I'm still not sure

[davmcn]

Hello,

As maybe some of you know, I previously posted before the new refresh of Macbook Pro's came out. To my surprise, they do offer a lot of good options. I'm still stuck on the option of buying one or getting a ultra powerful ugly PC. I love Macs, no question about that , I just don't know if it's worth buying one, as six months down the road something new will come out, and i'll hit myself over the head for buying this one.

Overall, I'm just saying I'm not completely sold on the idea of getting one...

If I got this Macbook Pro, it would be mostly for school work, and for Video Editing, And I mean a lot of it . I've been told that Nvidia Cards are better for Video Rendering, but I'm not entirely sure. I need some advice, and if I should get it . Should I wait till Lion comes out ?

Thanks for you help in advance.

Dave

 

[David-fr]

I don't see why not. The high end 15inch would be perfect! Power, portability and elegance. Why wait for lion? upgrade now and buy lion for 30$ when it comes out.

Also, more likely the MBPs will be updated in a year, perhaps a speed bump in few months, nothing major. If this models suit your needs get one, if you keep waiting you will never get one

 

[ECUpirate44]

Why wait for lion? upgrade now and buy lion for 30$ when it comes out.

I dont know about $30. SL was 30 only because it was a minor upgrade. Lion is expected to be an overhaul. In any case, waiting to buy a mbp because of an OS upgrade doesn't make sense. Pull the trigger now

 

[David-fr]

I dont know about $30. SL was 30 only because it was a minor upgrade. Lion is expected to be an overhaul. In any case, waiting to buy a mbp because of an OS upgrade doesn't make sense. Pull the trigger now

Well depends how you see it. It was an overhaul internally by dropping PPC support and making it a 64 bit OS. Lion will have same internals different lay out and more features.

 

[apd]

... waiting to buy a mbp because of an OS upgrade doesn't make sense. Pull the trigger now

Agreed. The problem with IT equipment is that it is always moving on. Wait for the next development and you will never purchase. The current MBP refresh is a massive move from the last, particularly at the lower end.

Like many people, I have moved from Windows to Mac (I used to provide Windows IT support!). I have never looked back - everything just works so much more easily on Mac. Who knows what Lion will actually bring to the table (I am a developer but Lion doesn't work yet on the new MBPs!) but the current range will certainly be more than able to cope.

 

[WillEH]

I'm from the UK. I spent £2000 on my 15" MBP i7, 8GB. That's about $3100+ in US currency.. I can safely say it's the best thing I've done in a long time. Yes it's a lot of money, but it's worth it. Go for it!

 

[greytmom]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8F190)

Dave, if you aren't sure you want/need it, you should hold off on buying it.

 

[MarineUAV3K]

There will always be something new around the corner...

Most people will always feel some form of buyers regret down the line, because something new WILL come around the corner. It can't be avoided. However, what I've always seen in my experience at Apple Stores is that the machines you buy today at Apple will continue to serve you well years down the road despite the introduction of newer machines year after year. I can't tell you how many times I've seen old generation iMacs and pre-Intel PowerBooks come to an Apple Store having ran without any problems until five (or more) years later when something finally happens that forces the owner to bring their machine in to a Genius Bar to be fixed. That is definitely something I can never say for any of the Windows based machines that I've owned. If you ask any of these long time Mac owners who keep their machines for so long after being outdated, they'll almost always tell you that even though it's old it still does everything that they want it and need it to do. That is the difference that an Apple Mac will have over any Windows PC. And if you take into consideration the number of times you may bring your Windows PC in for repairs because of the hardware or (more commonly) a virus, then in the end you'll end up having paid as much (if not more) as the initial cost of a Mac.

 

[MarineUAV3K]

Wow

I'm from the UK. I spent £2000 on my 15" MBP i7, 8GB. That's about $3100+ in US currency.. I can safely say it's the best thing I've done in a long time. Yes it's a lot of money, but it's worth it. Go for it!

I can't believe the mark-up they put on the Macs they sell in the UK and Europe. I chose the 2.3 GHz Quad Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and added a high resolution display for my new 15" MBP. Despite adding all that I paid $2,750 (before tax). Still, I definitely agree with you that money spent on any Mac is money well spent.

 

[iZero]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8F190)

Dave, if you aren't sure you want/need it, you should hold off on buying it.

+1. You should never drop that much money unless you are 100% certain you want it. If you're looking for reasons to switch to Mac, you're not sure. If you're looking for reasons to stay with Windows, you're sold Do all the research you can first. You'll certainly regret it if you dive right in unsure that it's for you.

That being said, don't let the fear of the next refresh bother you if you do want to get it. They update them every year, sometimes with a slight "speed bump" halfway through. If you wait for the next refresh, which is around/at least a year from now, by the time it comes, inevitably, the feeling will be "well, the next refresh might be soon too". The good thing about Macs, as already stated, is that what you buy, will be not just "ok" but brilliant for years to come. They are designed with a whole different mindset. They cost more, but they last a long time. The warranty itself if you get Applecare, lasts longer than most people even OWN their PC's. You are well taken care of, they hold their value well if you decide to sell it come refresh time And they are powerful machines.

But absolutely hold off until you know it's what you want. It's too big an investment to just dive in unsure.

 

[davmcn]

@Everyone

This machine does cover about everything I need, I'm just not convinced enough to go along with it. I love Mac OSX and all it functions. I have a Mac Pro, and it's great, tho I hardly use it anymore. I personally don't have a issue with Windows 7, tho the viruses do get annoying, and it seems with any PC the battery is dead within an hour or two, which I hate!

I guess in my head it's a matter of spending a lot of money now, and saving the frustrations of having a PC battery problems , or going with a full speced out PC , and painfully going through all the crap and no battery life.

Does anyone here know anything about if AMD Radeon Cards are good with Video Coding/ Photoshop?

Any help is very much appreciated...

Thanks all,
Dave

 

[iZero]

@Everyone

This machine does cover about everything I need, I'm just not convinced enough to go along with it. I love Mac OSX and all it functions. I have a Mac Pro, and it's great, tho I hardly use it anymore. I personally don't have a issue with Windows 7, tho the viruses do get annoying, and it seems with any PC the battery is dead within an hour or two, which I hate!

I guess in my head it's a matter of spending a lot of money now, and saving the frustrations of having a PC battery problems , or going with a full speced out PC , and painfully going through all the crap and no battery life.

Does anyone here know anything about if AMD Radeon Cards are good with Video Coding/ Photoshop?

Any help is very much appreciated...

Thanks all,
Dave

Don't do a lot of video coding, but I work heavily with Photoshop among other programs like it for my company. The AMD works perfectly fine for that

 

[davmcn]

Don't do a lot of video coding, but I work heavily with Photoshop among other programs like it for my company. The AMD works perfectly fine for that

If I could find out if it worked well with the programs I used, I'd be more convinced. Or if I heard from someone that's in this industry.

I think I might buy it when it's the back to school sale.

 

[iZero]

If I could find out if it worked well with the programs I used, I'd be more convinced. Or if I heard from someone that's in this industry.

I think I might buy it when it's the back to school sale.

What all programs are you curious about? Many people here are in the industry Perhaps someone could provide you with better knowledge about it

 

[davmcn]

What all programs are you curious about? Many people here are in the industry Perhaps someone could provide you with better knowledge about it

I use a lot of CS5 , Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer and Pro Tools. I'm wondering if this computer will have enough punch to excel through all of these programs.

 

[ender land]

I just don't know if it's worth buying one, as six months down the road something new will come out, and i'll hit myself over the head for buying this one.

This happens with almost all technology bought new.

Cars, phones, computers, routers, everything - within a few months or a year it is suddenly no longer new technology.

No matter what computer you buy this will happen. The only real solution to this problem is a desktop where you continually upgrade the components each time you can, bu tthen again, that is not really keeping the same computer.

 

[WillEH]

@Everyone

This machine does cover about everything I need, I'm just not convinced enough to go along with it. I love Mac OSX and all it functions. I have a Mac Pro, and it's great, tho I hardly use it anymore. I personally don't have a issue with Windows 7, tho the viruses do get annoying, and it seems with any PC the battery is dead within an hour or two, which I hate!

I guess in my head it's a matter of spending a lot of money now, and saving the frustrations of having a PC battery problems , or going with a full speced out PC , and painfully going through all the crap and no battery life.

Does anyone here know anything about if AMD Radeon Cards are good with Video Coding/ Photoshop?

Any help is very much appreciated...

Thanks all,
Dave

Dave,

It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself to get it, but yet something inside you is saying no! If it's something you really want, stop making excuses not to go for it. It's a good investment..

 

[iZero]

I use a lot of CS5 , Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer and Pro Tools. I'm wondering if this computer will have enough punch to excel through all of these programs.

Will depend on the spec model you end up ordering, but generally speaking, especially the higher end models, you'll be more than just "ok" with all those things I don't use all of the programs you listed, (except CS5 extensively) but have read reports from people who do, and all seem to be just fine with their purchases. Hopefully someone can post more details about them specifically for you! These machines are specifically designed to do exactly this type of work. And they excel at it.

 

[davmcn]

Will depend on the spec model you end up ordering, but generally speaking, especially the higher end models, you'll be more than just "ok" with all those things I don't use all of the programs you listed, (except CS5 extensively) but have read reports from people who do, and all seem to be just fine with their purchases. Hopefully someone can post more details about them specifically for you!

Thanks a lot for your help. My only concern to be completely honest right now is that on the Avid website it says that you have to have a Nvidia Card to run Media Composer. I've been googling all over to see if there's anyway around that...

If anyone hears anything PM me please.

Dave

 

[iZero]

Thanks a lot for your help. My only concern to be completely honest right now is that on the Avid website it says that you have to have a Nvidia Card to run Media Composer. I've been googling all over to see if there's anyway around that...

If anyone hears anything PM me please.

Dave

You're most welcome! I'll check into it and see if I find anything, and indeed I'll PM if I do. But in the meantime, perhaps someone with experience will come across the thread