Help An Old Windows Dog Out

[DryEyez]

Ok...that was the last straw, I wrote out a nice long post and 7 crashed my internet. This is the second time I'm writing this post so it may be a little more brief than the first!

I'm a mac virgin and I'm sick of 7.....................I've been looking at different mac options, and I'm drawn towards the macbook pros. (but this is not set in stone).

Firstly I'm drawn to the 13" entry level model, this seems like a good machine, and more than capable handling anything I would want to do. However I do feel a bit miffed if I paid £1000 for old technology. The C2D. The processor, in my opinion, is great, its a workhorse, but, it's old, something a little more upto date, such as the i5, would be quite nice, little more future proof, and if I did decide to do something extremely demanding, then it's fine. Also I'm worried about the 13" model possibly being a little small? Opinions?

Secondly I'm drawn to the 15" entry level model, i5 processor, nice, looks like a good machine but is it overkill? It's not huge amounts more than the 13" model and feel it would last me several years, hopefully 3 or 4 til I would have to upgrade again.

As a mac virgin though, what should I get, should I get a starter machine, a cheap macbook white?

This is what I'll be using it for.
-Writing up a lot of reports, so comfort is a necessity, 13" screen would maybe strain my eyes?
-Possibly play a few pc strategy games via bootcamp/xp (in my first post I explained I was sick of 7 and I was selling my laptop and gaming desktop, then 7 decided to crash before I clicked submit)
-Music/E-mail/General workhorse stuff
-My partner is an animator, and she doesn't have a mac, so I imagine she will probably want me to render her vids/use cs5 and whatever the kids use nowadays.


So, what should my first mac be? It doesn't have to be a macbook pro, just voice what you think would be a good first machine. Any advice is much appreciated! Also, where to buy?

 

[Hellhammer]

You would be fine with 13" but if your partner is going to use your Mac, then pay the extra for 15" as animating can be pretty intensive and thus a faster CPU and GPU will definitely make things faster.

If you want to save some money, check out refurb store. There are great deals

 

[DryEyez]

I received an e-mail from a company called bageyu? I don't know if anyone's heard of them. But they were offering apple machines at what seems like, scam prices, so I am guessing the entire site is a scam. But I was just wandering if anyone could confirm or had dealt with them before?

www.bageyu.com

PS - weird site name...

 

[Hellhammer]

I received an e-mail from a company called bageyu? I don't know if anyone's heard of them. But they were offering apple machines at what seems like, scam prices, so I am guessing the entire site is a scam. But I was just wandering if anyone could confirm or had dealt with them before?

www.bageyu.com

PS - weird site name...

Sounds fishy, the prices are way too good. Reliable companies don't advertise by email either. Also, Who.is shows that the site has been created very recently

 

[DryEyez]

Ok, thanks for the swift reply hellhammer. I didn't think it was legit, no one is that nice to sell macs at what seems like, a loss. lol.

I'm looking to buy a new machine in the next week or so, but I'd be wanting to pay it off in full with my january pay check. Are there any places (bare in mind I'm in the UK) that would offer me some sort of finance option, but wouldn't tie me down for 3 years like the apple store offers. I don't want to still be paying for it in 3 years time, but I want to pay it off in january.

 

[Hellhammer]

I'm looking to buy a new machine in the next week or so, but I'd be wanting to pay it off in full with my january pay check. Are there any places (bare in mind I'm in the UK) that would offer me some sort of finance option, but wouldn't tie me down for 3 years like the apple store offers. I don't want to still be paying for it in 3 years time, but I want to pay it off in january.

Look at some resellers, I can't name any specific one since I don't live in the UK. Another option is to pay with credit card and then pay the bill in January. Contact your CC company to make sure you can do that as all companies have their own rules and stuff.

 

[DryEyez]

I just did a little digging. And found this.

http://www.mccdigital.com/custom/branches.html

These guys sell apple machines. I'm curious though, if I buy from them and buy applecare, which I certainly would do then, if I have any problems, do I take it to them, or do I take it to an apple store. The reason I ask is there aren't any local apple stores and this seems to be the only one. If I had to I could get to an apple store it would just be a pain. I'm just curious really if buying applecare applies to them fixing it as well as apple?

Also, (and I apologise for my barrage of questions, complete newbie) regards to applecare, I saw some posts which suggested not buying applecare until owning the machine for 1 year. Does this have any benefits at all or?

I just want to do my research and make sure I know everything I need to before making the plunge so everything goes smoothly.

 

[Hellhammer]

These guys sell apple machines. I'm curious though, if I buy from them and buy applecare, which I certainly would do then, if I have any problems, do I take it to them, or do I take it to an apple store. The reason I ask is there aren't any local apple stores and this seems to be the only one. If I had to I could get to an apple store it would just be a pain. I'm just curious really if buying applecare applies to them fixing it as well as apple?

AppleCare is universal so you can either take it to Apple or to an authorized reseller like the one you linked. Both will fix it for free if you're under warranty (as long as the damage was not caused by mishandling the item).

Also, (and I apologise for my barrage of questions, complete newbie) regards to applecare, I saw some posts which suggested not buying applecare until owning the machine for 1 year. Does this have any benefits at all or?

Well, you get more time to gather some pounds and the initial purchase doesn't feel as expensive. I bought my AppleCare about 4 months after I got my iMac. I had the money so I just decided to go for it. I would get it ASAP as then it's over and you won't forget it. Besides, you only get 90 days of phone support but AppleCare makes that 3 years so I would get it within that period.

 

[DryEyez]

Ok, thanks very much for your help helljumper. I feel like I'm ready to take the plunge! I'll make a new post once I've got the machine in a week or so. Wish me luck

 

[ukwildcat]

Ok, thanks very much for your help helljumper. I feel like I'm ready to take the plunge! I'll make a new post once I've got the machine in a week or so. Wish me luck

You will never regret getting as far away as you can from Windows/Microsoft. It's been 3 years for me, and the only regret I have is not making the switch sooner. Enjoy!!

 

[Makosuke]

Besides, you only get 90 days of phone support but AppleCare makes that 3 years so I would get it within that period.

Some people aren't clear on this, so I thought I'd mention, just in case, that while you get 90 days of phone support and 1 year of hardware support without Applecare, and 3 years of both with, you can buy Applecare any time within the first year and you will, of course, also get phone support from whenever you buy it until 3 years from the time you bought the computer. That is to say that until you need to call Apple support after that 90 days there's no hurry, so long as you remember within the first year (which isn't trivial--as Hellhammer said, it's easy to forget if you don't do it right away, and with a laptop I think it's really worth it). In fact, I think if you call after the 90 day period but within 1 year, they'll offer to sell you Applecare on the phone right then.

Also, I could be remembering wrong, but I seem to remember it being mentioned that the UK has a somewhat more generous extended warranty policy than elsewhere in the world, due to government restrictions. You might look it up to confirm that.

Otherwise, enjoy your new Mac once it arrives.

 

[Hellhammer]

Also, I could be remembering wrong, but I seem to remember it being mentioned that the UK has a somewhat more generous extended warranty policy than elsewhere in the world, due to government restrictions. You might look it up to confirm that.

You get 3-year hardware warranty automatically when buying from Higher Education store in UK. I don't think there are any other differences