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School begins in a month! A few questions regarding MacBook Pro!

B

BradenG

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 13, 2009
132
0
Wisconsin
Never owned a Mac before, I've used some briefly (friends/schools). I kinda have it set in my mind already that I'm going to be getting a MacBook Pro - it's just I don't know which would be the best for me.

The program I'm enrolling in is "Graphic & Web Design", it's a 2-year course. Now..the entire program is based on Macs. I went to the campus yesterday and checked out the brand new Mac lab that I'm going to be in for most of my classes (man, those rows of iMacs look sweet :D ).

That brings me to the classes - it's a lot of Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign/Flash/Fireworks) so I figure it would just be easier to get a Mac to kinda go with the whole way the class is set up.

I know I could get a PC notebook and run the same software, but as far as I know Macs run this type of software much more efficiently - am I correct with this assumption?

Ok! So I'm thinking the 13" 2.53GHz/4GB Ram/250GB HD would be the one for me. I'm a bit torn on the screen size though, I'm guessing a lot of the work I'll be doing in class will be fine on those huge iMac displays but not might not work so well on the 13" screen. :confused: Maybe I'll get a big display for it down the road sometime, the course is 2years anyway - I suppose that could wait.

Speaking of 2 years, I want a notebook that will take me through these 2 terms and I'm thinking that a MacBook Pro will do just that. I also plan on getting AppleCare with it.

Right then, that about does it. Any thoughts?
 
BradenG said:
Never owned a Mac before, I've used some briefly (friends/schools). I kinda have it set in my mind already that I'm going to be getting a MacBook Pro - it's just I don't know which would be the best for me.

The program I'm enrolling in is "Graphic & Web Design", it's a 2-year course. Now..the entire program is based on Macs. I went to the campus yesterday and checked out the brand new Mac lab that I'm going to be in for most of my classes (man, those rows of iMacs look sweet :D ).

That brings me to the classes - it's a lot of Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign/Flash/Fireworks) so I figure it would just be easier to get a Mac to kinda go with the whole way the class is set up.

I know I could get a PC notebook and run the same software, but as far as I know Macs run this type of software much more efficiently - am I correct with this assumption?
Click to expand...
Not so much. Given the switch to the Intel Processors, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) most people think that Adobe runs better on 64-bit versions of Windows.

BradenG said:
Ok! So I'm thinking the 13" 2.53GHz/4GB Ram/250GB HD would be the one for me. I'm a bit torn on the screen size though, I'm guessing a lot of the work I'll be doing in class will be fine on those huge iMac displays but not might not work so well on the 13" screen. :confused: Maybe I'll get a big display for it down the road sometime, the course is 2years anyway - I suppose that could wait.
Click to expand...
Get the ram via a third party, maybe think about upgrading the hard drive to 7200 RPMs.

BradenG said:
Speaking of 2 years, I want a notebook that will take me through these 2 terms and I'm thinking that a MacBook Pro will do just that. I also plan on getting AppleCare with it.

Right then, that about does it. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Def. should last you two years, buy Apple Care via L.A. Computer or eBay
 
That computer is an excellent choice for what you are going to be in. You will have no regrets in getting it.

The one I got will stay with me until I graduate in my software engineering course due to finish in 3 years from now.

These are high quality notebooks, there is no way that you could be dissapointed unless you compare it with a higher performance one (i.e. top of the line CTO 17 inchers).
 
Yes, I'll be using the Education discount on my purchases.

Ok, Apple Care - I should go 3rd party with this? I don't understand...I'm buying Apple tech support from someone else?

Thanks for the words/info people!
 
You kinda...
You figure...
You suppose...

It sounds like a lot assuming on your part.

Have you asked any of the instructors what they think would be best for that curriculum? They may have the answers straight away.
 
BradenG said:
Yes, I'll be using the Education discount on my purchases.

Ok, Apple Care - I should go 3rd party with this? I don't understand...I'm buying Apple tech support from someone else?

Thanks for the words/info people!
Click to expand...

Yes, you can buy Apple Care from a third party. There is a massive thread about buying it off eBay, my recommendation would be to go through L.A. Computer, if you don't feel comfortable reading through 16 pages of people's experiences and advice.
 
Skip the 2.53GHz MacBook in favour of the 2.26GHz one, and spend the savings on DIY RAM and HDD upgrades, and a nice 24" external display (not the Apple LED one!).

Before you buy AppleCare, look into what your credit card offers. Many of them automatically double the factory warranty on anything you buy, so you might get an extra year for nothing. Granted, it's not as easy as AppleCare, but they will cover you.
 
thegoldenmackid said:
Not so much. Given the switch to the Intel Processors, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) most people think that Adobe runs better on 64-bit versions of Windows.
Click to expand...

There is still some argument, but I run Adobe CS4 Design Premium, mostly for Photoshop and Bridge, but I dip into Illustrator, Flash, and Dreamweaver, and they run equally on Vista 32, Vista 64, and Mac OS X. If I have to do a lot of filter work (especially noise redution), I head over to my Vista 64-bit machine with 4gb RAM and 2.4gHz quad core. Running Nik Dfine 2.0 on a Nikon D3 raw file on that machine takes 2 seconds versus the 15 seconds it takes on my 2.66gHz dual core (June 2009) Macbook Pro with 4gb RAM. That is down to the processor, though (and only recently due to better multi-core support in both Adobe and 3rd-party plug-ins).

For web design, you will want Windows on your machine one way or the other. It is still necessary for me to "see it for real" in Internet Explorer. Love it or hate it, IE is still the dominate browser. (I prefer Firefox in either environment).
 
Ok, I'm gonna review my choices and look into the lower end 13". But ehh, installing RAM/HDD...makes me nervous just thinking about that - opening up that thing.. :eek:


belvdr said:
You kinda...
You figure...
You suppose...

It sounds like a lot assuming on your part.

Have you asked any of the instructors what they think would be best for that curriculum? They may have the answers straight away.
Click to expand...

Yea, I hear ya, I kinda suppose I want to figure I'm getting the MacBook Pro because it seems like a sweet machine :D
 
BradenG said:
Yea, I hear ya, I kinda suppose I want to figure I'm getting the MacBook Pro because it seems like a sweet machine :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. The upgrades aren't as bad as they seem. There are guides on the Internet on how to do this. I believe one is call iFixIt.
 
Wow, I spent some time at Best Buy in the little Apple corner of the store playing with a MacBook Pro - I'm so getting one. :D

I'm pretty busy between now and the start of the school term so I'm not even sure when I'll be able to place the order. I remember reading about the supply of some MBPs not meeting the demand lately and some shipping times longer than usual - are these certain models or all the the MBP line? I'm probably going to get the 2.53ghz 13" model.
 
BradenG said:
Wow, I spent some time at Best Buy in the little Apple corner of the store playing with a MacBook Pro - I'm so getting one. :D

I'm pretty busy between now and the start of the school term so I'm not even sure when I'll be able to place the order. I remember reading about the supply of some MBPs not meeting the demand lately and some shipping times longer than usual - are these certain models or all the the MBP line? I'm probably going to get the 2.53ghz 13" model.
Click to expand...

The 13in and 15in 2.53GHz are low in stock, so they take a little longer to ship out.
 
Just get Apple Care from Apple, if you can get the education discount!

You get a three year warranty FREE as a student (or student to be) if you order online or (I believe) over the phone from Apple direct, or you pay a massively reduced rate for it in-store (£46 in the UK) which I doubt any eBay seller can beat.
 
BradenG said:
Wow, I spent some time at Best Buy in the little Apple corner of the store playing with a MacBook Pro - I'm so getting one. :D

I'm pretty busy between now and the start of the school term so I'm not even sure when I'll be able to place the order. I remember reading about the supply of some MBPs not meeting the demand lately and some shipping times longer than usual - are these certain models or all the the MBP line? I'm probably going to get the 2.53ghz 13" model.
Click to expand...

I bought the 2.53ghz 13" 250gb hd 4gb ram model on the 15th and it isn't due to ship until the 29th. I believe there is a shortage of the 250gb hd so that's the reason for the delay.

This is all just what i've learned from reading this board. I'm going to call Apple and see what the deal is because 1) I want it now :D & 2) I'll be heading back to school around that time so I'd have to wait for it to arrive & then for my mom to ship it :(
 
I would recommend skipping the 2.53 and getting the 2.26. The difference in real time computations for the stuff you are doing is basically nill.

Here is an article with real benchmarks.

Make sure you compare the difference between the 4gb ram versions. It's a matter of 5-7 seconds on 1 minute tasks, which just isn't worth the extra money. Take that money, buy RAM off newegg, and get a monitor to hook it up to when you are at home. You will be much much happier!

Crucial RAM Kit

Mini Display Port Adapter (for monitor)

Monitor

Apple Keyboard

You'll be much happier with a nice dock station at home than you would be with 5 seconds... Or just pocket the difference and pay for your applecare!
 
suekitch said:
Just get Apple Care from Apple, if you can get the education discount!

You get a three year warranty FREE as a student (or student to be) if you order online or (I believe) over the phone from Apple direct, or you pay a massively reduced rate for it in-store (£46 in the UK) which I doubt any eBay seller can beat.
Click to expand...

wait what? When did that happen?
 
Oh apologies. I guess what I wrote is UK only then. I assumed it applied State-side, it's so rare we actually.. yknow.. get ANYTHING worthwhile exclusively over here :)
 
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