Mac book - what do I need to purchase with it? What do I need to know? Are they worth the money?

[nibblingfingernails]

I'm looking at replacing my laptop, I really fancy a Mac book but know very little about them.

DD's would use it for homework etc....

I would use it for shopping, Mumsnet, e mails etc

So my questions are -

• What do I need to purchase with it?
  

• What do I need to know? Really don't want to be sold something I won't don't use
  

• Is it a good investment?
  

Thanks in advance

[nibblingfingernails]

bump

[lljkk]

The only accessory I have & is truly useful is a neoprene sleeve, there are millions of patterns & choices on Amazon (handy as Xmas presents too if anyone in your family gets stuck for you at Christmas time...). I have a USB stick Just In Case, but it's rarely used, I use dropbox for my backups.

Have you actually used MacOs before? Or can you comfortably slide and single tap on a laptop (sorry I don't have a smartphone, not sure how much is same on most of them).

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Tbh you'd probably be fine with an iPad for what you're planning on using it for.

[lljkk]

Wouldn't OP like a separate keyboard if her DC trying to use an iPad for homework? I can't have too much screen real estate, trying to do something like homework on an iPad would piss me off.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Maybe,ds uses mine for his homework. Pretty sure you can buy covers with a keyboard for iPads if you miss them

[WeSailTonightForSingapore]

Mac books are great but probably too pricey for what you want to be using them for - homework and online surfing.

They are super fast, easy to carry (MacBook Air), very smart and intuitive. My old Mac Book Pro lasted six years which is long in computer terms! They are the best option for people who spend all day on them, typing, reading and having a million apps and pages open at once. brilliant if you have to carry it to the office each day and back.

So its basically a hard working laptop for people who write a lot,or do design, photo editing or whatever. In these cases, you get a lot of use out of them and a lot for your money.

But, if you just want a straightforward laptop that won't get a lot of heavy usage during the day, there are many cheaper options out there.

Of course, of you have the money and budgeting isn't a problem, then even if you use it once in a blue moon, go for it!

[lljkk]

At home, 95% of what I do with the Mac is fluffy, but it's my fluffy time, dammit.

I got a MacBook Pro about 6 yrs ago.
I have a 3 yrs old same size Toshiba for work (more basic spec, but upgraded to a Solid State Drive).

In favour of the MacBook:
Faster
Much better graphics & sound quality
Tougher (metal body), keyboard is much better quality
Better customer service
Much more secure OS (cyber attacks)
Just plain more pleasant to use (keyboard quality again)
Lighter weight charger with longer power cord

In favour of Toshiba:
Easier to build/enhance, reuse parts.
Cheaper parts (battery is failing on the Macbook)
Lighter weight -- very noticeable
Lacks the planned obsolesence of Apple items (mine is maxed out for possible memory & Apple will stop releasing OS upgrades for it as a deliberate policy)
Has page down/up/home/end keys. I would love these on the Macbook Pro.
Other people have the same style charger when I forget mine

[nibblingfingernails]

Have you paid for any extra's?

[lljkk]

I guess not, what extras are you being offered?

[nibblingfingernails]

things like office etc

[bloodyteenagers]

LLjkk The home/end thing on the Mac try the FN key and the left or right arrow. One should take you home, the other should take you to the end. I'm trying to remember a short cut a week, because there's just too bloody many of them

[bloodyteenagers]

Macs come with their own office equivalent, so no need to buy office. Documents can be saved as Notes (Word equivalent), word or pdf, so compatibility shouldn't be an issue.. But yes I also have Office as i use both for work purposes. However, unlike the Windows version, Mac version of Office doesn't have publisher.

What other things apart from Office? (If you buy office get it from softwareforstudents as it's cheaper)

[BlasianFashionista]

If you are buying one of the later models you would have to purchase an Apple USB SuperDrive and there isn't a CD/DVD.

The only Software I've had to purchase is Microsoft Office.

What do you need to know? lljkks favours of the MacBook

And yes they are a very good investment, we've never had any problems with any of ours.

[nibblingfingernails]

Thanks everyone

[RockinHippy]

Looking at what you want it for, I would go for the iPad Pro with the add on keyboard.

The only advice would be to make sure you keep all the details of your Apple ID safe & memorable. Also set up with an email address that you wont change - if you lose/forget AppleID, you might as well just bin it voice of bitter experience with my dad

[bloodyteenagers]

I thought the lack of DVD/CD drive would be annoying. Haven't missed it. But they can be bought for less than £20 so not a big deal really.

By the time you've added the keyboard, the iPad can work out more than the Mac Air..

[RockinHippy]

Depends on the memory you go for.

but I bought a 32 one yesterday for DD to use at school (disability) & it worked out quite a bit cheaper

[nibblingfingernails]

I nearly bought the "APPLE MacBook Pro 13" with Retina Display (2015)" this afternoon, spoke with one of the salesman, he explained the differences between the macbook pro.

He mentioned about me getting the Office 365 and the anti virus bundle and if I bought it when I bought the Macbook it would last for 3 years, he was very good at explaining that the Macbooks come with a version of office but its called pages so it wasn't totally necessary for me to have the office.

So after much dithering I said, okay I will go for it, he went off to check stock and unfortunately its out of stock! Just my luck

[bloodyteenagers]

Anti-virus - there are lots of really good ones that are free. And a lot of banks also give their customers free protection.

Softwareforstudents Office 2016 and 365 is £69.99 for the year..

Sales people will try and sell you add ons because of the commission for them. The offers they do aren't always that great. So you might have had a lucky escape when it was out of stock!

[BlasianFashionista]

nibblingfingernails

I hate when that happens, you can check PCWorld online for stock near you, I hope you manage to get one soon.

[nibblingfingernails]

The software bundle was for 3 years for both was £150.

[nibblingfingernails]

I went to PC World as they have 10% cashback until 27th September on Macbooks.

[BlasianFashionista]

I remember buying the 365 with mine and the registration code didn't work, luckily I already had Microsoft Office Mac which I purchased with an iMac and the code for that worked, even though it states it only for one computer.

[BlasianFashionista]

Yes, you have to fill out a form online and I think it takes up to 21 days for them to put it into your bank account.

[bloodyteenagers]

Another thought, some schools, give their students an Office license for the duration that they attend that school. it's another option to explore. Same with some employers, their email provider sometimes comes with other add ons other than just email.

If you have an hotmail email account, word and some other office software can be accessed online when you sign into your email address. (log into your hotmail account online, and look at the windows next to outlook email).

If you know someone with a 365 subscription, they might add you as a user, as the subscription version comes with 5 users.

in addition, there's also a number of different free open source options for office equivalent such as Libreoffice, apache and OpenOffice and these all work on Mac and Windows.

I will shut up in a minute lol.
If you have never used the Office software, you can also download a free trial for roughly a month.. If you are a quick study you can also do a free course with various colleges of how to use the software. the reason I say quick is because the course is about 12 - 16 weeks, which you would need to either cram into 4 weeks unless you either buy office or can finish elsewhere.