Which macbook should I buy?

[Premium1]

Sorry if this was already posted( looked and didnt see any for my case) and was wondering which macbook pro you recommned. I do not really need the retina and would like to if need be, be able to increase the ram/storage on my own and was wondering if this one is a good deal or if I should look for something else http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple&#...rive/5430505.p?id=1218646127726&skuId=5430505
I had a regular macbook a few years back and am looking to get back to mac from Windows so any help would be greatly appreciated. I will mainly be using it for word/powerpoint etc and use in my classroom for teaching. Thanks

 

[B...]

Not really a good deal. Only $70 off and the new ones are supposed to be coming out next month (if Apple updates the classic line). If you can wait there is no harm in doing it because you can wither get the newest for only a little more than that deal or get this generation at a significantly discounted price.

 

[RadDave]

BOY, you have a lot of options and a LOT of price differentials!

At the end of March, I acquired a new r-MBP - the retina display is beautiful and sharp but may not be necessary for you? I purchased the 8 GB RAM version, so 4 GB may be a negative, esp. if not upgradeable? I also obtained a 256 GB SSD rather than a HDD mechanical drive; SO, you might want to do some more research into your options & your cost choices - not sure waiting w/ what I bought would have made a big difference - good luck & let us know your decision!

 

[Premium1]

Not really a good deal. Only $70 off and the new ones are supposed to be coming out next month (if Apple updates the classic line). If you can wait there is no harm in doing it because you can wither get the newest for only a little more than that deal or get this generation at a significantly discounted price.

BOY, you have a lot of options and a LOT of price differentials!

At the end of March, I acquired a new r-MBP - the retina display is beautiful and sharp but may not be necessary for you? I purchased the 8 GB RAM version, so 4 GB may be a negative, esp. if not upgradeable? I also obtained a 256 GB SSD rather than a HDD mechanical drive; SO, you might want to do some more research into your options & your cost choices - not sure waiting w/ what I bought would have made a big difference - good luck & let us know your decision!

Thanks for the input. Looks like I will be waiting at least a little while longer until WWDC and see what they announce. I don't really need it right now until school starts back up again so I have some time to wait and see. I will let you know once I pick one up.

Quick question. Is there really that much of a difference performance wise the retina versions compared to the non-retina versions?

 

[Suno]

Since you said you wanted the ability swap out storage and ram, and retina isn't a necessity, I'd say the answer is any classic MBP that has the hardware suited for your classroom materials (I don't know what sort of programs you would use or how process intensive they would be).

From experimentation, I think the retina is just slightly faster because the harddrive is part of the logic board. I must also admit that I was impressed with the display.

But I still went with the classic because the ability to swap out things on a whim was not worth sacrificing. I'm happy with my SSD MBP.

 

[Premium1]

Since you said you wanted the ability swap out storage and ram, and retina isn't a necessity, I'd say the answer is any classic MBP that has the hardware suited for your classroom materials (I don't know what sort of programs you would use or how process intensive they would be).

From experimentation, I think the retina is just slightly faster because the harddrive is part of the logic board. I must also admit that I was impressed with the display.

But I still went with the classic because the ability to swap out things on a whim was not worth sacrificing. I'm happy with my SSD MBP.

I wouldn't need anything to process intensive, mainly powerpoint, excel for grading and maybe the ability to make some movies for projects in the classroom. Not sure which processor would be the best for things like that and would be the best to be supported at least for a few more years.

 

[Suno]

I wouldn't need anything to process intensive, mainly powerpoint, excel for grading and maybe the ability to make some movies for projects in the classroom. Not sure which processor would be the best for things like that and would be the best to be supported at least for a few more years.

If your desire is to have a Macbook capable of both longevity and swapability, your ideal MBP would be the lastest classic MBP to be released, which would be the the current model that's in the store labeled non-retina. That will last you a good 5+ years, and if you take care of it, probably up to 10+. For your use, hardware isn't even a concern. I just threw the possibility out there in case you taught an intense course like heavy photoshop/video editing or things of that nature.

 

[Premium1]

If your desire is to have a Macbook capable of both longevity and swapability, your ideal MBP would be the lastest classic MBP to be released, which would be the the current model that's in the store labeled non-retina. That will last you a good 5+ years, and if you take care of it, probably up to 10+. For your use, hardware isn't even a concern. I just threw the possibility out there in case you taught an intense course like heavy photoshop/video editing or things of that nature.

OK thank you for the info.