[mroof1]

Thanks everyone for your comments and replies. I appreciate it. I am going to go with the Macbook Pro. I think that it will handle everything that I need to do and more. I cant wait. I just have to find the best price now!!

[AotW]

Welcome to the Mac world, go for a Mac Pro, very costly but you can upgrade it to your needs.

[weezyhuy]

Just my two cents, if anyone wants to purchase a new Mac, unless you want to view the internet, play music, emails, word processing, then get the Macbook Air. If you want to get deeper into Mac computing, STAY AWAY.

The only thing I may want from a Macbook Air is the SSD, other than that, it was a novelty item. It's a huge hassle, especially having to carry the external drive even if it is small and thin. Processing power is no where near my MBP. However it's a great conversation start and it makes a good first impression if you meet clients/

Originally Posted by AotW

Welcome to the Mac world, go for a Mac Pro, very costly but you can upgrade it to your needs.

That is definitely my next purchase, however I have not made my decision about purchasing the Cinema display, or use my existing LCD.

[coreym@cfl.rr.com]

As many pointed out already the OSX comes with most of what you need, iLife as was mentioned also included iWeb for creating web sites, (I use this for my work sites) and also garage band which can be used for several things like working on music as you mentioned. iMovie is great i do some video editing in mine, but if you are hardcore into video editing then you will need to buy final studio or final cut i cant remember. aperture is great for doing photo touch up but if you are not heavy into that then iPhoto will work good for you. I also recommend downloading handbreak this will create videos from dvd's so you can play them on your iphone or touch..... or any iPod. (errr ummmm I mean digitally back them up for your files!) I have read mixed things about the tablet I was considering one but I decided against it. I also recommend a One-to-One member ship this is 52 one hour lessons with a mac trainer (that is of course if you have an apple store near you.) these are really great and will help you get the most out of their mac. the Apple site also has video sessions you can download and learn from those are pretty helpful as well.

One thing I see alot of in people who switch (me included at first) is that they work on the MAC the same as they do a PC which is hard to explain but just remember it is NOT a PC and the way to get the most out of it is to really change the way you use it. I switched about 4 or 5 years ago and now I have no regrets at first I was like yeah ok this is cool but it is another computer, once I really learned how to use it though well I now have several and have not looked back since! In fact i have gone completely away from Microsoft products all together I use iWork ($80 compared to $150 office student) I know some people dont like iWork but it does everything i need it to and then some! I do a lot of presentations and I use keynote exclusively IN fact when I need to I just export to word or powerpoint and then send the file to others but I create everything in iWork and i have had ZERO compatibility issues.

Also consider a mobile me account if you use your iphone or iweb you can link them all together for a really great experience. plus there is the "push" (ish) email and calendar and contacts that go with that.

Ohh and "One More Thing" Welcome to the MAC Family

[QUOTE=weezyhuy;1621161]Just my two cents, if anyone wants to purchase a new Mac, unless you want to view the internet, play music, emails, word processing, then get the Macbook Air. If you want to get deeper into Mac computing, STAY AWAY.

The only thing I may want from a Macbook Air is the SSD, other than that, it was a novelty item. It's a huge hassle, especially having to carry the external drive even if it is small and thin. Processing power is no where near my MBP. However it's a great conversation start and it makes a good first impression if you meet clients/



I use a MacBook Air and yes it is not as powerful as my MB but I really do like it, infact i use it for all of my work (except video stuff i use my MB for that) but I just created a photo and video intense presentation AND presented it using my Air and it worked flawlessly. It does hang every now and then but only if I have a ton of stuff open. I travel A LOT so the size and weight help in that respect as well.
anyhow they are not that bad I am pretty happy with mine.

[weezyhuy]

Originally Posted by coreym@cfl.rr.com

I use a MacBook Air and yes it is not as powerful as my MB but I really do like it, infact i use it for all of my work (except video stuff i use my MB for that) but I just created a photo and video intense presentation AND presented it using my Air and it worked flawlessly. It does hang every now and then but only if I have a ton of stuff open. I travel A LOT so the size and weight help in that respect as well.
anyhow they are not that bad I am pretty happy with mine.

Yes, I use it to meet with clients, simply because of the size. It does fit anywhere. Agreed, it's good for word processing and keynotes. I am not an IT at my company, but I like to run my own home servers for certain things. I felt a terrible lag with VNC and Remote Desktop applications.

[AotW]

Originally Posted by weezyhuy

That is definitely my next purchase, however I have not made my decision about purchasing the Cinema display, or use my existing LCD.

About the cinema display, I can recommend it, bought the 20" and the resolution is very sharp and crisp and its design is simply Appletastic!

Very nice addition to your Mac!

[mroof1]

Thanks everybody for the replies. I finally did it. I ordered my new MBP.
It said the expected delivery date is tomorrow 7/30. I didnt sleep much last night and I bet tonight will be less!
I passed on the MS office. I think I am going to go with Open Office to start with b/c to me it seems similar layout and design as MS office. I also got Vmware Fusion. I am going to get circus ponies notebook for school.
This past wkend, my wife and I went to an apple store so that I could convince her that we (I) needed a new computer!!!
It looks like everything that comes with the system will be plenty for me to start and get ahold of first before I get more software.
Thanks. I will try to update on my AWESOME purchase!

[weezyhuy]

Open Office is great, however iWork is good also.

[mroof1]

I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions on an external hard drive? I am looking at getting one (@ 500gb or 1tb) for my new MBP. Does anyone have one or any personal experience with one? I will mainly be using it for backing up my computers. I will probably transfer my pics and music as well. I have 2 PCs and my new MBP that I will use. I have been looking at some reviews of seagate and wd brands. I feel 500gb will probably be enough size but if I find a good deal on 1tb, I will go with that. Some reviews stated that Mac couldnt use the packaged software. I have tried to read about time machine and make an informed decision. There are so many different brands and configurations. I will try to get one with all 3 connectors: usb,esata,firewire. So that later if there are upgrades I can use esata. Thanks for your help