Looking for Mac Laptop for Artist

[royaletea]

So, my friend is looking to pop her Mac cherry and get herself a shiny new laptop. Since I'm her resident "Mac expert" she's asked me for advice. Since its been a while since I've shopped for a Mac, and seeing how they've updated so much, I'm kind of at a loss. I would most likely steer her towards a MacBook Pro. From what I recall she'd like one of the bigger screens.

She's a painter so she wants to keep photos and other such things on it. In addition I think she wants to store client info. In addition she's planning on buying a Time Capsule as well to utilize Time Machine.

Any suggestions for specs? Should she stick with the Time Capsule or save some money on a different external hard drive? Also suggestions for possible software which may help would be appreciated as well.

Will try to update when I get more information.

 

[mfaye21]

would she be doing any artisic work on the computer?

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Hard disk space is the least of your worries. You can easily upgrade any Mac to a bigger hard disk.

If price is of concern, I would recommend her to look at the refurbished section. The newest processors in the MBPs differ very slightly from older models and the performance gain is negligible (until Intel Core i7 mobile "Clarksfield"). She can get very nice deals on older model unibody MBPs.

I suggest she stick with the Time Capsule. It's not expensive and makes backups super easy. If she wants to save money, just buy an external hard drive and copy files to it. It's a more tedious and manual backup solution but easier on the wallet.

Aside from that, what applications will she use? Is her current computer running Windows or OS X? If she has high-end programs like Photoshop, it may be a hassle to sell it and buy a Mac version. Does she prefer working on a notebook or desktop or notebook w/ external display? Is mobility a deciding factor?

 

[gan6660]

I would just get a traditional external hard drive instead of the time capsule. Western Digital makes a 1 TB external HD for $100 compared to the $300 Apple one. Also the time capsules have been having problems lately.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

I would just get a traditional external hard drive instead of the time capsule. Western Digital makes a 1 TB external HD for $100 compared to the $300 Apple one. Also the time capsules have been having problems lately.

Time Capsules are basically AirPort Extremes with a 1TB or 2TB server-grade hard drive inside. Anyhow, WD is one of the worst brands for hard drives. They are the first to reach a bigger capacity and the first to fail horribly. I trust Seagate, Hitachi and maybe Samsung over WD garbage any day.

 

[royaletea]

As far as I know she doesn't have any high-end programs that she'd stand to lose. Prior to this her experiences are all on Windows PCs, so there is the learning curve that comes with those first few weeks. Not sure about the money aspect, but I figured why not save money and buy another name-brand hard drive when Time Machine is pretty easy to use as-is.
The external hard drive advice is nice to hear however. I've had a MyBook 500GB for a while now and its served me okay - although I have been thinking about the possibility of upgrading if I get a new iMac in the near future.
But yeah, my friend wouldn't be doing any heavy graphics work on it (so I will check the refurbished section) and she's more concerned about it crashing since her Windows PC did just that. Frankly I need to make her know that Mac's almost never crash and that her data is pretty safe. Still, an external hard drive is never a bad idea.

 

[pukifloyd]

check out the refurb section...there are very good deals there sometimes

I will also advice buying an external hdd from some other companies..

If she wont do any extensive work and just use it for daily casual work, buy her a base 13inch MBP refurbished...

 

[boston44]

If she likes bigger screens, go for a 15" MBP in the refurb section, possibly a previous generation.

 

[chrono1081]

Time Capsules are basically AirPort Extremes with a 1TB or 2TB server-grade hard drive inside. Anyhow, WD is one of the worst brands for hard drives. They are the first to reach a bigger capacity and the first to fail horribly. I trust Seagate, Hitachi and maybe Samsung over WD garbage any day.

+324892384092309480238049


Western Digital == complete trash. Anyone who says otherwise seriously does not work in IT. I have an entire office FULL of broken Mybooks and other WD drives. Terrible terrible products from WD as of late. I too like Seagate and Hitatchi. Samsung is good too.

To the OP: Will your friend be using Corel Painter at all? If so a MBP w/ 4 Gigs of ram would be good.