First Time Mac Buyer

[Boggle]

Ok, I'll be buying my first Mac (must be a laptop) in the next couple of months. I've been following this site for a few weeks and yes, I'm waiting to see the configuration for the "macbook," and yes I have a couple of questions.

It would probably be best to state what I need and want from a Mac laptop.

Needs:
Laptop. Price ceiling 2k (ish). Only computer I'll have once I take my &^#~$%* Dell off life suport. Presently I use my computer mostly for internet research, email and IMing (lots for work, some for friends), and I either edit or write 1 or 2 heafty sized Powerpoint presentations per week. Oh yeah, in a/b 2 years I'll leave the world of cublicles to become a teacher, once I nail down that Masters thingy.

Wants:
Ideally the computer would be competatively useful for @ least 3 years.
Smaller is better! If it could take the dog out on cold winter mornings and help me win an argument w/ my girlfriend that would be nice too.

So my questions are:

1. What system and/or hardware would I need for a laptop to last 3 years given what I'll be doing with it.

2. Are Mac powerpoint presentations loadable on pc's or will i have to convert the files b4 sending them to the Imperial Scum.

I hope this gives people enough info to offer me some suggestions. Of course any and all input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Kris D'Arienzo

 

[Temujin]

Considering your needs I would wait for the 12" MacBookPro or 12"/13"? MacBook.
With one of these I bet you'll be able to connect your Dell screen for more real estate. The present available 12" Powerbook and iBook has this feature. I don't see why the MacBookPro/MacBook shouldnt too.

With Intel Books you can use Boot Camp to boot Windows, so the Powerpoint problem is not an issue.

With the work you will be doing any Intel Apple Book will do great for the next 3 years.

 

[m-dogg]

For what you do, I believe any mac laptop currently available would meet your needs. It really doesn't sound like you need your machine to do any heavy lifting...it's more a matter of how much do you want to spend/save vs. how future-proof do you want it to be...

Powerpoint should be transferable between your Mac & Windows. I don't really use that, but my word & excel files go back & forth just fine, regardless of which OS they are created in.

And as for winning an argument with your girl, you're on your own. But if you figure it out, please let me know!

 

[jadekitty24]

I believe the 12" Powerbook will suit your needs "for the next 3 years". You could get refurbs at Apple.com for $1099- $1199, or new for $1499. But why not the MacBook Pro? That would see you beyond 3 years, IMO, it starts at $1999. However, it is 15", and it seems like you want a 12". I wouldn't suggest to anyone to "wait". If you need a machine now, get one now. It always cracks me up how some are in constant limbo waiting for the next big thing, then they keep waiting because they are sooo afraid of their computer being "obsolete" 2 seconds afer they purchase it.
*done ranting*
Seriously, it seems your choices as of now are the 12" Powerbook refurb, 12" Powerbook new, or the 15" MacBook Pro. Good luck and welcome to heaven.

 

[Boggle]

Just wanted to thank you guys for the advice. I'll be making my purchase within the next 2 months, as soon as I have all the cash together. Until then I have an computer from work. Seems like the MBP is the front runner. That decision is based on my first priority being "future-proofing" my computer. Of course if the macbook materializes you can count on another long post from me. Feel free to start preparing.

Thanks again,

Kris.

 

[Texas04]

WAIIIT! lol

Okay, yes unfortunatley there is a little tweaking you have to do using a PPT from Mac to windows, if you have any external links than they will have to be transfered over as well as some clip art and or fonts and backgrounds... thats on the Mac side at least. However if you do use Boot Camp you will be fine, i would only suggest using it for PPT files though, and dont connect to the internet while your on it. Or else your students files might be err corrupted with viruses? That would be my main problem. Powerpoint normally works flawlessly between systems, however somtimes links and fonts and such can get in the way...

 

[FFTT]

Fortunately, you'll be able to use the education discount to save a bit.

Also over the next few month we will see more and more Universal Binary
applications and the release of the smaller laptops.

As long as you have a retail Windows CD and SP2, you'll be able to boot natively into Windows and use any of your licensed Windows software.

There is also now Parallels which allows you to run Windows from within
OSX, giving you cross platform access to your data.

Mac OSX comes pre-loaded with a trial version of Keynote in the iWork
suite and a trial version of MS Office for Mac, so you may wish to give both of them a go to see if you can put a bit of extra flair in your presentations.

The Apple Stores also offer free basic training classes on OSX and most Apple Applications.

Be prepaired for a lot of ooohs and ahhhs when you run your first presentation from your new laptop showing your co-workers that you
can run OSX, Windows or Linux on the same machine.