buying a new macbook

[Chris.]

so after years if thinking about it.... and years of being broke... i am finally going to buy a macbook.

im going to buy a 13" macbook pro

i know a ton of you here have apple computers... and can probably help me out.

a few things i need help with....
since the beginning of windows....i have used it....
for a brief stint... i used an original macintosh when i was in middle school. since then.... it has been all windows for me.
i am making this move to a macbook because i want change. im tired of what windows has to offer. im tired of all the problems windows has brought me. i just want something different.

so.... with that said... what should i be aware of? i have been to apple.com and looked through all the videos they had on pc to mac basics and how to use the different apps that come standard on the macbook.

i am choosing a 13" because thats what i can afford. im choosing a pro because i like the all aluminum construction. i dont like white... it gets dirty too easy. and i like the backlit keyboard that comes with the pro.

i didnt choose the air because i need a cd drive....lol

now... i have an external 1TB HD that i have hooked up to my PC.. it holds EVERYTHING related to my life. it was difficult for me to decide to put everything on one drive.. because i was always in fear of it failing... so... i used 4 separate drives for the longest time. one of my largest drives...a 250GB... contained my windows partition... i used this drive because it was the best drive i had. it also contained all of my music...

well... one day last year i had a driver problem. and it crashed windows and would not let me get past the BSOD on startup. needless to say.. i had to reformat... and i was very upset.

im sick of this...lol

so another reason to go to a macbook....

anyway... the external drive..... can i use it on my mac and access my information? i understand a few things may not be able to be opened... but i still have my PC.... im not buying this to replace anything really...


so.. i guess my question is.. any of you have a mac and PC and use them both and share information between the two?

also... i have everything on a network throughout the house.. like... my blu ray player.. Xbox360, Directv HDDVR, 2 PC laptops and one desktop PC.

i have a lynksys router that runs tomato firmware.....dont worry.. the rught person would know what that means.

will my mac be OK on my network? and will i be able to share information between all? currently i can stream movies from the external drive.... through the desktop PC... through the directv HDDRVR.. and then onto the TV. also can get those same movies through the Xbox360... as well as all my laptops.. i consider my network to be running in top shape... it took me a long time to get everything working right...lol


also... should i buy the apple care protection plan? i am not hard on my computers... and i definatly dont plan on being rough on my mac.. it will be the largest computer investment i have ever made though. i built my desktop from the ground up... so... other than my wifes laptop... i have not paid true retail for a computer...the laptop i use now... an IBM T23... i bought at one of those electronics sales that you find at convention centers for a weekend... i paid 400 for it in 2007.. it hasnt let me down...

every experience i have had with protection plans is that everything will be great and flawless throughut the time period of coverage.... and then coverage expires.. and then the problems start.

im waiting on my Xbox to get a RROD because its a little over a year old...lol theres no reason it should.... im just saying..lol

so... can you guys help me out?

 

[zboyracer]

I'll try and answer some of your questions.
I have never ever regretted my decision of buying my iMac. I would love a macbook pro, but its not in the budget...
The way the operating systems are these days, there really isn't a whole lot of difference in your day to day tasks. I'm not into programming or anything super tech related, but like I said the difference isn't too noticeable and I switch back and forth between windows and mac on a daily basis.
I would recommend getting the pro for all your stated reasons. As far as the external hard drive, I have a 1 TB that I formatted to windows that I can use files with on my mac without any problems.
I'm not too savvy on the network set up, but mine works with my netgear wireless router, so hopefully someone else can help you out with that one.
I thought about getting the protection plan for my iMac but didn't because it sits on my desk and doesn't move, and I'm not really worried about any of the hardware going bad. However you are getting a laptop, and due to its nature is going to get a little more wear and tear. Did I read somewhere that you have two kids? I think that the deciding factor of the protection plan would be whether or not you would be worried about them doing something to it.
Hope this helps.

 

[89SiGUYrex]

theres a thing called time machine that you link up with a external hard drive and it will update and save all memory every day oror week whatever you choose... i had a external hard drive fail and lost a lot of my earlier pictures from my photo days bt i belive it was just because the hard drive was a p.o.s. and broke 3 months into having it.

i love my mac and want to get a macbook to replace my pc laptop. once you figuring them out there are easy and more enjoyable than a pc but... i dont know my way through command prompts or anything like that so for me its based on personal usage only.

 

[Chris.]

I'll try and answer some of your questions.
I have never ever regretted my decision of buying my iMac. I would love a macbook pro, but its not in the budget...
The way the operating systems are these days, there really isn't a whole lot of difference in your day to day tasks. I'm not into programming or anything super tech related, but like I said the difference isn't too noticeable and I switch back and forth between windows and mac on a daily basis.
I would recommend getting the pro for all your stated reasons. As far as the external hard drive, I have a 1 TB that I formatted to windows that I can use files with on my mac without any problems.
I'm not too savvy on the network set up, but mine works with my netgear wireless router, so hopefully someone else can help you out with that one.
I thought about getting the protection plan for my iMac but didn't because it sits on my desk and doesn't move, and I'm not really worried about any of the hardware going bad. However you are getting a laptop, and due to its nature is going to get a little more wear and tear. Did I read somewhere that you have two kids? I think that the deciding factor of the protection plan would be whether or not you would be worried about them doing something to it.
Hope this helps.

the only thing my kids will do to it.... is shove pennies in the SD card slot... ive already ran into that issue... and handled it... so... they know better not to touch it... and i wont have to worry about them walking by and tripping over the cord and the laptop end up on the floor... it has the mag safe power cord... its a breakaway design

theres a thing called time machine that you link up with a external hard drive and it will update and save all memory every day oror week whatever you choose... i had a external hard drive fail and lost a lot of my earlier pictures from my photo days bt i belive it was just because the hard drive was a p.o.s. and broke 3 months into having it.

i love my mac and want to get a macbook to replace my pc laptop. once you figuring them out there are easy and more enjoyable than a pc but... i dont know my way through command prompts or anything like that so for me its based on personal usage only.

yea the command prompts are my biggest issue i guess... like... i post on a weather site often... and.. i use the degree symbol... well.. in windows its a short cut by pressing alt+0176 it is only able to do that on the number pad... you cant use the numbers on top of the rest of the keys. try it in windows... on my laptop i dont have a number pad.... but i have the function key... and then the letter keys do alternate functions. so i do it that way.. its not really a big deal...lol

and the only thing about my external drive... it just sits there and collects dust like the rest of my s**t. i cant seem to combat the dust.... i know it kills computers.. i also keep a can of duster handy so when i see it build up i can get it.

 

[civhatch92]

You're making a great choice going with a macbook, you will be very satisfied!

 

[Logan98036wa]

You will not be disippointed with the macbookpro, I love mine.

 

[89SiGUYrex]

Somebody sent me this link when i first got my mac. i have looked at it a couple times so hopefully itll help you too.

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

EDIT: s**t thats not the one i thought it was, i lost the other one that showed shortcuts and other things. my bad.

 

[LowNotSlow]

My brother hates his Macbook Pro, so do I. It's awful.

The Wifi reception is garbage, the CD drive won't read randomly, it bogs down and sits there with the pinwheel of death all the time.

 

[Chris.]

Somebody sent me this link when i first got my mac. i have looked at it a couple times so hopefully itll help you too.

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

EDIT: s**t thats not the one i thought it was, i lost the other one that showed shortcuts and other things. my bad.

yea i saw all those... lol

anmd youtube is useless... half the people cant hold a camera and are accompanied by overly loud SHITTY music.. .and most of them just show you how to turn the thing on... its not rocket science...

 

[joe7987]

All of your things should be fine on a mac. Really, the only boundaries I've seen between mac and PC is that mac can't run .exe and windows can't run .dmg.... but this isn't even a solid rule. Many .exe files can be run on mac, and almost all software you'll ever need has some sort of mac equivalent.

You'll have to re-learn your keyboard shortcuts... but most of that will be easy. Apple went out of their way to try to make them similar..Copy, for example... In windows it's ctrl+c... in mac it's cmd+c. Paste is the same thing cmd+v, etc.

Really, it's not a difficult move. I spent the first night with my first macbook messing around trying to learn common things on windows and that's about it. The rest has been really intuitive and user friendly. I've been running a mac for about 4 years now (and a pc at work) and I still don't have any plans on ever replacing my mac with a PC.

The only reason I'll have a PC some day is to run simulation software. Unfortunately, most of the best simulation software is only for PC (this is true of engineering CAD programs as well). This is the only flat out brick wall I've hit on my mac.

 

[Chris.]

what about highlighting... i do alot of highlighting with the mouse...like txt and stuff... and copy and paste all using the mouse...

 

[LowNotSlow]

it's the same

 

[joe7987]

exactly the same.... macs aren't as different and as difficult to use / lacking in functionality as people would lead you to believe. The transition will not be difficult for you at all.

 

[89SiGUYrex]

i swapped away from the mac mouse because i couldnt get right click to work on it and it basically broke after 2 months haha.

 

[Matt.]

I love my 15 inch macbook pro, I thought about the 13 but I thought I wouldn't be happy with it, its a big investment, might as well do it right. Not for forget it has the better processor and such.

Although, rumor has it that a refresh will be happening within 3 months, so basically April. If you think a core 2 duo is your cup of tea, sure go ahead and get it. Personally I'm happier with the i5. From what I understand, when they did the last refresh all the macbook pros had the core 2 duo, and they just didn't refresh the 13 inch internals, but the externals changed just like the 15 and 17.

I mean you're call, but I would wait, my though was, I like the current design, what if they make a design change I hate or don't like? Even if you do wait, and you don't like the new design, they're always selling refurbs of the last designs, which are basically just computers people returned or didn't want. Nothing really wrong with them. There will always be people who think they're ready for mac, but are actually not, so they return it. Apple can't sell a open computer as new obviously, so they become refurbs.

 

[Matt.]

My brother hates his Macbook Pro, so do I. It's awful.

The Wifi reception is garbage, the CD drive won't read randomly, it bogs down and sits there with the pinwheel of death all the time.

2009 model?

i swapped away from the mac mouse because i couldnt get right click to work on it and it basically broke after 2 months haha.

the magic mouse or whatever its called? Yea... f**k that! I'd use just a normal windows mouse to be honest, they will work.

 

[JiuJitsu_greg]

Wait until after feb 10. I hear apple might be refreshing the MacBook pros then on the same day as ther verizon iPhone release. The only people that seem to hate Mac are gamers and and retards. I always recommend apple care on mobile products. Your MacBook has moving parts that can malfunction as well as a battery that can die and other parts that can just break. Apple care gives you a three year warranty so all those things are covered.

 

[JiuJitsu_greg]

My last MacBook pro was a refurb. It was a great computer and you can save a few$$$$$ going that route

 

[Matt.]

My last MacBook pro was a refurb. It was a great computer and you can save a few$$$$$ going that route

I believe it includes an extended warranty as well

Just be ready to buy, because the refurb you looked at yesterday won't be there today.

 

[JiuJitsu_greg]

Lol I ment the op can save some money going that route. I already have a 2010 i5 mbp. Hoping to either get a Mac pro or 27 inch iMac in the next few months for designing on a larger screen. Oh and AppleCare is an add-on even for refurbs