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Husband bought Macbook Pro without researching. Should I keep it?

D

Dawnn

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 6, 2008
9
0
MI
Or perhaps the question is am I stuck with it?

First of all, I'm new to this board so thanks for allowing me to post and for reading my question.

I was joking with my husband about asking Santa for a MacBook Pro because I love my iPod Touch so much. He really wants my old Compaq laptop for some reason and last night I got an email from Apple thanking me for registering my new MacBook Pro. I asked him what was up and he showed me the shiny new notebook he'd procured from MacMall.

Apple 15.4" MacBook Pro - Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5GHz 2GB, 250GB, SuperDrive - GLOSSY MB488LL/A

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5GHz, 15" TFT, 2GB DDR2, 250GB SATA, Nvidia GeForce 8600 512MB, 8x SuperDrive, Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T, Airport Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR & iSight, OS X 10.5 Leopard GLOSSY

MacMall Part#: 7691238
Mfr.Part#: MB488LL/A
Price: $1,599.99
Mail-In Rebate(s): $150.00(9.4%)
Final Price: $1,449.99​

My old PC laptop is getting old and slow, really just needed a ram upgrade and a modem upgrade to get up to speed with our wifi connection. All I use it for is MS Money to keep my bills paid & checkbook balanced, email, Facebook, a couple message boards, some internet shopping, iTunes, and digital photos of our family. Facebook has been circulating some nasty spyware/malware and I joked one day that it sure would be nice to have a MacBook. We've been attracted to them for a year or 2 if for nothing else than the fact that they have that magnetic power cord. I never dreamed he'd run with that and buy one without researching more.

I've searched the board using both the Apple item # and the MacMall item number and can't find much about this specific model other than a post that has me worried about the graphics card. Is this going to be a very expensive "disposable" purchase? I need a computer that's going to be sturdy and last for a few years, not poop out on me and be in the shop getting the graphics card replaced over and over again. He already registered it. Am I stuck with it? Am I screwed? Is this a 2nd gen machine, 3rd gen? If it's really mine I'd like to cover it with an IS like I have for my Touch but am not sure which one to order. Am I going to be able to transfer my 50 Gig of iTunes "stuff" that's on my PC to iTunes on my Mac? Will my iPod Classic work with a Mac now that it's been synced with my PC? *sigh* I'm very overwhelmed, but he's going to want possession of my PC very quickly and I'm not sure everything is going to go smoothly. I'm scared...and can't have my new computer till Christmas. Need either reassurance that things will work or if I'm going to need to keep a PC anyways figure out how to send this Mac back to MacMall. Thanks in advance!
 
I'd keep it, you will love it trust me....unless you can return it for a new macbook which will suit your needs just fine. For what you say you use your current laptop for a pro might be overkill. If you don't mind me asking how much your husband paid for it? Reason I am asking is you could probably return it and save a little money by just getting a macbook.
 
I think it's overkill for what you're using it for unless you need the bigger screen. Just a regular MacBook would be perfect for you.
 
As far as I can see that is a top spec, last generation, MacBook Pro. Despite the fact it isn't the latest, it is very, very good, and won't have the problems first generation MacBook Pro's may yet to have.

It will easily last you 5 years, and all of your worries can be resolved, especially with some help from these forums :D
 
I think his thought with the overkill is that he's going to want to use it for movies (torrent) and my 13 year old son is turning into a bit of a gamer. Also, what was overkill when I bought my current PC laptop is now slow and not enough. He's sick of upgrading my hard drive and me complaining about how slow my computer is, and sick of soldering the power thing back to the motherboard (?). Overkill I'm cool with since I can grow into it. I'd love to learn some photoediting and maybe even videoediting. I was worried that it wouldn't last. I saw on another post someone getting warned off of this exact model because of the Nvidia 8600 issue.
 
Your new Macbook Pro is a brilliant computer. It will last a very long time. I also think that's a really good deal on it, wish I got my MBP for nearly half off too! Your MBP is a Peryn model, which were produced through October 2008. Many, many people consider them the best MBP ever.

MS Money isn't offered for Macs. I use mint.com's money management, lifehacker selected it as one of the five best finance tools this year.

Another switcher wanted to know how to get their iTunes from their PC...
drichards said:
Read this comprehensive illustrated guide from lifehacker.

You may want to attend a "switching school" at your local Apple store. Call Applecare and they'll hook you up with a date.
Click to expand...

Your iPod Classic will work fine with your new MBP. It will probably want to be reformatted to be a "Mac iPod" so make sure you have all your music and videos saved on the computer.

Welcome to the party. ;)
 
Keep it, and enjoy. You're iPod will have to be reformatted for Mac but you can just transfer your music from the old machine over the network which should be too difficult. I wouldn't fret and enjoy that fine machine. Don't forget, you can put windows on it too... but I'd recommend using the OS X and just getting familiar with it. After you do, you won't look back.
 
The 8600 problem really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Apple will take care of you if your video fails, in the unlikely event of that happening, and if you have an Apple store nearby it can be as fast as same day. Apple treats its customers much better than any other computer company, hands down.
 
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is exactly the reassurance I needed! Now I can go home from work in the morning and thank my husband properly and repeatedly. :p

I was a little worried about the MS Money thing, but I don't use most of it's features anyways and will be GLAD to be rid of Windows. I remember my Dad and his engineer friends going to a presentation in a hotel about this new up and coming company and spending a FORTUNE on this program so we wouldn't have to use DOS anymore when I was in 7th grade. Why didn't we just buy a Macintosh instead?!
 
Some things just take time to learn. My first Mac was a Macintosh Portable, I got it at a yardsale for a few dollars in the early 90s. At the time, I had a Tandy 486DX, and it played Doom. Doom won, and I didn't use another Mac for fifteen years. I wish I rid myself of windows years ago. Of course, I'm typing this on a compaq... but my MBP is all taken apart for an upgrade right now. ;)

In Forest Gump, Lt. Dan invested profits from Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. into a new up and coming "fruit" company in the late seventies. The boys never had to work again.
 
Yes, go ahead and keep the husband and the new computer.;) You should enjoy it, though there are rumors that Apple will launch a touch computer in 2009, so you might want to return it and wait a bit. HP has a touch laptop now, which sounds sweet, but I am a diehard Mac fan.
 
That's a good price for a good machine. Keep it, you'll like it.

You know that little voice in your head that had been suggesting to you these past few years that maybe, just maybe, it'd be nicer to use a Mac? That voice was right. :D

Dive in. Learn it. MacRumors is a great place to go for help, too.
 
I think I'll keep them both.

My kids and I drool over the HP ads when we see them, but the 3 year old's sticky fingers + monitor is a bad combination. We've burned into their brains that they aren't allowed to touch monitors. Ever. That girl can get into Koi Pond on my Touch from a locked screen faster than I can blink though. I was hopeful when I got the email last night from Apple that it was the new MBP because the touchpad is sweet, but I'll take bigger, faster, better over cool touchpad any day. :)
 
There is something nice about having the last of a generation of something. I have the last of the Black MacBooks, and although it doesn't look as good as the new ones I know they ironed out all of the problems and I should have the most reliable MacBook going for a few years to come ;)
 
brop52 said:
Just be careful. Kids and notebooks can equal expensive paperweight pretty fast.
Click to expand...

My brother bought a Dell Ubantu laptop so the kids could play on it too without worrying about it being an expensive laptop. The kid's four, but knows his way around CBeebies (UK children's BBC) website!
 
My kids each have their own desktop to play with. DH parts & pieces them together with old PC's. They'll work for now, but they're starting to notice when they're too slow online. My 8 year old gets mad when Webkinz World games freeze. :) My PC laptop has had a long and happy life and is getting handed down to my husband who is retiring his because his battery life is crap. If our 13 year old saves enough to buy a new battery for that one, he'll be next in line. We're serial computer hand me downers, better than them ending up junked in the landfill leaching mercury and arsenic into the water table. :eek:
 
dubhe said:
As far as I can see that is a top spec, last generation, MacBook Pro. Despite the fact it isn't the latest, it is very, very good, and won't have the problems first generation MacBook Pro's may yet to have.

It will easily last you 5 years, and all of your worries can be resolved, especially with some help from these forums :D
Click to expand...

Agree completely. Welcome to the forum and to the world of Mac. You'll love it and that is a superb present to receive. It's a great computer - I have one and a very happy with it.

lord patton said:
That's a good price for a good machine. Keep it, you'll like it.

You know that little voice in your head that had been suggesting to you these past few years that maybe, just maybe, it'd be nicer to use a Mac? That voice was right. :D

Dive in. Learn it. MacRumors is a great place to go for help, too.
Click to expand...

Agree. Don't be afraid to ask questions, - this forum is an excellent place to ask such questions - and give yourself time to learn the differences between OS and Windows. I switched last April and, while it takes a little getting used to Apple computers are excellent. You have a very good computer, and obviously, an equally impressive spouse.

One further thing; the nVidia card attracts a lot of comment, and rightly so. However, your Apple has a one year warranty - and Apple tend to be very good at honouring their warranties. Indeed, it is one of the main reasons I switched, for two of my iPods died a few years ago, both still within warranty, and were replaced pretty much immediately without a murmur.

In addition, I have also purchased Applecare, which effectively extends the warranty by two further years - i.e. for three years in total. I consider it a good investment, and you will be able to buy it at any time within the first year of ownership of your MBP (but not a second after that).

I didn't get Windows on my MBP, but I do need Office, especially Word, (most of my work world uses it all of the time), so I invested in Office for Mac, which answers my work needs.

Enjoy your wonderful new MBP and may both it and you live long and prosper together.

Cheers and good luck
 
KEEP IT!! you will love it and it's not that hard to learn stuff on it. Anything you need to lean about it you can probably find the answers on here also. You will once in a while run into a jerk, but I think at least 99% of the people on here are awesome!
Also like others said get apple care
I hope my wife doesn't read this, I just got her a Macbook lol
 
Even though a MacBook Pro is more than you need for what you've done in the past, Dawnn, if you start using the iLife applications, especially iPhoto, you might get hooked on them. They are consumer-friendly, not too complicated but not dumbed down. Organizing photos (or movies) is a task every parent ought to enjoy, and the iLife apps are waiting for you.
 
You could return for MacBook

And get some of that money back and use it to add more memory or something. Yeah, it's overkill for what you are doing and that kind of power makes sense for someone doing heavy graphics, music, etc.

But, it is a gift and maybe he is trying to get you something he won't have to keep upgrading since this seems to be frustrating. So, in a way, it's a present for both of you. Just make sure you keep up on the Apple Care, it's worth it.;)
 
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