Switching to a MacBook - Looking for Suggestions/Comments

Alright people, I know I made a thread similar to this about a year ago, but this time, I'm set on switch to a Mac. Vista has gotta on my nerves for the last time.



So! This is what I'm thinking:

White and Black - I don't mind either one much. I know that some have seen the white MacBooks discolored. Is this still an issue? I do prefer the Black MacBook by look, however, price-wise, I'm willing to go white (and get an Incase Hardshell case in Black), since I'm cheap.



I also plan on purchasing Parallels and iWork at the time, as well as a one year accidental service plan (and then opt to renew it down the road). [any comments on these? VMware instead? Office instead of iWork? Why, if so?]

So, anyone got any comments?

Also: I'll be purchasing at Best Buy and not the Apple Store, just to put that out there. And I'll be buying in the first/second week or so in August, just to add that, too.

Any help, suggestions, and ideas are greatly appreciated!





- JM.

 

I've had my white mb for about 1.5years now, and there is no real discoloration issues yet. So white is my suggestion.
I tried out iWork, but it didn't suit my needs so I had to go back to office. The new 08 version is quite good, so my advice there is to first try out the free trial of iWork, if it suits your needs then get the full version, if not then go for office08.
I have parallels, it works well, but again I use it like once a month, so unless you know that you will absolutely need to use windows on a regular basis, I suggest holding off and finding OSX versions of your programs.

Any reason for not going with the apple store? In august you might find some nice back to school promo's like a free ipod with your macbook.
good luck
a

 

I would vouch for VMWare instead, since it is definitely more stable both in Windows and OS X than Parallels. Discolouration is no longer an issue. I would recommend Microsoft Office to iWork if you're after a word processor, since Pages feels more like a DTP application than a word processor (keynote is brilliant btw).

 

I say go white. I hate the matte black they used. But it's understandable as the glossy black plastic (like the DS) shows finger prints more than the matte.

And VMWare all the way! Trust me... been using Parallels. since it was released and started using VMWare a while back. VMWare is just... well, theres not a single thing I feel that Parallels is better at than Fusion.

If you can get office, I suggest using that. iWork is really nice and all... but if you are using it for work, then Office is the way to go. The 2008 version is really nice and has a lot of slick features and all the apps are well integrated. Either are better than NeoOffice though.

 

I have a white macbook and I'm happy with it. I would go with the high end white unit as it seems to be the sweet spot as far as what you get for the money.

I seem to remember that all of the Penryn Macbooks are 2.4 ghz but the midrange model (high end whitebook) offers a superdrive and 160 gig hdd for $200 more than the low end unit. The blackbook merely adds a little more hdd but costs $200 more.

 

It's actually fluctuated again...

the difference between the same spec whitebook and blackbook is now $100.

 

I recently switched to a Mac as well and bought a Black MacBook. I went into the store to see both the Black and White in person and immediately I saw how dirty the White Macs were so decided to go with the Black. (Yes I know store computers will get dirtier than if you own one yourself, however I also thought the Black looked a lot sleeker than the white, and I wanted the bigger HD).

I haven't regretted my decision once. I've been using a Dell m1330 since August of last year and I can't think of one feature that I miss having after switching.

As for Parallels vs VMWare Fusion.......I've tried both, and have leaned towards Parallels.....not sure why, but I haven't had a problem with either.

I haven't tried iWork....I went right away to Mac Office 2008 simply because I use Office daily and felt I'd stick with something I already knew.

 

Personally,I would go black just because I don't like the look of the white. Both Parallels and VMware are becoming mature programs and are excellent, I don't think you can go wrong with either.

As far as an office suite goes, I used to always recommend Office for Mac because MS's Suite is pretty much the standard. After using iWork for a semester, I have no qualms about recommending it. Since I installed Leopard late last year, I have been without Office, and never once had the need for it. The only document that gave me trouble was an MS Works document that Office 2007 (Windows) could not open either, which I can't blame on iWork. If you need a lot of advanced functionality or do a ton of collaboration, then I would still get Office '08. However, most people don't, and in that case I would save the money and get iWork.

 

Does the free trial come on Macs, or is it something that needs to be downloaded?

I have parallels, it works well, but again I use it like once a month, so unless you know that you will absolutely need to use windows on a regular basis, I suggest holding off and finding OSX versions of your programs.

Well, I don't really use anything specially tied to Windows, however, I'd like to have the option of having Windows on the ready for anything that may come up, since I tend to use my computer a lot of presentations at university, and some of them are a group-presentation, and my classmates tend to have Windows-based software, so that's one reason I'd like to have either Parallels or VMWare on the system.

Any reason for not going with the apple store? In august you might find some nice back to school promo's like a free ipod with your macbook.

'cause I work for Best Buy. And they have a far superior service plan that Apple.



good luck
a


Thanks!

That's what I've been hearing. I was looking at a copy of the box today, and I do like that it supports 64-bit (as far as I know, Parallels is still 32-bit). I guess I'll just have to keep doing my research.

And the DTP-like feel of Pages, I'm not sure would bother me. I only need the simplicity of having something that will handle my writings and have a bit more options than Text Edit (or whatever it's called). I don't usually share word documents, and I type without error, so I think iWork should do it.

I'll be sure to check out the free trial of iWork Under mentioned, though.

Hmm, I wonder if Microsoft has a trial of Office for Mac 2008...

However, I don't use Office for work, so compatibility isn't really an issue.

Yes, if I go white, I'll be getting the 2.4GHz model. I prefer the DVD burner, and higher RAM and hard drive space.

That's my thinking of it, and the fact that Keynote and such look pretty awesome.

 

Hey JM.

I'm a recent switcher (well from February this year) and I can tell you one thing for certain is that you will not regret the switch.

I had a black MB for a while before I upgraded to my current MBP. I liked the look and feel of the Black MB but one thing annoyed me a lot was how much of a finger-print magnet it is. It showed everything including small grease marks. Even though I have never used the white one, I would guess that the white MB will be much better in this regard. For what its worth, the MBP is awesome in this respect too; it shows nothing.

I never tried Office 2004 but I do have iWork 08 and Office 2008. I liked iWork a lot at first but then I started running into some limitations and printing issues with Pages (especially mailings and envelopes). Word 08 fixed all that. I haven't played around much with Excel (vs Numbers) or PowerPoint (vs KeyNote) but a good/detailed head to head comparison was done in the latest MacWorld magazine - I suggest reading it.

AFAIK there is no Office 2008 demo (yet?). My MB and MBP both had Office 2004 and iWork 08 demos pre-installed.

One thing that also tilts it in favour of Office is Entourage. It's the mac equivalent of Outlook. I'm a huge Outlook fan and been using it for years and still use it at work so Entourage gives Office 08 the advantage also. Office 08 just got updated with SP1 and so far it's rock solid.

Edit: I would imagine by the time you bought yours they will come with Office 2008 trial instead of 2004.

 

Awesome. Thanks for the detailed information on the iWork/Office comparison.

Do you happen to know how long the iWork trial is for? And does it start when you first boot a new Mac, or when you actually open and start using iWork itself?

Because I'm hoping to wait (I'm assuming it doesn't start until you actually start the program) to start using the trial once university starts (buying MacBook in beginning of August, uni doesn't start until September), so I can get a feel as how it will work for me in a university setting, because if it does, I'd rather use iWork, mainly because out of Office on my current computer, all I really use is Word, PowerPoint, and occasionally, Excel, all three of which iWork comes with right off, with a lesser cost (yes, I'm cheap. ).

 

I have both and I prefer Office 2008. I've just gotten so accustomed to the features available in Word and Excel that I can't get accustomed to another piece of software.

That being said, Keynote looks very intriguing and seeing as I'm not a huge PowerPoint fan, I could see myself using this instead.

 

If memory serves me, and that's a big if, it's 30 days starting from when you first launch any of the three applications in iWork 08 (Pages, Keynote or Numbers).

 

Awesome. That should work quite well, then.

Thanks!

 

You would be getting an awesome printer right now. So, if you wish to buy a new Macbook, buy it now.

Mauvais

 

Yup...I believe they're still throwing in a free $100 printer with new Mac purchases.

 

Well, as stated, I'll be buying at Best Buy, not the Apple Store, and since I have a very nice HP Officejet, another printer, even free, isn't of much interest to me.