Current PC(Windows), Dell Notebook owner pondering buying a MacBook Pro

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hey guys, firt post and first time at considering a Mac. Please excuse my ignorance.



I currently own a Dell Inspiron 700M. Little brother is starting college and I plan on giving him my current laptop. Since i'm in the market for a new notebook/laptop the idea of buying a Mac came to mind. I have a few questions though.



Why get a MacBook over your typical laptop/notebook? I'm in nursing school, so I mostly use Office Apps. I've also been doing a good amount of video editing as a hobby. I'm currently building a new Home PC based on the new Conroe, main use for that is gaming and Video editing. It would be nice to have a portable unit to edit videos too though, not sure if there are any programs whose files would work both on a PC and a Mac.



Another question, how compatible are Windows Office files to Mac Office Apps? I believe there is a Mac Version of Windows Office, correct? Also, since I am an avid gamer, the MacBook pro comes with an ATI X1600 Video Card, are there a good amount of new games available in the Mac format?



Again I'm definately new to the Mac world and I'm sure some answers to these questions are obvious to you guys but I'm completely lost. So please excuse my ignorance, any help on this is greatly appreciated

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    dutch peardutch pear Posts: 588member
    Office for Mac works perfect with all office files.

    Every Mac comes with video-editing software (iMovie, iDVD). Haven't used those myself, but they are supposedly quite good for non-pro use.

    Uhm and gaming? You better stick to windows for that...

    But: you can install windows on a Mac too! for gaming you want go the bootcamp (google: bootcamp apple) way, works like a charm (you do need a full copy of winXP with SP2 for that though.). Also installing windows on your Mac will also allow you to keep any windows-only apps you don't want to part with.

    As a recent switcher myself I can fully recommend making the switch, you really get to have the best of both worlds with the new intel Macs!
  • Reply 2 of 11
    kman79kman79 Posts: 12member
    I appreciate the reply. Since you recently swithed to a Mac, is there anything you miss with having a windows machine? Running bootcamp would be nice then. Is there a performance hit running bootcamp over a stand alone windows notebook? What about driver issues? I'll read up on it myself to see if I can get answers. Thanks again.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Here's my recommendation: install Windows into both Boot Camp and Parallels. That way, you can run your Boot Camp Windows to play games, and you can run your Parallels Windows to run your usual Windows software ?_while, at the same time, using OS X.



    This will give you a very smooth transition to OS X. If you wind up liking it, you'll find yourself using OS X more and more, yet you'll always have the safety nets of either running Windows in parallel, or even using it as the sole OS by booting into it.



    You can also save yourself the Office:mac 2004 license this way; you can continue to use Office 2003.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    bergzbergz Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kman79

    Is there a performance hit running bootcamp over a stand alone windows notebook?



    "Want the fastest Windows XP Core Duo notebook? Then buy a Mac. According to benchmarks carried out by website GearLog, Apple's MacBook Pro running Windows XP is a better Adobe Photoshop rig than any other Core Duo laptop on the market."



    http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03...re_duo_laptop/

    (from /.)



    --B
  • Reply 5 of 11
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bergz

    "Want the fastest Windows XP Core Duo notebook? Then buy a Mac. According to benchmarks carried out by website GearLog, Apple's MacBook Pro running Windows XP is a better Adobe Photoshop rig than any other Core Duo laptop on the market."



    http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03...re_duo_laptop/

    (from /.)



    In all fairness, though, that's using XOM, not Boot Camp. This was before Boot Camp came out, hence the lack of 3D acceleration ?_there were no ATi-specific graphics drivers at all.



    Would be nice to see a few Boot Camp benchmarks.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    dutch peardutch pear Posts: 588member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kman79

    I appreciate the reply. Since you recently swithed to a Mac, is there anything you miss with having a windows machine? Running bootcamp would be nice then. Is there a performance hit running bootcamp over a stand alone windows notebook? What about driver issues? I'll read up on it myself to see if I can get answers. Thanks again.



    Well, First of all, I highly miss doing the viruschecks, spyware-removal and defragmenting

    But running bootcamp IS THE SAME as running windows on any other computer. Current Apple hardware is the same (well, better designed and using quality componenta) as standard PC hardware so when you boot into windows using bootcamp it will perform similar to any pc that uses the same hardware components.

    About the drivers: when you run bootcamp, one of the steps is burning a CD with the necessary drivers for windows for the hardware. AFAIK the only important missing drivers are those for the built-in isight and for the remote.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    zoranszorans Posts: 187member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dutch pear

    Well, First of all, I highly miss doing the viruschecks, spyware-removal and defragmenting

    But running bootcamp IS THE SAME as running windows on any other computer. Current Apple hardware is the same (well, better designed and using quality componenta) as standard PC hardware so when you boot into windows using bootcamp it will perform similar to any pc that uses the same hardware components.

    About the drivers: when you run bootcamp, one of the steps is burning a CD with the necessary drivers for windows for the hardware. AFAIK the only important missing drivers are those for the built-in isight and for the remote.




    And you'll be missing the right-click button running Windows, just use a mouse
  • Reply 8 of 11
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dutch pear

    Office for Mac works perfect with all office files.





    Just be sure that you dont use a font that is not part of the standard Windows install of Office when you make resumes...bastards cant take 'em in PDF for some reason...
  • Reply 9 of 11
    kman79kman79 Posts: 12member
    I guess having a mac lets you have best of both the Mac and Windows world. So I guess the better question is why not to get a Mac. Is it really true there are no viruses and spyware that plague Macs? I just noticed that RAM upgrades are really expensive from the apple store, going to check how much etailer sell them for. I appreciate the replies guys, now it's just a matter of waiting till august to purchase the mac.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    bergzbergz Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kman79

    I guess having a mac lets you have best of both the Mac and Windows world. So I guess the better question is why not to get a Mac. Is it really true there are no viruses and spyware that plague Macs? I just noticed that RAM upgrades are really expensive from the apple store, going to check how much etailer sell them for. I appreciate the replies guys, now it's just a matter of waiting till august to purchase the mac.



    Apple.com has the most expensive RAM upgrades. Try newegg.com.



    No viruses. No spyware.



    --B
  • Reply 11 of 11
    dutch peardutch pear Posts: 588member
    Quote:

    ....why not to get a Mac....



    The most common are:

    - too expensive

    - no hardware expandability/replace-ability

    - don't want to learn a new OS

    - need windows software

    Quote:

    Is it really true there are no viruses and spyware that plague Macs?



    Never say never, but I have experienced none of this since my switch in februari.

    Quote:

    I just noticed that RAM upgrades are really expensive from the apple store, going to check how much retailer sell them for.



    Don't buy RAM from apple

    Quote:

    I appreciate the replies guys, now it's just a matter of waiting till august to purchase the mac.



    You're welcome, have a happy switch!
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