New Mac user looking for advice on MacBooks

[slun80]

Hey Everyone -

Just spent a couple of hours searching the threads for pros and cons for the current lineup of MacBooks. I currently use a PC desktop and work-issued PC laptop and have a good bit of experience upgrading PC desktops. I've never owned a personal laptop but can see myself transferring most of what I do on my desktop to the MacBook (Internet browsing, music downloading, financials, etc.).

I don't play games on computers. I don't do any sort of video-editing or any other tasks that would require the best processor on Earth. I really just want the portability of a laptop with the reliability of an Apple in order to be able to do normal, day-to-day activities while not tied to my home office desktop.

With all that being said, I'm looking to buy a new MacBook due to a friend's discount at the Apple Store. I have about 50GB of music and 20GB of digital copies of movies, but the music is really all I'll care much about.

I have a 500GB USB drive that is currently connected to the desktop. Can it be formatted to run on both a MacBook and my PC?

So, what's the verdict from some of the seasoned folks on here? Is the model with the retina display worth the extra cash? Will I absolutely miss out if I don't have an SSD?

Thanks for the help.

 

[zipur]

i'm really not a "seasoned" mac guy but I was in the same position. I go the base 15 rMBP. I only have just under 30 gig of music on an old 256 maxtor jump drive. Everything work perfect on MBP.

So will you miss out if you don't, not really, but you will enjoy the retinia display

Hope that helps

 

[MCAsan]

Is the model with the retina display worth the extra cash?

That calls for a subjective value judgement for each potential owner. For me as a photographer, yes. For being able to do routine stuff I would recommend a 13" Macbook Air 2GHz i7 CPU, 8GB of memory and the 256MB of SSD. That will list for around $1700. But be sure to check all the holiday specials at Apple, MacMall, B&H and other retailers this weekend. Also check if you can get discounts via any organization members. I can via being a member of NAPP.

Will I absolutely miss out if I don't have an SSD?

Two things to give any machine the max performance is a gracious plenty of memory (8GB is max in MBA), and a fast disk (an SSD is faster than any HD and is standard in 13" MBA). Likely the smaller 256SSD will be just fine and saves $500 compared to the 512GB SSD.