Hi all,
I've been in and out of this website's forums over the last year and now feel compelled to make my first post.
I've wanted to switch to Mac from PC for a while now, but never could really bring myself to do the deed. The main issue was the unknown...what would happen if - after spending the cash on a new machine - I didn't actually like the OS? Yeah sure, you can run Windows via bootcamp I thought, but is this justification alone for spending the extra cash for a Mac? No, was the short answer.
Anyway, to try and assuage my curiosity I tried to take a shortcut. Around this time last year I bought the then new Dell Mini 10v and set about installing OSX via the Hackintosh method. I managed to pull it off and had before me what I believed to be a fully functioning Mac. Problem was, it was a pain to use - it just wasn't enjoyable given the sub standard trackpad and poor performance from the Atom processor. I re-installed Windows and said "never again".
But the bug just wouldn't go away, and over the course of the next year I would find myself at the local PC store lusting after the latest Macbook. It was time to act.
So after carrying out endless research I considered a MBP 15" Core i7 @ 2.66GHz. I was convinced this was the platform for me, only to come across the hundreds (thousands) of internet posts debating Sandy Bridge and the recommendation by a lot of people that waiting was probably the right thing to do. I too agreed figuring that if Sandy Bridge was just around the corner, what would be the point of making the purchase now? It got so confusing and so frustrating with both sides of the debate that I actually considered just forgetting the whole thing and buying a PC instead, but I persevered.
As luck would have it, I was given the opportunity to buy the MBP of my choice at a discount of around $500 and decided to go ahead. For me, waiting for Sandy Bridge is fine if you have an existing machine but I was without one due to a hardware failure and absolutely desperate for something to save my work to. Not only that but I figured that if Sandy Bridge is price for price the same as the current "Core i" series of processors, the likelihood is that I won't be able to afford anything other than the mid range processor when it hits the shelves, as the discount I could currently enjoy just won't be available when the new machines ship.
And so here I am - I'm writing this on my new MBP and I have to say, I am absolutely ecstatic with this machine. The performance, the graphics, the look, feel and touch - it's all just perfect. And I'm so glad I took the plunge instead of waiting for something that I can't predict.
And that's really what I wanted to say. If you're considering buying a new machine you'll get loads of conflicting advice. My advice is simply this - weigh up the options, make a decision, execute it. If you decide to buy now the machine won't become obsolete overnight, over the course of the next month or dare I say it, over the course of the next year or two. So stop reading and start using - it's great.
Apologies for the long post!
Hangman.
I've been in and out of this website's forums over the last year and now feel compelled to make my first post.
I've wanted to switch to Mac from PC for a while now, but never could really bring myself to do the deed. The main issue was the unknown...what would happen if - after spending the cash on a new machine - I didn't actually like the OS? Yeah sure, you can run Windows via bootcamp I thought, but is this justification alone for spending the extra cash for a Mac? No, was the short answer.
Anyway, to try and assuage my curiosity I tried to take a shortcut. Around this time last year I bought the then new Dell Mini 10v and set about installing OSX via the Hackintosh method. I managed to pull it off and had before me what I believed to be a fully functioning Mac. Problem was, it was a pain to use - it just wasn't enjoyable given the sub standard trackpad and poor performance from the Atom processor. I re-installed Windows and said "never again".
But the bug just wouldn't go away, and over the course of the next year I would find myself at the local PC store lusting after the latest Macbook. It was time to act.
So after carrying out endless research I considered a MBP 15" Core i7 @ 2.66GHz. I was convinced this was the platform for me, only to come across the hundreds (thousands) of internet posts debating Sandy Bridge and the recommendation by a lot of people that waiting was probably the right thing to do. I too agreed figuring that if Sandy Bridge was just around the corner, what would be the point of making the purchase now? It got so confusing and so frustrating with both sides of the debate that I actually considered just forgetting the whole thing and buying a PC instead, but I persevered.
As luck would have it, I was given the opportunity to buy the MBP of my choice at a discount of around $500 and decided to go ahead. For me, waiting for Sandy Bridge is fine if you have an existing machine but I was without one due to a hardware failure and absolutely desperate for something to save my work to. Not only that but I figured that if Sandy Bridge is price for price the same as the current "Core i" series of processors, the likelihood is that I won't be able to afford anything other than the mid range processor when it hits the shelves, as the discount I could currently enjoy just won't be available when the new machines ship.
And so here I am - I'm writing this on my new MBP and I have to say, I am absolutely ecstatic with this machine. The performance, the graphics, the look, feel and touch - it's all just perfect. And I'm so glad I took the plunge instead of waiting for something that I can't predict.
And that's really what I wanted to say. If you're considering buying a new machine you'll get loads of conflicting advice. My advice is simply this - weigh up the options, make a decision, execute it. If you decide to buy now the machine won't become obsolete overnight, over the course of the next month or dare I say it, over the course of the next year or two. So stop reading and start using - it's great.
Apologies for the long post!
Hangman.
