I actually made another thread over here about what configuration i should get with the ssd and got such great responses, i thought i'd make this post about my first impressions and why i choose what i choose.
I did alot of reading over the past couple days about ram and ssd and external storage options and needs for "future proofing" and all that. ALOT. My brain is literally so tired of reading i feel like typing this with my eyes closed. And after alot of thought and debating this and that, i decided that for my needs, i would go with the base retina macbook.
Initially, i was gonna go with a bto 512 gig ssd 16 gig ram monster, but the more i read and the more i thought about it i realized i just don't need it and that paying extra money to "future proof" myself with ram was utterly ridiculous. By the time i'd actually need 16 gigs of ram (say 4 years), the other parts of my computer like the gpu and processor would be so far out dated for the things that would require that extra ram that i'd end up getting a new macbook anyway. And that's even assuming my needs will have changed by then and that things i do in 4 yrs would actually require that much ram.
I know there are people right NOW that need a ton of ram for the stuff they're doing, so i can see where they're getting at with "future proofing". They see their needs and are trying to look out for the rest of us by telling us "just to be safe, spend the extra mooolah". But for most of us that don't use our laptops for our profession, for graphics intensive 3d modeling or video editing on a large scale or even having 10 or 20 safari tabs open, getting the extra ram is just overkill and spending money for the sake of spending money. It's a waste. Ya know...i actually hate saying "most of us" because it sounds like such an absolute and i hate generalizing large groups of people with only how i feel about it, but it's just my opinion after using it and talking to ALOT of people about it.
And the 256 seemed small, until i realized most of the space I'm taking up on my existing macbook is from itunes movies i've bought just recently. Why am i storing them all when i can either watch them through the cloud on my Apple TV (or iTunes) or store it externally? Like i'm gonna pay $500 extra for the opportunity to store movies i've bought? On only 256 extra when i could have 3tb or more externally? I...am so glad i read as much as i did. I would've spent (after tax) about $3200 and i only ended up spending (for my needs) about $2400. I almost spent an extra $800 for "future proofing". Can't believe it. I could've saved that $800 and combined it with what i'll sell my mac someday and bought an entirely new macbook with updated specs. Crazy.
Let's just say i buy a 2tb time capsule now and save the rest. That's $500 left. How much could i sell a retina macbook in a few years? Hard to say. No doubt there will be keynote one of these days where apple says something like "we believe the retina line of macbooks are the future and we want to make it accessible to everyone" and they show the little graphic on the wall behind them of the mac with the prices and slide the old pros out of the way and the new retinas into the old price points and boom. Retina macbooks are cheaper, therefore lowering resale value a bit. But still. I could easily get a grand for my 2012 retina and adding the $500 i originally saved, that's $1500. Assuming the new one is $1800, i'd only spend $300 and get updated processor cpu and gpu and even more ram (and ssd prices will probably come down with storage going up). So value wise, "future proofing" just didn't make sense to me.
The quick review: I had high expectations for the retina macbook and even with those high expectations, when i got it, they were blown away. The screen makes such a huge difference and ahhhh it's so thin and fast. One of the things i didn't expect to be impressed about that actually impressed me was the speakers. WOW. These sound so much better than anything i could have expected out of a laptop. Why does nobody mention this?
Ram wise, i have final cut open, safari and itunes and have more than half my ram left. So i feel like i made a good decision. Only thing that confused me was this
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600 megs in video? 400 in photos? I JUST got this and haven't loaded anything onto it! What the freaking freak! Is this sytem files or something? I would've assumed that would go in "other".
In conclusion: i never thought i could love a laptop so much. DAMN
I did alot of reading over the past couple days about ram and ssd and external storage options and needs for "future proofing" and all that. ALOT. My brain is literally so tired of reading i feel like typing this with my eyes closed. And after alot of thought and debating this and that, i decided that for my needs, i would go with the base retina macbook.
Initially, i was gonna go with a bto 512 gig ssd 16 gig ram monster, but the more i read and the more i thought about it i realized i just don't need it and that paying extra money to "future proof" myself with ram was utterly ridiculous. By the time i'd actually need 16 gigs of ram (say 4 years), the other parts of my computer like the gpu and processor would be so far out dated for the things that would require that extra ram that i'd end up getting a new macbook anyway. And that's even assuming my needs will have changed by then and that things i do in 4 yrs would actually require that much ram.
I know there are people right NOW that need a ton of ram for the stuff they're doing, so i can see where they're getting at with "future proofing". They see their needs and are trying to look out for the rest of us by telling us "just to be safe, spend the extra mooolah". But for most of us that don't use our laptops for our profession, for graphics intensive 3d modeling or video editing on a large scale or even having 10 or 20 safari tabs open, getting the extra ram is just overkill and spending money for the sake of spending money. It's a waste. Ya know...i actually hate saying "most of us" because it sounds like such an absolute and i hate generalizing large groups of people with only how i feel about it, but it's just my opinion after using it and talking to ALOT of people about it.
And the 256 seemed small, until i realized most of the space I'm taking up on my existing macbook is from itunes movies i've bought just recently. Why am i storing them all when i can either watch them through the cloud on my Apple TV (or iTunes) or store it externally? Like i'm gonna pay $500 extra for the opportunity to store movies i've bought? On only 256 extra when i could have 3tb or more externally? I...am so glad i read as much as i did. I would've spent (after tax) about $3200 and i only ended up spending (for my needs) about $2400. I almost spent an extra $800 for "future proofing". Can't believe it. I could've saved that $800 and combined it with what i'll sell my mac someday and bought an entirely new macbook with updated specs. Crazy.
Let's just say i buy a 2tb time capsule now and save the rest. That's $500 left. How much could i sell a retina macbook in a few years? Hard to say. No doubt there will be keynote one of these days where apple says something like "we believe the retina line of macbooks are the future and we want to make it accessible to everyone" and they show the little graphic on the wall behind them of the mac with the prices and slide the old pros out of the way and the new retinas into the old price points and boom. Retina macbooks are cheaper, therefore lowering resale value a bit. But still. I could easily get a grand for my 2012 retina and adding the $500 i originally saved, that's $1500. Assuming the new one is $1800, i'd only spend $300 and get updated processor cpu and gpu and even more ram (and ssd prices will probably come down with storage going up). So value wise, "future proofing" just didn't make sense to me.
The quick review: I had high expectations for the retina macbook and even with those high expectations, when i got it, they were blown away. The screen makes such a huge difference and ahhhh it's so thin and fast. One of the things i didn't expect to be impressed about that actually impressed me was the speakers. WOW. These sound so much better than anything i could have expected out of a laptop. Why does nobody mention this?
Ram wise, i have final cut open, safari and itunes and have more than half my ram left. So i feel like i made a good decision. Only thing that confused me was this
600 megs in video? 400 in photos? I JUST got this and haven't loaded anything onto it! What the freaking freak! Is this sytem files or something? I would've assumed that would go in "other".
In conclusion: i never thought i could love a laptop so much. DAMN
