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New to mac's/ordering a MBP in the next few days

D

denialchild45

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 25, 2009
7
0
Hey guys. I'm new to the world of owning a mac. I have played around on them a bunch, but have never owned one. My Gateway crashed on me a few months back so I have been without a laptop of my own.
I have gotten some info. on what I should get and all that, but I wanted to check here as well before I go through with my purchase.

I'm a college student in advertising so I'm going to be doing a lot of design on the computer and I also like to create music to give you guys an idea of what I'll be using it for aside from the normal everyday tasks.

Right now I'm looking at:
15 in (17 is way too big for my liking)
2.4 Ghz
4 GB Memory
250GB 7200
Microsoft Office
Adobe Suite
Apple Care
and also an iPod as an extra since my old one is dead

My question for you guys is, Is this a good setup? If not, what would you recommend? Is this a good time to buy or is there something new coming out soon?

Thanks again!
 
Wait a few days until ilife 09 comes preinstalled on the system. That will save you 10 bucks for the upgrade.

Also, you can get 4gb of memory for $80 at crucial.com right now. If apple charges more to go from 2gb to 4gb then you can save by doing it yourself.
 
how long do you think it'll be for that iLife 09? I'm just going to get the 4GB pre installed due to me not knowing how to put that kind of stuff in to save my life.
 
Why not 2.53 or 2.8 with a bigger hard drive since you will be working with Adobe products. Besides higher CPU comes with 4g of ram. Just thought since I do tons of graphic work as well.
 
Paying 2,500+ another 300, on top of paying for Apple Care for it is a little out of my league right now. For the setup I gave, it will only cost me 2,300 I believe. I definitely thought about it, but the price kills me
 
denialchild45 said:
Paying 2,500+ another 300, on top of paying for Apple Care for it is a little out of my league right now. For the setup I gave, it will only cost me 2,300 I believe. I definitely thought about it, but the price kills me
Click to expand...

You can get Applecare on Ebay for half the price that Apple charges.
 
Dont get Microsoft Office, Get Apple iWork instead, if your wondering why im recommending it go into an Apple store and find out, you'll be hooked.

If you must buy Office, dont get it with the computer, or from Apple get it from another shop for much cheaper.

Do you need the whole Adobe Suite? If not buy them one by one from somewhere else. Even if you do need it, again dont buy it from Apple, save yourself loads.

Dont buy Applecare with the computer, buy it in just under a years time from Ebay and save 50 - 80%

Everything else looks sweet though
 
The reason I need Office is for school. I already have the disc for Office and I also have Adobe. Buying them through Apple would be :eek:
But I'll definitely check out iWork tomorrow when I run through the store to play with a MBP again.

And does anyone else here recommend iLife09? and how long til it's preinstalled in the system?
 
denialchild45 said:
The reason I need Office is for school. I already have the disc for Office and I also have Adobe. Buying them through Apple would be :eek:
But I'll definitely check out iWork tomorrow when I run through the store to play with a MBP again.

And does anyone else here recommend iLife09? and how long til it's preinstalled in the system?
Click to expand...

If you buy online it will come preinstalled after Feb 20th, in Store Feb 3rd.

Noone can recommend it because it hasnt come out yet! :p but id say you have to get it when it does, mainly for the iMovie updates, and the fact its either going to be free preinstalled, or a $10 upgrade so why not.
 
Ah! i had no idea. Sorry :(. But if I decide to go in-store vs. online, can i still decide what I want in it (4GB Ram, 250 GB@7200)? or is that an online only kinda deal
 
oh wait, so after Feb. 3rd, I could upgrade for 10 bucks online if i can't built the comp in store?
 
denialchild45 said:
oh wait, so after Feb. 3rd, I could upgrade for 10 bucks online if i can't built the comp in store?
Click to expand...

if your MBP doesnt come pre-installed with iLife 09, you could purchase it for $10 via online. I'm not sure if they ship it out the DVD or you get to download it but either case, you still qualify to receive it.
 
also, i think you do not have to purchase applecare until you reach the end of your standard 1 year warranty.

someone can call me out if i am incorrect.

if you are using this for school, you might want to take what everyone else said into consideration.

4gb is way overpriced in the apple store. you can easily buy it online, and install yourself. if you have a fear of instillation because you are unaware of how to do it, you can save a handful of bucks by either learning, or having a friend do it for you.

same thing goes with the hard drives. you could possibly find a cheaper one online, and the new 15" models make swapping out hard drives considerably easier than the older models.

with the saved money from the RAM, you can possibly upgrade the processor. yes there isnt much of a difference in performance, but it would be nice to get what you can at what ever top tier you can grab, since this unit will most likely last you for your entire rest of schooling.
 
You are correct, you have a year.

liquidtrend said:
also, i think you do not have to purchase applecare until you reach the end of your standard 1 year warranty.

someone can call me out if i am incorrect.

if you are using this for school, you might want to take what everyone else said into consideration.

4gb is way overpriced in the apple store. you can easily buy it online, and install yourself. if you have a fear of instillation because you are unaware of how to do it, you can save a handful of bucks by either learning, or having a friend do it for you.

same thing goes with the hard drives. you could possibly find a cheaper one online, and the new 15" models make swapping out hard drives considerably easier than the older models.

with the saved money from the RAM, you can possibly upgrade the processor. yes there isnt much of a difference in performance, but it would be nice to get what you can at what ever top tier you can grab, since this unit will most likely last you for your entire rest of schooling.
Click to expand...
 
Alright so here's what I've gathered, and after playing around on the building my laptop thing:

2.8 Ghz will definitely be better, not 100% noticeable (to me at least), but it will definitely be better in the long run
It already comes with the 4 GB Ram
320 GB at 5400, or should I add the 45 bucks and get it @ 7200?
- and will i notice a difference in that
I can get AppleCare before the 1st year and save a lot of money by buying it on ebay- http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-MacBook-P...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1308|301:1|293:1|294:50
^like that?
And once iLife is released, I can get it for $10 bucks online.
 
denialchild45 said:
Alright so here's what I've gathered, and after playing around on the building my laptop thing:

2.8 Ghz will definitely be better, not 100% noticeable (to me at least), but it will definitely be better in the long run
It already comes with the 4 GB Ram
320 GB at 5400, or should I add the 45 bucks and get it @ 7200?
- and will i notice a difference in that
I can get AppleCare before the 1st year and save a lot of money by buying it on ebay- http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-MacBook-P...4|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1308|301:1|293:1|294:50
^like that?
And once iLife is released, I can get it for $10 bucks online.
Click to expand...

yes to all.

some people will claim you cant tell between 5400 and 7200 rpm, but i sure have noticed a difference while using photoshop or illustrator, or even just pulling up video files.
 
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