As the title says, I am thinking of converting from ThinkPad to a MBP.
I have had every version of iPhone going back to the 3G. And I also have a first gen iPad that I am still using. And back in the 80's I owned a Apple II and a II GS. And in the 90's I worked in IT for a school system that had a heavy inventory of Apple classrooms. So I do like Apple Products.
I am not a complete OS X and Mac newbie. I received an 11" MBA for Christmas. It is the current entry level model with 2gb RAM and 64 Gig SSD. It is nice and is a very good living room surfer. But it leaves me wanting more! I demand too much from it and it is always clocking with the beach ball. Assuming this is due to the 2 Gb of RAM which is shared with video memory and a low end video chipset?
The MBA is my personal laptop. I have been using ThinkPad's at work for years. My current laptop was a T510, 8 Gb RAM, 256 Gig SSD, a docking station on my desk with dual 22" LCD's. I say it was my current laptop as I forgot to zip my back pack and it fell out onto the parking lot today. It did not survive the impact very well!!!
So I am thinking of replacing it with a MBP. Thinking of a 15" model to match the T510 screen size. I think the 17" would be to heavy to travel with a lot. Core I5 versus I7 is not too big a deal to me, I think the I5 would have plenty of horse power. But I do want a Radeon Video Chipset instead of the Intel Integrated Video. How large a difference does the 6770M make over the 6750M? I do play WoW, Starcraft II, and am looking forward to Diablo III coming out next month.
To keep the price reasonable I want to get some items aftermarket. Will upgrade with after market memory to get it up to 16 Gb. And will most likely get it with a standard 5400 RPM drive and replace it with an aftermarket SSD for less than Apple gets for their factory SSD's. I will also configure it for Dual Boot to handle the parts of my job that require me to maintain a Windows presence. Does that part sound like a good idea? Any drawbacks to my plans to use the after market parts? Any Gotchas to be on the lookout for?
Additionally I want to discuss the dual monitor and docking station aspect. I love dual monitors. I have them on both my work desks. (I have two offices in different locations) and have them in my home office. In addition I like the docking station option of the ThinkPad's. I like just walking in and popping the laptop into a dock and instantly being connected to dual monitors, cables for network, keyboards, mouse, storage, etc. I have not seen a docking station for a MBP. What are my options for this? Is Thunderbolt the only way to do this? Those accessories are just so expensive! This could actually be the deal breaker for me going to a MBP for work. I can get the boss to let me spend over $2000 USD on a MBP, but doubt he will let me spend thousands more to replace all of my monitors! So hopefully there are some aftermarket options available.
Thanks for reading and thanks for any information or opinions you can share.
I have had every version of iPhone going back to the 3G. And I also have a first gen iPad that I am still using. And back in the 80's I owned a Apple II and a II GS. And in the 90's I worked in IT for a school system that had a heavy inventory of Apple classrooms. So I do like Apple Products.
I am not a complete OS X and Mac newbie. I received an 11" MBA for Christmas. It is the current entry level model with 2gb RAM and 64 Gig SSD. It is nice and is a very good living room surfer. But it leaves me wanting more! I demand too much from it and it is always clocking with the beach ball. Assuming this is due to the 2 Gb of RAM which is shared with video memory and a low end video chipset?
The MBA is my personal laptop. I have been using ThinkPad's at work for years. My current laptop was a T510, 8 Gb RAM, 256 Gig SSD, a docking station on my desk with dual 22" LCD's. I say it was my current laptop as I forgot to zip my back pack and it fell out onto the parking lot today. It did not survive the impact very well!!!
So I am thinking of replacing it with a MBP. Thinking of a 15" model to match the T510 screen size. I think the 17" would be to heavy to travel with a lot. Core I5 versus I7 is not too big a deal to me, I think the I5 would have plenty of horse power. But I do want a Radeon Video Chipset instead of the Intel Integrated Video. How large a difference does the 6770M make over the 6750M? I do play WoW, Starcraft II, and am looking forward to Diablo III coming out next month.
To keep the price reasonable I want to get some items aftermarket. Will upgrade with after market memory to get it up to 16 Gb. And will most likely get it with a standard 5400 RPM drive and replace it with an aftermarket SSD for less than Apple gets for their factory SSD's. I will also configure it for Dual Boot to handle the parts of my job that require me to maintain a Windows presence. Does that part sound like a good idea? Any drawbacks to my plans to use the after market parts? Any Gotchas to be on the lookout for?
Additionally I want to discuss the dual monitor and docking station aspect. I love dual monitors. I have them on both my work desks. (I have two offices in different locations) and have them in my home office. In addition I like the docking station option of the ThinkPad's. I like just walking in and popping the laptop into a dock and instantly being connected to dual monitors, cables for network, keyboards, mouse, storage, etc. I have not seen a docking station for a MBP. What are my options for this? Is Thunderbolt the only way to do this? Those accessories are just so expensive! This could actually be the deal breaker for me going to a MBP for work. I can get the boss to let me spend over $2000 USD on a MBP, but doubt he will let me spend thousands more to replace all of my monitors! So hopefully there are some aftermarket options available.
Thanks for reading and thanks for any information or opinions you can share.