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Getting ready to purchase 3 amazing apple products

C

cozyann88

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 17, 2010
5
0
I know there are a million what size this and that should I get but that is not what I am asking. the only apple product I currently own is an ipod. I am getting a big student check from college and I am upgrading everything! My old hp laptop died last year and my ancient gateway desktop is malfunctioning.
I am going to buy the ipad. All the books I need are in the coursesmart app so I plan on using it to replace my heavy textbooks. After a year of buying digital books, the ipad nearly pays for itself.
I also need a laptop. I planned on getting the 13'' but with the ipad, how often will I really need to make my laptop portable other than around the house. So would 15'' be ideal?
I am also buying an imac for my home. My kids need to use it for school and if I buy the macbook pro 13, I could use it when I need more room?

So should I get the 15'' or 13'' macbook pro when I am also getting an imac and an ipad? Thank you
 
Get the iPad and the iMac. Save your money and see if you really need the MacBook Pro after a month of use. The iPad will give you the portability to do what most people do most on computers.
 
well you need a computer for the ipad so if you are set that the ipad fits your sues then get it, and when it comes to the computers the imac is better if you are going to be doing lots of processing video rendering and photo editing, but i love my macbook!!!! i can take it to the park and take pictures and instantly upload them and edit and same with video, plus i can take it to friends and watch movies on there tv with my computer, i do love the portability and its super compact and light!!!! i do also enjoy the screen size for a 13 inch i enjoy it more then the 26" tv i have it hooked upto =D haha so its completely upto you but i reccomend the labtop!!!! and get the ipad with 3g!!! even if you don't use a data plan it has gps tracking if it ever gets lost and leaves you the data plan option =D
 
eawmp1 said:
Get the iPad and the iMac. Save your money and see if you really need the MacBook Pro after a month of use. The iPad will give you the portability to do what most people do most on computers.
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I disagree, at least for my uses. Every time I leave my MBP at home and take my iPad instead it's frustrating as hell.

Can't properly view and navigate through various websites, such as car sites, home for sale sites, any thing that requires flash. Go to reply to an email it takes longer, attachments more problems and delays ... I could go on but you can read about the pluses and minuses in the ipad forum.

On the other hand the iPad is great for some things, decide on your needs first and then decide on the best Mac product to fill that need.

I'd say desktop and laptop, iPad too limiting but it fills an important role for your text books.

Buy all three, an iPad, 13" MBP and the iMac.
 
Have you considered a Kindle? Since you're getting the iPad only for the books, Kindle is pretty awesome. Otherwise just get the iPad and the iMac.

iMac, iPad and MBP are overkill IMO unless you're super rich :)
 
iPad with keyboard might be enough for you once multi tasking comes out. It would be really frustrating to try taking notes while not having access to book at the same time.
 
Meever said:
iPad with keyboard might be enough for you once multi tasking comes out. It would be really frustrating to try taking notes while not having access to book at the same time.
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Is there any idea as to when multitasking will come out on the ipad? Also will I be able to upgrade my current ipad?
 
I would say iPad + 13" MBP + iMac.

OSX and full keyboard in the 13" Macbook Pro is important for full functionality and compatibility with software (i.e. if you need to write a report or spreadsheets or something). iPad would be annoying to do to real work on.

The 15" MBP would only be necessary if you do some heavier computation, really need screen real-estate or need discrete graphics, but you will have the iMac for that anyway...
 
I'd say save your money and get a 15" high spec'd MBP and a kindle. You get everything you need then. For thousands less.
 
I had an iPad for about a month and then the honeymoon period ended so I ended up selling it.

I carried it around campus thinking that it would totally replace my macbook pro and it never did!

It was frustrating typing on the thing as well as most of my course tutorials and homework was done at coursecompass.com which is flash based (no flash on the iPad).

Also only half of my classes had textbooks available on courseware and the other half I had to carry books around anyway so that wasnt very helpful there either.

Honestly, I carry around a samsung n150 netbook and put in a 40GB intel SSD G2 in it and it works heavenly for school.

I have the whole office 2007 suite installed along with visio, visual basic and it all runs fine with a battery life of 7-8 hours. The full size keyboard is awesome too on the netbook.

I just stuff my netbook in my backpack in the notebook compartment of my backpack and dont even worry about it as it has a scratch proof outer casing (I'm sure it still can be scratched if attempted) but its strong enough to not really worry about it, especially considering the thing only cost me $280! Oh and its so damn light! Today I brought my netbook along with me on campus (summer class) and when I got back home after 5 hours, I totally forgot I had my netbook in my backpack the whole time!

IMO netbooks are the best thing to carry around campus. One other reason I swayed to the netbook is the cheapness of it. There have been many robberies on my campus (total of 5 gun point robberies) just in the last 2 months!

There are times that I am contemplating on the 15" macbook pro or the 17" i7 (probably keep it on my desk at home and still carry my netbook to campus) but I'd lug the 17" i7 mbp around everywhere else and around the house.
 
jjahshik32 said:
I had an iPad for about a month and then the honeymoon period ended so I ended up selling it.

I carried it around campus thinking that it would totally replace my macbook pro and it never did!

It was frustrating typing on the thing as well as most of my course tutorials and homework was done at coursecompass.com which is flash based (no flash on the iPad).

Also only half of my classes had textbooks available on courseware and the other half I had to carry books around anyway so that wasnt very helpful there either.

Honestly, I carry around a samsung n150 netbook and put in a 40GB intel SSD G2 in it and it works heavenly for school.

I have the whole office 2007 suite installed along with visio, visual basic and it all runs fine with a battery life of 7-8 hours. The full size keyboard is awesome too on the netbook.

I just stuff my netbook in my backpack in the notebook compartment of my backpack and dont even worry about it as it has a scratch proof outer casing (I'm sure it still can be scratched if attempted) but its strong enough to not really worry about it, especially considering the thing only cost me $280! Oh and its so damn light! Today I brought my netbook along with me on campus (summer class) and when I got back home after 5 hours, I totally forgot I had my netbook in my backpack the whole time!

IMO netbooks are the best thing to carry around campus. One other reason I swayed to the netbook is the cheapness of it. There have been many robberies on my campus (total of 5 gun point robberies) just in the last 2 months!

There are times that I am contemplating on the 15" macbook pro or the 17" i7 (probably keep it on my desk at home and still carry my netbook to campus) but I'd lug the 17" i7 mbp around everywhere else and around the house.
Click to expand...


I really don't get the netbook craze, they are slow even with a SSD and the screens are way too small to do any real work on.

With my 13 MBP I average around 6-8 hours on my battery according to how much CPU I use. I have a full OS, ful keyboard and the best built computing machine on the planet. The only thing that makes netbooks good is they are cheap but IMO you get what you pay for.
 
Narse77 said:
I really don't get the netbook craze, they are slow even with a SSD and the screens are way too small to do any real work on.
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They're $300, can get 8+ hours of battery life, and can run flash. Netbooks aren't comparable to laptops with modern components; an iPad would be a better basis for comparison.
 
KirkL said:
This :D
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But even if I could get my textbooks on a kindle, wouldn't the ipad deliver them so much more easily and beautifully with all the pictures and everything?

Does anyone have an ipad and love it? I hear so many negatives!
 
Narse77 said:
I really don't get the netbook craze, they are slow even with a SSD and the screens are way too small to do any real work on.

Last year "I bought the Asus eee and I hated it! It was so small and hard to work on, slow and after 9 months right before my final papers were due, it fried. I am so done with those
Click to expand...
 
cozyann88 said:
But even if I could get my textbooks on a kindle, wouldn't the ipad deliver them so much more easily and beautifully with all the pictures and everything?

Does anyone have an ipad and love it? I hear so many negatives!
Click to expand...

for textbooks i would probably get an iPad .. but for reading regular books .. kindle all the way
 
What about the ipad for watching video? I have considered one for many things, especially for cartoons and movies to entertain the children.
 
KirkL said:
Keep in mind that the iPad doesn't support Flash.
Click to expand...

Indeed, however I am accustomed to a Ipod touch for movies and Bugs Bunny cartoons (guilty pleasure), which have but aptly converted to 264. The iPad would seem a fine platform for small group viewing.
 
Narse77 said:
I really don't get the netbook craze, they are slow even with a SSD and the screens are way too small to do any real work on.

With my 13 MBP I average around 6-8 hours on my battery according to how much CPU I use. I have a full OS, ful keyboard and the best built computing machine on the planet. The only thing that makes netbooks good is they are cheap but IMO you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

What I always never understood was why people call the netbook so slow? This might have been true about the first generation of netbooks but the 1.66GHz Atom N450 is plenty fast for everything especially with the SSD drive. I can watch youtube videos up to 480p and anything on hulu.com with using 10+ tabs on firefox just fine with no hiccups. I even run microsoft word, excel and visio with no problems or hiccups and it all launches instantly.

To me a netbook is more than fast enough for school and youtube + hulu for goofing around sometimes.

Also on the samsung netbook I have a full keyboard as well just as good as the 13" macbook pro (I can type just as fast) which I just sold off last week. The screen has an led matte as well on the netbook which I prefer as there are reflections everywhere I go on campus. Although it did take me a while to get used to the small 10" screen that the netbook offers but once you get used to it, it feels normal and comfortable to use (like any other screen size you get used to it).

I can run all the apps I listed and still manage 7 hours and 30 minute on the netbook.

The best thing I like about the netbook is that I dont have to baby it at all like I did with the macbook pros and I can carry it with one hand with ease.

Dont get me wrong, I love the macbook pros over the netbook anyday in overall ratings (I'm thinking about picking up the 17" hi resolution 2.66GHz i7 macbook pro again soon but probably not carry it to campus like I did with my previous generation 17" macbook pro last year as theft is increasing at the Uni).

But after carrying around a 17", 15" and 13" macbook pro at the university this past year and now carrying a 10" netbook this past semester and summer, it is such a joy carrying the netbook around and using it for its usages.
 
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