Advice for a future switcher

ckirbyckirby
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hi....I need some help/advice on switching.



I have always used a pc. My husband and I bought a nice Dell desktop about 5 years ago and it works completely fine. But, I am now a stay-at-home mom, so the need for PC/Microsoft applications have greatly diminished. Now, I mostly use my computer for pictures, email and surfing the net.



I have been intrigued by Apple and started to look at the MacBook Pro. I really love it, but it's a bit pricy for us seeing as we have a perfectly fine working PC. But the more I look at it, the more I want it. I love all of the features of .Mac, especially being away from our families....it's a great way to share pictures and videos, as well as backing everything up so we don't lose precious memories.



Now looking at my needs, I'm starting to think that a regular MacBook is what I should be looking at. I would like to be able to store, edit and share pictures and videos...that's my main reason for wanting one.



My questions is, is a MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo sufficient for what I would need it for? And should an 80 GB Hard Drive be sufficient or would I want a 120 GB Hard Drive??

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ckirby View Post


    Hi....I need some help/advice on switching.



    I have always used a pc. My husband and I bought a nice Dell desktop about 5 years ago and it works completely fine. But, I am now a stay-at-home mom, so the need for PC/Microsoft applications have greatly diminished. Now, I mostly use my computer for pictures, email and surfing the net.



    I have been intrigued by Apple and started to look at the MacBook Pro. I really love it, but it's a bit pricy for us seeing as we have a perfectly fine working PC. But the more I look at it, the more I want it. I love all of the features of .Mac, especially being away from our families....it's a great way to share pictures and videos, as well as backing everything up so we don't lose precious memories.



    Now looking at my needs, I'm starting to think that a regular MacBook is what I should be looking at. I would like to be able to store, edit and share pictures and videos...that's my main reason for wanting one.



    My questions is, is a MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo sufficient for what I would need it for? And should an 80 GB Hard Drive be sufficient or would I want a 120 GB Hard Drive??



    The MacBook will absolutely meet and exceed your needs. Two caveats however. You don't plan on playing games and you will use consumer oriented apps for your video editing, ie iMovie. If you pass those tests you wiil be fine in a Macbook, and you will like.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    dentondenton Posts: 725member
    A Macbook Pro would be over-kill for your needs. If you want a notebook you should, in deed, be looking at the Macbook. And the 80GB drive is probably more than enough unless you will be storing a lot of video on your computer. More likely you will store this on DVDs for archiving purposes. The only thing that the Macbook may be "lacking" is the screen size. I like smaller notebooks, but some people prefer more space. One thing that you can keep in mind is that it is easy to hook-up a notebook to an external monitor (even the Dell monitor that you have with your desktop). This is what I like most about notebooks: they're portable, but you can also use them exactly as if they were a regular desktop, just hook them up to a monitor / keyboard / mouse, and you would hardly know that you have a notebook (unless you need power computing -- which you most certainly don't). Enjoy your new Mac!
  • Reply 3 of 5
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Is there any reason in particular that you're looking at portables rather than desktops? An iMac might suit your needs better (a big screen is always nice, and you get more performance/dollar).
  • Reply 4 of 5
    machope theworldmachope theworld Posts: 145member
    I just thought of something to help you with your hard drive dilemma...maybe

    Are you going to have more music/videos/pictures than could fit on an iPod?



    And the Macbook should be fine...It seems like you won't be doing anything so intensive that it couldn't handle it. The Macbook is already really fast. You should be fine with a Macbook, a better value + a cool keyboard = best laptop
  • Reply 5 of 5
    ckirbyckirby Posts: 4member
    Thank you to everyone who has replied to this post. Your feedback has been extremely helpful. I will probably go with the 80 GB drive MacBook (once I can talk my husband into letting me get it!!!!)
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