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

Thank you, I really do appreciate any advice and help

Oh and cash back, have a look at sites such as quidco and top cash back. Get cash back for lots and lots of things.

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought one this afternoon. Thank goodness that the man I spoke to yesterday gave me all the information as the man in the shop today was useless.

I went for the Macbook Pro 13" retina (2015). Dd's are having fun setting it up and syncing it with our phones etc.

Thank you to everyone who gave me advice, I really appreciated it!

Yay

Same as ours, you won't have any regrets

I highly recommend a trip to the Apple Store to buy anything, esp big items. They are not allowed to 'sell' things to you unless there is a genuine need for it - as in they'll talk to you about what you're wanting and advise from there. Staff have been disciplined and sacked for pushing products on customers!

When I got mine (first Mac but had plenty of other apple things) the guy spent ages talking to me about my needs and options and then told me to go away for a coffee or a meal and have a think about what he'd said was my best option and to come back later if I decided that's what I wanted. He was honest and said that for what I wanted it for I didn't 'need' a Macs capabilities and would get a PC far cheaper. I do however feel I've had my money's worth from it and nowhere near the issues my DH has with his windows laptop.

I've had mine for 6 years now and had very few problems until recently when it's just started to slow down noticeably

If you like playing around with comps you'll enjoy getting to know it and it's differences to Windows - though you can run Windows on it if you really wanted to. They're fabulous for anything arty - graphics, pics, music etc and they talk seamlessly with other apple devices in the house.

When I bought my Mac Pro I rang Apple support to ask if I needed anti virus. They were adamant that they did not recommend it and it was not necessary. Apple are continually working on security so why introduce anything into their workings?