macbook pro or not?

[strimbello]

Hi there,

I'm not into Mac myself, but I'm planning on buying my girlfriend a macbook (since she likes the design).
Being totally unaware about Mac, I'm asking this community for a few quick tips. (I'm not a mac hater, I just never had any chance to work with a mac computer, nor did I saw the need to buy one for myself).

Since the popularity of the macbook, it looked like an alternative to her 9-year old Dell laptop to me.
The budget is 1000$ and no more, since Mac is (in my opinion) rather expensive, I'm not planning on buying any extra's, just the macbook with nothing extra.

First of all, what if I buy her a macbook without anything extra (just the box from the shop).
1 - Will she be able to have a backup of her computers on my NAS at home? Is there any backup software included?
2 - Is there office or any kind of alternative included (so she can use word, edit spreadsheets, do basic work for the office at home). Or a free office alternative that supports OS X?
3- Will the macbook have the newest OS X on there? Lion or anything recent of do I need to pay for the upgrade?
4 - Is the macbook pro equipped to do basic image editing (something like paint shop pro, which she has now).
5 - Can she join my home (windows) network to share files and have LAN drive-space to save her work?
6 - Is the memory upgrade 4GB instead of the standard 2GB really necessary to make it work smooth? Or is 2GB enough for normal office work?
7 - Is there any kind of extra's you guys can convince me with to fork out the extra 400$ for a macbook?
8 - How long is a macbook pro going to last? (Normal home-office use... the Dell laptop lasted almost 10 years now... can I expect the same from the macbook?)

I really want to buy her this macbook, but I can't convince myself to buy some technical product "just for the looks of it".
I'm looking for some real convincing arguments here (please don't bash me, like a few mac-using friends did when I asked them the same question...)

If so many people use a macbook, some things must have been good about it, otherwise they all would have bought a cheaper laptop from Acer or Dell or whoever...
I'm looking for these reasons.

Please let me know.

greetings
Strimbello

 

[Alaerian]

2 - Is there office or any kind of alternative included (so she can use word, edit spreadsheets, do basic work for the office at home). Or a free office alternative that supports OS X?

Not included in the box. However, right now a $100 Mac App Store credit is included with purchase in the education store (assuming you or she is a student or faculty). That will easily get you iWork. Worst case, iWork is $80, a small drop in the hat for some excellent software.

3- Will the macbook have the newest OS X on there? Lion or anything recent of do I need to pay for the upgrade?

Will ship with Snow Leopard. In the present window, I do believe the upgrade to Lion is included free of charge when it is released

4 - Is the macbook pro equipped to do basic image editing (something like paint shop pro, which she has now).

GIMP. Free software.

5 - Can she join my home (windows) network to share files and have LAN drive-space to save her work?

Yes, easily.

6 - Is the memory upgrade 4GB instead of the standard 2GB really necessary to make it work smooth? Or is 2GB enough for normal office work?

Absolutely more than enough.

7 - Is there any kind of extra's you guys can convince me with to fork out the extra 400$ for a macbook?

Like what?

8 - How long is a macbook pro going to last? (Normal home-office use... the Dell laptop lasted almost 10 years now... can I expect the same from the macbook?)

Impossible to say. We know nothing about the EXACT machine you are going to order, your use, your location, etc. It's a piece of electronic equipment. Generally, Macs have a long lifespan, but we can't pinpoint it for you.

I really want to buy her this macbook, but I can't convince myself to buy some technical product "just for the looks of it".
I'm looking for some real convincing arguments here (please don't bash me, like a few mac-using friends did when I asked them the same question...)

Have you tried asking her what she likes about it excluding the form factor, for starters?
As trite as it is, it still bears repeating: You get what you pay for.

 

[KylePowers]

To contribute, have you looked at refurbished MacBook Pros? I'm not sure if they're available in Amsterdam (as noted by your info), but from what I've heard, they're basically brand new, typically come with new batteries, and have full Apple Care warranties. You can find some pretty significant savings there.

 

[ratzzo]

1 - Will she be able to have a backup of her computers on my NAS at home? Is there any backup software included?

Yep. Just like any Windows computer, the Mac can recognize devices on the network and you could backup to it. There is backup software included for Time Capsule.

2 - Is there office or any kind of alternative included (so she can use word, edit spreadsheets, do basic work for the office at home). Or a free office alternative that supports OS X?

You can buy MS Office 2011 for Mac, it's identical to the Windows version. There are many other free versions, the most popular of which goes under the name of "Open Office."

3- Will the macbook have the newest OS X on there? Lion or anything recent of do I need to pay for the upgrade?

You are eligible for a free upgrade to Lion from Snow Leopard if you buy the Mac within a month of its release. Since it's released in mid July, you will get a free upgrade to the latest OS through online download.

4 - Is the macbook pro equipped to do basic image editing (something like paint shop pro, which she has now).

Perfectly capable. I'm not sure about Paint Shop Pro, but you can find other professional alternatives such as the Adobe suite.

5 - Can she join my home (windows) network to share files and have LAN drive-space to save her work?

It is very easy to share files across a network (within workgroup etc.) between Mac and Windows users if you configure it properly (no hassles there).

6 - Is the memory upgrade 4GB instead of the standard 2GB really necessary to make it work smooth? Or is 2GB enough for normal office work?

It really depends on what other programs are using the available RAM. Generally, 2GB will do just fine, but 4GB is advised-- a proper upgrade won't exceed $60.

7 - Is there any kind of extra's you guys can convince me with to fork out the extra 400$ for a macbook?

Macs are generally said to be easy to use, there usually is no need to configure most of the stuff "it just works." It's a different OS, engineered to work especially well with its hardware, given that Apple creates both the OS and assembles the hardware. This hardware is usually the top of the industry at the time of its release (ie. quad i7s on the Pro).

8 - How long is a macbook pro going to last? (Normal home-office use... the Dell laptop lasted almost 10 years now... can I expect the same from the macbook?)

You can't compare it to a 11 year old Dell laptop in all fairness. The MBP is a modern computer with excellent specs. It will last you years if you treat it well (if the Dell lasted you all that long, the Mac will do so too). Likewise, Macs don't need much maintenance in order to work properly (it defrags itself, for example).

I really want to buy her this macbook, but I can't convince myself to buy some technical product "just for the looks of it".
I'm looking for some real convincing arguments here (please don't bash me, like a few mac-using friends did when I asked them the same question...)

Pretty understandable. But beyond the "good looks" you can check out the features it sports, especially hardware wise, on the Apple website. It has the best processors out there (Sandy Bridge i line), great integration OS-hardware, great speakers for a laptop, .. overall this may be biased but that's what I've come to experience from my own MBP, it is blazing fast. Try it out at the Apple Store before you buy it see if that convinces you. If not, you will have a 14 day return window.

 

[strimbello]

Thank you Alaerian for the nice reply.

The 80$ for iWork (don't know what that is, but will definately not buy it if it lets me end up above the 1000$ area (The RF-711 from Samsung is in the same price range, with some free Office alternative on it I'll have the same software).

The form factor is indeed her main argument for having an macbook, ... so not much more info from that side.

Thanks for the clear information. It's a jungle out there when you're not into mac, this place helps me a lot.

 

[strimbello]

To contribute, have you looked at refurbished MacBook Pros? I'm not sure if they're available in Amsterdam (as noted by your info), but from what I've heard, they're basically brand new, typically come with new batteries, and have full Apple Care warranties. You can find some pretty significant savings there.

Thanks, didn't thought about that, I'll look around to some second-hand market apple macbooks, this can help a lot in saving some on the price and pay for that office alternative for mac. thx!

 

[ratzzo]

Thanks, didn't thought about that, I'll look around to some second-hand market apple macbooks, this can help a lot in saving some on the price and pay for that office alternative for mac. thx!

Most of the time, refurbished models aren't even second-hand. They are usually blemishes, or the hardware was malfunctioning, and got fixed.

 

[strimbello]

There is backup software included for Time Capsule.

- didn't know that, thanks, that's a great plus.



You can buy MS Office 2011 for Mac, it's identical to the Windows version. There are many other free versions, the most popular of which goes under the name of "Open Office."

- Ah, open office is also intallable on Mac? (dang, didn't even think about checking that

You are eligible for a free upgrade to Lion from Snow Leopard if you buy the Mac within a month of its release. Since it's released in mid July, you will get a free upgrade to the latest OS through online download.
- Again, a great plus knowing this I'll probably have to get the macbook somewhere beginning of July, I'm likeing this a lot.

It is very easy to share files across a network (within workgroup etc.) between Mac and Windows users if you configure it properly (no hassles there).
- That's a plus as well... always thought macs didn't join workgroups that well... nice to see this cleared out.

Macs are generally said to be easy to use, there usually is no need to configure most of the stuff "it just works." It's a different OS, engineered to work especially well with its hardware, given that Apple creates both the OS and assembles the hardware. This hardware is usually the top of the industry at the time of its release (ie. quad i7s on the Pro).

- i7 is indeed not comparable to the old Dell looking forward to the speed on that macbook then.

thanks a lot for all the great help so far!