Potential buyer...few questions

[Shabob]

Hi Folks

I have never owned a Mac computer in my life and have only used OS X for about 20 minutes of my life. I just had a few questions and whatnot as I am considering the possibility of buying a 13" MBP.

I have been an avid user of Windows/PC for as long as I've been around and was thinking about the possibility of picking up a Mac notebook. I fix computers for a living so I am well versed in windows and have an excellent knowledge of hardware etc...
I currently am using an ASUS ultralight 12" laptop now but am giving it to my father as his notebook blew up and he desperately needs one for his work.

1) Now this is my biggest question probably of all. Is Mac really worth it? Is it that much better than the PC side of things? At this point I am only willing to spend as much as the 13" model costs, the 15 is just asking too much of my $ to be in a comfortable state. I played around on a demo unit at a store here (nearest apple store is 2 hours away!) and was quite impressed from the initial inspection but I know that people who have had it much longer than I have can give a much more accurate review of the product.

2) I have become quite concerned with these "wifi dropping" issues I've read on the forums, but it doesn't seem to be terribly widespread. How has your MBP's wireless been? Does it drop and reconnect? Have you had any sort of complaint or issue with it?

3) Overall how has the general "experience" been with you? Have you had to have your MBP repaired/replaced? How is apple support? (Mind you my nearest apple store is hours away ) Are you happy with your MBP? Would you recommend it to a friend/family/co-worker? And most importantly, WHY do you like it? Please don't just tell me "Apple is awesome". I don't want the blind fanboy attitude (although it seems hard to escape) to be a factor in my decision making. I don't want to buy one because of hype, I need a solid functional, reliable machine to do my stuff on.

4)Have you ever at a point in time regretted your purchase of a MBP?

5)I was thinking of buying this at my local Futureshop/Best buy because that is the only place within miles I can do so (I am from small town). Is there any downside compared to ordering via apple store online?

I really truly appreciate any input that can be given and thank everyone in advance who contributes to this thread.

Thanks!

J

 

[ijsportsman]

I have worked with Macs around 5 years, my first computer being an iBook laptop. I am going to answer your questions as you stated them

1) Now this is my biggest question probably of all. Is Mac really worth it? Is it that much better than the PC side of things? At this point I am only willing to spend as much as the 13" model costs, the 15 is just asking too much of my $ to be in a comfortable state. I played around on a demo unit at a store here (nearest apple store is 2 hours away!) and was quite impressed from the initial inspection but I know that people who have had it much longer than I have can give a much more accurate review of the product.

Yes the Mac is worth it. My brother, who is a devoted PC user, has gone through 3 PC Laptops and 2 PC Desktops totaling around $2000 dollars in the past 2 years. I have had my MacBook (white one, first gen) for 4 years and it still works great. In my opinion the software is much better, easier to use, and visually appealing. In terms of being a PC user, you can always load Windows 7 onto your new mac using Parallels or Bootcamp.

2) I have become quite concerned with these "wifi dropping" issues I've read on the forums, but it doesn't seem to be terribly widespread. How has your MBP's wireless been? Does it drop and reconnect? Have you had any sort of complaint or issue with it?

I just got my Dad a MBP, and he is not the brightest when it come to computers, and he has had no trouble connecting to the internet with Airport Wireless. My computer (White Macbook) has dropped a couple of times, but thats probably because i haven't updated the software in a while. You should have no trouble, and if you did, the Genius bar would be happy to help you. All my experiences taking my computer and iPhone in to the Genius Bar have been great.

3) Overall how has the general "experience" been with you? Have you had to have your MBP repaired/replaced? How is apple support? (Mind you my nearest apple store is hours away ) Are you happy with your MBP? Would you recommend it to a friend/family/co-worker? And most importantly, WHY do you like it? Please don't just tell me "Apple is awesome". I don't want the blind fanboy attitude (although it seems hard to escape) to be a factor in my decision making. I don't want to buy one because of hype, I need a solid functional, reliable machine to do my stuff on.

I will answer those questions with single word answers: Great, No, Awesome, Yes, Absolutely. Now in terms of why I like it, it has great applications, a great feel, and definitely is a computer that will last your a good 5-6 years if you treat it well. It is by far the best computer on the market now in terms of features and software.

4)Have you ever at a point in time regretted your purchase of a MBP?

Not in a second. I debated getting a Hi-res screen, but that is my only nagging thing.

5)I was thinking of buying this at my local Futureshop/Best buy because that is the only place within miles I can do so (I am from small town). Is there any downside compared to ordering via apple store online?

Well, I would buy it straight from Apple, just because then you can deal directly with them and not Best Buy. Better to purchase it from the manufacturer in my opinion, rather than a store that sells everything else too. Plus you get great deals like $100 off a printer and discounts on certain software with the purchase of your Mac.

 

[noobinator]

I've been a mac user for 1 week now and I can honestly say YES Mac OSX is worth it as is the MBP. I use bootcamp w/ windows 7 to play a game and it is painful to even load up windows now. The OSX experience feels so much smoother, quicker and more user friendly to me.

I was very leary to switch but once I got things figured out I can now say I will never look back.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

1) Now this is my biggest question probably of all. Is Mac really worth it?

Rather subjective. I think most people who hang out in a Mac forum are going to say yes as much as people in a Windows forum will disagree. But since you are asking, yes, I think they are worth it.

2) I have become quite concerned with these "wifi dropping" issues I've read on the forums, but it doesn't seem to be terribly widespread. How has your MBP's wireless been? Does it drop and reconnect? Have you had any sort of complaint or issue with it?

I've had some WiFi issues in the past but the culprit was my router, not my machines.

3) Overall how has the general "experience" been with you? Have you had to have your MBP repaired/replaced? How is apple support? (Mind you my nearest apple store is hours away ) Are you happy with your MBP?

I've owned about 20 or so Macs over the past 25 years. Maybe 3 needed warranty service.

Apple support is fair. It's really a roulette game depending on who you talk with. Some reps are great, others clueless fools that want to get you off the phone. The "genius" in the store are similar, some helpful, some not so much. Generally my experience has been positive but I've had bad days too.

4)Have you ever at a point in time regretted your purchase of a MBP?

Nope, I always buy when they first come out so I have no fear of a new model coming out the next month.

5)I was thinking of buying this at my local Futureshop/Best buy because that is the only place within miles I can do so (I am from small town). Is there any downside compared to ordering via apple store online?

Yes. If you buy from Apple and you get a DOA or even if it's just a couple of dead pixels they will swap it out with a fresh machine. At BestBuy you are at the mercy of the manager, especially for things like "minor" dead pixels. Aside from that there is no huge difference or benefit buying direct from Apple.

 

[mbpjohnson]

I bought my first Mac about a week ago have had pc's for the last 20 years or so. Picked up the 17 for the wife.

The good so far it runs cool, quiet, great keyboard and track pad, looks good and seems to have good build quality. The software is great, iphoto and video are slick not too much to complain about there.

The bad...yes I am having trouble with INTERNET dropping off, maybe a couple times in an hour. I have no problems with the pc laptops and have a good signal. I will be going back to the store to see what I can do about it.
the hi rez screen Menes are so small they are hard to read and no way to resize them. The macmail and Ichat don't support yahoo which bothers my wife since she has had a yahoo account for the last 10 years. I have also had a couple lock ups and had to close the screen to shut it off.

Is it worth it..thats hard to say the first few days the wife was ready to take it back. After a week the more we use it the more we like it. We will see what happens when we go back to the store in a few days.

Phil

 

[elpmas]

I don't want to steal your thread, but I'm just wondering.

Just a question about the Wifi. If I get a MBP, would I "need" to buy an airport wireless, or could I just use the wireless router I currently have? Also, if I do buy an airport wireless, would "PC" laptops be able to use it also?

**sorry, just needed some clarifications since we're on the "wifi" topic

 

[Saberon]

You absolutely do not need to buy apple's router, your current will be fine. Yes PC's can connect to the apple router

 

[dlb253]

I just made the switch to my 1st mac as well. I bought the 13", 2.4 GHz, 320m, 250 GB HDD.

I can honestly say that I've been blown away in these first few days. Every last detail from the packaging of the box to the aluminum, unibody design just attest to a higher standard of quality. I bought my MBP to replace a 14" HP AMD Turion laptop which only lasted me 2 years. With AppleCare under my belt I hope that this laptop will last me years to come.

OSX is amazingly simple and intuitive. I've been using Windows for as long as I can remember, and was still finding myself presented with unfamiliar situations/problems. I've spent only a few days with OSX and feel like I've been using it forever.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I don't want to steal your thread, but I'm just wondering.

Just a question about the Wifi. If I get a MBP, would I "need" to buy an airport wireless, or could I just use the wireless router I currently have? Also, if I do buy an airport wireless, would "PC" laptops be able to use it also?

**sorry, just needed some clarifications since we're on the "wifi" topic

Yes, any WiFi router will work. There is no need to buy Airport. Airport is just easier to configure and have a few extra features that a basic wifi router doesn't have.

Yes, any computer will work w/ Airport. It's standard 802.11n WiFi in a nice package and simpler configuration tools.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I work supporting Windows servers and Windows desktop OS's and use a MacBook Pro.

Heck, sometimes the MBP works better at getting to the root of Windows problems. Especially being highly resistant to Windows viruses, I've used a Mac to remove files from infected drives and recover them. I used to get a lot of questions about how a Mac could support Windows servers, but not now...

It's a superior tool. It talks to just about anything and is easy to carry and easy on the eyes.

Why not carry a MacBook Pro?

 

[elpmas]

thanks!

 

[pmcb]

1) Now this is my biggest question probably of all. Is Mac really worth it? Is it that much better than the PC side of things? At this point I am only willing to spend as much as the 13" model costs, the 15 is just asking too much of my $ to be in a comfortable state. I played around on a demo unit at a store here (nearest apple store is 2 hours away!) and was quite impressed from the initial inspection but I know that people who have had it much longer than I have can give a much more accurate review of the product.

Absolutely, I've only been using my macbook pro (13" 8/09 release) for about a year, but it still feels brand new. given it doesn't do a lot of traveling with me, but its still mint. My old ibook (don't even know when it was released) I gave to my Mom to use as her email machine when she was away from the desktop and she still uses it quite happily. These computers were built to last.

2) I have become quite concerned with these "wifi dropping" issues I've read on the forums, but it doesn't seem to be terribly widespread. How has your MBP's wireless been? Does it drop and reconnect? Have you had any sort of complaint or issue with it?

My wifi has never dropped, I was unaware that there was an issue. I'm connected to a netgear router (random $40 one bought at bestbuy) daisy chained to another router and no issues here.

3) Overall how has the general "experience" been with you? Have you had to have your MBP repaired/replaced? How is apple support? (Mind you my nearest apple store is hours away ) Are you happy with your MBP? Would you recommend it to a friend/family/co-worker? And most importantly, WHY do you like it? Please don't just tell me "Apple is awesome". I don't want the blind fanboy attitude (although it seems hard to escape) to be a factor in my decision making. I don't want to buy one because of hype, I need a solid functional, reliable machine to do my stuff on.

Great, no repairs necessary, havn't contacted apple support, i love my mbp, absolutely in fact i just recommended my sister the regular macbook.
why do i like my computer? I like my computer because it does whatever I want. I needed windows to use a capture card I purchased, and bootcamp fulfills this need perfectly its just like running a windows computer! i was impressed that this cap card worked because it streams the video from my router and requires a little more set up than just a usb dongle. I'm on my computer nearly all day doing light web browsing, photoshop, listening to music, and I use it as a media center connected to my tv and usually have no performance hiccups only sometimes when photoshop is on and i have a bunch of programs open (2 gigs of ram...need an upgrade i know) do i see the beach ball. Setting up everything was extremely easy and i havn't had a "wtf is my computer doing" moment yet. the hardware is beautiful and smiling when i look at my computer is nice.

4)Have you ever at a point in time regretted your purchase of a MBP?
nope, paired with my iphone and i'm in heaven

5)I was thinking of buying this at my local Futureshop/Best buy because that is the only place within miles I can do so (I am from small town). Is there any downside compared to ordering via apple store online?

I ordered mine online. They sometimes have the older hardware at the best buy by my house but not sure about yours obviously. Good luck and take the plunge