Considering a MBP

manic111

manic111

manic111

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Hi all, having moved flats seven times in the last two years, I'm beginning to think that lugging around my desktop, monitor, keyboard, mouse etc is not really worth the hassle, and am therefore thinking of a laptop. The build quality on MBPs is second to none, and I've always wanted to get a Mac.

However, is the price really justifiable? I'm honestly not saying this to knock Macs - they are premium products, I just want to know why I should spend the extra cash on one of these over a Windows laptop. For those of you who own them, what made you do it?
 
Move less?

Or get an iMac, it's just a monitor basically.

Price is relative, you are not gluing to get value for money in terms of spec...except the 27" iMac, try get a pc with that spec with an IPS monitor that size in and you'll see, not to mention the lack of tower unit.

But if you can afford it, and want it, get it.
 
manic111 said:
However, is the price really justifiable? I'm honestly not saying this to knock Macs - they are premium products, I just want to know why I should spend the extra cash on one of these over a Windows laptop. For those of you who own them, what made you do it?
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Yes. 100 times yes.

I was prepared to pay more (base 13" MBP 2010) for:

- Outstanding build quality.
- Fantastic screen.
- Fantastic keyboard.
- OSX - Much, much better than Windows or Linux in my opinion. It's cliché, but it really does just 'work'.
- Big trackpad with multi-touch.
- Warranty and tech support; any problems and I just pop down to the Applestore and get it fixed there and then.

I was looking around for a new laptop for a few months, but I just couldn't settle on anything. I looked at around the £500-700 range, and every model I found sacrificed something, whether it was battery life, graphics power, processing speed, appearance, until I took a closer look at the MBPs. I still haven't found anything about it to criticise, except possibly a matte screen rather than glossy, but that's something I've just got used to.

I find my productivity much, much higher on a MBP too, OSX is very fluid and easy to use. I have less than 30 sec bootup times, and around 10 sec shutdown, and that's with a 5400rpm HDD. The machine oozes quality on the inside and outside and considering that I use it on a daily basis, I think the price is justified :)
 
apeZ said:
Yes. 100 times yes.

I was prepared to pay more (base 13" MBP 2010) for:

- Outstanding build quality.
- Fantastic screen.
- Fantastic keyboard.
- OSX - Much, much better than Windows or Linux in my opinion. It's cliché, but it really does just 'work'.
- Big trackpad with multi-touch.
- Warranty and tech support; any problems and I just pop down to the Applestore and get it fixed there and then.

I was looking around for a new laptop for a few months, but I just couldn't settle on anything. I looked at around the £500-700 range, and every model I found sacrificed something, whether it was battery life, graphics power, processing speed, appearance, until I took a closer look at the MBPs. I still haven't found anything about it to criticise, except possibly a matte screen rather than glossy, but that's something I've just got used to.

I find my productivity much, much higher on a MBP too, OSX is very fluid and easy to use. I have less than 30 sec bootup times, and around 10 sec shutdown, and that's with a 5400rpm HDD. The machine oozes quality on the inside and outside and considering that I use it on a daily basis, I think the price is justified :)
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Great post, thanks. This is exactly the "problem" I'm having. In spite of the cost, the MBP just does everything! I have been considering an iMac as mentioned above as well, but don't need the massive screen, and a laptop has benefits such as portability.

Regarding games, I won't be using the Mac too often for them as I've got a PS3 for that. However, for some light gaming, I've heard about Boot Camp. How does this work? Is it similar to using Virtual Box or something?

I'm sorely tempted by one. Hmm....

EDIT: I can guess the answer to this, but the iMac has no input ports does it? I only want to be lugging one screen around with me, and will need something to plug the PS3 into. Regarding the upgraded warranty option they offer for £200, is it worth it? How long is the usual warranty, and what does the upgraded one offer extra?

Raymond, I'd love to move less ;)
 
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In regards to gaming and boot camp

Boot camp allows you to install a windows os onto your mac and have dual boot

My MB runs osx and windows and gives the best of both worlds
 
Bootcamp is basically dual booting - you'll need to buy a Windows license for this unless you already have a retail copy.

I wouldn't bother with Applecare I'd rather have the £200.
 
theheyes said:
Bootcamp is basically dual booting - you'll need to buy a Windows license for this unless you already have a retail copy.

I wouldn't bother with Applecare I'd rather have the £200.
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Cheers, I've got a retail copy of Win 7, so I'm set there. What does Applecare entail?
 
I've been considering the same thing, although I don't move around and I only have University to go to it does look tempting. A lot of my time on the computer tends to be reading or simple programming/designing nothing too intensive and yet I have a powerful computer. I only game a little bit and looking at things I can play some of these if not most of these games on a MBP with med - low settings. Yes I love Eye candy, but I can't seem to be able to see what benefit having powerful computer has when I barely use it to its potential.

A MacBook Pro + henge dock to keep my peripherals looks like a good thing, a Laptop for Uni and travelling and with a quick step a Fully functional desktop. Only issue is if you can survive with just using a laptop, maybe go for a cheap alternative at first and see if you can cope? Thats what im doing anyway.
 
manic111 said:
Regarding games, I won't be using the Mac too often for them as I've got a PS3 for that. However, for some light gaming, I've heard about Boot Camp. How does this work? Is it similar to using Virtual Box or something?
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Light gaming should be fine. If there are titles that you want to play in particular, just google them e.g. 'age of empires on mac' and you will probably find some helpful forum threads out there.

Also, if you use Steam, they have a couple of Mac compatible games up there that are worth looking at, and will run without emulation or dual-boot ala Bootcamp.

Someone else explained Bootcamp, I haven't needed to use it yet so I can't really comment. There are other methods though that don't require a reboot, VMware Fusion and Parallels are two that spring to mind, but again, you'll have to do some reading up on those.

manic111 said:
EDIT: I can guess the answer to this, but the iMac has no input ports does it? I only want to be lugging one screen around with me, and will need something to plug the PS3 into.
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Afaik, the iMac has no HDMI slot, but I think there are other ways to get around it, not entirely sure. Good idea though, and as Raymond Lin pointed out the 27" is incredible value for money and a very capable desktop machine.

manic111 said:
Regarding the upgraded warranty option they offer for £200, is it worth it? How long is the usual warranty, and what does the upgraded one offer extra?
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First things first: PLEASE try and buy through the higher education store. 3 year parts warranty comes at no extra cost if you buy through HE, with the option to extend telephone support (I didn't buy this) from 1 year to 3 years for an extra £50 or so.

If you have friends or relatives in University or College of some sort, you can get them to buy it for you, or bring them along to the store when you purchase it. You'll also get quite a big discount on the standard price too.

I believe (going from memory, haven't checked) standard parts warranty is 1 year and 90 days telephone support. Buying the ProtectionPlan extends both of these to 3 years of cover, and seems to cost £139 for iMac.

For peace of mind, I'd make sure you have at least 3 years hardware cover, as the machine should easily last that long anyway and you don't want to deal with replacing parts out-of-warranty. Apple support is generally fantastic, so it makes sense to have it.

manic111 said:
What are peoples' thoughts on refurbs?
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I've heard that they are as good as new. :)
 
My brother's at uni, so I may well go through him to get the Applecare, if I end up doing this...

It wouldn't be many games. All that there is on the PC would be the Civ games, and the occasional game of FM, but I know that FM works on Mac anyway. With Steam on the Mac, if I've already got the games for Windows, can they be transferred to Mac, or will I need to buy them again?
 
Yes you need to buy them again.

Don't buy mac FOR the games. But Mac for it's OS, design, built quality, but not games or programs for that matter.
 
You have 3 years warranty buying with a HE student account anyway, no need to buy Applecare unless you want phone support, parts and labour are covered without the need for Applecare.

As for is it justifiable? Only you can really say, do you have that sort of cash spare? When I bought mine it was justifiable, getting a new one now certainly isn't.
 
I have the orange box which I bought for PC a few years ago and registered on Steam. Installed Steam on my Mac a few days ago and it lets me download and install any games I have registered for PC which are Mac compatible for free! Portal, HalfLife 2 plus Eps 1 & 2 but not lost coast, also Team Fortress and Peggle!
 
Raymond Lin said:
Yes you need to buy them again.

Don't buy mac FOR the games. But Mac for it's OS, design, built quality, but not games or programs for that matter.
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Not sure if this is the case for all games but I bought Football Manager for the PC, installed the Steam client on my MacBook and redownloaded it and started playing. It could be that FM is cross platform anyway but worth checking.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Steam probably work differently than bought games from the shop.
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You won't need to buy any game that works with Steam again, even if you bought the game at retail. You'll be able to download it from Steam for free.

I'd definitely recommend AppleCare though. MBPs are great laptops but they are prone to breaking.
 
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