would instead say it's file sharing. If you can have both systems run at the same time, you should be able to synchronize groups of files using a program like Chronosync and eliminate the need for an external drive. Otherwise your manual approach with an external drive would work.[/QUOTE]

Sorry,I confused you with the word compatibility.What I meant to say is that most of them in my place use Windows and Mac is a rarity,so sharing files with other people was my concern.
 
xShane

xShane

macrumors 6502a
Nov 2, 2012
814
37
United States
Santo20 said:
Dear Folks,

I am planning to buy a Regular MacBook Pro 13 inch one.I use my laptop for browsing,downloading apps etc nothing very specific.Yes I would like to try out the iLife suite extensively.So,please let me know if my choice is good.
Click to expand...

For your uses, a 13" MacBook Pro should be great.

However, if you plan on doing serious/intensive video editing, you might want to look into a 15".
 
S

Santo20

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2012
25
0
Bahrain
xShane said:
For your uses, a 13" MacBook Pro should be great.

However, if you plan on doing serious/intensive video editing, you might want to look into a 15".
Click to expand...

I'm not going to do any sort of intensive video editing..No time for it at all! lol
 
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