URGENT - Calling all MAC heads

[ptownnyc]

OK, people, listen up. Tonight I am heading to the store to buy a MAC notebook. My PC laptop is in the midst of an accelerating death spiral and given what is going on I figure I have days at most to get my files off it before the hard drive fails completely

Comments

[eric_mathgeek]

what he said.

[wlotus]

I completely agree with this. The Macbook Pro is best suited to people who are doing intensive work like music creation, image editing, and the like. I'd say a Macbook maxed out on memory and perhaps with a larger hard drive, if you plan to keep growing your music library, would work best for you.

[whatuttercrap]

I would get a larger hard drive, too. I threw a 500GB drive into my Pro because I was close to maxing out my hard drive.

And, you can never have too much RAM. If you have the coinage, up it.

[wonderboynj]

Also, I don't know if you can bump up in the RAM in the store, it used to be if you wanted to do any of the configurations you had to buy online. That may be different in NYC though :)

[ptownnyc]

Store can't do squat, alas :)

[defiantfist]

I'd agree on the "if money is an issue' comment. If money is tight go with a Macbook than a Macbook Pro.

That being said, RAM is most often the limiter when it comes to computing power in the modern age (at least thats how we see it). Unless you're going to be doing video editing, or have an epic ton of movies, music, ect you wn't need anything beyond a 500GB hard drive. I'd recommend around 6GB of ram if they offer it.

In your configuration 8GB is more RAM than you're likely to use, and given that it's $400 more I'd not recommend it.

For you I'd say downgrade to the Macbook. Get 4GB of ram and the 320GB hard drive.

Oh, and get the AppleCare plan.

[ptownnyc]

You think 320 GB is enough? I have had space issues in the past on my laptop, and don't want to sell myself short. Again, just want the realistic answer.

[defiantfist]

How big was the drive on the dying laptop?

[echo_reborn]

320 GB on a Macbook can fill up fast, depending on your usage, of course. I'm a music junkie, and my hard drive filled up FAST. I bought a 1TB portable and moved my music library onto that, and that made all the difference.

I definitely agree with the majority, no need for the pro, unless you have a need for a separate video card as compared to integrated.

[kent4str]

I just replaced my older MacBook because of hard drive issues. Such as having to have it replaced FOUR TIMES in six months. The last time the "genius" said that that particular model sometimes has issues with a cable connection between the hard drive and the processor, so they replaced that, too. But I just couldn't depend on it any more, so I replaced it. The good news is they didn't charge for any of them, even though it was over three years old and not under a warranty or service contract.

I was going to get the 13" MacBook, with the flash drive instead of the hard drive (to avoid the same problems, hopefully), but couldn't justify the cost right now for the little I do with it. Plus the major program I use to justify having a laptop at all only comes in a Windows version, so I went back to a Dell.

Eh - it cost less than a quarter of the Mac I wanted and will do until I can afford another Mac. Which I will.

[trawnapanda]

oh my - you're joining the borg.