Hi,
I'm looking to buy my first macbook to replace my aging 5 year old Dell laptop, and possibly to replace my 3 year old desktop PC too, as this seems to get less used these days.
I don't need portability, the laptop will stay at home. I play a few games occasionally, a little photo editing, some basic stuff with Virtual machines, terminals, some basic coding, but 90% is web browsing.
I've managed to get to two options:
1) The new macbook air 13, the base model i5. This model is currently £100 off in PCWorld, £849 for 128G, £1029 for 256G. The screen looks OK to me. decent res for the size, heard it runs cool (and so better if mainly used on a lap as I do?), looks great, cheaper to buy.
2) Retina screens though look fantastic, and like the idea of the extra screen estate to get a browser and a terminal window or two running. Looking at apple refurbished store can get a 15" retina 2.3G with 256G SSD for £1319. I've kind of ruled out the 13" retina pro thinking it might be a bit underspeced for what it is and may aswell pay the little extra to get the 15"?, but you can get a refurbished 2.5G with 128G SSD and 8G RAM for £1059, or £1229 for 256G SSD
My first question would be is there any other points to think about to help sway me into getting a macbook air or macbook pro? I'm thinking the 8G and better specs of the retina 15" would mean it could last out abit longer, I typically keep computers for 5 years, but is this worth spending as much as £470 extra in the first place going for a 15" retina over the macbook air?
Secondly Is 128G enough storage as most of my documents and files live in the cloud or local NAS box?
And lastly, I realise there is an apple refresh due shortly, but is this going to affect me if I'm only looking at refurbished prices? I can't justify buying a new macbook at £1800 I think £1300 is about as much as I'd want to spend, and I don't need massive battery length that haswell may bring. Is it too much of a gamble waiting and possibly loosing out on the chance of buying a macbook pro 15" retina for £1300?
Any advise to a new macbook owner to be would be appreciated
I'm looking to buy my first macbook to replace my aging 5 year old Dell laptop, and possibly to replace my 3 year old desktop PC too, as this seems to get less used these days.
I don't need portability, the laptop will stay at home. I play a few games occasionally, a little photo editing, some basic stuff with Virtual machines, terminals, some basic coding, but 90% is web browsing.
I've managed to get to two options:
1) The new macbook air 13, the base model i5. This model is currently £100 off in PCWorld, £849 for 128G, £1029 for 256G. The screen looks OK to me. decent res for the size, heard it runs cool (and so better if mainly used on a lap as I do?), looks great, cheaper to buy.
2) Retina screens though look fantastic, and like the idea of the extra screen estate to get a browser and a terminal window or two running. Looking at apple refurbished store can get a 15" retina 2.3G with 256G SSD for £1319. I've kind of ruled out the 13" retina pro thinking it might be a bit underspeced for what it is and may aswell pay the little extra to get the 15"?, but you can get a refurbished 2.5G with 128G SSD and 8G RAM for £1059, or £1229 for 256G SSD
My first question would be is there any other points to think about to help sway me into getting a macbook air or macbook pro? I'm thinking the 8G and better specs of the retina 15" would mean it could last out abit longer, I typically keep computers for 5 years, but is this worth spending as much as £470 extra in the first place going for a 15" retina over the macbook air?
Secondly Is 128G enough storage as most of my documents and files live in the cloud or local NAS box?
And lastly, I realise there is an apple refresh due shortly, but is this going to affect me if I'm only looking at refurbished prices? I can't justify buying a new macbook at £1800 I think £1300 is about as much as I'd want to spend, and I don't need massive battery length that haswell may bring. Is it too much of a gamble waiting and possibly loosing out on the chance of buying a macbook pro 15" retina for £1300?
Any advise to a new macbook owner to be would be appreciated
