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If you had $2,000 to spend on a Mac...

Y

Yumunum

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 24, 2011
1,452
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U.S.
What would it be, and what upgrades (if you could afford them ontop the computer cost) would you make? And why?

I'm interested in what priorities you guys have, I'm looking to learn new stuff, and I'm going to be buying a new Mac this summer and I'm still undecided on what to get.
 
Yumunum said:
What would it be, and what upgrades (if you could afford them ontop the computer cost) would you make? And why?

I'm interested in what priorities you guys have, I'm looking to learn new stuff, and I'm going to be buying a new Mac this summer and I'm still undecided on what to get.
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RAM and Anti-Glare Screen

Don't bother getting an SSD from them they are cheaper elsewhere.
 
2.2GHz 15" MBP w/ hi-res screen, aftermarket SSD and Optibay kit (from eBay, they're only $10).
 
Yumunum said:
Isn't the effectiveness of the anti-glare screens debatable though? Or have you experienced a big benefit from it?
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HUGE difference.

The reason I have a laptop is portability. This also means that my light conditions aren't always perfect. I DJ parties in clubs and bars and sometimes the lighting is dark, and sometimes I have like 20 1000W LED's pointed at me doing shows for like 3000 people. Anti-glare means I can see no matter what. Unless you want to be looking at a 15 inch mirror the whole time, get anti-glare.
 
Yumunum said:
Isn't the effectiveness of the anti-glare screens debatable though?
Click to expand...

There's no debate about their effectiveness. They do exactly what they claim to do — diffuse the light hitting and reflecting off the screen, so you don't get everything reflecting straight back at you. Whether you like them or not — well, that's simply personal preference.

With my recent MBP purchase, I paid the extra and got the anti-glare. I also went with an SSD and 8 GB RAM.
 
kalsta said:
There's no debate about their effectiveness. They do exactly what they claim to do — diffuse the light hitting and reflecting off the screen, so you don't get everything reflecting straight back at you. Whether you like them or not — well, that's simply personal preference.

With my recent MBP purchase, I paid the extra and got the anti-glare. I also went with an SSD and 8 GB RAM.
Click to expand...

Ah. I've read some threads about side-by-side comparisons and some people not telling the difference, that's why I've been curious.

Do you do a lot of powerful movie editing, games, music creating, ect.? I'm debating whether the 8GB of RAM would be worth it for me. I game, edit photos, and every once in awhile I use Garageband and iMovie. So I kinda feel like I'm on the border between actually telling the difference of speed with the upgraded RAM, or just overkilling it and wasting my precious cash.
 
Yumunum said:
What would it be, and what upgrades (if you could afford them ontop the computer cost) would you make? And why?

I'm interested in what priorities you guys have, I'm looking to learn new stuff, and I'm going to be buying a new Mac this summer and I'm still undecided on what to get.
Click to expand...

I'd get an SSD and 8 gigs of Ram. I'd get the SSD drive since the hard drive is the biggest bottleneck holding computers back today. The speed difference is pretty amazing.

The 8 gigs of ram if you need more than 4. Some people do fine with just 4, it really depends on what you're planning to use your computer for. Ram is pretty cheap now so it won't break the bank if you install it yourself.

Antiglare screen is a good suggestion, but I never opted for that upgrade since I bought directly from Best Buy and I work in low light conditions so glare isn't really a problem for me.
 
Yumunum said:
Ah. I've read some threads about side-by-side comparisons and some people not telling the difference, that's why I've been curious.
Click to expand...

Honestly, you'd have to be blind not to see the difference side-by-side. The one time I visited an Apple Store, they had both on display, so if you're not sure which way to go, I thoroughly recommend you go in and have a look. The glossies look better to some people because everything looks a little bit sharper and the colours more saturated. But my preference, as I mentioned, is strongly for the anti-glare.

Do you do a lot of powerful movie editing, games, music creating, ect.? I'm debating whether the 8GB of RAM would be worth it for me. I game, edit photos, and every once in awhile I use Garageband and iMovie. So I kinda feel like I'm on the border between actually telling the difference of speed with the upgraded RAM, or just overkilling it and wasting my precious cash.
Click to expand...

I tend to have quite a few apps open at once (Adobe Creative Suite apps and others). The extra RAM is so I can go on my merry way without worrying too much about excessive use of virtual memory. If you tend to work/play in only one or two apps at a time, 4GB might be plenty… but as Ladybug said, it's not that expensive. I had the store I purchased from install the extra RAM, which was much cheaper than Apple's prices.

If it came down to a choice between RAM and the SSD, I would have gone with the SSD, but I can't guarantee that would have been my best option. It was more of a semi-educated hunch. :) In the end I got both and this thing is blazingly fast! Loving it.
 
Thanks for the tips! What model(s) did you guys get (the computer's you're talking about)?
 
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Yumunum said:
Thanks for the tips! What model(s) did you guys get (the computer's you're talking about)?
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MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7. (Same model as awer25.)

It's a bit more than the $2000 you mentioned though. I only went with the 128 GB SSD. For archival of finished work I use an external 2 TB drive. It's plenty enough for my workflow, but obviously it depends on what you want to do. Video eats up space like there's no tomorrow.
 
I have the high-res AG and it's a good thing.

I would find it very unusual to hear of someone returning an AG model because it "Prevented too much glare" :D .

They may return it because it diffused too much light and they are some kind of artist, or whatnot.

The only other type of person I can think of who would return the AG is the 'Grass is greener over the hill' variety, (that actually is in rather prevalent in these forums ) :D
 
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