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Flash89

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 30, 2010
22
0
Queens, New York City
Hello guys, I'm currently debating on whether to buy a Mac Book Pro. I shouldn't say debating, but leaning to buy a Mac Book pro. I had a HP and I had the worst experience with it and it's customer service. I'm finally making the switch over to Mac and is asking you guys if the new i7 processors are safe to buy? I've seen on this forums that some people are having problems with it hence the "freezeups." Is it the majority of you guys or just a handful? Also do you recommend spending a few more bucks for the MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Glossy Widescreen Display [Add $90.00] or MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display [Add $135.00]? Also is it worth getting the Apple Protection Plan? I'm planning on buying the # 2.66GHz Intel Core i7, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm. Any advice will be great.

Best regards,
Justin
 
1. Perfectly safe to buy a i7 MBP. Some people are reporting problems, but even here where people specifically come to complain, those having freezeups are a minority.

2. The display: depends on you really. Personally I'm happy with the standard res display, and SOME of the people that have tried the high-res display have noted that text and fonts are small, given the high resolution and the relatively small screen.

3. If you plan on keeping your MacBook Pro for a while, then yes, definitely get AppleCare. Note though that you don't need to buy it right away. As long as the MBP is still under warranty you can get it, so you have a year from the date of purchase to buy it.
 
scaredpoet said:
1. Perfectly safe to buy a i7 MBP. Some people are reporting problems, but even here where people specifically come to complain, those having freezeups are a minority.

2. The display: depends on you really. Personally I'm happy with the standard res display, and SOME of the people that have tried the high-res display have noted that text and fonts are small, given the high resolution and the relatively small screen.

3. If you plan on keeping your MacBook Pro for a while, then yes, definitely get AppleCare. Note though that you don't need to buy it right away. As long as the MBP is still under warranty you can get it, so you have a year from the date of purchase to buy it.
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Thank you so much for the great advice. I'm looking forward to becoming an active member here.
 
I can only speak for myself, when I say that I have had my MacBook Pro i7 for close to two weeks, with no freezes, yet.

Value is an individual matter, and only you can rightly determine whether you should pay extra for screen options. Higher resolution and "anti-glare"/matte are definitely worth it to me, but that is within the context of being a professional photographer.

In my experience, the Applecare protection plan was very worth getting, with my previous laptop, which had some issues, but not worth getting for the laptop before that, which had no issues. You take your chances. I was comfortable buying Applecare, yet again, for the new MacBook Pro I just bought.
 
Mirabella said:
I can only speak for myself, when I say that I have had my MacBook Pro i7 for close to two weeks, with no freezes, yet.

Value is an individual matter, and only you can rightly determine whether you should pay extra for screen options. Higher resolution and "anti-glare"/matte are definitely worth it to me, but that is within the context of being a professional photographer.

In my experience, the Applecare protection plan was very worth getting, with my previous laptop, which had some issues, but not worth getting for the laptop before that, which had no issues. You take your chances. I was comfortable buying Applecare, yet again, for the new MacBook Pro I just bought.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your answer. I'll def. have to look into the screen options.
 
Flash89 said:
I'm looking forward to becoming an active member here.
Click to expand...
The model of MacBook Pro you're considering is an outstanding choice. I bought one & was so impressed I gave it to a family member & bought another just like it. I used the second one for two weeks, & it was stellar. Gave that one to my wife & bought a third one for myself. Three out of three... They're all terrific! Don't forget to buy AppleCare, it's the best 3yr. warranty in the business. You're going to be shocked at just how nice you're new Mac is.

Welcome to the forum!

Cheers ... :)
 
Sounds like you're going to have a lot of fun with your MBP. Have you thought about getting the i5 to save a little money and put it towards software? I think you'll have the same experience with the i5 unit.
 
have you considered going to the i5 and upgrading to a SSD? I honestly think you'll see much more gains of speed through that
 
1. Freezing is not a huge issue. It only seems widespread because people only say something if their computer does freeze. If it never freezes, the user won't say anything or think twice about it.

2. My stats are in my signature. I have the default screen and its perfect. I see no need to upgrade. The only upgrade that I recommend is the RAM, and maybe a hard drive.

3. With the amount of money you'll spend on a Mac, it is definitely worth buying the protection plan.
 
The ram is sometihng I can upgrade myself because it cost 400 more for a 8GB. It's cheaper to buy the part and install it myself.

When it comes to picking the i5 or i7? The difference is only 150 so I figured to pay that extra 150 for the better processor.

As for the drive, I think 500GB STD at 5400 will do for now.(maybe should've gotten the 7200rpm). I don't think it's necessary to pay more for less space in my situation. I'm a college student trying to get the best out of the laptop with the money I put in. Thanks for the advice though!
 
Flash89 said:
The ram is sometihng I can upgrade myself because it cost 400 more for a 8GB. It's cheaper to buy the part and install it myself.

When it comes to picking the i5 or i7? The difference is only 150 so I figured to pay that extra 150 for the better processor.

As for the drive, I think 500GB STD at 5400 will do for now.(maybe should've gotten the 7200rpm). I don't think it's necessary to pay more for less space in my situation. I'm a college student trying to get the best out of the laptop with the money I put in. Thanks for the advice though!
Click to expand...

If you have around 150 bucks more, you could get the Seagate Momentus XT 500GB drive when it comes out and install it yourself. It has a 4gb SSD that allows faster boot ups and will basically allow u to have SSD speed on the most used applications. It's 500GB 7200 RPM as well.
 
Buy it.You won't regret it. I bought the i7 macbook pro 15" with the hi-res AG. I had a few freezes out of the box but then reinstalled to mac osX to see what happens if I do a fresh install and to get rid of the langues I'll never use to free up some more harddrive space. After that I haven't had a single freez-up after that. A nice app is gfxcardstatus, it allows you to choose which card you want to use, since I noticed that some programms (like msn live messenger) run the dedicated card by default which gives you less battery time.
All in all, I'm very satisfied with the Mac. Once you get mac, you won't go back ;)
 
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