Trying to justify buying a Macbook Pro!

Westie123

Hello,

Firstly, I am coming at this as a mac user for the last 15 years, and have never wanted to own or use a PC. I need to buy a laptop for my son and was looking at a Macbook Pro 15 inch. Even with the educational discount, the most basic model costs €1691.58. We were looking at PC laptops and it seems that you can get a decent one for about €800, maybe up to €1000 max. My son would be using a laptop for internet, e-mail and office, nothing high end. He thinks I am crazy to be even considering the Macbook, given that it is almost double the price.
I understand the arguements in favour of the macbook, superior OS, better quality, no viruses, probably longer usefulness etc.etc, but I am looking at the price difference and are fining it hard to justify it myself. I am wondering what other mac users think, would you still go for the macbook in my situation?

Thanks in advance.

Sad Professor

Well, I suppose if it's for your son and he'd be happy with a PC laptop, then got for that.

Is the 13 inch MBP not an option?

MagicMarker

Yeah, I don't see why you can't just get the MacBook? It's perfectly suitable for what he wants to use it for. If you're getting an educational discount I assume it would be around 800 anyway?

Kiokia

I'll justify it for you right now. I bought a Macbook going into my first year of college, four years later I'm nearing the end of my degree and my laptop hasn't as much as given me a wheeze right up to as I type this now. I've done countless presentations, assignments, essays, research projects and they've all been aided by the aforementioned superior OS. If you buy a PC you WILL have trouble with viruses, you WILL have to perform some sort of maintenance regularly. And by the end of his second year he'll need a new one because if takes 15 minutes to load windows, which is a quarter of his entire lecture!! A macbook will do him the four years, and beyond (perhaps into post-graduate if he does well enough!). For the extra few bob now you might be saving yourself a lot of headache down the line. As a 15 year Mac user you know the advantages of the machines over their cheaper, pc counterparts!

Sad Professor

^ Can't argue with that.

Also, consider the far superior battery life that a Macbook offers. I always see people in the college library running around with their Dells trying to find an electrical socket that works. I don't even bring my power adapter in most days.

Westie123

Wow! I wasn't expecting replies so soon. Thanks to all. We actually went into PC world today to check out the macbooks. The 13 inch screens look fairly small (to be honest I don't think I would get a 13 inch for myself). It's a pity that there is such a price gap between the 13 and 15 inch Pro models (over €600) I realise that there is more than just the screen size between the two, bigger hard drive , different processor etc. If the price gap was less I would find it easier to plump for the 15 inch.
Thanks again for the replies so far.

Sad Professor

Screens always look very small in the shop. Personally, I think the 13 inch is a perfect size for portability, especially if he's going to be using it for college. A 13 inch is a helluva lot easier to carry around than a 15 inch.

ozt9vdujny3srf

The 13 inch is grand, its no issue for word processing ( i almost prefer it to a bigger screen) and although its perhaps a tiny bit cramped when coding in a fully fledged IDE, I have written a lot of code on it and havent had huge issue. I have a 22inch monitor at home to hook it up to however.

The 15 inch macbook pros are gorgeous but for college / portability the 13 inch is the business. The only way i can think of to improve it would be to ditch the optical drive for either a smaller form factor, or a bigger battery (not that the 6+ hours i get out of the current one is too shabby!) or a discrete graphics card. I'd get an air only they're too expensive and IMO hobbled by having no ethernet port.

Johnmb

Regarding the screen size, I thought the 13" would be too small as well from looking in the shops. I bought myself the 17" MBP, but I bought my mother the basic Macbook as her first computer. I have to say, whenever I am updating, or showing her how to do something, I hardly even notice the fact that the screen is smaller while I'm actually using it. The only reason I do notice things like having to scroll down sooner on web pages is because I also got a 27" iMac for work, where it not for that I doubt the 13" screen would be noticeable to me (unless I were to stand it right next to my 17" MBP!)

drunkmonkey

I was pottering around the internet today looking for a 17'inch MPB, my justification for buying one was it was going to be easier do things in photo shop then I decided I like my 13inch MBP the screen is plenty big, my old powerbook was a 17'n and to be honest I can do just as much on the 13' I would not worry about the screen size.

Best deal your going to get is a refurbished one like this http://store.apple.com/ie/product/FB991B/A?mco=MTA4MzI0OTE I know that if you call the guys in apple you will be able to wiggle another 5% out of a refurb bringing the price to 1091.55 , It's still a lot for a student laptop. You could pick up a little net book running XP for 299 and it would be just as handy and he'll still be able to get things done.

tbh, I think he should earn his first new mac book pro and especially if it's going to be a 17' . That's for pro's and he's not qualified yet.

Kiokia

Sad Professor wrote: »

Also, consider the far superior battery life that a Macbook offers.

This is definitely another positive when thinking about getting macbook. I'm always astounded at how after nearly four years this laptop can go hours using a word processor without a charge (and even a sneaky internet check every now and again!).

dory

Don't worry about a 13''. I had a 15'' PowerBook for years, and now I don't even notice the difference since I downgraded.

How about a refurbished one? The link below is to the exact one I bought. It's absolutely perfect (ignore my recent thread about the battery, I think it's cause my screen is too bright).

http://store.apple.com/ie/product/FC374B/A?mco=MTgwOTc3Mjg

Gregor Samsa

You could get the 13" MacBook and a 24" monitor* together cheaper than the 15" Pro. That way your son would have the portability advantages of the smaller form factor, along with the extra screen space afforded by the desktop setup when needed.

I have a 13" Pro, and the screen size is perfect for everything except when i have to work from home and an doing long Photoshop/web development sessions when I have a ton of windows open at once. But even the 15" would be cramped in a situation like that. Then I hook up to the monitor, and I have all the space I need over two screens.

* not an Apple monitor, obviously. They're quite pricey. Take a look at Samsung and Dell's monitor offerings.

Carsinian Thau

phutyle wrote: »

I have a 13" Pro, and the screen size is perfect for everything

Seconded. I came from using a 17" screen to a 13" and I have had absolutely no issue at all. It really is plenty big enough.

whiterebel

Carsinian Thau wrote: »

Seconded. I came from using a 17" screen to a 13" and I have had absolutely no issue at all. It really is plenty big enough.

Turded.

mcw92

I bought a 13" Macbook For College LastYear, and its the best decision i ever made!
It Fast and Powerful enough to do what i want( including a bit of football a=manager ) and is very light and handy to move about and carry.
Not to mention the Great Minimalistic design and looks, Excellent OS, Superb Keyboard(The Best One Ive Used On A Laptop) and the great touchpad!
Also the Screen is superb!Better Colours, Contrast, and Brightness control than ive seen on other windows lasptops!

stimpson

+1 for the 13 inch.

Been using macs long before they were a fashion accessory and bought my first laptop 2 years ago - 13 inch aluminium MacBook. Best computer I ever had. Never understood the need for a large laptop. The whole idea is that they are portable so the smaller the better. I use an external monitor for writing code.

A mac will last you twice as long as a pc so it's worth the extra few bob. Get vmware fusion and you can run windows inside OSX.

spannerotoole

Kiokia wrote: »

I'll justify it for you right now. I bought a Macbook going into my first year of college, four years later I'm nearing the end of my degree and my laptop hasn't as much as given me a wheeze right up to as I type this now. I've done countless presentations, assignments, essays, research projects and they've all been aided by the aforementioned superior OS. If you buy a PC you WILL have trouble with viruses, you WILL have to perform some sort of maintenance regularly. And by the end of his second year he'll need a new one because if takes 15 minutes to load windows, which is a quarter of his entire lecture!! A macbook will do him the four years, and beyond (perhaps into post-graduate if he does well enough!). For the extra few bob now you might be saving yourself a lot of headache down the line. As a 15 year Mac user you know the advantages of the machines over their cheaper, pc counterparts!

And you are aware that another superior OS can be installed on a PC.
I speak of course of Linux. (I recommend Linux Mint)

Though if you want a maclike system, you could always install DarwinBSD on the laptop as this is the base Operating System of OS X.

If you go down this road, you WILL NOT have virus issues, nor will you have to do maintenance on it, also they are not as resource heavy as windows is.

That's the road I would go down in his shoes.

Plus the kid might just learn something about computers.

mikemac

The mac will be ideal for college. 13'' will be light and portable and battery life will be fine

As said already, you might save a few hundred initally with a Dell for example but within a year or two it'll be crawling slow and your son will have to do maintance tasks on it.
On a college network there's going to be issues with viruses.

So spend the extra on the Mac.
Realy, you won't have to upgrade it at all. It'll last the four years and even to postgraduate study.
So when you work out you don't need to upgrade for four years at least, money saved
Though it's tempting to whip out the credit card when there is a shiny new release!

Until last year I had an eMac which was from 2003 and it ran great, word processing, calenders, sly look on the internet and da toones! :pac:

The macbook pro will easily do you years and years so spend the extra now and not be penny wish, pound foolish on something that cheaper now.

You pay for what you get

mickredirl

Hi

I just bought my first macbook pro 13inch about three weeks ago.. I am someone who has used pc's for most of my life.. And I think the macbook pro.. Well I think the sun shines out of its backside if it had one :-) the mbp is brilliant, fast and well worth the money.. I will never get another pc again.

Once you get over the idea of the price of the mbp and get one..you will not regret it. They are brill :-)

Scráib

Ha, when I was in college I was on paid work placement. I ended up buying a MBP which altogether cost me the bones of 3k!

Why did I buy this ridiculous piece of hardware when I really didn't need any of it? I just wanted it! Badly! Still don't regret it. I call the laptop Gladice.

hideous ape

I notice that you live in Cork so maybe you might know someone who works for Apple up in Hollyhill?

If you did then maybe you could get them to use their staff discount and save a fortune. The personal discount is 27% off but they would also have a few Family & Friends discounts of 17% off.

Locamon

why not just buy a macbook as opposed to the pro.. I would have thought it would handle most student demands? personally my MBP was worth every penny...

conor.hogan.2

If you have the money and you really use you're laptop for any even remotely important things buy it.

It pays for its self numerous times.

NullZer0

Kiokia wrote: »

If you buy a PC you WILL have trouble with viruses, you WILL have to perform some sort of maintenance regularly. And by the end of his second year he'll need a new one because if takes 15 minutes to load windows.

Not true

Personally I'd go for a Macbook because I prefer them.

NullZer0

feelingstressed wrote: »

On a college network there's going to be issues with viruses.

How?

eoin_mulhern

I use an air for college its so handy you cant notice the weight and takes up no space in your backpack....does everything i need it to do no problem

Kimono-Girl

Just bought a mac book pro today, have to say im not finding the switch too hard, honestly the part i had most difficulty with was my damn pc when i tried to connect it to the mac via Ethernet! :rolleyes: i managed it in the end,

and i have to say i love the macbook, its such a nice piece of technology and most definitely well worth the investment!