Apple MacPro Question

[IngridN]

I'm in the market for a new computer and was converted to the Mac by the input I received from my other thread seeking input on PC purchase as well as my visit to Best Buy today. I'm trying to decide between the 15" and 17" MacBook Pro i7.

The salesman at Best Buy stated that I wouldn't have to worry about viruses as they don't write viruses for Macs because it's too hard. Is this a true statement or is it simply because the ratio of Macs to Windows PC units doesn't make it cost effective to write viruses for Macs?

Also, is it worth spending the extra $100 or so to buy directly from Apple thereby being able to purchase their One to One training for $99? Best Buy is having a sale and depending on what I decide to get, can save between $80 and $150 on the unit.

Ingrid

 

[jlee2070]

Apple will match BB's price if you ask (they did it for me)...

 

[pjrose]

I buy refurbished Macs online from the Apple Store online (free shipping); scroll down to the bottom and look at the left. You can save several hundred $. It is like new, and has the full warranty. The only time I ever had a problem with one, they shipped me a replacement overnight along with free shipping to send back the one that had a flaw.

If you have affiliation with education or government or military, you can buy from the Apple Store online at a discount. These are also available at the left, but near the top, of apple.com / store. The refurbished ones are only available online, but the education and government discounts will be honored at a physical Apple Store.

Apple often offers a free printer (or $100 rebate which is basically the same thing) if you buy from them. This is likely true now with back to school pricing, and applies along with the discount or refurbished models.

If you are getting a better price at Best Buy than with these discounts or refurbished, then go for it. If you also get Best Buy reward points you'll have additional savings.

Other posters in a similar thread months ago recommended the one on one at the Apple Store. Are you sure you have to buy direct from Apple to get this? Search for Mac or Training and you might find it. Genius Bar appointments to just get some help and tips are generally free, as is advice on TUG.

As far as the viruses go, yes, this is true for both reasons cited. First of all, it is somewhat harder to program for a Mac, and there are probably fewer sophisticated Mac programmers out there than sophisticated PC programmers. Second, there's less "bang for the buck" writing a Mac virus than a PC virus. I have never gotten a Mac virus, and I have used them since the absolute beginning. That doesn't mean I won't.....but with the right settings the Mac OS resists the few that are out there. There are also good anti-virus programs by reputable companies such as Symantec.

Your internet provider may offer such a program free or at reduced cost; Comcast does, though I've never bothered to get it.

 

[IngridN]

Apple will match BB's price if you ask (they did it for me)...

Didn't even think of that...I just assumed they wouldn't and will definitely ask.

Ingrid

 

[IngridN]

I buy refurbished Macs online from the Apple Store online (free shipping); scroll down to the bottom and look at the left. You can save several hundred $. It is like new, and has the full warranty. The only time I ever had a problem with one, they shipped me a replacement overnight along with free shipping to send back the one that had a flaw.

If you have affiliation with education or government or military, you can buy from the Apple Store online at a discount. These are also available at the left, but near the top, of apple.com / store. The refurbished ones are only available online, but the education and government discounts will be honored at a physical Apple Store.

Apple often offers a free printer (or $100 rebate which is basically the same thing) if you buy from them. This is likely true now with back to school pricing, and applies along with the discount or refurbished models.

If you are getting a better price at Best Buy than with these discounts or refurbished, then go for it. If you also get Best Buy reward points you'll have additional savings.

Other posters in a similar thread months ago recommended the one on one at the Apple Store. Are you sure you have to buy direct from Apple to get this? Search for Mac or Training and you might find it. Genius Bar appointments to just get some help and tips are generally free, as is advice on TUG.

As far as the viruses go, yes, this is true for both reasons cited. First of all, it is somewhat harder to program for a Mac, and there are probably fewer sophisticated Mac programmers out there than sophisticated PC programmers. Second, there's less "bang for the buck" writing a Mac virus than a PC virus. I have never gotten a Mac virus, and I have used them since the absolute beginning. That doesn't mean I won't.....but with the right settings the Mac OS is pretty good at resisting the few that are out there. There are also good anti-virus programs by reputable companies such as Symantec.

Unfortunately, no affiliations and I just bought a new all-in-one printer at Christmas so unless it's for a b&w laser which isn't an ink hog, it won't help much. I will jlee's suggestion of asking if Apple will match Best Buy's price. I had forgotten to ask about the One on One training when I was at BB.

Ingrid

 

[NWL]

We've bought all of our Apple products directly from Apple. Just prove you have an advertised price from another reseller and they will match it. Free shipping, too!

Cheers!

 

[fishingguy]

did you look at amazon?

I got my 15" MBP from Amazon, it was 100$ less than the Best Buy price at the time and included free shipping. I also got 8MB of ram for another ~$60. Best of all, no sales tax for me with Amazon, which saved me ~$160.

I also got the Apple Care extended warranty for less than any other place I looked.

Everything arrived 36 hours after ordering it....

 

[Mosca]

There absolutely ARE Mac viruses. The good part is that cleanup is a lot easier than it is on Windows; you find the file and drag it to the recycle bin and that's it.

Get the free Sophos antivirus scanner, it's pretty simple to use.

 

[IngridN]

One more question...

The Best Buy salesman stated that Apple utilizes RAM more efficiently than Windows so that I wouldn't need to upgrade to 8MB...4MB Apple RAM is the equivalent of more that 4MB Windows RAM. Is this true or more salesman talk?

Ingrid

 

[geoand]

I buy hard drives, external drives, memory, etc for all my mac products here.

macsalesdotcom.

The site has amazing video that explains step by step how to install almost anything. The products are cheap and of good quality. By the way, I am a complete clutz with screw drivers and such. By viewing their videos, I was able to install 3 2 terabyte hard drives in a Mac Pro (desktop Tower), pci card for G5 Tower to enable it to use N technology for wireless connection, and to build an external hard drive for my new Mac Mini. Saved a lot of money. For all of this, it took less than a total of one hr to do this. If I can do it, anyone can.

I have no connection to the company other than being a grateful customer.

When we buy a new mac product from Apple, we always buy with the minimum hard drive and minimum memory because upgrading thru the site is so much cheaper.

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

Regarding the RAM, it is a question between 4GB and 8GB. I had 4GB on my MBP 15 that I use for work. I had no problems running anything at all, except when I was using VMware Fusion to run some additional virtual machines within my MBP. So I have added the additional 4GB of RAM to a total of 8GB of RAM. Now, when I run VM's everything is smooth.

If I was not running the VM's, I would not have needed to upgrade. So my point is, if you are not running VM's, running some serious graphics applications, or something extravagant like that, then you likely do not need the 8GB or RAM. Even if you do, down the road, it will probably be the same price and you upgrade later. It is a very simple process to exchange the RAM.

What the BB guy is likely talking about is the fact that most windows PC's do shared memory, where the video card does not have its own RAM, it consumes system RAM as it needs it.

 

[pjrose]

I also recommend that you get an Airport - it's Apple's wireless router, so you won't be tethered. You connect the Airport to your DSL or Cable Modem, and then your MacBook Pro and the Airport will find each other.

Time Capsule is an Airport with a hard drive in it so your Mac will automatically back up however often you set it to, using Time Machine (part of the operating system). I think the Time Capsule is overpriced, though....maybe someone here can recommend an alternative.

Apple recently introduced iCloud, a service that will store your files on Apple's servers and automatically synch with your various computers.....I'm not yet comfortable with having all my stuff online, though.

 

[pjrose]

I got my 15" MBP from Amazon, it was 100$ less than the Best Buy price at the time and included free shipping. I also got 8MB of ram for another ~$60. Best of all, no sales tax for me with Amazon, which saved me ~$160.

I also got the Apple Care extended warranty for less than any other place I looked.

Everything arrived 36 hours after ordering it....

Nice - I forgot about the no sales tax from Amazon! Thanks for the suggestion, as I'll be in the market for another MacBook Pro for DS later this Fall.

For those looking into Apple Care, note that it's cheaper under the Educational and Govt discounts on Apple.com than at the regular Apple Store; I haven't compared to Amazon's prices though.

 

[IngridN]

I got my 15" MBP from Amazon, it was 100$ less than the Best Buy price at the time and included free shipping. I also got 8MB of ram for another ~$60. Best of all, no sales tax for me with Amazon, which saved me ~$160.

I also got the Apple Care extended warranty for less than any other place I looked.

Everything arrived 36 hours after ordering it....

I'm not up on the particulars, but our governor just signed legislation forcing Amazon and the like to collect taxes on internet sales when selling products of company with a presence in Calif. I recall reading an article where Amazon has divested itself of all of the Calif. resellers. Some are moving out of state to stay in business. So no savings there as their prices were pretty much the same as Apple when I checked last night.

Ingrid

 

[IngridN]

I also recommend that you get an Airport - it's Apple's wireless router, so you won't be tethered. You connect the Airport to your DSL or Cable Modem, and then your MacBook Pro and the Airport will find each other.

Time Capsule is an Airport with a hard drive in it so your Mac will automatically back up however often you set it to, using Time Machine (part of the operating system). I think the Time Capsule is overpriced, though....maybe someone here can recommend an alternative.

Apple recently introduced iCloud, a service that will store your files on Apple's servers and automatically synch with your various computers.....I'm not yet comfortable with having all my stuff online, though.

That's another on my list of questions for the Apple store. Currently we are totally wireless including printer with our Windows PCs, so being tethered after all these wireless years is totally unacceptable. We have DSL through the local phone company and of course, DH still has his Windows PC.

Ingrid

 

[Ken555]

I'm not up on the particulars, but our governor just signed legislation forcing Amazon and the like to collect taxes on internet sales when selling products of company with a presence in Calif. I recall reading an article where Amazon has divested itself of all of the Calif. resellers. Some are moving out of state to stay in business. So no savings there as their prices were pretty much the same as Apple when I checked last night.

Ingrid

Jerry did, and amazon did. Still no sales tax when purchasing from amazon in California, at least for the moment. Amazon also routinely offers discounts on apple products on top of the no tax savings (which, of course, you are supposed to pay use tax in California equal to the sales tax...).

 

[Ken555]

That's another on my list of questions for the Apple store. Currently we are totally wireless including printer with our Windows PCs, so being tethered after all these wireless years is totally unacceptable. We have DSL through the local phone company and of course, DH still has his Windows PC.

Ingrid

Your new Mac will work just fine with your existing wireless network. And, you'll likely be able to use your existing printer, as well.

Time Machine is a great app that's included with the OS. If you had a Time Capsule (or an Airport Extreme base station) you'd be able to backup wirelessly (automatically every hour). Without you can use Time Machine with an attached external hard drive (I suggest a portable external that is bus powered and at least as large as the internal hard drive, but larger is recommended - check Costco for decent prices, and expect these to be more expensive at apple).

 

[Ken555]

Nice - I forgot about the no sales tax from Amazon! Thanks for the suggestion, as I'll be in the market for another MacBook Pro for DS later this Fall.

For those looking into Apple Care, note that it's cheaper under the Educational and Govt discounts on Apple.com than at the regular Apple Store; I haven't compared to Amazon's prices though.

AppleCare is great for peace of mind, though you should be aware that it doesn't cover accidental damage. For instance, if you drop the laptop and the screen cracks, it won't be covered. Dell and others sell an optional warranty that would cover drops.

And, AppleCare doesn't need to be purchased with the laptop, though it's convenient. As long as you register AppleCare with your laptop before the initial one year warranty expires, you'll be covered. This is a common method we recommend for delaying a known expense for future, and you don't lose anything substantial for waiting (supposedly Apple won't provide phone support beyond 90 days of the initial warranty, but I know people who have tried and succeeded...of course, YMMV).

 

[pjrose]

AppleCare is great for peace of mind, though you should be aware that it doesn't cover accidental damage. For instance, if you drop the laptop and the screen cracks, it won't be covered. Dell and others sell an optional warranty that would cover drops.

And, AppleCare doesn't need to be purchased with the laptop, though it's convenient. As long as you register AppleCare with your laptop before the initial one year warranty expires, you'll be covered. This is a common method we recommend for delaying a known expense for future, and you don't lose anything substantial for waiting (supposedly Apple won't provide phone support beyond 90 days of the initial warranty, but I know people who have tried and succeeded...of course, YMMV).

Also, nssi.com sells insurance to college students (and others?) which is very affordable and covers damage such as drops as well as thefts. We used it to cover a hefty bill when DS dropped his 17" MacBook Pro.

 

[NWL]

If you're looking to buy online with no sales tax, check out our local retailer. No sales tax and free shipping.

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/category/desc/52/1/laptops/

Cheers!

 

[m61376]

Portable1.com is also a great company to deal with and has good prices on the Macbooks. Their customer service is amazing! Scott will help you configure it for your needs and both their before and after sale service is great.