I need some advice. I am a first time Mac laptop buyer. I understand the whole Haswell probably not coming out until October/fall thing that is not my question. My question is mainly what do I NEED and how do I get the most bang for my buck for the longest period of time. Let me explain.
I am NOT a power user (I would use it semi-daily for web and email and monthly at most for the movies). My uses for my new machine will be: web surfing, email, occasionally MS Office-ing, watching movies off of Netflix of Amazon Prime, and the once-in-a-blue-moon game, but nothing intense (maybe a Splinter Cell or Shogun or something). My current laptop (Dell M1530 from 2008 15.4 1440x900, 2GB RAM, 1.667GHz C2D, etc) is crapping out. So, I need to replace it. I also plan to keep it for a while. I would like to get 5 years out of it of being a viable computer.
I was waiting for the Hawell rMBP 13 like everyone else, but oh well. The other wrinkle is that I can buy a premade Apple tax free from the military exchange as I was in. I am thinking an Air would be fine, but I should upgrade the RAM to 8GB to help with that future-proofing (I dont know though that I NEED this just may WANT this). This would be a BTO system and I would have to get it from Apple plus Applecare makes it 1450ish. OR, I can get a stock 13 rMBP from the Exchange for 1490 then buy AppleCare making it 1650ish. This comparison is based on me thinking I should up the RAM on an Air though. Buying a stock Air would be 1250ish all said and done (includes AppleCare).
So, what do I NEED based on my described usage? I dont NEED Retina, but it sure is nice i wasn't even considering the Retina but if the base Retina is same price as speced up Air plus tax, why not? And the new battery life on the new Air is nice, but I usually have it plugged in anyway, so not much of a factor.
Which system will give me the most bang for my buck for the longest period of time?
Thanks in advance.
I am NOT a power user (I would use it semi-daily for web and email and monthly at most for the movies). My uses for my new machine will be: web surfing, email, occasionally MS Office-ing, watching movies off of Netflix of Amazon Prime, and the once-in-a-blue-moon game, but nothing intense (maybe a Splinter Cell or Shogun or something). My current laptop (Dell M1530 from 2008 15.4 1440x900, 2GB RAM, 1.667GHz C2D, etc) is crapping out. So, I need to replace it. I also plan to keep it for a while. I would like to get 5 years out of it of being a viable computer.
I was waiting for the Hawell rMBP 13 like everyone else, but oh well. The other wrinkle is that I can buy a premade Apple tax free from the military exchange as I was in. I am thinking an Air would be fine, but I should upgrade the RAM to 8GB to help with that future-proofing (I dont know though that I NEED this just may WANT this). This would be a BTO system and I would have to get it from Apple plus Applecare makes it 1450ish. OR, I can get a stock 13 rMBP from the Exchange for 1490 then buy AppleCare making it 1650ish. This comparison is based on me thinking I should up the RAM on an Air though. Buying a stock Air would be 1250ish all said and done (includes AppleCare).
So, what do I NEED based on my described usage? I dont NEED Retina, but it sure is nice i wasn't even considering the Retina but if the base Retina is same price as speced up Air plus tax, why not? And the new battery life on the new Air is nice, but I usually have it plugged in anyway, so not much of a factor.
Which system will give me the most bang for my buck for the longest period of time?
Thanks in advance.