Got my free t-shirt now what else do I need?

Just got back from the apple store...empty handed. It was too crazy and I was getting a headache.

So, I'm going to get mbp this weekend. What else should I purchase? The sales girl was really pushing the applecare program (or whatever it's called) with the education discount, I can get it for $110.00 off. Also, the .mac progam also sounded interesting for under $70 (for the first year). I'm already getting Final Cut Express because I do a lot with video and it seems that the posting to the .mac server made sense.

Since I'm switching from pc, I thought I would get the student/teacher edition of mac office, but I also liked the features in iwork. All these questions, no wonder I've got a headache. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Okay, first of all, I think its a good idea to get the AppleCare Protection Plan, especially with your discount. Its a worthy investment and will really pay off should you need technical support after a year when the Limited warranty expires.

.Mac is interesting, and you're getting it for $70...if you think you will use its features (10 GB space, email and iChat account, .Mac web gallery, etc.), go for it. I personally don't need .Mac, that's why I didn't get it. You can also try out .Mac for 60 days for free, so I think its a good idea to try it out before making your decision.

As for iWork vs. Office for Mac, depends on your needs and what you plan to do. If you know you will be working with Microsoft Office on PCs a lot, collaborating PPT and Excel stuff, then best to stick with Office for Mac to ensure compatibility. If you don't plan to constantly work between Macs and PCs, and you don't need Word's higher end features and Excel's higher end features, then iWork '08 is a cheaper and good choice.

And of course, if you just need a word processor for typing up essays, then maybe even the free NeoOffice (the Mac version of OpenOffice) will do.

 

As Sam said if you do a lot of collaboration, then Office is best. I believe if you purchase Office now you will get a free or very low cost upgrade to Office 2008. I am not a huge fan of .mac unless you have multiple macs. If you do it is great for syncing and things like that. Otherwise if you just want a place to host things, there are much better free or cheap sites that do that. Try those and the free trial of .mac and see which you prefer, you don't need to get it day one.

AppleCare, if you can afford it, get it. Remember you have up to a year from the purchase date.