Buying MacBook Pro makes sense?

cyberboy_varad

cyberboy_varad

Disciple
Hi Guys,

My desktop is already near to Apocalypse. I've already worked enough with desktop and so I'm thinking to switch over a notebook.

What's your Budget?

60k-70k

What will be your primary usage for the notebook be?

Blogging, Surfing, 24/7 Downloading, Movies at 1080p via HDMI to LED, Photoshop, Other productivity work.

What size and weight considerations do you have?

13"

Any brand that you prefer, or any brand that you detest?

Apple MacBook Pro

Any other considerations?

Decent battery life, portable.

On Windows I faced lots of virus problems which even ended up loosing my data. I'm completely fed up with the monthly formatting and that is the reason I'm switching to Mac OS X.

I'm totally new to the OS. Don't know much about it. I will need time to learn about the new user interface. What do you think, is it a right buy for me? Also I'll be buying it in May after the refreshed versions with Ivy Bridge comes out.

Since I have decent budget. Should I splurge it on MacBook or get a Windows Based Laptop?
 
Yes! Since I'll be buying it in May-June. Surely I'll get the Ivy Bridge powered model. BTW, will Ivy Bridge bring considerable increase in the performance?
 
Since playing games is not one of your requirements & you are fedup with windows, Macbook Pro makes perfect sense, if you can ignore the higher price tag.

so, I would say go for it now or wait some time for ivvy refresh
 
No point waiting for ivy. No point except you game ESP using the onboard 4000 chipset intel. SB is nearly as good, a new chip launches every year, you can't wait 2-3 months for a little better performance. Had it been haswell I would have said the same but not for ivy
 
Even if I don't consider Ivy, reports say the new MBP will have slim profile like MacBook Air. This is the reason for my wait. So does that mean Ivy will bring increase in the performance only for gaming?

And also once the MBP's are refreshed, when will they reach Indian shores?
 
Either now or after the new model comes out, have you considered the Air? It's so very fast because of the SSD.

BTW, when buying you can PM me - might be able to point you towards a discount.
 
@rite: since I'll be using Photoshop stuff on that, Ivy will pour cheese on the performance due to its GPU capabilities.

@mehrotra.akash: I'll not consider Thinkpad here, though its decent, it is powered by Windows.

@deepakvrao: Yes, I did consider Air initially but after looking at my Photoshop use, I think Air will have to struggle with its GPU. SSD wise, I'm planning to replace the HDD of MBP with a 128GB SSD.
 
cyberboy_varad said:
@mehrotra.akash: I'll not consider Thinkpad here, though its decent, it is powered by Windows.
Click to expand...

It seems like you have made up your mind. Go for a MBP 13 and replace the HDD with a SSD as you were planning. Don't bother waiting for Ivy, there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the dual-core Ivys, plus Apple traditionally releases new laptops a couple of months after rest of the world. Not to mention Intel's relationship with Apple is in shambles, so it could be even later than usual. As for Ivy's "GPU capabilities", it has been re-architected for DirectX 11 which is a moot point as OS X does not feature DirectX at all. Speaking of which, much of Photoshop's GPU acceleration is due to DirectX Shader Model 3.0, which won't kick in for OS X. Some other effects will default to OpenGL 2 but on OS X Photoshop CS5 is a largely CPU driven affair. Before jumping in to OS X, take some time to research the restrictions and limitations versus Windows or Linux from unbiased and informed sources - as there's a hell of a lot of them (limitations, I mean, quite the opposite for sources). But should be fine for your usage.
 
Sub said:
It seems like you have made up your mind. Go for a MBP 13 and replace the HDD with a SSD as you were planning. Don't bother waiting for Ivy, there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the dual-core Ivys, plus Apple traditionally releases new laptops a couple of months after rest of the world. Not to mention Intel's relationship with Apple is in shambles, so it could be even later than usual. As for Ivy's "GPU capabilities", it has been re-architected for DirectX 11 which is a moot point as OS X does not feature DirectX at all. Speaking of which, much of Photoshop's GPU acceleration is due to DirectX Shader Model 3.0, which won't kick in for OS X. Some other effects will default to OpenGL 2 but on OS X Photoshop CS5 is a largely CPU driven affair. Before jumping in to OS X, take some time to research the restrictions and limitations versus Windows or Linux from unbiased and informed sources - as there's a hell of a lot of them (limitations, I mean, quite the opposite for sources). But should be fine for your usage.
Click to expand...

I had a deep comparison between Mac OS X Lion and Windows 7. From the research I'm on the following verdict. Mac OS X is better than Windows in following departments,

Interface

Multi-touch and Navigation

Search features

Multimedia

Security

Backup

Quality

Where as Windows 7 wins with,

Multitasking

Web browsing

Gaming

Application support

With this, I'm impressed with the Mac OS X, but low application count/paid apps is still making me worry. Are there any cracked solutions available? like Windows.

Gaming isn't mainstream, that's because I own a PS3!

Even I had talk with some Mac users who claim that they are really happy with their Mac. Now I need a honest opinion in my case, whether should I stay back on Windows or switch to Mac?

Also about the Ivy Bridge, I'll be getting my MBP after my exams, that's after May. So I gradually I'll get the new Mac's available in the market. Also if Apple eliminates the optical drive, MacBook Pro will have a thin profile that makes it portable.
 
cyberboy_varad said:
I had a deep comparison between Mac OS X Lion and Windows 7. From the research I'm on the following verdict. Mac OS X is better than Windows in following departments,

Interface

Multi-touch and Navigation

Search features

Multimedia

Security

Backup

Quality

Where as Windows 7 wins with,

Multitasking

Web browsing

Gaming

Application support
Click to expand...

Without making this another OS X vs Windows thread, just some personal opinion on your research to clear up some misconceptions. Interface is completely subjective but in general the interfaces are very similar, with some minor quirks. Lion has an edge on multi-touch, but all of it can be emulated on Windows 7 with the latest touchpad drivers. Search, pretty much neck and neck. Windows 7's indexing is slightly faster, but again, very minor differences. The start menu search works just as well as Spotlight. Multimedia - Windows 7 wins hands down. It's an absolute no contest. One of my major gripes about OS X is the horrible GDI, the lack of a single good video renderer and no GPU acceleration. On Windows you have MPC-HC, EVR, MadVR, DXVA, AVISynth, dozens of players and filters, etc. which makes video a far superior experience. On OS X the best player is VLC which sucks, quite frankly, thanks to its archaic renderer, walled in decoders and constant gamma shifts. But it depends on how much of an enthusiast you are. I work in the film industry so I am anal about video quality. OS X can play all your videos and music fine for sure - just Windows will do it much, much better. Oh, and did I mentioned OS X's GDI is locked down to 8-bit? If you have a 10-bit monitor/HDTV, don't look at OS X. Security - once again, Windows 7 is far more secure than OS X. Like a hacker once put, Windows is like living inside a well guarded prison in the middle of a war torn nation while OS X is like living in an open country with no locks. What that means is the only reason OS X is perceived to be more secure is simply because it is much less attacked due to its low market share. But if someone wanted to exploit your computer, OS X and Safari are easy pickings and always the first to fall in hacking competitions. This is also why OS X is banned from many networked workplaces. Backup - functionally identical but Lion has a much cooler interface in Time Machine. Quality - not sure what this means? On Windows 7 front - don't see how web browsing is an advantage, and multitasking is again subjective. I know people who feel OS X / Launch Control is slightly easier to multitask with (I disagree, it can't get easier than Win+#). There's a massive, massive list of things Windows can do that OS X can't but I feel many of it won't be relevant for your purposes.

In the end, it is up to you. For your usage, this is what Windows will do better - Movies, Photoshop. What both will do just as well - Blogging, surfing, downloading. What OS X will get you is a new experience and a change as it is clear you are tired of Windows. I would have recommended Ubuntu or Linux Mint but you won't get Photoshop natively.
 
For your purpose a MBP with a ssd will be the best option.

DO NOT get into the Mac vs.Windows thing...it is basically a nonsense debate.

Go,get a Mac,you won't regret it.

Only problem is that,you will hate most Windows laptops(not Windows)for the rest of your life.

Windows 7 is decent enough,but the Windows laptop manufacturers simply do not know how to make a good worry free machine.

You will not find a single decent lightweight Windows laptop in 60-70k.

Most are either so called gaming machines,ugly...heavy...below average screen with extremely poor build quality.Or Thinkpad or latitude like thick and heavy.

Windows ultra books are even worse...as useless as Android tablets.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
For all those ranting on ivy, not only it will bring HD4000 (a great improvement over HD3000), but it will also noticeably lower the TDP, which will result in more efficient notebooks with longer battery back ups. #cyberboy_varad IMO you must wait for Ivy.
 
I have a few suggestions to make:

> The battery life on MBP even the sandy bridge powered one is very good to excellent. For a general purpose notebook for internet usage like blogging,youtubing etc nothing comes close to it. Also that touchpad... Once you use it all others start looking like shrunken jittery ones..

But If you are also using boot camp then the battery life will take a hit when running windows...

>The thing(MBP 13") is heavy. The specs may say 2 Kg but do check it out in a store before you commit . All that metals does feel good and screen and speakers are excellent,But if you are looking for something mobile that you are going around to lug everyday then every gram counts..

What I will suggest is either get the Air or wait for the nex gen Mbook Pro. Anyways its a win win situation unless you want a notebook right now../.
 
Get an MBP and have both Mac OS and Windows on it and use whichever one you want. As far as laptops/portables are concerned, MBP's have in general better build quality than the competition and definitely worth the price. Do note however that the internal hardware itself is standard stuff and comparable to any Dell or HP and made on the cheap in Chinese factories just like the others. The external build quality is still enough to make it a worthwhile purchase.

The OS itself is a different matter altogether. Mac OS is no longer the OS that it used to be. From being a OS preferred by professionals (graphics, page layout etc) , it has become a OS used by novice users with most sane enterprises starting to ditch Mac OS for Windows. As far as I am concerned, Mac OS X Panther is the last decent Mac OS version. The newest Mac OS versions work alright only when they are fresh out of the box, make a developer/professional/power user kind of setup out of it and the OS is no longer stable. The last BSOD I encountered on Windows was in 2004 and was caused by a hardware issue. On the other side however, after I started using Tiger on my iMac at work, it used to hang/crash every day. Also critical apps like Finder used to crash on a regular basis. Boot up used to take 5~7min. Mind you this was not a out of the box setup however as it was configured similar to what a page layout professionals setup is like. I have a Windows setup on the same iMac configured in a similar and it used to perform considerably better and much more stable. Even if windows used to slow down sometimes, it at least never crashed on me or required me to to do a hard reset like Mac OS used to do.

Since you are novice user yourself, all this shouldn't matter to you, so as I said get yourself an MBP and you can use whichever OS you prefer.
 
cyberboy_varad said:
What will be your primary usage for the notebook be?

Blogging, Surfing, 24/7 Downloading, Movies at 1080p via HDMI to LED, Photoshop, Other productivity work.
Click to expand...

1. 24/7 Downloading - Good luck keeping the MBP on 24/7. Those things heat up mad mad when the lid is shut and if used 24/7. Your battery will also die out pretty fast

2. There is no HDMI - Using MiniDisplay to HDMI will only transfer the Picture. NO AUDIO!

I am sorta in the same boat as you. Have started detesting PC Laptops. Unfortunately so far this (MBP) seems like the only alternative.
 
dafreaking said:
1. 24/7 Downloading - Good luck keeping the MBP on 24/7. Those things heat up mad mad when the lid is shut and if used 24/7. Your battery will also die out pretty fast

2. There is no HDMI - Using MiniDisplay to HDMI will only transfer the Picture. NO AUDIO!

I am sorta in the same boat as you. Have started detesting PC Laptops. Unfortunately so far this (MBP) seems like the only alternative.
Click to expand...

The newer MBPs and MBAs support sound thru the mDP. You need the right adapter.

http://support.apple...iewlocale=en_US
 
Back
Top