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Help required for - Macbook Novice

  • 24-09-2012 4:01pm
    #1
    another question
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭


    I have a couple of questions I would like clarification on if anyone knows the answers...

    I have been looking to replace my laptop as it is acting up and I want to do so before it gives in totally and I lose alot of what's on it...(I know I could back-up but I haven't done much backing up yet) and I am looking into getting a macbook...

    So basically what I know to know is:

    1) Difference between Macbook Pro and Macbook Air

    2) Is there pre-installed software similar to MS Office or is their an option to buy MS Office for Mac?

    3) Are they worth the price...because they are expensive in comparison to other laptops

    4) Where is the white version gone?

    5) Is there much difference between the 11.6 and 13/13.3 inch screens...

    6) Do any of them come with a separate number pad?


    Thanks in advance...


Comments

  • #2
    vinnycoyne
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,176 ✭✭✭vinnycoyne


    Moved from Apple Media Devices.


  • #3
    mathepac
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭mathepac


    1) Difference between Macbook Pro and Macbook Air
    Air has no built-in optical drive and less connectors and less upgrade options than MacBook Pro

    2) Is there pre-installed software similar to MS Office or is their an option to buy MS Office for Mac?
    Yes and Yes

    3) Are they worth the price...because they are expensive in comparison to other laptops
    IMHO Yes, but, if price is your only comparison criterion then the MeToos will always look like better value.

    4) Where is the white version gone?
    No idea, I didn't know they'd gone

    5) Is there much difference between the 11.6 and 13/13.3 inch screens...
    I've always believed that more visual real estate is always better and that two is always better than one. Unlike simply mirroring the built in display like some MeToos, Macs treat connected displays as brand new real estate.

    6) Do any of them come with a separate number pad?
    No but they can be purchased as USB add-ons or buy a full keyboard / mouse set as aad-ons if you wish

    Plug-n-Play? Phfft, been there done that wore out many tee-shirts; stuff just works on a Mac (even MeToo stuff)

    HTH Welcome to MacLand, dude.


  • #4
    another question
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭another question


    mathepac wrote: »
    1) Difference between Macbook Pro and Macbook Air
    Air has no built-in optical drive and less connectors and less upgrade options than MacBook Pro

    2) Is there pre-installed software similar to MS Office or is their an option to buy MS Office for Mac?
    Yes and Yes

    3) Are they worth the price...because they are expensive in comparison to other laptops
    IMHO Yes, but, if price is your only comparison criterion then the MeToos will always look like better value.

    4) Where is the white version gone?
    No idea, I didn't know they'd gone

    5) Is there much difference between the 11.6 and 13/13.3 inch screens...
    I've always believed that more visual real estate is always better and that two is always better than one. Unlike simply mirroring the built in display like some MeToos, Macs treat connected displays as brand new real estate.

    6) Do any of them come with a separate number pad?
    No but they can be purchased as USB add-ons or buy a full keyboard / mouse set as aad-ons if you wish

    Plug-n-Play? Phfft, been there done that wore out many tee-shirts; stuff just works on a Mac (even MeToo stuff)

    HTH Welcome to MacLand, dude.

    Woah, loads of info thanks...I'm not very techy :cool: could you elaborate a little or optical drives and MeToos?

    Oh and has the built in MS Office-a-like software got a name like...I dunno...macworks or something like the windows version of MS Works....cheers


  • #5
    mickoneill30
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,073 ✭✭✭mickoneill30


    mathepac wrote: »
    IMHO Yes, but, if price is your only comparison criterion then the MeToos will always look like better value.

    What's a MeToo?


  • #6
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,687 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    another question wrote: »
    Woah, loads of info thanks...I'm not very techy :cool: could you elaborate a little or optical drives and MeToos?

    Oh and has the built in MS Office-a-like software got a name like...I dunno...macworks or something like the windows version of MS Works....cheers

    iWorks. But it doesn't come preinstalled. And it's not really sold as a package anymore. Each app is available separately on the App Store. They are pretty cheap, though, much cheaper than Office.


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  • #7
    mystufforsale
    Registered Users Posts: 11 ✭mystufforsale


    2) Is there pre-installed software similar to MS Office or is their an option to buy MS Office for Mac?

    openoffice(http://www.openoffice.org) is always free and an excellent alternative to microsoft office


  • #8
    mystufforsale
    Registered Users Posts: 11 ✭mystufforsale


    another question wrote: »

    4) Where is the white version gone?


    Thanks in advance...

    Gone since 2010


  • #9
    Solair
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭Solair


    MS Office is available for Mac and is pretty good.

    Other alternatives:

    Apple's Pages (word processor - fancier than MS Word), Numbers (spreadsheet), and Keynote (Presentation - WAY better than PowerPoint).

    Opensource Alternatives:

    OpenOffice
    NeoOffice


  • #10
    another question
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭another question


    Solair wrote: »
    MS Office is available for Mac and is pretty good.

    Other alternatives:

    Apple's Pages (word processor - fancier than MS Word), Numbers (spreadsheet), and Keynote (Presentation - WAY better than PowerPoint).

    Opensource Alternatives:

    OpenOffice
    NeoOffice

    Based on your above comment, do you think these pre-installed options for word, spreadsheet and presentation are satisfactory... I don't need anything fancy, if they are remotely in line with word, excel and powerpoint, I would be more than happy.

    I am on a strict budget and I really don't want to have to buy aload of extras after the laptop itself to bring it up the standard of my current one...i you know what I mean...because MS Works...the ****ty option before you buy office is pretty crap...and buying office as well as norton for example on top of the price of an average windows laptop adds another €150 roughly to the bill...


  • #11
    mathepac
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭mathepac


    Solair wrote: »
    ...
    Opensource Alternatives:

    OpenOffice
    NeoOffice
    Lots of variety in this applications space, e.g. Lotus Symphony from IBM (free), LibreOffice from The Document Foundation (free).

    An optical drive is a CD/DVD/BluRay reader-writer

    A MeToo is a Windoze machine.


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  • #12
    Greentree_uk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,023 ✭✭✭Greentree_uk


    Why not pop into a Compu b Store, they'll give you answers to any questions you have and you can get your hands on the models and see the difference!


  • #13
    mickoneill30
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,073 ✭✭✭mickoneill30


    mathepac wrote: »

    A MeToo is a Windoze machine.

    Would it not be handier to just type Windows? MeToo is a whole 2 characters less.


  • #14
    mathepac
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭mathepac


    mickoneill30 wrote: »
    Would it not be handier to just type Windows? MeToo is a whole 2 characters less.
    You do your thing, I'll do mine.
    Anything useful to say or advice you can offer OP in response to the request for help? Do you normally drag discussions OT?


  • #15
    another question
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭another question


    mathepac wrote: »
    You do your thing, I'll do mine.
    Anything useful to say or advice you can offer OP in response to the request for help? Do you normally drag discussions OT?

    Thanks for your info and help mathepac....just saw a iMac 21.5 inch today with the lovely white keyboard and numberpad and magic mouse and now I'm tempted. I'm not a big mover arounder...where a desktop would nail me to the house but I do like having my laptop in bed or when I'm sunken in an arm chair...I'm a major asthetics fan and fell in love with that apple keyboard years ago...think that's why I liked the white version of the macbook...€1168 for the whole iMac desktop is good value...what do you think? :cool: decisions, decisions....


  • #16
    mathepac
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭mathepac


    I guess it hinges around what you want to use it for and where you want to use it - in other words is portability / "lugability" important or are you happy to be desk-bound while you do your computing stuff?

    The iMacs are seductive, just the way Stevie and his designers wanted them to be and are amazing value compared to MacBooks IMO.

    Then there's the MacMinis and the MacPro ...


  • #17
    mickoneill30
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 3,073 ✭✭✭mickoneill30


    mathepac wrote: »
    You do your thing, I'll do mine.
    Anything useful to say or advice you can offer OP in response to the request for help? Do you normally drag discussions OT?

    Sorry about that. I thought it was already dragged off topic by childishness. Myself, the OP and probably a few other readers didn't know what a MeToo was.

    The OPs question was answered. The only bit I'd post is that he said Norton would drag up the price on a Windows machine. It would. But it's not necessary. Plenty of free alternatives such as Avast, AVG, Microsoft Security Essentials. And they don't bog down the PC.

    For Office. OpenOffice is fine for both platforms. It's not 100% compatible with MS Office but that shouldn't be a problem for a home user. We evaluated it in our company. It worked fine on most documents but some of them got messed up when opening a doc in OpenOffice Writer. This was a year ago so maybe it's better now. But it's free to download and try anyway. If it works fine for you then no need to spend loads on MS Office.


  • #18
    mitosis
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,000 ✭✭✭mitosis


    mathepac wrote: »
    stuff just works on a Mac (even MeToo stuff)

    HTH Welcome to MacLand, dude.

    Welcome to buzzwords.

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056746622

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056749116

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056745271

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056743408

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056743046

    It would be just as accurate to say "It works, just"

    You were very helpful to the OP with all your answers, there was just no need for the Apple mantra at the end, because, let's face it, Macs are no less prone to not working than any other PC.

    Best of luck, OP, whatever you decide.


  • #19
    another question
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭another question


    Thanks everyone for the help, I've learnt alot. I have just one more question and I know in advance it's a stupid one but here goes anyway...they call the iMac an all-in-one desktop etc and after watching a couple of youtube videos I see none of them have a processor tower thing that comes with other desktops but on the apple website these are for sale at outrageous prices like €2500 plus, my question is do I need one of these in addition to the iMac all-in-one? or is there a build in optical drive on the screen itself? Or if someone could explain what the towers for sale on apple are for? thanks guys


  • #20
    mitosis
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,000 ✭✭✭mitosis


    The "tower bit" is disguised as part of the monitor. It's a cool design. It means the "monitor" is big and heavy, though, and upgrades will be difficult and expensive.


  • #21
    mathepac
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,991 ✭✭✭mathepac


    mitosis wrote: »
    ... It would be just as accurate to say "It works, just" ...
    No not really. Feedback indicates that certain Windoze software runs better on Mac via an emulator that is does running native on a MeToo.
    mitosis wrote: »
    ... You were very helpful to the OP with all your answers, ...
    Thanks but is that not just fulfilling the role of the forum to be helpful and provide informed opinion?
    mitosis wrote: »
    ... there was just no need for the Apple mantra at the end, because, let's face it, Macs are no less prone to not working than any other PC.... .
    In your opinion maybe, but my informed opinion after close to 30 years as a once-upon-a-time Apple re-seller and a current Apple customer / user is different and, after all, the name of this forum is "Mac"


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  • #22
    mitosis
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,000 ✭✭✭mitosis


    mathepac wrote: »
    No not really. Feedback indicates that certain Windoze software runs better on Mac via an emulator that is does running native on a MeToo.

    Oh, I am appreciative of your obvious qualities, don't get me wrong, and admire you brand loyalty, but your persistent use of "Windoze" and "MeToo" does your credibility no favours. And as for "Feedback indicates", well what would you expect, this is a Mac forum?


  • #23
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,687 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Stay on topic please, folks. I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't looking to start a Mac vs PC debate.


  • #24
    Solair
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭Solair


    OpenOffice or NeoOffice would probably be more than adequate.

    OpenOffice is a very developed, widely used and pretty slick free alternative to MS office. On Mac, Windows and various flavours of Linux.

    NeoOffice is a slightly more streamlined Mac specific version of it.

    Both are open source and free to download, but a donation is always appreciated to keep their project going,


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