PC > MacBook Pro

 
 
dutopia
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Total Posts: 2
Joined  2008-01-21
Posted: 21 January 2008 11:12 PM

I was waiting until the MacWorld conference before I made a decision about getting a Mac, but since the Air is an overpriced sex toy IMO I’m going to get a MacBook Pro. I’m studying Multimedia Design and deal with a lot of Digital Video & Imagery in my course, so It’s about time I get one of these machines.

As a newbie to Macs, I wanted to ask your opinions on the Pro. Firstly, I’m going to get the 15.4” 2.4GHz model unless you guys reckon the 17” is really worth it - although I don’t think my wallet is prepared to stretch that far. Should I go for the “Glossy” or “Matte” display? What’s the practical difference between these?

I’m getting my sister to get it while going to the U.S. to do shopping (Europe isn’t good enough for her). Are there any compatibility/warranty issues between the U.S. and European models that you know of? I know the power adaptors are fine and the keyboard layout will be different, but that’s OK.

Any other Mac related buying tips? Any software I can’t live without?

     
33specter
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Total Posts: 60
Joined  2006-12-25
Posted: 22 January 2008 08:21 AM

I migrated to Mac only because I was able to run Windows and Mac OS on one machine (the thing that PC will never provide). First I was using Boot Camp to run Windows for a little while, but then one of my friends told me about virtualization and I bought Parallels Desktop. It lets you run Windows simultaneously with Mac OS.
I use this app for IE, Outlook, MS Office and Quicken and advice you to try the demo if you only need Windows on your mac. This app saves a lot of time on rebooting to Boot Camp and moreover provides interaction between Mac and Windows (Coherence mode - Drag&Drop;support, Smart select feature etc.)

     
dutopia
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Total Posts: 2
Joined  2008-01-21
Posted: 22 January 2008 04:07 PM

That’s nice, thank you.

I have a Windows based machine already so I doubt I’ll have a need for it but good to know.

     
33specter
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Total Posts: 60
Joined  2006-12-25
Posted: 23 January 2008 08:24 AM

That’s good when you can afford 2 machines, and of course, there’s no need to spend extra money for software to run Windows on Macs in this case.

But it is much more handy to have 2 OSes in one machine. File sharing becomes much easier. Though Parallels doesn’t support 3d graphics in all other fields it works like a PC would