sell me on the MacBook Pro? | FerrariChat

sell me on the MacBook Pro?

Discussion in 'Technology' started by rob lay, Dec 12, 2013.

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  1. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    I have bought Dell laptops for years, usually their highest end computer. Every one has been lesser and more troublesome than the previous. I decided to give them one more chance, but this time the biggest baddest Alienware laptop. Again, I have had many problems.

    1) Devices go out, problems with drivers. Right now I have an SD slot that doesn't work and about 25% of the time I can't get the USB slots to pick up the devices.

    2) I have to reboot about 3 times a day as things hang up or don't seem to be working.

    3) 90% of the time Outlook won't open completely, I have to close from the taskbar although application not fully open and then 2nd time it will open. Sometimes IE does the same thing.

    I keep McAfee up to date and do frequent scans. After the first 2 months with problems like this I had the local PC hospital completely reinstall my OS and then I reloaded all my applications from scratch. Still having 90% of the problems I was having before and then a few new ones.

    I'm sure someone could fix it if they knew what to fix, but if our local expert PC shop I have used before can't quickly help me, then I give up.

    I am an apple fan iPad and iPhone. I had Apple IIe and IIc before I switched to PC's. Few times I tried to use a friends Mac 80's and 90's I hated it, couldn't stand the interface.

    Jennie switched to MacBook a couple years ago and she loves it, doesn't miss a PC Laptop at all.

    Is there anything I will loose by going to a MacBook Pro?

    Applications I have to use are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, WS FTP, MS Office, and Adobe Premier.

    I do a bunch of heavy load video editing and require huge hard drive.

    Should I go with the MacBook Pro? Is there a bigger and badder version expected soon I should wait on?

    Funny story, I went down to Austin to attend a small conference of large forum admins. Out of 20 there were only 2 of us that didn't have MacBooks. I think that says something. :D
     
  2. NeuroBeaker

    NeuroBeaker Advising Moderator
    Moderator

    Oct 1, 2008
    38,743
    Huntsville, AL., USA
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    Andrew
    My Sony VAIO has been excellent. I bought it in mid 2005 and am still using it.

    As it's well over 8 years old, it's getting a bit slow now and modern virus protection software (also using McAfee) sucks a lot of resources these days, but otherwise it is still good - no hardware problems at all. I rate Sony very highly and would buy a new one again today if I could.

    Probably not what you were looking for. :)

    All the best,
    Andrew.
     
  3. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 20, 2003
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    Rob, it sounds like you've already sold yourself!

    I use a 13" Macbook Air. I love it. It's slim but has everything I need.

    The only time I miss Windows is if I need to do something in AutoCAD.

    Matt
     
  4. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
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    Rob Lay
    I can run Windows on MacBook, right?
     
  5. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
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    Nov 20, 2003
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    Yes, there are a variety of ways to run Windows on a Mac.

    I used the free VM solution and loaded XP from an old disc.

    You might want to test out the possibilities on Jennie's Mac first.

    It can be a little clunky to set up, but it's do-able.

    Or, let me say, I installed it just in case, but never ever use it.

    Matt
     
  6. Innovativethinker

    Innovativethinker F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Aug 8, 2009
    8,601
    So Cal
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    Mark Smith
    "I have bought Dell laptops for years, usually their highest end computer."

    ^ That is an oxymoron
     
  7. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
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    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
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    You can run Adobe products and MS Office on Mac OS without problems?
     
  8. zygomatic

    zygomatic F1 Rookie
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    Jun 19, 2008
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    Chris

    Yes. Office may "feel" a little different, but you can run it a-okay. Adobe works really well on the Mac.
     
  9. Gran Drewismo

    Gran Drewismo F1 Rookie

    Jan 24, 2005
    3,778
    Idaho
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    Andrew
    As Smiles said above, there are several ways to run Windows on a Mac. If you want to keep Windows I would just run Bootcamp and install a copy of Windows. This gives you the best of both worlds: OS X and Windows.

    Some random thoughts:

    At work we run MacBook Pros with Windows and I think it makes one of the better Windows laptops around. The packaging is nice(power adapter is not cumbersome), battery life is good, lighted keyboard a plus. Reasonably powerful hardware. Apple Support is good. Basically when it breaks, take it to the store and tell them to fix it.
     
  10. opencollector

    opencollector Formula Junior

    Feb 1, 2005
    424
    CA Central Coast
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    Thomas
    The latest Retina MacBook Pro is only 51 days old as of this writing, so MacRumors recommends not waiting.
     
  11. bball16

    bball16 F1 Rookie
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    Dec 2, 2011
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    Just bought my daughter a MacBook yesterday for med school. She loves it. She was instantly able to download Office on to it and it's running great. When my Dell finally breathes it's last breath I will switch too.
     
  12. Ricambi America

    Ricambi America F1 World Champ
    Sponsor Owner

    Macbook Air. Never been happier, and never really wanted to go back to PC's (after a 20+ year relationship!)
     
  13. yoda

    yoda F1 Rookie

    Sep 27, 2004
    2,598
    UT
    My last Macbook Pro had some issues. First the hinges loosened which resulted in two broken hinge screws. Later I had the green vertical line on the display. A few months later the monitor completely died out. The battery wouldn't hold a full charge after less than a year and the AC adapter shorted out in less than two years. I had a Windows partition setup that would blue screen fairly often. The single mouse button drives me bonkers.

    For the same price I could've bought two or three comparable PC laptops. And as someone who works in IT there are limitations for Macs in a larger network environment. I'm not saying they're junk, myself and my coworkers all use Macs but I wouldn't buy one with my personal money. But it's like Ford vs. Chevy, they both build decent cars these days, but you'll find the occasional lemon and it really boils down to personal preference.
     
  14. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    Aug 19, 2002
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    Rob,you sound like you've talked yourself into making the switch
    It took me years but I finally bought a MacBook 13" Air several yrs ago and am still glad I made the jump.
    Still have 2 PC's but the Air is my everyday 'puter.
    Having an IPhone & Ipad just makes everything seamless for me
    With your other Apple products,you'll enjoy everything working together
     
  15. photonut

    photonut F1 Rookie
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    Nov 16, 2007
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    rob:
    you will love the mac.
    if this is your first apple computer, i recommend getting apple care.
    this will give you 3 years of tech support.
    apple tech support is superb!
     
  16. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    +1
     
  17. mdoan300

    mdoan300 Karting

    Nov 14, 2003
    231
    North Texas
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    Michael
    I'm running Windows 8.1 on my MBP via Bootcamp. If you follow the Bootcamp instructions, then it's super easy.

    I used to run Windows in a VM with VMWare Fusion, but found no need to since I'm never in OS X.
     
  18. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

    Dec 4, 2004
    14,244
    My Lenovo laptop has been great (model G580). Only $390 so I don't even care much if I drop it as I can easily replace it. Windows 8 runs well and no problems getting the software I want working on the computer. With the money saved on the laptop purchase, I had enough to buy an unlocked no-contract Google Nexus 5 (16gb) phone that can probably do just as much as any laptop and still cost less with the two devices combined than a Mac.
     
  19. hank sound

    hank sound F1 Veteran

    Jan 31, 2004
    5,953
    Burbank, CA
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    Hank Garfield
    Hi Rob,

    You're an emotional kind of guy. You've got soul - right? So bring this, your first Mac into the family, and you'll think "jeez, it's like buying my first Ferrari!".

    OK ......... maybe not at that level, but it is really "cool" !!! You'll see :):)

    Cheers,

    Hank
     
  20. SCFerrari

    SCFerrari F1 Rookie
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    Jun 30, 2013
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    Rob
    I had dell for years and once I switched to Mac , I started switching my whole company over (still in transittion)

    My only advise is to not put office or any windows products on it- you essentially screw up a good thing with bad overlays - I've tried it. Mac has great native program solutions- pages instead of word- numbers instead of excel- keynote for power point , and last by most important, imail instead of outlook- I hates outlook on apple because it slowed everything down so much- their native email program that comes loaded works fine.

    Once you get used to it, it's much better than PC. Everyone I know who has switched agrees. Good luck,

    Rob
     
  21. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
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    Nov 20, 2003
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    Keynote is superior to Power Point. But now some online solutions like Prezi are even better.

    iMovie is great. Garage Band is great. iPhoto's light and maneuverable. All of that for stuff that comes free with the computer.

    Matt
     
  22. drgek

    drgek Formula 3

    Jun 21, 2004
    1,142
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    Gary
    Recommend Parallels over boot camp. For about $80 it allows you to go back and forth between environments without rebooting. Works great.
     
  23. Fast_ian

    Fast_ian Two Time F1 World Champ

    Sep 25, 2006
    23,397
    Campbell, CA
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    Ian Anderson
    Or VMware Fusion or even the free one who's name eludes me right now. They're keeping each other honest and are all good solutions.

    I agree that rebooting between the two gets old in a hurry. The vm's have come a long way in the past few years. Having said that, as others have noted, I suspect you'll find yourself never using it - Native solutions to just about everything these days.

    Make the switch, you won't be disappointed!

    Cheers,
    Ian
     
  24. SamuliS

    SamuliS Formula Junior

    Aug 23, 2008
    336
    Finland, Helsinki
    Full Name:
    Samuli S
    Switched to Apple some 8 years ago when I grew tired to fight with Windows after spending too much for hardware to make it run. First day with Apple I cheered out loud of happiness of computer that finally did everything I had hope'd it to do. Even at worst time with Apple I havent had as many problems in 6 months that you have everyday ;)

    On daily life it takes few days, maybe a week to get used to use it. Every keyboard shortcut you are used in Windows platform work, instead of CTRL+key you use cmd+key, DELETE is cmd+backspace and so on.. Make sure you have top spec'd MBP with enough memory and you will be fine.

    Now on my fourth Apple laptop, I've had some issues in past years, but still it wins hands down in every way and applecare really works well when I have had issues.

    Cheers
    Samuli
     
  25. Thomas Magnum

    Thomas Magnum F1 Veteran
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    Feb 24, 2013
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    #25 Thomas Magnum, Dec 28, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Once you go Mac, you never go back! Very satisfied customer now for over nine years. Two MacBooks, an iMac, iphones, ipads, etc. The difference is night and day.
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