I wanna get a mac but want some advice...

[NBT]

I'v been wanting to get a mac for ages for many reasons, but the price has always put me off. Obviously laptops are great for there portability which is what I want but the down side is that once it is out dated you can't upgrade it like you can with desktop PC's. The thing is you can spend up to £2500 on a 15" macbook pro and I don't have that kind of a budget.

I suppose I wanted to know if there was any point in getting 8gb (extra £450!) ram or just stick with the 4 as standard.

Also processor size, obviously the bigger the processor the more it can handle obviously its going add to the cost. i just don't wanna fork out and then in 2 years time need a new one coz the software that is out will be too advanced.

Any advice will be great!

[Jack Bastard]

Lesson 1 - Never buy RAM from Apple.

Lesson 2 - Unless we have a revolution in processors and applications to run on them over the next couple of years practically anything from the last 5 years will be good enough for years to come.

 

[Tekton]

Lesson 1 - Never buy RAM from Apple.
 

 

Also macs ain't all that. i got a macmini top spec two years old and i have nothing but problems with it, ie usb inputs not working, soundcard dying for weeks then deciding to work for three hours etc etc

you may be better off getting a top end PC.

[Clemence]

ive had my mac for two years and it works like a charm still, and i can see myself using it with no problems for at least another two years (touch wood nothing gets spilt on it etc)

ive only had one problem where a design i was workin on got a bit out of hand and my RAM couldnt handle it... but ive been wantin to stick another 2 gig in my laptop for ages and i should... oh yeah and my hard drive is gettin a little full

[Tekton]

ive had my mac for two years and it works like a charm still, and i can see myself using it with no problems for at least another two years (touch wood nothing gets spilt on it etc)

lucky sod! mines been free of spills etc as well but still is a clunky old twat of a machine, wouldn't be suprised if they where a bit lazier which the minis than the books tbh, ones not really made to be lugged about after all..

[powercut]

4Gb should be fine for now. Upgrade to 8Gb as and when you need to and get your memory from somewhere like www.crucial.com and not from Apple

[Powdermonkey / [sic]]

If money's an issue, why not try this:

http://www.hijackbristol.co.uk/board/the-forum/i-got-me-a-diddy-macbook-for-under-200!/

[Kraymon]

my macbook pro is over 2 years old and its not even showing signs of aging.   shes such a hot little bitch

(it was the low end processor at the time but I bumped up the rammage. that sounds rude)

[Clemence]

lucky sod! mines been free of spills etc as well but still is a clunky old twat of a machine, wouldn't be suprised if they where a bit lazier which the minis than the books tbh, ones not really made to be lugged about after all..

mines even had a spillage on it (luckily it was only bong water and it dried off), i suppose mac minis are the cheapest macs though (but still pricey!)

[Big Linger Styles]

my macbook pro is over 2 years old and its not even showing signs of aging.   shes such a hot little bitch

(it was the low end processor at the time but I bumped up the rammage. that sounds rude)

 
Mine's nearly two years old (it's the better looking metal one  , as opposed to the new rank black-keyed ones).
I've rammed mine out to 4gb, and it's still sexual as ever. Can't see the need to get a new one of at least another 3 years IMO.

[Kraymon]

my macbook pro is over 2 years old and its not even showing signs of aging.   shes such a hot little bitch

(it was the low end processor at the time but I bumped up the rammage. that sounds rude)

 
Mine's nearly two years old (it's the better looking metal one  , as opposed to the new rank black-keyed ones).
I've rammed mine out to 4gb, and it's still sexual as ever. Can't see the need to get a new one of at least another 3 years IMO.

what are you talking about ?! I love her black keys, her curves.... you massive racist.

[Clemence]

it's the better looking metal one  , as opposed to the new rank black-keyed ones

what!? the new ones are frickin hawt!!!

if they had the 13 inch mac book pros when i was mac purchasin i probs woulda saved a little longer and got that instead of the macbook (although the new macbooks are v nice)

[Big Linger Styles]

No no no! The new ones look like Fisherprice Type n Talk (probably.....)

I like the clean lines, the industrial metallic look, plus the keys on the new ones are spaced apart which makes them look weird.

[Alan Bench]

They are just about to refresh the Macbook Pro line entirely and introduce new processors so hold off for a couple of weeks if you can. Keep checking www.macrumors.com

My advice would be to get a low-end Macbook/Macbook Pro, bump the RAM up and then buy an external monitor (27" for 150 quid or something) with an external keyboard / mouse so you can use it as a desktop at home. You effectively get dual monitors then as well (I run my Windows 7 applications in Parallels on my laptop).

I have a 13" Macbook Pro with 4GB of RAM set up like this and it's ideal because I get the best of both worlds. A Mac will last you for YEARS if you treat it right and also keeps most of its re-sale value so it's a good investment.

Yeah, don't buy RAM from Apple either - it's much cheaper elsewhere.  

[Clemence]

They are just about to refresh the Macbook Pro line entirely and introduce new processors so hold off for a couple of weeks if you can. Keep checking www.macrumors.com

doh, my mates gonna feel like a fool... he just got a macbook pro on insurance for his mac book (with some extra dinero) when it got beer spilt on it

[Ewan Hoozami]

My processor is the 2g one and it's fine - it freaks out when you pump through more than about 30 channels (!) which one of my tracks has, but I have no complaints at all.

[★]

Drop me a text, ill hit you up with where i got my mac from, with loads of software for a fraction of the price of having it direct from apple. 

[Android Lloyd Webber]

Had my G4 powerbook for 6 years and it's still going strong (despite me having dropped it repeatedly). It's starting to show some signs of ageing (operationally - physically it's been showing them for a while. Signs of being dropped, at least) but I reckon I'll get a good couple more years out of it before I have to get a new one.

It is built like a brick. Don't think the build quality has been quite as hardcore since they changed to intel processors, but if it's half as good as the old powerbooks, it'll be good.

[Kraymon]

Yeah, don't buy RAM from Apple either - it's much cheaper elsewhere.  

if you install it yourself does it mess up warenty shizzle?  I got my ram upgrade when I got the machine and because it had a student discount on it all it wasnt that much.

[powercut]

Yeah, don't buy RAM from Apple either - it's much cheaper elsewhere. 

if you install it yourself does it mess up warenty shizzle?  I got my ram upgrade when I got the machine and because it had a student discount on it all it wasnt that much.

no it doesn't invalidate your warranty and it's easy to do

[miss baggy]

I've got one of the Black Macbooks ... I use it all day every day- from the minute I wake up to the moment I go to bed...  had it since 2006 and its still going strong.

 

[Clemence]

wish i had a black one... i bought the top white one when i bought mine, just couldnt afford a black one...

[miss baggy]

wish i had a black one... i bought the top white one when i bought mine, just couldnt afford a black one...

It was about £20 more as far as i remember?

[Fire!!]

If your on a budget, the mac mini isnt a bad way to go - i bought one of the first models and ran Logic Studio on it for years, yes it was a bit slow but the new ones are kitted right up.

It still runs fine after over 4.5 years. I dont use it for music anymore, just design work. I got bad man tower now. 

Each to his own though man. I dont think you'd regret buying a mac, whatever model you get.

[Kraymon]

Yeah, don't buy RAM from Apple either - it's much cheaper elsewhere. 

if you install it yourself does it mess up warenty shizzle?  I got my ram upgrade when I got the machine and because it had a student discount on it all it wasnt that much.

no it doesn't invalidate your warranty and it's easy to do

cool good to know. ive got 4 mega bitches so I think ill be OK for a while

[Clemence]

wish i had a black one... i bought the top white one when i bought mine, just couldnt afford a black one...

It was about £20 more as far as i remember?

surely not... i could afford £20... maybe in 2006 that was the case but there was quite a significant difference between the top white to the black... at least £150

i bought my macbook on the last round of macbooks where the black one was an available option

pretty much exactly 2 years and 1 week ago