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Topic Starter Topic: Making the jump to Mac...

Digital Nausea
Digital Nausea
Joined: 10 Feb 2001
Posts: 24709
PostPosted: 03-16-2012 04:13 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Alright, maybe this forum has enough life left in it to help me with this.

I think I'm ready. I'm ready to make the switch to Mac. I love my iPhone and I'm about to have an iPad. So I figure I might as well go full out Apple. Is there anything I should know before I make the switch? Anything I should prepare for? I have never used a Mac. So how difficult a transition will it be?

I'm thinking the MacBook Air is a little too small at 13". My current laptop is 15" and is a nice size for me, but I may go to the Apple store and check out the 17" MacBooks. Any suggestions?




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Digital Nausea
Digital Nausea
Joined: 10 Feb 2001
Posts: 24709
PostPosted: 03-16-2012 04:17 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


FYI, I plan to use this for web surfing, music, very little word processing, and Diablo 3...




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I'm the dude!
I'm the dude!
Joined: 04 Feb 2002
Posts: 12498
PostPosted: 03-16-2012 08:33 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Macs are more like a PC than most people think. Assuming you're not a complete computer idiot, you should be completely used to using a Mac in a couple of weeks. Besides, how hard was the initial transition for you to iOS on your iPhone or iPad? Probably not a big deal once you get used to the interface differences. Many things are in fact easier than a PC and a whole lot less maintenance. OS X is also memory efficient, so 4GB of RAM should be plenty.

Office for Mac is the same as the PC version. Otherwise, iWork is cheaper and may do the job just fine. It will open and save Office documents but you might encounter some minor layout issues on a PC (usually font substitutions). Macs will work with most types of PC documents, so you don't have to worry about music, photos, movies, PDF files, office documents, text files, etc.

Personally, I love the 13" MacBooks (Air or Pro). Perfect size for portability and still big enough to use as your everyday computer (13" Air actually has a slightly higher resolution screen than the Pro and higher resolution than most 15" PC laptops).
13" Pro has a 1280x800 screen
13" Air has a 1440x900 screen
By comparison, a 15.6" HP DV6 only has a 1366x768 screen!

Diablo 3's recommended system requirements should be met by the Intel HD 3000 graphics on both 13" models. The only reason I would go to a 15" is if you really need the GPU for some other game.

Keep in mind that the Air is slower than the Pro, but does have the SSD to help it. Also, the SSD and memory are built on-board and are not user replaceable. The Pro on the other hand is quite serviceable with normal HDD/SSD and RAM.



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Digital Nausea
Digital Nausea
Joined: 10 Feb 2001
Posts: 24709
PostPosted: 03-17-2012 05:57 AM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Awesome. Thanks for all that. Now you've got me wondering about the 13". I think I'll just hit the Apple store today and check them out. Maybe they're not as small as I think. And if Diablo 3 will run on it, no problems.

Thanks again for all the info...




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Digital Nausea
Digital Nausea
Joined: 10 Feb 2001
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PostPosted: 03-17-2012 01:20 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I checked out the Macs when I picked up my iPad. The 13" isn't as small as I thought. But I think I'd go with the Pro rather than the Air to get a little more umph...




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Kempston Joy
Kempston Joy
Joined: 11 Aug 2000
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PostPosted: 03-19-2012 12:07 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


17 MBP is too big.




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Digital Nausea
Digital Nausea
Joined: 10 Feb 2001
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PostPosted: 03-19-2012 02:09 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I agree. I'm leaning toward the 13" Pro.

But I think I'll wait another month before making the purchase, since I just got my iPad. I try to limit myself to one large purchase per month. :D




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Messatsu Ko Jy-ouu
Messatsu Ko Jy-ouu
Joined: 24 Nov 2000
Posts: 44139
PostPosted: 03-20-2012 02:19 AM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Doombrain wrote:
17 MBP is too big.

I agree. 15mbp is just right.




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Your Daddy
Your Daddy
Joined: 20 Feb 2000
Posts: 13095
PostPosted: 03-26-2012 05:55 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


iPad has made me never want to purchase an apple product.



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Kempston Joy
Kempston Joy
Joined: 11 Aug 2000
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PostPosted: 04-09-2012 01:09 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


OK.

I sold my iPad as soon as I could.




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Messatsu Ko Jy-ouu
Messatsu Ko Jy-ouu
Joined: 24 Nov 2000
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PostPosted: 04-10-2012 12:24 AM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


wife n kid love it. i never use it, everything I want to use it for feels like a chore.

the problem might lie with me :)




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Kempston Joy
Kempston Joy
Joined: 11 Aug 2000
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PostPosted: 04-11-2012 01:07 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I have a Xoom with ICS which we both find very good. Before ICS it wasnt very user friendly at all :-(




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Aneurysm
Aneurysm
Joined: 10 Dec 1999
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PostPosted: 04-18-2012 07:34 AM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


13" is awesome size for laptop. Love my mbp.
If its your only computer and you want to game you're going to have to sacrifice some portability and get a 15" with Radeon gfx.

For Diablo3? Go 15" mbp and 27" ATD.....or two of them and you can be like this douche.



Remember though, IvyBridge refresh in June and rumors of retina display macbooks.
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Pro




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Kempston Joy
Kempston Joy
Joined: 11 Aug 2000
Posts: 48594
PostPosted: 04-21-2012 03:01 AM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Just swapped out the 17" i had for a 15". The 17" was a nightmare to work on on a flight/train and way too heavy. I do a far bit of walking/tubing around london so this 15" is like carrying a feather now.

Got a STM Velo bag as well. After always having Crumpler bags I didn't think you could get better. I WAS WRONG.

http://www.stmbags.com.au/catalog/lapto ... ulder-bag/




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Digital Nausea
Digital Nausea
Joined: 10 Feb 2001
Posts: 24709
PostPosted: 04-28-2012 07:36 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


shaft wrote:
Remember though, IvyBridge refresh in June and rumors of retina display macbooks.
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Pro


Ffffuuuuu--

I don't know if I can wait. I need it for Diablo 3!




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oldskool
oldskool
Joined: 06 Mar 2000
Posts: 40788
PostPosted: 08-15-2012 04:27 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Which one did you get?

Gave my 5 year old 24" iMac to my sister and bought the MBP 15" retina to use as my main computer. The screen is so sharp; can't look at my 2010 Macbook Air anymore. Incredibly fast with 2.6 Ghz i7 and 512 gB SSD :D




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Aneurysm
Aneurysm
Joined: 10 Dec 1999
Posts: 12260
PostPosted: 09-16-2012 10:22 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I'm waiting for a retina macbook air.




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oldskool
oldskool
Joined: 06 Mar 2000
Posts: 40788
PostPosted: 05-10-2013 10:00 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


That would be awesome.




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Kempston Joy
Kempston Joy
Joined: 11 Aug 2000
Posts: 48594
PostPosted: 05-12-2013 12:59 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


hi




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oldskool
oldskool
Joined: 06 Mar 2000
Posts: 40788
PostPosted: 05-13-2013 01:43 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


sup




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True Nightmare
True Nightmare
Joined: 10 Jan 2001
Posts: 3188
PostPosted: 04-19-2015 06:59 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Had to replace my mid 2010 15" MBP due to the second mainboard failure in two years. Now on a late 2014 15 rMBP, very nice upgrade. Runs Q3, too;) Should try running it at 2800x1800, really.




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Surfing the web
Surfing the web
Joined: 03 Mar 2015
Posts: 86
PostPosted: 04-20-2015 12:42 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Apple's iDevices have too many restrictions for my liking (eg not being able to download stuff from any dev, only from the appstore) but their PC's are fine (not for gaming obviously) as long as you don't mind having very few programs that are built for Apple. I (try to) make ROM hacks of GBA games for instance and there's no software for Apple for that, only for Windows. I guess if everyone switched to Apple it'd be developed for Apple too, but that's not the case, sadly.



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I'm the dude!
I'm the dude!
Joined: 04 Feb 2002
Posts: 12498
PostPosted: 05-01-2015 09:35 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Porto wrote:
Not being able to download stuff from any dev, only from the appstore


O rly?



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