University and a Mac Virgin, good idea?

[Kuroshio]

I'll try and keep this brief. I have been using Windows and Pcs all my life ever since i was a little toddler. In fact, i used to dislike macs for not being like my PC! Anyway, those days are gone and I am very eager to hop on the macbook pro bandwagon. That being said, i will be attending university this coming fall and will need a laptop, i want to pick up a macbook pro as mentioned above.

My question is, is it a wise thing to do? I have no experience whatsoever with any type of mac yet I want to make the change. I will have time to play with it before i will need it for studies of course, but the bottom line is that i do not want to be stuck with a computer, while although productive, which i am not able to fully use. As far as windows and PCs go i consider myself knowledgeable but not all of that will transfer to the apple experience.

Any input is welcome, thanks

 

[72930]

Yes, it will take a matter of days to be comfortable with OSX

 

[mankar4]

the learning curve is about a week or so, and then you're in heaven. really annoying for that first week though. I did the exact same thing you're about to a year ago, and love my mbp today.

 

[swmr]

I was in the same boat. I knew the laptop I was getting would be a MBP, and I waited to buy it until the penryns came out. It was my first Mac after using PCs all my life, but I feel like I have been using it for years. Tomorrow will be three weeks, and I have totally adjusted. I don't know when you are thinking of buying yours, but I am sure you could wait until August to pick it up.

Or, just get it early like me and enjoy it!!!

P.S. I have not even used my desktop in over two weeks because the Mac is so much faster, easier to use, and a lot more fun haha.

 

[Kuroshio]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yeah, I am planning to pick it up shortly before I go off to university so, August, September. So far so good, I am really looking forward to the change

 

[zainjetha]

Dont make the foolish mistake which i did - i got may mbp around june last yr.. when i was new to apple...

what did i do?? install windows vista ultimate on half the HD.. DONT DO THIS..... i was using vista for a few months until i eventually moved everything over to OSX tiger and formatted the machine and had only tiger on there....

loved tiger so much upgraded straight to leopard...]

dont even put vista on the baby....

 

[scienide09]

Wait until June/July for the iPod promotion.
Then get your Mac.

 

[chrismac00]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

Go for it. I got a Mac without ever testing it and it took me about a week to get use to it. It isn't complicated at all!

 

[shikimo]

Ditto the others...the only people I have known who really struggled with this are people who are a bit older (like me...), had struggled mightily to figure out Windows as adults and then bonked entirely when they tried to switch to mac 5 or 10 years later.

If you're young enough to have been using computers as a toddler, your brain is already computer-literate and you will probably be at one with your new mac after a solid afternoon of playing around. Go for it! Macs are a spectacular improvement in computer quality-of-life.

 

[Kuroshio]

What ipod promotion are you refering too? Also, i do not plan on buying a mbp to just run windows on it but eventually i think i will need to install it for somethings, probably just a game or two to be honest.

 

[longwood]

Every year around the beginning of school, Apple has a "Buy a Mac Get a ~$150 rebate to use towards an iPod" Promotion. Can I ask why a MBP? Do you need to spend the extra money over MB?

 

[kuwisdelu]

What ipod promotion are you refering too? Also, i do not plan on buying a mbp to just run windows on it but eventually i think i will need to install it for somethings, probably just a game or two to be honest.

Over the summer Apple offers a free iPod nano with any student Mac purchase (or the price of a nano off any other iPod). I got my mom a free nano that way last year.

I'm in the exact same boat. Got a MacBook summer before coming to university. Greatest computer purchase I ever made. I love my MacBook, and would never voluntarily go back to a Windows machine.

I'll also ask why a MBP and not a regular MacBook? A MacBook is smaller and easier to carry around campus (I take mine everywhere). Don't get me wrong, if you're a graphic designer or a film major, you'll definitely want the MBP, but otherwise a MacBook will probably suffice. Of course, if games are important to you, a MBP will fair much better, too. Just don't underestimate the MacBook

I do suggest keeping a small partition of Windows just in case you need to take a class that requires Windows-only software. But give Windows as little space as you're comfortable with. I run XP in Fusion for a stats program I need for my major. I gave it a generous 16GB, which I fear is too much.

Also, make sure you get an office suite you're comfortable with. Personally I like iWork, but NeoOffice is great for students, despite MS Office being quite cheap with student discounts. Anyway, my preference is iWork, but search the forum to find more opinions. (Please actually use the "search," don't start a new topic.) Try out all three--iWork and MS Office for Mac both have free trials and NeoOffice is already free. Get comfortable with one before classes, if you can.