First New Mac in 7 years

Discussion in 'Buying Tips and Advice' started by erichian, Jun 21, 2007.

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  1. erichian, Jun 21, 2007

    erichian macrumors newbie

    erichian

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2007
    Location:
    North Texas
    #1
    I'm trying to make myself buy a new Mac in August, but I'm having a problem with cost. I don't have to buy a brand new system, as long as a used computer will suit my needs. It has to be portable, support firewire 400, and have a dvd drive (burner). I'm using Adobe CS2, MS Office, and Sony Vegas I need a system for editing graphics and video mainly, for the web and print.

    Any suggestions of something that might handle the task. Right now I'm using a 900.00 Dell that fits the bill pretty although its slow, but if all goes well I won't have this computer after August.

    I'm happy to go search ebay, or craigslist, but because if I get a new laptop I may not be able to get a new video camera, so I would like to go used.
     
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  2. crazycat, Jun 21, 2007

    crazycat macrumors 65816

    crazycat

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    Dec 5, 2005
    #2
    Macbook will do but a macbook pro will be better. Whats your budget?

    For 1,599 you can get a Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

    For 999 you can get a Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White but at that price its better to buy a new one.
     
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  3. amc382, Jun 21, 2007

    amc382 macrumors regular

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2003
    #3
    i just got my first new mac in 7 years...

    i went from a pismo at 400mhz to a top of the line macbook.

    amazing difference.
     
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  4. erichian, Jun 22, 2007

    erichian thread starter macrumors newbie

    erichian

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2007
    Location:
    North Texas
    #4
    Tiny Budget $1000.

    My budget is going to be 1000.00 I think. I'm ok with buying used, but I don't see a big difference between new and used prices. I just saw a preview of Final Cut today, and I'm almost at the point of wanting to stop all the video's I'm working on, until I can get a Mac and Final Cut, but I don't think I can pull this off until the end of next month.

    Currently I'm working on a 1.5 ghz Celeron processor with 512 megs of ram. All of the software I have is PC based, so I would need to at least be able to Run XP until I could get Mac Versions of Adobe CS, and MS Office, and of course Final Cut. I don't want anything to do with Vista, so thats not a concern, but XP.

    Would the second Mac book listed mentioned fit the Bill.
     
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  5. hsotnicaM, Jun 22, 2007

    hsotnicaM macrumors regular

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2007
    #5
    Drop Vegas for sure. If you've never worked with FCP, you'll be shocked how easy and more powerful FCP is. I've used everything from The Cube to AVID's top of the line. FCP hands down beats AVID especially when you get FCP suite.
    Don't know what to say about which computer, since I'm currently using a Quad G5. Looking forward to seeing what the new MBP will do with it in two weeks!!
     
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  6. iSee, Jun 22, 2007

    iSee macrumors 68040

    iSee

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    Oct 25, 2004
    #6
    I think a MacBook would be fine--a huge improvement over that Celeron you've got now. Go to an Apple store or some other place and try one out in person. With your requirement of a DVD burner, I think you'll have to look at the $1299.00 one. Watch the refrub store, though. You will be able to get it somewhat cheaper. To my mind it isn't worth it to try to buy something like this on eBay or craigslist--you probably won't get a price much better than the refurb price. Buy more RAM when you can, but you can live for a while on 1GB! (Especially when booted to XP.)
     
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  7. teflon, Jun 22, 2007

    teflon macrumors 6502a

    teflon

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    #7
    If you're using FCP frequently, a macbook might not cut the bill, especially if you decide to use Motion.
     
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  8. Denali9, Jun 22, 2007

    Denali9 macrumors member

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2007
    #8
    Fcp

    Just my two cents and you may want to verify but if you ever want to move to FC2, I don't think it is supported on the macbook because of the integrated graphic card. You may and actually should look into a Macbook Pro considering you do video editing. All Macbook Pro from Rev A to the new SR are supported by FC2.
     
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  9. erichian, Jun 22, 2007

    erichian thread starter macrumors newbie

    erichian

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2007
    Location:
    North Texas
    #9
    Based on this it may be better to borrow a PC that will take care of these needs, and maybe by a Macbook Pro at the end of the year.

    I didn't think the prices on ebay or craigslist were that great compared to some even some of the mail order places.

    Thanks for the info. I don't know if I will be using FC2 anytime soon, but I would like the system to be able grow with me over the next few years.
     
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