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Mac Book Pro - first Mac - Advice!

Oh man....that SUCKS!! What I mean, is that laptop mock up is damn nice!****..the thing is I want to buy a laptop now, cause Im going travelling for 2 months and would like to take one with me.....the mac book pro mid line is 1200 € here in spain so I can just afford it.....but if something new is coming out soon, would piss me off!

Does anyone know when they might be coming out?

I chose the mac book pro cause I would like to so some photoshop work on it....heard the air is no good, true?

anyways Im sorry for posting again....but now Im totally lost......is there any info on when they may be coming out? price would be the same more or less no?

thanks.......****! now Im totally lost! :0:confused::confused::confused::mad::mad::mad:
 
africano said:
Oh man....that SUCKS!! What I mean, is that laptop mock up is damn nice!****..the thing is I want to buy a laptop now, cause Im going travelling for 2 months and would like to take one with me.....the mac book pro mid line is 1200 € here in spain so I can just afford it.....but if something new is coming out soon, would piss me off!

Does anyone know when they might be coming out?

I chose the mac book pro cause I would like to so some photoshop work on it....heard the air is no good, true?

anyways Im sorry for posting again....but now Im totally lost......is there any info on when they may be coming out? price would be the same more or less no?

thanks.......****! now Im totally lost! :0:confused::confused::confused::mad::mad::mad:
Click to expand...

The pro is better suited for photography work because of the RAM expandability. The current MB Air will handle photoshop very well, but it depends on the type & amount of files you use regularly.

No one knows beyond a couple minor clues about when a new MB Pro will be released. It is my hope that we will see them by November 1st. Apple typically releases mac stuff on tuesdays; so that is a good time to check back in. HOWEVER, if you need the computer for work purposes, be mindful that we haven't seen concrete evidence of a refresh so you may end up waiting a month for nothing. The only refresh we can count on is the one that will come next spring.
 
Ill wait till the first week of november, but I dont reckon they are gonna take out a new mac book pro by then.......Ill wait cause Im leaving on my travells on the 7 of november...

Ill have a look at the mb air......although I really wanted a pro.......might just get the current pro version......not sure......

Ide like to do some normal stuff on it, web, office type work, etc...as well as some photoshop work. I make interactive panos and sometimes the images are quite heavy.....so has to be able to handle that.

thanks for the advice, recommendations, etc!

Regards from españa!
 
africano said:
Ill wait till the first week of november, but I dont reckon they are gonna take out a new mac book pro by then.......Ill wait cause Im leaving on my travells on the 7 of november...

Ill have a look at the mb air......although I really wanted a pro.......might just get the current pro version......not sure......

Ide like to do some normal stuff on it, web, office type work, etc...as well as some photoshop work. I make interactive panos and sometimes the images are quite heavy.....so has to be able to handle that.

thanks for the advice, recommendations, etc!

Regards from españa!
Click to expand...

pro. If you aren't doing real work and you have to have a computer that small and light , then that's the only time I would suggest an air. By real work I mean "heavy lifting".

But anyway, you'll need the 8 gigs of RAM that the MBP can use and, if you want more speed, simply buy a 128gb SSD or something this Black Friday when they're cheaper.

If you're doing heavy editing on large photos though, you'll get much better performance out of a Pro.
 
thanks, what do you mean about the 128g SSD? whats that? and which laptop are you refering to?

thanks!
 
africano said:
thanks, what do you mean about the 128g SSD? whats that? and which laptop are you refering to?

thanks!
Click to expand...

no problem

Well it's going to be somewhat of a long post, but bear with me :)

The MBA is fast. Snappy fast. it has a great processor that, although is "weaker" than the ones in the MBP, it's still very fast, much faster than the C2D processors in the old MacBooks before they went to sandy bridge.

Anyway, the MBA is fast because it has a SSD, which is much, much faster and more responsive than a hard drive, whether 5200 or 7200 rpm.

(Side note, when the computer runs out of RAM, if it does, it uses the storage (hard drive/ssd) as a means of extra ram; because it's slower to write to, you see a slower computer)

With the MBP, you can simply get a baseline pro for 1200 and buy a SSD yourself; installing it doesn't void anything and you'll have a better computer than the MBA in ALL regards for the same price, give or take 50-100 bucks.

That's why I suggest the MBP/SSD combo for practically everybody asking; if you don't NEED it to be 2.6 pounds and .68 inches, having it 5 pounds and 1 inch is worth the tradeoff for more power overall, which will last you much longer, depending on your uses of course.



SSDs are kind of expensive right now, depending on the brand. you can get a 128gb one for around 150, but the more stable and higher quality ones are the Samsung and Intel ones, which range around 210 for a 120gb, which is the lowest anybody should go, IMO.

So yea, I'm waiting until Black Friday so I can try and pick up one (or a next gen one) for cheaper than now, but I don't really "need" to do it, hence me waiting a bit.

But the standard HD is very fast; I have 8 gigs of RAM (make sure you get that stock and upgrade it yourself for 50 bucks online) and the standard HD and I never, NEVER find myself waiting on the computer when running Windows 7 in parallels along with a plethora of browser windows, excel, word, and a ton of other programs as well.
 
Nice write up on SSD's!

With that said would you rather put an SSD and 8GB Ram in a base 2010 MBP or 2011MBP?

(Since the 2010 has dedicated graphics and support for OpenCL)

Would the 2010 be better or would the 2011 still be better since it has a faster processor?

I would be using this for photo / video work.
 
Titanium81 said:
Nice write up on SSD's!

With that said would you rather put an SSD and 8GB Ram in a base 2010 MBP or 2011MBP?

(Since the 2010 has dedicated graphics and support for OpenCL)

Would the 2010 be better or would the 2011 still be better since it has a faster processor?

I would be using this for photo / video work.
Click to expand...

Well for this, I wouldn't be able to honestly give you a good answer. From my wxperience with editing photos in Aperture with a 2011 13 inch with a stock HD, the experience is great and the editing is instant, granted its more on touching up.

But with that said, sandy bridge is leaps and bounds I've C2D so you'd be getting more power overall, which helps with rendering and applying the effects or whatever.

Plus, there are other benefits like an improved wifi card, that make the 2011 more enticing than the older models.

Keep in mind that the SSD and RAM are interchangeable, so you can always throw it in a new machine. But if you're doing editing as a serious hobby or work, I'd suggest the 2011. You could get the stock and have 8gogs of ram and a 128ssd ordered today for around 1400 without tax/shipping.
 
stdwest said:
Hi all,
I'm also in a situation to buy a new mac for the first time. I'm a student and I use a computer sometimes 12 hours a day, I carry it around with me (not everyday). I do multiple processing. not heavy programs but I always have outlook, office, firefox (around 10 tabs), skype running at the same time. My last ssd pc went to junk in 10 months because of heating and the noise of the fan! I hate slow computers. My options are buying a 13 inch with i5 and upgrading it with 8gb ram and maybe an sdr drive or buying a 15 inch and not doing any upgrade. I'm tight on budget even tough I have the student discount. I also considered 13 inch i7 but everyone complains about the heating, fan, etc. I went to an apple store and liked 13 because it's compact but I'm still undecided. I need to buy the mac before august 20 as I'll be leaving usa for a couple of months- do you think I shall wait for the rumored new macbook pro? And also I plan to use this machine at least for a couple of years.
any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I would highly recommend the 13'' MBP. I am a busy student too and my demands are similar. Always have millions of tabs up and running, e-mail app is running, MSN, iTunes for music and my calendar app as well as a few word documents. If you budget is stretched, be realistic and buy the laptop that would suit you.

As a student, the 13" is very compact and easy to handle. As for the performance, its spot on. Pages, apps or whatever are quick to load and the i5 processor deals with the work load nicely.

I also upgraded my RAM to 8GB for an extra kick too. Lot's of speculation about a MBP update, I'm not an expert so I don't know what changes will occur but if you can't wait, buy the 2011 model now, you won't regret it!!
 
Well, it seems like the mac book pro has been updated! small changes it seems, but It probably will take some time to update again and seeing that I want to buy now I probably will!

Im thinking of getting the basic 13 inch mac book pro. Is this good enough for everyday tasks as well as some photoshop work??

If I could add anything to the specs what should I add? At the moment I cant really afford to add anything so Im gonna get it as is.......are the specs enough for what I want?

And if I cant change anything now, could I change things later when I have more cash?

thanks!

Seems like this thread will end soon.....planning on buying next week!

EDIT: Between the MAC BOOK PRO 13 INCH BASIC vs the MAC BOOK AIR 13 INCH BASIC......which to get?¿
 
Last edited:
I wanna buy next week. New macbook pro 13 inch basic....or should I spend on an SSD drive?¿

Mac book pro 13 Inch or Mac book air 13 Inch??

What do you all suggest?¿

Going to the shop next week! :0

Thanks!

Oh by the way, whats an optibay?

thanks!
 
For your uses, either will do.

I personally prefer a bit more bulk so I'd choose a base MBP 13" but do an SSD + 8GB RAM upgrade separately (do not upgrade via Apple).

If however you prefer the lighter option, the MBA is a good alternative.

The downside of the 13" MBP compared to the MBA is the screen resolution, which may pose limitations while using Photoshop. However I found by auto hiding the Dock and using full screen apps, it already goes a long way.

I still use a 2010 MBP 2.4GHz with 4GB of ram. The only update I did was a 160GB SSD (OCZ) which made the laptop fly compared to much more powerful machines with traditional HDD's.

Optibay is basically swapping your optical disk with a tray in which you can store a regular HDD/SDD.

For your uses, even a 2010 MBP would do, though given the slight price difference I'd go with the 2011 version since it's more powerful (in case you need it).
 
it does get addicting. my GF saw my MacBook Pro I got last month...I just purchased a refurb 13" Pro for her last night. Whenever you get it, enjoy!
 
Get the MBP 13". I've had mine just over a month now and I love it.

I was looking at the 15" model but couldn't justify the price increase - it was just too steep for me. 13" is more than enough for what I do, which is usually browsing, MS Office, casual gaming.

I also installed Windows 7 using BootCamp and can play all the games from my old Windows laptop, but they run so much better on my MBP.
 
Bought the Mac book pro 13 " with 8 gigs of ram. Thanks for all the help and advice, thread can be closed!
 
Titanium81 said:
I would hold out for this...

Image
Click to expand...

Haha that's a nice mockup; I'd get that.

anyway, to the OP, I think at this point you need to do more searching online through forms. You can ask us questions on all day, but if you have specific needs, it would be better to actually search the forums and read what other people are already said that were in your similar position.

It's a lot easier and faster than asking us and then waiting for a good response; there are tens of posts with the same questions and answers posted every week.

Hope we helped.
 
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