MBP buying advice

[broo]

Hi,

I'm looking into getting a MBP for some audio work/projects (long story, haven't done much audio in past few years and fancy giving it another go before it becomes a missed chance/regret)

Never purchased a Mac before and a bit lost really. Pretty sure I want a MBP 15" but struggling to justify the cost coming from a Windows/PC background. Not sure I want/need a retina display but after playing with the options even the standard 15" comes out at about £1800!

Any advice or good arguments to convince me this is a good idea? Would I be better off looking at a second hand mbp? I've checked the apple refurb store but that's pretty crazy money also.

TL;DR - Want a decent enough MBP but don't want to break the bank/struggling for justification!

 

[PardonTheWait]

I bought a 15" MBP about two weeks ago after much deliberation.

I eventually decided on the base 15" with the high-res (not retina) antiglare display because of the following:

Honestly a bit afraid of how integrated the retina MBPs are - they're undoubtedly lovely but super expensive, and much like how cars are becoming, once you're out of warranty it becomes a pretty scary place to be with basically no repair at all being possible without a proper repair centre

I stuck a 250gb SSD in and it goes just lovely

The high-res display is really nice imo. The Retina screens are great but at the standard scaling are equivalent, screen space wise, to the standard screen (1440x900) but nicer. I've turned the scaling right up on the ones at work and it's just too tiny to work at. I don't personally feel that at normal viewing distance, it's worth the extra money.

I didn't have the money for the retina MBP I would want, but was able to get the standard MBP that I want.

I'm confident I will be happy with mine for 4-5 years - yes new stuff comes out and makes you feel hard done by, but if I shelled out the extra for a RMBP, I'd get just the same thing but 6 months/a year delayed - over the lifespan I'm expecting, I'm not too fussed.

I really do prefer the proper antiglare display, but that's personal

I've always felt that with a Mac, if you pays your money, you'll get a machine that will last. This MBP I've just bought replaces a 2007 iMac that had gone wrong and would have cost me more than I wanted to pay to repair (although I have now found out that I might be able to reflow my graphics card and squeeze a bit more life out of it, which I may try and if it works find a use for it). But I paid about £1400 for it and lasted a good long time and didn't even feel that slow when it went wrong five years later. I'd still be using it if it hadn't crapped out.