New here and a couple questions

[steveh552]

I'm new to this forum and have read quite a bit before posting. First off I have to say iv not kept up with tech like I use to and so not nearly as smart as I once was on the latest.

First off I am looking at replacing my cheap dell notebook that I hate (windows 8) with a rMBP. I went to the apple store to loom at them and compare them with the air and the display sold me. I mainly will use it for watching movies and tv shows (we don't have cable, only a few shows I watch) and browsing the web. Looking at the 13in with 8gig and 256 memory in hope it will last quite awhile.

So the big questions:
1. Advantages of buying from apple instead of best buy? The salesman yesterday only gave one reason and that was the one2one program but I'm not interested in that.

2. Is AppleCare worth the extra money?

3. Must have software?

4. How easy will it be to get music and videos from the windows machine to the mbp?

Note this will he my first Mac, use to avoid them but with windows 8 on this PC giving me tons of freeze ups and crashes and my new found love of my iPhone (was an android guy) I want to love on.

 

[heisenberg123]

I'm new to this forum and have read quite a bit before posting. First off I have to say iv not kept up with tech like I use to and so not nearly as smart as I once was on the latest.

First off I am looking at replacing my cheap dell notebook that I hate (windows 8) with a rMBP. I went to the apple store to loom at them and compare them with the air and the display sold me. I mainly will use it for watching movies and tv shows (we don't have cable, only a few shows I watch) and browsing the web. Looking at the 13in with 8gig and 256 memory in hope it will last quite awhile.

So the big questions:
1. Advantages of buying from apple instead of best buy? The salesman yesterday only gave one reason and that was the one2one program but I'm not interested in that.

2. Is AppleCare worth the extra money?

3. Must have software?

4. How easy will it be to get music and videos from the windows machine to the mbp?

Note this will he my first Mac, use to avoid them but with windows 8 on this PC giving me tons of freeze ups and crashes and my new found love of my iPhone (was an android guy) I want to love on.

1. no advantage were you buy as long as they are authorized, your going to want to bring it to an apple store either way if you ever have issues

2. yes lots can go wrong in year 2 and 3 that could cost tripple what apple care costs

3. be more specific

4. very easy just copy them on an external drive and you can copy them on you mac, a format like fat32 is the best if you dont have any files large than 4GB, fat32 format allows for read and write on both computers

 

[Meister]

I mainly will use it for watching movies and tv shows (we don't have cable, only a few shows I watch) and browsing the web. Looking at the 13in with 8gig and 256 memory in hope it will last quite awhile.

How about an iPad Air? Or an apple tv or mac mini?

Almost 1800,- for rmbp + applecare to watch shows and web browsing is just very bizarre.

Like someone wrote on here recently: No wonder people are in such bad financial situations these days.


(In 2012 I almost solely used my iPad 1 via hdmi adapter to watch movies and shows.)

 

[steveh552]

How about an iPad Air? Or an apple tv or mac mini?

Almost 1800,- for rmbp + applecare to watch shows and web browsing is just very bizarre.

Like someone wrote on here recently: No wonder people are in such bad financial situations these days.


(In 2012 I almost solely used my iPad 1 via hdmi adapter to watch movies and shows.)

I do other things on a computer and iv had tablets found they are not as useful to me as a computer.

I do photography as a hobby and do some editing along with graphics but it's not nearly as often as it has been.

As for financial situation, if I could not afford it I would not be buying it. I'm 35 years old with a house and 2 newer cars and a boat all paid, no banks involved and nobody helped me get any of it. I work a very good job and saved to get I to my financial position

 

[Meister]

I do other things on a computer and iv had tablets found they are not as useful to me as a computer.

I do photography as a hobby and do some editing along with graphics but it's not nearly as often as it has been.

As for financial situation, if I could not afford it I would not be buying it. I'm 35 years old with a house and 2 newer cars and a boat all paid, no banks involved and nobody helped me get any of it. I work a very good job and saved to get I to my financial position

Nice! Very good for you

For photography the 13" 8gb/256gb is a great bang for the buck!

If you got the cash the lower 15" is great, too.

Enjoy!

Must have software:

MS Office for Mac
iLife
iWork
Adobe Ligthroom + Photoshop

 

[Intelligent]

How about an iPad Air? Or an apple tv or mac mini?

Almost 1800,- for rmbp + applecare to watch shows and web browsing is just very bizarre.

Like someone wrote on here recently: No wonder people are in such bad financial situations these days.


(In 2012 I almost solely used my iPad 1 via hdmi adapter to watch movies and shows.)

Omg, i don't get it why people always say "just use iPad for internet browsing". I love OS X way more than iOS, iOS is not bad but you know OS X is a computer system, and computers do a lot more than tablets or phones,.

 

[Meister]

Omg, i don't get it why people always say "just use iPad for internet browsing". I love OS X way more than iOS, iOS is not bad but you know OS X is a computer system, and computers do a lot more than tablets or phones,.

For example ...

 

[accountforit]

Spreadsheets. Try doing real work on an iPad and see how long it takes you.

 

[steveh552]

I'm not sure photo editing would be much fun on a tablet, or things like heavy email and message boarding

 

[Meister]

I mainly will use it for watching movies and tv shows (we don't have cable, only a few shows I watch) and browsing the web.

Now you are writing that you need it for photo editing...

I recommended an iPad for the use originaly posted and thats the best suggestion you can get.

Photo editing and huge spreadsheets are best not mainly done on an ipad.
I never wrote that iPads completely replace computers (yet) but they are the best choice for most consumers.

(even though you can do a certain amount of numbers on it very smoothly)

----------

Spreadsheets. Try doing real work on an iPad and see how long it takes you.

Ive done real and important work on iPads since they first came out.
There are limitations to it still. I was refering to the OPs original post of movies and webbrowsing.

 

[steveh552]

I guess I did leave out the editing in the first post. I do not do it as often as I did but I still do in occasion

 

[KUguardgrl13]

The 13" 2.4/8/256 is a really nice machine. I've had mine since the day after release and use it daily for school work, Netflix, and web browsing.

1. Depends. If you can qualify for a work or school discount, those are usually only offered through Apple.com. Otherwise it's not a huge deal. Buying through Apple does make returns and exchanges a little easier.

2. YES. Costly repairs can be necessary after the first year if you want to use the machine for any length of time.

3. MS Office or iWork (Office 2014 should be out in the next few months, so you may want to use the free iWork apps in the mean time), Adobe apps that you might want to use for photography, otherwise lots of built-in apps for everyday tasks. Web browser is up to you; I use Chrome, but many people argue that it's a resource hog

4. Depends on how they're stored. It can be as simple as drag and drop across your network or from an external hard drive or flash drive. If you have your music on an iPod (not touch or iPhone) you can move it using that, but you lose play counts.

Good luck, and welcome to Mac!

 

[NewbieCanada]

If the music and videos are stored under your Windows User ID (In C:\Users\steveh552\My Music and My Videos, migration assistant should copy them over along with your Internet Explorer favourites, etc.

 

[Buck987]

Buy with an American Express card, get an extra year of warranty and ditch th overpriced apple care.

 

[Robster3]

How about an iPad Air? Or an apple tv or mac mini?

Almost 1800,- for rmbp + applecare to watch shows and web browsing is just very bizarre.

Like someone wrote on here recently: No wonder people are in such bad financial situations these days.


(In 2012 I almost solely used my iPad 1 via hdmi adapter to watch movies and shows.)

works for me

 

[guineaphinea]

Regarding AppleCare, YES YES YES. If you ever have to use it, you'll be grateful.

I regretfully didn't purchase AppleCare and now I'm stuck trying to diagnose and repair a Macbook Pro that's 3 weeks out of warranty. I'm doing the repair myself to save cash AND because I live nowhere near an Apple Store.

Regardless, I'd still buy another Macbook Pro today if I needed to, great little machine and the first that has met all of my needs...I'd just buy AppleCare to go along with it. Also, you can purchase AppleCare any time during your existing 1-year warranty period so it doesn't have to be purchased now.

Good luck and enjoy your Mac, I know I have!

 

[Altemose]

I cannot comment on the best warranty but I can tell you that AppleCare is definitely worth the dough. As long as you buy from a reliable place like Best Buy or Apple you will have no issues. As for software, the Mac App Store is a great place to start! Transferring files is simple with Migration Assistant when you first start it up.

Welcome to MacRumors!

 

[yjchua95]

I guess I did leave out the editing in the first post. I do not do it as often as I did but I still do in occasion

Note that the RAM is soldered into the logic board and can't be upgraded post-purchase.

I suggest you max out the RAM.

Oh by the way, if you're getting the 256GB variant, you're going to get into the lottery of getting either a SanDisk or Samsung SSD.

The SanDisk ones are around 150MB/s slower in writes than the Samsung ones, but there's not much noticeable difference in real-world usage.

 

[Robster3]

Regarding AppleCare, YES YES YES. If you ever have to use it, you'll be grateful.

I regretfully didn't purchase AppleCare and now I'm stuck trying to diagnose and repair a Macbook Pro that's 3 weeks out of warranty. I'm doing the repair myself to save cash AND because I live nowhere near an Apple Store.

Regardless, I'd still buy another Macbook Pro today if I needed to, great little machine and the first that has met all of my needs...I'd just buy AppleCare to go along with it. Also, you can purchase AppleCare any time during your existing 1-year warranty period so it doesn't have to be purchased now.

Good luck and enjoy your Mac, I know I have!

Have you rang Apple? I had a iMac 21" screen replaced for free that was 2.5 years out of warranty no joke. Just mentioned it when i rang up about a iPad problem, he put me on hold and come back and said they would replace it. Only 3 weeks out of warranty they may help you.

 

[maflynn]

So the big questions:
1. Advantages of buying from apple instead of best buy? The salesman yesterday only gave one reason and that was the one2one program but I'm not interested in that.

2. Is AppleCare worth the extra money?

3. Must have software?

4. How easy will it be to get music and videos from the windows machine to the mbp?

1. Not really, I get a student discount because of where I work (teaching hospital), so for me there is an advantage.

2. Conventional wisdom indicates its worth the extra money especially the low repairability mark iFixit gives it (hard of any of us to repair it).

3. For photo editing that you mentioned later in the thread, Aperture, Lightroom, iPhoto, Photoshop and Pixelmator are all great apps for managing or editing your images.

4. Pretty easy, you can access a share from the windows machine, hook up the computers directly with a ethernet cable, or use a usb flash drive.

 

[steveh552]

Again thanks for the comments. I'm looking at the 15in version as well, the $1999 model. We shall see I don't want to buy until 100% sure

 

[guineaphinea]

Have you rang Apple? I had a iMac 21" screen replaced for free that was 2.5 years out of warranty no joke. Just mentioned it when i rang up about a iPad problem, he put me on hold and come back and said they would replace it. Only 3 weeks out of warranty they may help you.

If my current efforts fail, I'll definitely do that... You can follow the escapade here if you want