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My New MBP is So Cool!

mxelre

mxelre

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
97
0
Quebec
Well I bought my first mac yesterday, the MBP base model! This thing is rocket fast and it looks SOOOO good! I'm very happy with it so far, got the free ipod touch as well and the printer too. I decided to buy before the revision for 2 simple reasons

1. I like the current version and the Back to school offer was pretty important for me
2. I needed a computer since I'm moving for Uni this weekend!(only one computer at home:( )

I also got iWorks 08 for 49$...I'm not sure why I think it was the student discount or something, they also gave me a free messenger bag...anyways couldn't say no. I'll be getting Office a bit later and do you guys think getting the applecare is worth it? I'm probably gonna go for it considering all the GPU failures happening right now.

What do you guys suggest I do with the computer before I start doing anything else? I've heard people say calibrating the screen is important, same with battery etc...

As far as programs are concerned I got Firefox, VLC, Messenger(i dont like the mac version anything better?) and that's pretty much it for now. Any others I should consider?

Thank You

P.S. This forum has been very helpful for me in the last few months trying to decide and learn about macs before I switched!
 
mxelre said:
Well I bought my first mac yesterday, the MBP base model! This thing is rocket fast and it looks SOOOO good! I'm very happy with it so far, got the free ipod touch as well and the printer too. I decided to buy before the revision for 2 simple reasons

1. I like the current version and the Back to school offer was pretty important for me
2. I needed a computer since I'm moving for Uni this weekend!(only one computer at home:( )

I also got iWorks 08 for 49$...I'm not sure why I think it was the student discount or something, they also gave me a free messenger bag...anyways couldn't say no. I'll be getting Office a bit later and do you guys think getting the applecare is worth it? I'm probably gonna go for it considering all the GPU failures happening right now.

What do you guys suggest I do with the computer before I start doing anything else? I've heard people say calibrating the screen is important, same with battery etc...

As far as programs are concerned I got Firefox, VLC, Messenger(i dont like the mac version anything better?) and that's pretty much it for now. Any others I should consider?

Thank You

P.S. This forum has been very helpful for me in the last few months trying to decide and learn about macs before I switched!
Click to expand...

1. Applecare is a must. You made a big investment, now protect it.
2. Calibrate the battery
3. Consider external storage (disk drive) for TM backups. If anything goes wrong, you can easily replace files or the entire system from a TM backup.

Congratulations on your new Mac purchase! :D
 
mxelre said:
... and do you guys think getting the applecare is worth it? I'm probably gonna go for it considering all the GPU failures happening right now.
Click to expand...

You can wait a year to buy AppleCare. It's what I'm doing.

mxelre said:
What do you guys suggest I do with the computer before I start doing anything else? I've heard people say calibrating the screen is important, same with battery etc...
Click to expand...

Yeah, either calibrate your screen manually or find a profile for your model screen. Battery, just use it. Calibrate it every few weeks if you can.

mxelre said:
As far as programs are concerned I got Firefox, VLC, Messenger(i dont like the mac version anything better?) and that's pretty much it for now. Any others I should consider?
Click to expand...

Adium is the best messenger around. Snag it.
Handbrake is great for DVD Ripping.

Those are some of my favorites.
 
1. get a nice bag so you can bring you computer to classes without holding it
2. get an external drive (usb is good enough) so you can take advantage of Time Machine
3. look into MobileMe (however I recommend a Google Account)
4. decide to get AppleCare extended warrantee near your MacBook Pro's first birthday
 
Hello,
I can't wait to post such a thread :p

Please can you tell me what does calibrating the screen consist of ?

thanks,
Tex
 
Get AppleCare near the 1 Year Mark
Get a Time Machine, its just great!
I Got used to MSN For Mac really quickly, and hated Adium
Handbrake for Ripping DVD's
Wait until your trial ends to see if you like MobileMe (Had my account trial, then it was another brand new trial when MM came out, then i got 30 Days extension, then i got the 60 Day Extension too, 5 Months Free :D albeit the limited account.)
 
Tex-Twil said:
Hello,
I can't wait to post such a thread :p

Please can you tell me what does calibrating the screen consist of ?

thanks,
Tex
Click to expand...

It involves going into system prefs where their is an assistant that you follow through that looks like this

Picture 3.png

or you can use various calibrating tools that can be found on the net or even pre-made color profiles that you can download and use
 
Applecare is a must like everyone has said...however, I purchased a macbook this past weekend and also purchased applecare for only 139.00 with the student discount. I don't know if you can go back and purchase the applecare separately and still receive the discount, but it's worth the try.
 
Off the top of my head, HandBrake is great for encoding your DVDs, as mentioned above. Also, if you read a lot of academic journal articles Papers is an amazing program. If you plan to do any virtualization, VirtualBox is a great free alternative to Parallels or VMware. Senuti will allow you to transfer your files from your ipod back to your computer, if you ever need to.

Thats all I can think of at the moment. Congrats on a nice computer!
 
I got mine for $199, and the guy who sold it to me usually has some for sale almost every day at that price.
 
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