Thinking about a new MacBook Pro

[Gasp100]

For my wife as a gift for her 40th. I have a number of things for her already, but she definitely needs a new machine when she works from home and for travel (possibly). I'm a Windows guy (I make my living at it) but of course realize Apple makes great products (I LOVE my iPad and so does the rest of the family!).
It is a LOT of scratch to spend on a machine but I know she has been interested in getting one for a while. Because it would be a gift I don't want to cheese out with something less than ideal.
I suppose these don't come with Office prepackaged, right?
I know there are options to run W7 in a virtual machine so maybe I could look at doing that eventually, but it would be easier to run the core business user applications natively.
Is the apple care program a necessity? It's $350 on top of $1750 = ouch!
What are your thoughts on buying from someone on Amazon vs. direct from Apple or visiting the genius bar (lol...)? I see savings on average of $100-150 which makes it more palatable.
Any help appreciated!
I guess it would not hurt me to delve deeper into the MAC OS from a support / infrastructure standpoint as well and a couple of years down the road maybe she'll give it up so I can do recording on it ;)

[trickness]

Don't buy right now as they're about to update the line, probably within weeks.

Buy from Apple, it's part of the experience, makes the purchase feel better.

[Gasp100]

Don't buy right now as they're about to update the line, probably within weeks.

Buy from Apple, it's part of the experience, makes the purchase feel better.

Oh snap... ok, thanks for this information. Maybe an iPad 3 for her then? That is the latest and greatest right? This way me and the kids can tough it out on the iPad 1 and she can have the 3 all to herself. The things is I know she will see that as a little wasteful... but to be honest, there are many times where one of us is on it and the other would like to use it (usually me wanting to check TGP ;)

What is the new version bringing to the table? I don't think Intel has released anything beyond the i7 right?
Do you think the current (soon to be old) version will drop in price?

[Mike9]

If you buy it from Apple either wait to purchase Apple Care as it goes into effect when you register it, or buy it and don't activate it till the first year is almost up. You get a years warranty so why throw it away? I learned that one the hard way. :aok

[Gasp100]

If you buy it wait to purchase Apple Care as it goes into effect when you register it. You get a years warranty so why throw it away? I learned that one the hard way. You can get Apple Care any time as long as the mfgr's warranty is in effect. Just don't forget to buy it - :aok

Good point. I will create a tickler for myself once I make purchase.

[Peteyvee]

Office 2011 for Mac is either $79 or $99 and it works exactly like regular office. No need to install windows unless she wants to. I didn't. ;)

And I thought the new machines weren't coming out until they release OSX10.8 in July or whenever. I have the latest one and it's a great machine. Don't buy the Apple RAM upgrade for $200 either. They use Samsung RAM and you can get 8GB for $44 on Amazon. A jewelers screwdriver and 5 minutes and you saved $150...

[doublea]

Intel just released the new Ivy Bridge processors yesterday. I'd wait until the MacBook Pro line refreshes. It's right around the corner.

[coreybox]

If you buy it from Apple either wait to purchase Apple Care as it goes into effect when you register it, or buy it and don't activate it till the first year is almost up. You get a years warranty so why throw it away? I learned that one the hard way. :aok

I don't believe that's true.

It extends the warranty "up to three years from your computer’s original purchase date". It is available to buy anytime in the first year (while your computer is still under the factory warranty).

It's worth it if you have a problem, only because apple charges crazy fees for repairs.

[Peteyvee]

I don't believe that's true.

It extends the warranty "up to three years from your computer’s original purchase date". It is available to buy anytime in the first year (while your computer is still under the factory warranty).That's my understanding too. I still have 10 months, so I'll wait a little while. The 2TB Time Capsule was a much better immediate use of my $300...

[beorn]

I suggest you do NOT buy from Apple. "The experience" you get is next to nothing, but you will definitely pay sales tax you won't pay from Amazon or other places that aren't doing business in your state. Which will be hundreds of dollars.

Do wait for the new line. The current line will be discounted.

You're right you can't get Office preinstalled, but you can get OpenOffice for free, and it is in my experience a great, compatible solution, and a lot faster and more stable anyway.

Also, unless your wife is a file hoarder, get a solid-state drive. Way, way, way more reliable than a traditional drive, because there are no moving parts, and a hell of a lot faster, too -- well worth the higher price you pay per GB of storage.

If you get SSD, the #1 reason the MacBook might fail is pretty much eliminated at a stroke.

[Jahn]

yep if you're getting something just to access internet while the other is on the main computer, an ipad3 is just fine - since that just came out, you're fine with grabbing it now as far as production cycles are concerned. i got one for my wife and goodbye squabbles over who gets the computer!

[phillygtr]

I bought my MBP at Best Buy in Delaware a couple of years ago. I bought it as an 'open box' item. Perfect condition, not 'used', came with full warranty, plus they knocked $100 bucks off it. I went with Best Buys care plan because it covered accidental damage. I can drop this thing down the stairs and they will replace it no questions asked. Between paying no sales tax in Delaware and the $100 they took off I went ahead and bought the best care plan for it.

[BedroomRockStar01]

I purchased Apple Care and never had a need for it. 4 years now and mine still runs perfectly. The one thing that did break was outside of the warranty coverage, and they replaced it for free anyways. :D

I can't say it's a waste of money to buy it, but I probably won't purchase Apple Care again.

Also, unless you just want a brand new, top-of-the-line model, buy refurbished and save yourself some money. Apple does great refurbished stuff. Or buy elsewhere and save yourself sales tax, as others have stated.

[Blindspot]

Do NOT buy a Mac. You want a PC. Owners of PCs become experts in troubleshooting computers. It is like free training to become a computer consultant! :eek::worried:argue:p:boxer:D:Devil:noevil:bkw:FM:

:hide2

[RCCola]

Coincidentally, I just now priced a MBP to get for my new company. Was $1k more than my similarly equipped HP laptop...:eeks

[pir8matt]

I'd consider a Macbook Air over the pro. Insane battery life, light weight, and just damn cool to look at.

[DisasterArea]

Also, unless you just want a brand new, top-of-the-line model, buy refurbished and save yourself some money. Apple does great refurbished stuff. Or buy elsewhere and save yourself sales tax, as others have stated.

I actually just got a late 2011 MBP 15" with the high-res antiglare screen for a nice discount by buying refurbished. It comes in a white box rather than in the printed box but that's the only difference I can find. Buying from Apple will cost you sales tax, that's true. Upgrade the RAM yourself, and go ahead and put as much in there as you can stand. Any MBP with Thunderbolt will take 16GB but 8 should be enough for most folks.

No idea whether the MBP's will get Ivy Bridge this year, but I bet the iMacs will. They seem to be a little ahead of the MBPs in terms of hardware refreshes. Ivy Bridge would be nice but I'm fine with a quad-core i7 Sandy Bridge for a couple of years...

[Mike9]

I don't believe that's true.

It extends the warranty "up to three years from your computer’s original purchase date". It is available to buy anytime in the first year (while your computer is still under the factory warranty).

It's worth it if you have a problem, only because apple charges crazy fees for repairs.

I stand corrected - Apple says it's retroactive. However - a friend of mine bought his new imac from best buy and got four years of warranty out of them. I'll have to ask him about that.

[MGT]

I bought a MacBook Pro (13") last year and LOVE it. I'm a software developer and have the Mac, a Windows 7 laptop and use a Dell with Linux at work. Both Linux and OS X are way better than Windows (the same task runs slower on Windows).

I love the backlit keyboard, the feel of the keyboard, etc. as well. Both of my daughters (who are university students) have them and love them. My oldest has had hers for almost 4 years and hasn't had any problems whatsoever.

[Gasp100]

Let's see. My wife is NOT a power user by any means. She basically is looking for uber-comfortable, light weight, easy to type on and mouse entry, 15" screen (which sucks because the Air is cheaper and would be really cool). My daughter has my iPod Touch now and we sometimes use facetime to connect with my parents (who have the iPad 2). It would be cool when my wife travels to bring a laptop (if it's not heavy, bulky) and possibly facetime with the kids. She doesn't travel that often, once every two months or so.
Sandy bridge i7 as it is would be ridiculous firepower for what she needs - internet, working on projects in office (mainly for kids schoolwork) - I can probably get what I need from work in terms of office, Wifi of course, camera/pictures, iTunes. She already mentioned that her work VPN (I believe it's Cisco client that connects to a Citrix web based setup so everything is basically terminal services so nothing really local on the machine except for the shim that allows VPN and that is supposed on MAC as per her...). So in this case it really is a matter of form over function. I'm the geek in the family ;)
But I do hate thinking about investing in old tech. The thing is, her birthday is this weekend... and I don't think we will see Ivy Bridge Intel MBPro's for at least a couple of months. I would love to hand her a new MBPro on her birthday that has:
Office for MAC
iTunes and all of her music (including a ton of new DMB live recordings that I am sourcing for her right now)
All of our pictures from every source in one place.
All of the small video's I have done of the kids over time. I would REALLY love to do a quick compilation using these older movie files put to music and I've heard iMovie(?) is really easy to use?
Wireless printer pre-installed
I can do all of the above in a night or two... I just think handing her a machine with everything already set perfectly would be awesome.
Still debating.

[RCCola]

Let's see. My wife is NOT a power user by any means. She basically is looking for uber-comfortable, light weight, easy to type on and mouse entry, 15" screen (which sucks because the Air is cheaper and would be really cool). My daughter has my iPod Touch now and we sometimes use facetime to connect with my parents (who have the iPad 2). It would be cool when my wife travels to bring a laptop (if it's not heavy, bulky) and possibly facetime with the kids. She doesn't travel that often, once every two months or so.
Sandy bridge i7 as it is would be ridiculous firepower for what she needs - internet, working on projects in office (mainly for kids schoolwork) - I can probably get what I need from work in terms of office, Wifi of course, camera/pictures, iTunes. She already mentioned that her work VPN (I believe it's Cisco client that connects to a Citrix web based setup so everything is basically terminal services so nothing really local on the machine except for the shim that allows VPN and that is supposed on MAC as per her...). So in this case it really is a matter of form over function. I'm the geek in the family ;)
But I do hate thinking about investing in old tech. The thing is, her birthday is this weekend... and I don't think we will see Ivy Bridge Intel MBPro's for at least a couple of months. I would love to hand her a new MBPro on her birthday that has:
Office for MAC
iTunes and all of her music (including a ton of new DMB live recordings that I am sourcing for her right now)
All of our pictures from every source in one place.
All of the small video's I have done of the kids over time. I would REALLY love to do a quick compilation using these older movie files put to music and I've heard iMovie(?) is really easy to use?
Wireless printer pre-installed
I can do all of the above in a night or two... I just think handing her a machine with everything already set perfectly would be awesome.
Still debating.

If you want 15" and Office for MAC then I don't think you have many choices :)

I haven't used Office in 5-6 years. OpenOffice/NeoOffice have sufficed my needs.

I will say that if you're thinking of customizing a MBP at all i.e. anything but the default options, you'll be waiting 4-6 business days unless you're super lucky. Apparently anything but default will require a 'build' which takes 1-3 business days. I wanted to order a MBP today but wanted it ASAP so I called 1800MYAPPLE and asked about getting a Hi Res screen. Rep said all she could do is have one built. I asked if she could check inventory of local stores (I'm in NYC - there's like half a dozen Apple Stores here now) - she said she could not. Said I would have to call each one. I called one and they had a 15" Hi Res with more options than I need ($2,600) and was told if I wanted to customize I'd have to order online...even though this store had a custom build in stock...ok...

Went online assuming I could do next-day shipping once the thing was built. Nope. 2-3 shipping at best for $18 more.

[pb641]

Let me put it like this:

79' to 93' , Navy, high tech, then freelance programmer / instructor, (IBM and PC's)

93' to January 12'; private practice, nothing but PC's all networked, some laptops, A 6 year old Gateway laptop that just won't die but has become somewhat unreliable.

January 12', bit the bullet, coughed up the money and bought a 17" MB Pro. This is the finest laptop or even desktop replacement you can obtain.

In one year, I'll sell this one for probably 80% of it's $1,799 cost from MacMall and buy the new design likely to be based on MacAir form.

The new design will likely be later in the year. I'd get her a an IPad for now.

[Papajuice]

Look at the refurbished ones on Apples site. You will save money and it has the same warranty. Apple care can wait but you need to buy it within the first year. Apple care will extend the warranty by 2 years and well worth it. All this is coming from a guy who has 4 Macs in the house 3 Mac Books and a I Mac and I am the only one who has had any trouble. My 18 month old had to have 2 logic boards put in with in 2 months, kept losing my external drive. After the second was put in they didn't like the way it was working and replaced the whole computer with a brand new so I can't complain. Also look at the ONE to ONE program you spend $99 for a year and can do one to one training once a week on anything Mac from I photo to Logic, well worth it.

[Electrico]

I have an iPad and an iPhone. My kids use Macs for school. I was going to make the final jump from PC to Mac last year with my office workstation until I realized how much more machine I could buy/build for less money.

Built a mondo PC with SSD boot/OS drive, humongous spinner for storage, a separate spinner for each of my kids, huge HD monitor, 16 GB RAM, Sandy Bridge 3.4, Blue Ray burner, multi-card reader, etc., etc. ... The Works, for just under $2K.

Apple gouges you for hardware. I would not buy any computer without an SSD today (LOVE SSD!), but I would not pay Apple prices for one either! In some segments of the market, Apple DOES have competition. Workstations and laptops is one of them. They need to come down to earth!

Good luck, whatever you do.

[Gasp100]

I have an iPad and an iPhone. My kids use Macs for school. I was going to make the final jump from PC to Mac last year with my office workstation until I realized how much more machine I could buy/build for less money.

Built a mondo PC with SSD boot/OS drive, humongous spinner for storage, a separate spinner for each of my kids, huge HD monitor, 16 GB RAM, Sandy Bridge 3.4, Blue Ray burner, multi-card reader, etc., etc. ... The Works, for just under $2K.

Apple gouges you for hardware. I would not buy any computer without an SSD today (LOVE SSD!), but I would not pay Apple prices for one either! In some segments of the market, Apple DOES have competition. Workstations and laptops is one of them. They need to come down to earth!

Good luck, whatever you do.

If I was getting a machine for myself I would follow suit. But I think the idea of the MAC is the marriage of the hardware with the OS. Believe me, I understand where you are coming from but I sometimes have to remove myself from the "work / IT mentality" and get into "prosumer mode" if you know what I mean... I spend all of my day (and much of my night) with Microsoft products, Windows, and shaking down vendors for bottom dollar on server and infrastructure inventory. In this case I want something easy and elegant for the Mrs.

[Peteyvee]

Like I said, Office 2011 for Mac ($99 at Staples, $149 from Apple) works fine on my 2 month old 15" MBP and I have a VPN set up to work from home. Lightning fast, stable and works just like my PC at the office only better. The only downside is the initial cost of the MBP, but IMO, the display, the keyboard and especially the trackpad are worth every penny. Good luck. PS When Ms Vee first saw it, she said she wants one too.

Let's see. My wife is NOT a power user by any means. She basically is looking for uber-comfortable, light weight, easy to type on and mouse entry, 15" screen (which sucks because the Air is cheaper and would be really cool). My daughter has my iPod Touch now and we sometimes use facetime to connect with my parents (who have the iPad 2). It would be cool when my wife travels to bring a laptop (if it's not heavy, bulky) and possibly facetime with the kids. She doesn't travel that often, once every two months or so.
Sandy bridge i7 as it is would be ridiculous firepower for what she needs - internet, working on projects in office (mainly for kids schoolwork) - I can probably get what I need from work in terms of office, Wifi of course, camera/pictures, iTunes. She already mentioned that her work VPN (I believe it's Cisco client that connects to a Citrix web based setup so everything is basically terminal services so nothing really local on the machine except for the shim that allows VPN and that is supposed on MAC as per her...). So in this case it really is a matter of form over function. I'm the geek in the family ;)
But I do hate thinking about investing in old tech. The thing is, her birthday is this weekend... and I don't think we will see Ivy Bridge Intel MBPro's for at least a couple of months. I would love to hand her a new MBPro on her birthday that has:
Office for MAC
iTunes and all of her music (including a ton of new DMB live recordings that I am sourcing for her right now)
All of our pictures from every source in one place.
All of the small video's I have done of the kids over time. I would REALLY love to do a quick compilation using these older movie files put to music and I've heard iMovie(?) is really easy to use?
Wireless printer pre-installed
I can do all of the above in a night or two... I just think handing her a machine with everything already set perfectly would be awesome.
Still debating.

[Gasp100]

I got her a new iPad. I am going to hold off on the MBPro until the new processors are released and they build new machines. It's not so much the extra processing power or graphics ability. ***I read in one article they are talking about a 15" MacBook Air and I think that is exactly what the Mrs. really wants. Her job may also be transitioning where she works less from home and travels less, so I did not want to invest big money in some gear that she would use sparingly until I see where the chips fall.
Thanks everyone for the info!

***The more I think about it the more I think this would be a KILLER machine. As thin and light as a MacBook Air loaded with the new Ivy Bridge i5 or i7 processors and the Retina display with a solid state drive? Wow...

[Electrico]

Hard not to love an iPad once you start using it. :)

Congrats to the missus.

[mwc2112]

Retina display

I think it'll be a couple years before they have this on their laptops. Won't be for this year.

The screen that is on it, however, is quite good.

[TNO]

I think the guys saying PCs are cheaper aren't factoring in how much more use you can get out of a Mac and how much higher the resale is.

[coreybox]

Hard not to love an iPad once you start using it. :)

Congrats to the missus.

+1 I love using my wife's ipad around the house.

[Frank Prince]

For the Software Developers who use MB Pro:

Can you run Win7/Visual Studio/SQL Server on the VM with speedy compilation times, or is it just better to do all that native on a PC?

[cfo_deebiedaddy]

I think the Ipad sounds like a good move for your described use.

I know the Macbook Pros are phenomenally powerful, but I just can't fathom the need to spend that much coin for what you said she'd be using it for. I just paid $350 for an HP laptop with 15.6" screen. Nowhere near the spec of the Macbook of course, but hey, buy the Ipad, cheap laptop, and spend the remaining $700-1000 on a couple of months of weekly nice dinners!

(For context: not trying to disparage Macs - I had an MBP for a while. My wife has liked hers a lot as well, but it mostly gets used to play Bejeweled - hence my concern with overkill)

[Secret Ingredient]

Let's see. My wife is NOT a power user by any means. She basically is looking for uber-comfortable, light weight, easy to type on and mouse entry, 15" screen (which sucks because the Air is cheaper and would be really cool). My daughter has my iPod Touch now and we sometimes use facetime to connect with my parents (who have the iPad 2). It would be cool when my wife travels to bring a laptop (if it's not heavy, bulky) and possibly facetime with the kids. She doesn't travel that often, once every two months or so.
Sandy bridge i7 as it is would be ridiculous firepower for what she needs - internet, working on projects in office (mainly for kids schoolwork) - I can probably get what I need from work in terms of office, Wifi of course, camera/pictures, iTunes. She already mentioned that her work VPN (I believe it's Cisco client that connects to a Citrix web based setup so everything is basically terminal services so nothing really local on the machine except for the shim that allows VPN and that is supposed on MAC as per her...). So in this case it really is a matter of form over function. I'm the geek in the family ;)
But I do hate thinking about investing in old tech. The thing is, her birthday is this weekend... and I don't think we will see Ivy Bridge Intel MBPro's for at least a couple of months. I would love to hand her a new MBPro on her birthday that has:
Office for MAC
iTunes and all of her music (including a ton of new DMB live recordings that I am sourcing for her right now)
All of our pictures from every source in one place.
All of the small video's I have done of the kids over time. I would REALLY love to do a quick compilation using these older movie files put to music and I've heard iMovie(?) is really easy to use?
Wireless printer pre-installed
I can do all of the above in a night or two... I just think handing her a machine with everything already set perfectly would be awesome.
Still debating.

Based on the date of your post, I'd assume the decision has been made. Anyway, we switched to Macs after using windows forever. When it came time to buy some new computers, I brought up the subject of moving back to windows as the systems can be had for less $$. She would not hear of it. She loves her iMac, and her iPhone. Personally, Mac os X is easier to manage in a SOHO environment, and comes with some great software.

MS Office for Mac is fine. I use it all the time. If you need to run windows software, use Parallels desktop, boot camp, or just remote desktop to connect to another windows machine when needed.

I would not worry about waiting for the latest chip set. It sounds like your wife would not even stress the existing hardware, why wait to get something even more powerful when it isn't needed? I use my system all day, even doing some programming, and I bought a mid level refurb imac. I added extra ram and the thing rocks.

[FFTT]

Your wife should be able to run any "Windows Only" application
as well as any open source Linux from her MBP.

If you are thinking music recording, I would Max the RAM
and go for a 7200RPM drive.

If anyone in the family is a student or faculty, you can also take
advantage of apple education store discounts.

My neighbor telecommutes daily with her MBP and uses
a secure VPN connection to the servers at work.

She also uses Apple Remote Desktop to access the P/C in her
office from home.

Here is the number one source of info on running Mac's and PC's

http://guides.macrumors.com/Networking_Windows_with_Mac_OS_X