Really Need Some Opinions And Advice!
Hi, Im finally making the switch to mac and I am really stuck with what to go for.
Im an advertising student and use macs at uni so need to use them at home now too! and need to get used to the operating system for working in industry - and I fancy the change! I will mainly be using the mac for design and graphic work, with some music/video etc! It also has to be protable so I can take it to and from uni to work on it.
I have decided so far that my options are either a full spec macbook or full spec 15" macbook pro. I cant decide if the bigger screen and graphics card justify the £500 jump. Also the pro has the illuminated key pad, 2GB ram and better quality display - and is a more modern machine and will last longer I assume.
I need my first mac to last a good 3 years if not more and im worried the macbook might become outdated sooner than the pro.
Another thought was to get a bottom spec imac and macbook for the best of both.
What would you do it if were you? I would love everyones opinions on this as I really am stuck. I cant decide which i prefer and whether it is just the money that is the issue. Considering the type of work i will be doing on the mac, is the pro really that much more suitable???
Finally, can someone tell me how to get onto the higher education store on the apple website as I am eligible for the discount but cant get onto this store from my home - or could someone tell me what percentage discount I can get?
Thanks for any advice you can give me!
Im an advertising student and use macs at uni so need to use them at home now too! and need to get used to the operating system for working in industry - and I fancy the change! I will mainly be using the mac for design and graphic work, with some music/video etc! It also has to be protable so I can take it to and from uni to work on it.
I have decided so far that my options are either a full spec macbook or full spec 15" macbook pro. I cant decide if the bigger screen and graphics card justify the £500 jump. Also the pro has the illuminated key pad, 2GB ram and better quality display - and is a more modern machine and will last longer I assume.
I need my first mac to last a good 3 years if not more and im worried the macbook might become outdated sooner than the pro.
Another thought was to get a bottom spec imac and macbook for the best of both.
What would you do it if were you? I would love everyones opinions on this as I really am stuck. I cant decide which i prefer and whether it is just the money that is the issue. Considering the type of work i will be doing on the mac, is the pro really that much more suitable???
Finally, can someone tell me how to get onto the higher education store on the apple website as I am eligible for the discount but cant get onto this store from my home - or could someone tell me what percentage discount I can get?
Thanks for any advice you can give me!
Comments
Hi, Im finally making the switch to mac and I am really stuck with what to go for.
Im an advertising student and use macs at uni so need to use them at home now too! and need to get used to the operating system for working in industry - and I fancy the change! I will mainly be using the mac for design and graphic work, with some music/video etc! It also has to be protable so I can take it to and from uni to work on it.
I have decided so far that my options are either a full spec macbook or full spec 15" macbook pro. I cant decide if the bigger screen and graphics card justify the £500 jump. Also the pro has the illuminated key pad, 2GB ram and better quality display - and is a more modern machine and will last longer I assume.
I need my first mac to last a good 3 years if not more and im worried the macbook might become outdated sooner than the pro.
Another thought was to get a bottom spec imac and macbook for the best of both.
What would you do it if were you? I would love everyones opinions on this as I really am stuck. I cant decide which i prefer and whether it is just the money that is the issue. Considering the type of work i will be doing on the mac, is the pro really that much more suitable???
Finally, can someone tell me how to get onto the higher education store on the apple website as I am eligible for the discount but cant get onto this store from my home - or could someone tell me what percentage discount I can get?
Thanks for any advice you can give me!
You've given limited info. What programs are you going to use while in school? Do you know?
How about this option. A MBP with an external monitor. A 20' monitor can be had for $200-250 USD.
Finally, can someone tell me how to get onto the higher education store on the apple website as I am eligible for the discount but cant get onto this store from my home - or could someone tell me what percentage discount I can get?
Since you quote a price difference in £, I assume you are in the U.K.?
Access to the higher education store is filtered by IP address. You have to use a computer on your university's network. Presumably your department or the main university library has a computer room somewhere? Alternatively you could use VPN access to your university network from home if your university offers such a thing.
The base MacBook Pro model costs £1,104.50 from the higher-education store, and comes with a 3 year warranty as standard (not full AppleCare; telephone support is not included).
For me, the MacBook Pro is easily worth the extra money. You're not just getting a physically larger screen, you are getting one with higher resolution - i.e., more screen real-estate. It's also LED backlit on the 15" model. As you said, you are also getting a dedicated GPU, backlit display and more RAM. So, the full list of benefits of the Pro Vs. non-Pro is:
- Larger, higher-resolution screen
- LED backlight
- Faster CPU
- Much faster graphics
- More RAM
- Firewire 800
- ExpressCard slot
- Backlit keyboard
- Dual-link DVI out on full-size DVI port
- Aluminium casework
Finally, If you do decide to go with a Pro, I would advise holding out on a purchase as long as you can - an update to Penryn (and hopefully a casework update, too) is imminent.Ill mainly be using photoshop, indesign, illustrator, dreamweaver, flash and I think some final cut at tsome point in the future, probably itunes and I may watch one or two videos on there too but not very often, and obviously the internet etc.
I am in the UK but potentially could buy from New York next week but I am still undecidided, if I can get full higher education discount in the UK I might just go with that. Do you have the option for a Higher Ed discount when buying in an apple store?
And could someone just explain Penryn and casework to me, and also the multi-click mouse pad that the air has - I have heard the updated pros will be coming with these features. And does anyone know what processor the basic updated MBP will come with?
Thanks again!
Do you have the option for a Higher Ed discount when buying in an apple store?
No. Higher-education discounts are only available via the online higher-education store.
And could someone just explain Penryn
Penryn
and casework
Hopefully the MacBook Pro will inherit:
- New backlit keyboard (MacBook Air style)
- Magnetic latch
- Easier internal HDD upgrade
Maybe it'll also get a teeny bit lighter and/or thinner, but I wouldn't expect that.and also the multi-click mouse pad that the air has
Multi-touch trackpad videos from AppleInsider and Apple.
And does anyone know what processor the basic updated MBP will come with?
People are expecting the base model to come with the T9300 2.5 GHz chip with 6 MiB of L2 cache. (Currently uses a T7500 2.2 GHz chip with 4 MiB of L2 cache)
Since starting this thread I have decided that I am going to go for a full spec 15" MBP. Still undecided on a gloss or matte screen yet though. Also, after reading about all the new features the updated pro should have, I am definately going to wait to get one. Unless of course we go into March becuase I need a MAC pretty sharpish. It annoys me that nobody really knows an exact release date!
Thanks for the info Mr. H. What is your estimate for the release date for the new pros?
I always said that as long as there were no issues with Penryn, it should be with us by the end of February.
However, it seems that there were/are a few minor issues on Intel's side with mobile Penryn, so March looks like a possibility at this stage, although I still hope for this month. I'm waiting to purchase a 15" myself.
Since starting this thread I have decided that I am going to go for a full spec 15" MBP. Still undecided on a gloss or matte screen yet though. Also, after reading about all the new features the updated pro should have, I am definately going to wait to get one.
Bear in mind that the case revisions are not guaranteed. The only thing we can be sure of is that it'll get Penryn soon.
I need a MAC pretty sharpish
MAC stands for Medium Access Control, amongst other things. What you want is a Mac.
Do PC people call it "MAC" because "PC" is capitalised? PC is capitalised because it stands for Personal Computer. Mac is short for Macintosh.
Since starting this thread I have decided that I am going to go for a full spec 15" MBP. Still undecided on a gloss or matte screen yet though. Also, after reading about all the new features the updated pro should have, I am definately going to wait to get one. Unless of course we go into March becuase I need a MAC pretty sharpish. It annoys me that nobody really knows an exact release date!
I think the MacBook Pro will get updated right after 10.5.2 is released, but I have no idea as to when that will get updated. An update I did not see mentioned is PCI Express 2.0 which benefits the graphics and the ExpressCard slot.
I think the MacBook Pro will get updated right after 10.5.2 is released, but I have no idea as to when that will get updated. An update I did not see mentioned is PCI Express 2.0 which benefits the graphics and the ExpressCard slot.
Well, 10.5.2 was apperently released a couple of hours ago which looks VERY promising for the MBP to launch tomorrow!
Right, considering the wait for this illusive new MBP i have been looking at other options again, as this update may not come out for months yet! Will the graphics card in a MBP really make that much difference to my design work than the integrated graphics on a macbook? I would be getting a 20" or 23" apple cinema display with the macbook if I was to get one so I assume resolution and real estate wouldnt be a problem for doing big designs, but in terms of quality? Looking at the two in the shop today I did notice a big jump in the MBP but wondered if the macbook gave a more "real world" impression of colour that a printer could recreate. And also considered whether at the moment a macbook and cinema display would be a better investment and then get a MBP towards the end of the year.
Any thoughts???? Thanks in advance!
(Mods delete my other post if you wish!)