MBP Virgin.. advice needed

cfcboy · Mar 4, 2013

Hi people, just wondering if you could give this 1st time MBP buyer some advice??

Im looking at getting my son a 15" rMBP for his birthday to be used in conjuction with his exams and when he attends college for art and graphics courses. The refurb box is £1269 with spec of:

15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution 
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

£1300 was at the very top end of my budget but would you say this is the best spec i could for the price? The only thing thing that might be of concern is the memory? Ive never used a mac (though my son tells me they run like a dream) so not sure if a load more memory is a definate?

Thanks in advance

justperry · Mar 4, 2013

4 GB isn't that much, 8 GB would be much better and isn't that expensive if you don't buy it from Apple.

eezacque · Mar 4, 2013

cfcboy said:
Im looking at getting my son a 15" rMBP for his birthday to be used in conjuction with his exams and when he attends college for art and graphics courses.

Could you be a little more specific on 'art and graphics'?

seveej · Mar 4, 2013

cfcboy said:
Im looking at getting my son a 15" rMBP for his birthday to be used in conjuction with his exams and when he attends college for art and graphics courses. The refurb box is £1269 with spec of:

Hi,

honestly, unless it is imperative that the gift comes as a surprise, I'd honestly recommend you ask the recipient's advice/opinion.

RGDS,

rsnapeuk · Mar 4, 2013

I'm a student and do a lot of graphic based work. I really don't see the need for a retina screen.

For me I had the option of either a Retina MacBook Pro or MacBook Pro.

The choice was either a comprise of screen or workability and specs.

I chose to use a Classic Macbook Pro and in the end resulted with a

1TB Hardrive
8GB RAM
2.9Ghz
Superdrive

The classic is cheaper and you do get more for your money.

cfcboy · Mar 4, 2013

eezacque said:
Could you be a little more specific on 'art and graphics'?

He will be doing Graphics for his A-Level courses from September this year. I believe it should entail some of the following but I don’t really know too much on what will be in the course work:

■Drawing
■Printing
■Advertising campaigns
■Digital photography
■Packaging design
■Illustration
■Typography
■Contextual study for A2 level candidates only
■Image manipulation on MACs

He likes to do a lot of video and photo editing and this will be particularly important for his art work I can imagine.

He is into his games as well, so talking the likes of Skyrim, Fifa etc.

I was looking to do another 4gb upgrade to take it up to 8gb.

£1200 is a big outlay for me so trying to get this spot on

----------

rsnapeuk said:
I'm a student and do a lot of graphic based work. I really don't see the need for a retina screen.

For me I had the option of either a Retina MacBook Pro or MacBook Pro.

The choice was either a comprise of screen or workability and specs.

I chose to use a Classic Macbook Pro and in the end resulted with a

1TB Hardrive
8GB RAM
2.9Ghz
Superdrive

The classic is cheaper and you do get more for your money.

My son is not fussed about the Retina either to be honest. Looking for a awesome spec rather than the external display.

Classic meaning non Retina?

----------

[/COLOR]

seveej said:
Hi,

honestly, unless it is imperative that the gift comes as a surprise, I'd honestly recommend you ask the recipient's advice/opinion.

RGDS,

Ive "sewn" the seeds to get an idea of what he wants and we both share very similar tastes so 99% sure what he wants. 16th birthday present so hopefully a nice suprise (hence why i dont want to give to much away to him)

seveej · Mar 4, 2013

cfcboy said:
My son is not fussed about the Retina either to be honest. Looking for a awesome spec rather than the external display.

Where can you buy the Classic these days? Cant find it via Apple store :

The "classic" or cMBP is just how we nerds refer to it. At Apple, they just refer to it as the "MacBook Pro" (without any mention of a retina display), so that's probably what you've been looking at.

the cMBP allows you to update the memory yourself, and Apple usually takes quite a premium on memory, so if the budget's tight and your comfortable "screwing around" (no pun intended) with the insides of a brand new machine, that would allow you to save some pounds.

RGDS,

xShane · Mar 4, 2013

cfcboy said:
Hi people, just wondering if you could give this 1st time MBP buyer some advice??

Im looking at getting my son a 15" rMBP for his birthday to be used in conjuction with his exams and when he attends college for art and graphics courses. The refurb box is £1269 with spec of:

15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution 
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

£1300 was at the very top end of my budget but would you say this is the best spec i could for the price? The only thing thing that might be of concern is the memory? Ive never used a mac (though my son tells me they run like a dream) so not sure if a load more memory is a definate?

Thanks in advance

You mentioned earlier that your son is not too thrilled about the Retina. In that case, I'd highly recommend the 15" non-Retina ("classic") MacBook Pro (MBP).

Most importantly, I think you'll want to get one with 1GB VRAM and not the 512MB listed above in your original post. Crucial also sells 16GB (yes, 16GB) RAM upgrade kits for roughly $80-$100, which is definitely worth the price.

cfcboy · Mar 4, 2013

seveej said:
The "classic" or cMBP is just how we nerds refer to it. At Apple, they just refer to it as the "MacBook Pro" (without any mention of a retina display), so that's probably what you've been looking at.

the cMBP allows you to update the memory yourself, and Apple usually takes quite a premium on memory, so if the budget's tight and your comfortable "screwing around" (no pun intended) with the insides of a brand new machine, that would allow you to save some pounds.

RGDS,

ok, get what you mean now lol. Im happy to install the memory myself. Thanks for input

Spikeywan · Mar 4, 2013

seveej said:
Unless it is imperative that the gift comes as a surprise, I'd honestly recommend you ask the recipient's advice/opinion.

Me too. Also, he may be prepared to add some cash of his own to get a higher spec.

Will you be my mum, too?

cfcboy · Mar 4, 2013

xShane said:
You mentioned earlier that your son is not too thrilled about the Retina. In that case, I'd highly recommend the 15" non-Retina ("classic") MacBook Pro (MBP).

Most importantly, I think you'll want to get one with 1GB VRAM and not the 512MB listed above in your original post. Crucial also sells 16GB (yes, 16GB) RAM upgrade kits for roughly $80-$100, which is definitely worth the price.

Agree, think i will skip the retina. Hmm that upgrade might be a bit difficult, I was looking at the refurb model of:

2.3GHZ
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution 
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

The Refurb knocked off around 20% so going back to new takes it over budget

Though i would like the 1gb and would probbaly regret not upping it.

Whats the general feeling on the refurb boxes? Do different offers come round quite frequent or are they fixed for a period of time?

Thanks again

----------

Spikeywan said:
Me too. Also, he may be prepared to add some cash of his own to get a higher spec.

Will you be my mum, too?

Oh he will paying for some of it trust me. Will be partially funded by the sale of his custom built pc and possibly his old ipad gen 2

Thats not being cruel is it?

xShane · Mar 4, 2013

cfcboy said:
Agree, think i will skip the retina. Hmm that upgrade might be a bit difficult, I was looking at the refurb model of:

2.3GHZ
15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1440-by-900 resolution 
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

The Refurb knocked off around 20% so going back to new takes it over budget Though i would like the 1gb and would probbaly regret not upping it.

Whats the general feeling on the refurb boxes? Do different offers come round quite frequent or are they fixed for a period of time?

Thanks again

Refurbs are excellent products (as I'm sure many users here can attest). The *only* difference when buying a refurb is you get a white box instead of the fancy Apple box when you buy new. That's it. You'll get the same AppleCare/warranty, and you won't be treated any differently.

In fact, refurbs have to pass re-inspection and are often refitted with new parts, such as brand new casing, keyboard, and a trackpad. I have used various refurb products over the years such as Mac Pros, Macbooks, the old MacBook Pro, etc., and never had a single problem.

cfcboy · Mar 4, 2013

xShane said:
Refurbs are excellent products (as I'm sure many users here can attest). The *only* difference when buying a refurb is you get a white box instead of the fancy Apple box when you buy new. That's it. You'll get the same AppleCare/warranty, and you won't be treated any differently.

In fact, refurbs have to pass re-inspection and are often refitted with new parts, such as brand new casing, keyboard, and a trackpad. I have used various refurb products over the years such as Mac Pros, Macbooks, the old MacBook Pro, etc., and never had a single problem.

Excellent, that helps make my decision

aooga12 · Mar 4, 2013

rsnapeuk said:
1TB Hardrive
8GB RAM
2.9Ghz
Superdrive

whats so good about the superdrive? virgin here as well

xShane · Mar 4, 2013

aooga12 said:
whats so good about the superdrive? virgin here as well

I believe it's referring to the optical drive for CDs/DVDs. rMBPs (Retina MacBook Pros) do not have a CD/DVD drive.

Applefanboy8153 · Mar 4, 2013

cfcboy said:
Excellent, that helps make my decision

The retina display is certainly very useful for art students and if portability is an issue, then get a 13 rMBP with 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM and an i5 processor.

Also I did not know that apple sold 4GB retina macs, i think the minimum is 8GB for all retina Macs.

----------

cfcboy said:
ok, get what you mean now lol. Im happy to install the memory myself. Thanks for input

But you would lose warranty!

----------

cfcboy said:
He will be doing Graphics for his A-Level courses from September this year. I believe it should entail some of the following but I dont really know too much on what will be in the course work:

■Drawing
■Printing
■Advertising campaigns
■Digital photography
■Packaging design
■Illustration
■Typography
■Contextual study for A2 level candidates only
■Image manipulation on MACs

He likes to do a lot of video and photo editing and this will be particularly important for his art work I can imagine.

He is into his games as well, so talking the likes of Skyrim, Fifa etc.

I was looking to do another 4gb upgrade to take it up to 8gb.

£1200 is a big outlay for me so trying to get this spot on

----------

My son is not fussed about the Retina either to be honest. Looking for a awesome spec rather than the external display.

Classic meaning non Retina?

----------

[/COLOR]

Ive "sewn" the seeds to get an idea of what he wants and we both share very similar tastes so 99% sure what he wants. 16th birthday present so hopefully a nice suprise (hence why i dont want to give to much away to him)

Gaming means a 15" mac is must as you get dedicated GPU which is absent from all 13 inch versions.

justperry · Mar 4, 2013

Applefanboy8153 said:
The retina display is certainly very useful for art students and if portability is an issue, then get a 13 rMBP with 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM and an i5 processor.

Also I did not know that apple sold 4GB retina macs, i think the minimum is 8GB for all retina Macs.

----------

But you would lose warranty!

----------

Gaming means a 15" mac is must as you get dedicated GPU which is absent from all 13 inch versions.

Yes, the minimum rMBP RAM is 8 GB

He isn't going to loose warranty, RAM is replaceable without losing warranty, even on the cMBP AFAIK.

-----

OP,As others have said, your best option is to get a 15" MBP (Classic) and upgrade the RAM later on, it's inexpensive and an added plus is that down the road there is a possibility to swap the optical bay for a SSD drive, makes it much faster.

aooga12 · Mar 4, 2013

xShane said:
I believe it's referring to the optical drive for CDs/DVDs. rMBPs (Retina MacBook Pros) do not have a CD/DVD drive.

yes i get that but whats super about it?

Applefanboy8153 · Mar 4, 2013

justperry said:
Yes, the minimum rMBP RAM is 8 GB

He isn't going to loose warranty, RAM is replaceable without losing warranty, even on the cMBP AFAIK.

-----

OP,As others have said, your best option is to get a 15" MBP (Classic) and upgrade the RAM later on, it's inexpensive and an added plus is that down the road there is a possibility to swap the optical bay for a SSD drive, makes it much faster.

Really, thanks i did not know that! In my country Apple warranty does not cover that! My dad's 2008 MB lost its warranty cause of that.

justperry · Mar 4, 2013

Applefanboy8153 said:
Really, thanks i did not know that! In my country Apple warranty does not cover that! My dad's 2008 MB lost its warranty cause of that.

And, may I ask where that is, no worries if you don't wanna say.

RAM is so easy to replace, just unscrew the bottom lid and they are there, what can go wrong?
Well, it can if people are clumsy or all charged up without touching the Aluminium first (static electricity).

Btw, if you put the old memory back before bringing it in nobody will know you had other memory in it, so if people are paranoid they should keep their old memory for cases like this, my recommendation is to always keep your old RAM, if something is wrong it is easy to switch the RAM and see if that solved the problem.
Second hand (selling your RAM)isn't going to make you a fortune.

cfcboy · Mar 4, 2013

Applefanboy8153 said:
But you would lose warranty!

I thought adding memory or upgrading your hard drive are not considered "unauthorized modifications" and will not void your warranty?

*edit* already seen reply

Applefanboy8153 · Mar 4, 2013

justperry said:
And, may I ask where that is, no worries if you don't wanna say.

RAM is so easy to replace, just unscrew the bottom lid and they are there, what can go wrong?
Well, it can if people are clumsy or all charged up without touching the Aluminium first (static electricity).

Btw, if you put the old memory back before bringing it in nobody will know you had other memory in it, so if people are paranoid they should keep their old memory for cases like this, my recommendation is to always keep your old RAM, if something is wrong it is easy to switch the RAM and see if that solved the problem.
Second hand (selling your RAM)isn't going to make you a fortune.

I live in India. Here we have really tough apple warranty conditions!

justperry · Mar 4, 2013

Applefanboy8153 said:
I live in India. Here we have really tough apple warranty conditions!

Beautiful culture, been a while since I have been there, got a present when I left, leftover from varanasi, Malaria, the deadly variant, survived though.

That aside, Apple seem to have tougher "rules" and higher prices in similar countries, the one I am in, similar in name, Indonesia have too high prices, before you could get away with paying 10% tax with the grey market, not so anymore.

xShane · Mar 4, 2013

justperry said:
Beautiful culture, been a while since I have been there, got a present when I left, leftover from varanasi, Malaria, the deadly variant, survived though.

That aside, Apple seem to have tougher "rules" and higher prices in similar countries, the one I am in, similar in name, Indonesia have too high prices, before you could get away with paying 10% tax with the grey market, not so anymore.

I believe Apple is in trouble with Australian courts because their prices are too high over there.

justperry · Mar 4, 2013

xShane said:
I believe Apple is in trouble with Australian courts because their prices are too high over there.

Wasn't there some news about this a while ago, hope they will do this soon in Europe as well, not that the Macs are way overpriced there, it's the RAM what I am talking about, charging 3-5 times more than others, same goes for SSD.

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