Needed advice [MBP 13"?]

Who is we? Also, what are your prospective usage of the machine (work, home, photos, etc)?

It is a good machine, but since it also depends on your computational needs, we cannot clearly say, that this is a good or bad choice for you, thus please state the nature of your computing habits.

Assuming you won't be playing any high-end video games on it nor doing extensive video editing (you'd want a larger screen and better graphics chip), the 13" MacBook Pro is a great machine. The new version is lighter than the old, with a great battery life. If you're looking to play games, I'd recommend the 15" or 17" as they have more capable GPUs (the NVIDIA GeForce series). It's also worth noting that the entry level 13" is the ONLY Mac you can buy new within your price range.

rmcmorran said:

Thanks for the advice - I understand that is all our budget can really afford, and that is okay.
We is myself, husband and daughter (who uses Macs in school).

We use it for photos, iTunes, and internet browsing. No gaming for us.
Thoughts?

Thanks!

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Then any base Mac will do that, even the Mac mini or MacBook Airs. Maybe take a look at the Refurbished Mac section in the Apple Online Store to find even better deals.

rmcmorran said:

We use it for photos, iTunes, and internet browsing. No gaming for us.
Thoughts?

Click to expand...

If you want portability, I'd look at the 13" MacBook Air rather than the 13" Pro - its much thinner and lighter, has a slightly better screen and using a SSD rather than a HD makes it feel really fast. If you go for a refurbished Air you can probably pick up one with the 256GB SSD within your budget.

These days, the 13" Pro is really just for people who can't live without the DVD Drive, Ethernet, Firewire or a huge hard-drive.

If you don't need portability, get a Mini (again, possibly refurbished) and a non-Apple HDMI monitor, mouse and keyboard and you'll come in way under budget.