OK Fanboys : Convince me!
I've been hesitating with this, but I think I'm just about ready to make the switch. I'm at a point where the "old way" of doing things have gotten REAL old and where I honestly think that change will be for the better.So what am I talking about here?
Well ... In my flat, I have a room dedicated to being the "home office". At the moment, it holds TONS of old and outdated computers that are rarely used for anything serious anymore, simply because they are too old. All in all, they number SE7EN, none of them "capable" of modern day computing. They are part of an intricate setup of switches, cables, keyboards, mice and HUUUUUGE CRT Monitors, taking up all the desk-space and leaving the room cluttered and Feng Shitty!
I can't take it anymore!
So I've made the decision to throw it all in the bin (minus the data of course) and replace it with something new ... or newer ... or fairly recent ... well, you get the picture.
And since my daytime job is full of IBM laptops running XP, my girlfriends home is litterede with (kids and) XP-based laptops, and my personal "location-shifting" unit - a Lenovo S10e netbook - also runs XP ...
I think I want a MAC!
I DO however NEED it to run windows to some extent, and I would LIKE it to be able to run gOS, Ubuntu and allsorts of things that might pop up - albeit not necessarily natively of course.
I also need it to be able to control my Roland JX-305 keyboard through MIDI. Would Garageband be enough for that?
And of course, I want to run Notes 8.5.x :-)
What Mac do I want? iMac, Mac Pro, Macbook, Macbook Pro, Mac Mini? (Probably a Macbook)
What's included? Do I want/need iWork09? Aperture?
Help!
If you're out there, and you have made a similar transition recently. Give me the heads up!
After all ... you're a fanboy ... you want me to become a fanboy too, don't you?! ;-)
Apple Macbook switch September 24th, 2009
10 Comments
1. Andreas Imnitzer | 9/24/2009 5:59:51 AM
Here I use an iMac 24" wide, which is fine to work with garageband, of course. My keyboard is a simple MIDI to control Garageband. Don't know what you would like to use your roland for, but somebody out here will.
Of course, I do Domino Development using VMWare Fusion on the mac, running Windows and Ubuntu, so testing webapps on different platforms is easy.
Take as much RAM as you can.
Whether to take a desktop machine or a laptop, depends on you. I use the same desktop in my home office and one in my official office.
Join us.
Andreas
2. David Leedy | 9/24/2009 6:56:03 AM
Macs are great. I run several at home and with the extended family now.
The come with iLife which has iPhoto in it. Give that a good look before you buy Aperture. I have both and have not dug into either really. Aperture is great because of it's ability to work with Raw files and the non destructive editing. I just haven't figurered out how to best organize the pictures. iPhoto makes it easy because everything goes into "Events" by date. I really wish Aperture did that.
Get as much RAM as you can - But not really from Apple. Ram is easy to add and 3rd party is cheaper. I love that you can go up to 8 Gigs. Very handy especially when running VM's. I might sell a macbook pro 17inch that can only go to 3 gigs because of this.
You say in the post "probably a Macbook". You really don't want that one. That's the old plastic white one. except for that one they're all called Macbook Pros 13 inch, 15, and 17.
How portable do you want to be? If you need a laptop then you just need to zero in on screen size and price. If you want two FULL monitors then an iMac is a really nice unit. the MacPro allows you to add addition video cards and hard drives.
If you like symphony, then you really don't need iWork. I get it because I use KeyNote for my screencasts. Love KeyNote!
Of course you need fusion or paralles for designer. If only there was a native mac Designer. I wouldn't run windows at all!! Either should let you run almost any OS. There's also bootcamp...
I don't know anything about MIDI.... I LOVE the thin keyboards but don't like the wireless one since it doesn't have a numeric keypad...
I made the transition for me, and my wife and father a couple of years ago. By FAR it was one of the best computer moves I've ever made.
3. Ed Maloney | 9/24/2009 8:04:54 AM
I use a Mac Mini with VMWare Fusion at home. I find that I almost never use Windows at home now. The only thing you need it for is Domino Designer, which I use my work supplied Thinkpad for.
Once you go Mac, you don't go back!
4. Henning Heinz | 9/24/2009 8:27:58 AM
I use a Macbook Pro 15 ". It runs well using OSX but imho it sucks as a Windows machine (native mode with Bootcamp).
If I would have to run Windows I would definetely prefer something like a Dell XPS (and it can handle OSX too).
For OSX the Pro works quite well. I really love the keyboard and am a bit disappointed that the USB version that I bought has no backlight support. The screen is just beautiful. I replaced the slow harddisk with a nice SSD and upgraded the RAM to 4 GB. This makes it an extremely expansive adventure but it is really fun using Mac OSX Snow Leopard).
5. Keith Nolen | 9/24/2009 11:03:19 AM
Like Henning, I use a 15" Macbook Pro. I have 4 GB RAM and the 350 Gb hard disk, which is more than adequate. I use Parallels to run Windows XP and Server 2003 and have no complaints. Can't speak to Linux or MIDI as I don't use those. Like everyone else, I recommend getting as much memory as possible.
One of my favorite things about the Mac is the keyboard. At home I connect it to a KVM to use it with my external monitor/mouse/kbd, and I find myself hesitating to plug it in because I like the keyboard so much. I can say the same about the screen - nothing compares to Mac screens.
You'll definitley like the new iLife - the face recognition feature in iPhoto is awesome. I doubt you'll need iWork, as Lotus Symphony is IMHO a better productivity package.
If you'd like to save a buck, look at Apple's refurbished machines. They offer the exact same warranty and service as the new ones and take 10-20% off the price. I've purchased two Macs this way and never had a problem.
6. Jason Hook | 9/24/2009 11:31:33 AM
I made the transition a while ago.
MacBook 2.2 4gb RAM 320GB Disk (I upgraded the RAM and Disk myself using 3rd party stuff)
Biggest piece of frustration? Adapting to a new keyboard and some changes to shortcuts. I miss the disk light on Windows machines.
I use GarageBand, Cubase 4 and Guitar Rig 3 have an external keyboard via a usb midi/audio capture thingy. The MB does a reasonable job I sometimes get a drop out or two using GR3 but I suspect that's more to do with the way I'm monitoring.
Generally software for the Mac seems cheaper and more fun to use. iLife is a fantastic bundle and iwork is good value for money. VM Ware fusion is cheap and pretty good I have a license for Parallels but don't use it so can't compare.
I like OSX love the machine going to sleep and waking up reliably with the opening and closing of the lid. Setting the Mac up in the first place is a doddle. I don't like the return to the Apple store for repairs and be without a computer nature of hardware faults. I hate Vista but am encouraged by Windows 7. Won't be changing back to Windows any time soon though.
My advice would be to go to the mac store and play with one for a while, the stores often have midi keyboards. Apple have been very good and making people want their stuff, but ultimately you are the best judge of whether their stuff is right for you.
Don't forget to factor in the cost of Applecare, I wish that were included in the price. Hope that helps if you have any specific questions ask away...
7. Vince Schuurman | 9/24/2009 1:36:22 PM
I own a 17" Pro and half of an MBA (it's stuck trying to reinstall OS X :().
My biggest issue is that if you run the Notes basic client on both OS X and Parallels or VMWare, it get's very sluggish.
Shut down native Notes before running it in a VM and it still isn't fast (but then again it is not fast on XP either).
Keynote is nice, but I hardly ever use the other iWorks components.
All and all if you have to use a VM all day (designer client) there isn't that much advantage using a Mac (for me) except for their outstanding hardware.
8. Lars Olufsen | 9/27/2009 2:00:40 PM
Thanks guys.
It looks like I will target something like the 15" Macbook Pro with 4Gb of memory and a decent sized harddrive.
The included iLife might be enough for starters anyway, and VMWare or Parallels for running alternative OS'es.
Notes and Symphony for productivity was almost a given, except that Keynote seems to be a very cool tool.
I don't think you can get refurbished Apple stuff in Denmark. Does one dare look at second hand?
Would I get any problems buying one in the US, except for the obvious power plug issue?
And is Applecare really needed?
9. Lars Olufsen | 9/27/2009 2:15:20 PM
DOH! Moment. Buying one in the US would of course lose me the danish keyboard:
10. JasonHook | 10/1/2009 10:27:23 AM
I would recommend Applecare unless you can afford to spend close to what the laptop might cost should the logic (mother-)board, for example, go in the 2nd or 3rd year of ownership.
Someone told me that Dell make you pay more for a 3 year warranty now. If that's true then I will have to stop arguing that Applecare should be included.
Chances are you won't need it but it's insurance and peace of mind (and can be bought on ebay for nice prices go look but be careful).
Also I have just upgraded (thanks to a very kind friend) to a MBP from a 13" MB. Migrating ALLl my applications and data was as easy as starting migration assistant on both and typing "676434" on my old MB and waiting. Imagine that on Windows :-)