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Originally Posted by streak_56
II like the Mac for the lack of virus' and its more tailored toward to my uses (multimedia, specifically music) but for some odd reason I cannot accept the price, I went online today and a 13 inch macbook pro was 2700 for me.
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I'm assuming you beefed up the CPU/RAM/HD to get to that price. What you should do if you haven't is see what kind of PC you can get for that price and then think if you really need those specs. Next, see what price you can get for a PC of similar specs to the Mac you tricked out.
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I haven't looked at any other companies as I have been checking out what the mac is all about. I'm afraid of getting roped into the "lifestyle" that Mac continues to sell... so that may be a factor as well.... but I do believe that for quality, you have to pay for it...
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Don't believe the hype about the lifestyle or the hip factor. Just consider the OS and the way Apple stands behind their products. As mentioned above, people tend to get more life out of Mac products. Part of this reason is the uniform hardware configurations, another part is the OS itself. I find OS X runs way, way more efficiently and conveniently compared to Windows.
Believe in testimonials you trust as well. If you trust me, believe it when I say that when it comes to work and productivity, I'd use nothing other than a Mac. I use it for basic office productivity in addition to media production related to book publishing (Acrobat, Quark, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc., often in multitasking operations). I've used old machines and new machines alike. It's scary how much life you can get out of them. The early editions of OS X were running on machines with an old hardware configuration that would have had its ass handed to it in terms of
simply booting the likes of Vista.
The new machines are nice. From what I know, media production such as music is well suited on a Mac. The stuff I've done through Windows has been relatively frustrating. But it would help to try things out on both systems to get an idea. Definitely try before you buy.
I have a Macbook (not a Pro) that I've been using since Fall 2007. I doubled the RAM to 2 GB and Apple replaced the HD a few months ago when it conked out (the model they used in this build had a shorter-than-usual lifespan). The HD replacement was free of charge, despite not getting AppleCare. Next time I get a machine, I'm getting AppleCare though. I've been fortunate thusfar, but I've heard great things about the plan. I don't normally get extended warranties ever, but AppleCare is legendary.
So, my machine is going on 4 years old, and I'm not planning on replacing it anytime soon. All I've needed to do is upgrade the RAM to keep the performance reliable with the newer OS upgrades and newer software versions. It's not blazing fast, but it gets the job done and reliably so. And, remember, it's not even a Pro. Even the new Macbook (non-Pros) have beefier CPUs and a completely new graphics card compared to my build. So factor in the Macbook Pro specs and you're going to get a fast machine that will last a long time. However, unless you're doing some serious heavy music/video/photo editing, I'd argue that you don't even need the Pro unless you want a screen bigger than 13 inches.
The one thing I'll laud about Macs in terms of hardware and the OS: stability, stability, stability. It's no contest. Between OS 9/OS X and Windows Vista (can't speak much about Windows 7, unforch), there is no comparison. OS X especially is stable, clean, and predictable in its behaviour patterns. Windows is full of glut and has a history of being painfully unreliable at times. I don't understand how the OS tends to mutate over time regardless of your not really changing anything in the background. You don't get that at all with OS X. I've rarely seen the OS freeze or require rebooting. When it happens, you think, "Well, isn't that curious?" And you reboot and the problem usually is solved.
A couple of times, I've had a "Problem" with the OS, but it's usually much easier to fix than the typical Windows "Easy 18-Step, Trial-and-Error, Waste-of-a-Saturday" Process. (Coincidentally, the lion's share of my problems in OS X have been related to the use of Microsoft products.)
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Now I cannot decide between a Mac or a just another one of the generic laptop makers. I want to spend around 1200-1500, and I am just looking at using it for music storage/manipulation... I'm also looking for mass media storage, as my fiancee has an affinity for taking pictures and video.
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As mentioned above, your storage will depend on external as much as internal (if not more) HD storage. The computer shouldn't be a huge factor when it comes to that. Manipulation is another thing. What kind of processes are you doing? As I said, if it's heavy, consider the Pro. If not, the regular Macbook might do you just fine.