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Author Topic: Tech: Mac recommendations?  (Read 3286 times)

BrighidsAura

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Mac recommendations?
« on: July 26, 2014, 09:37:47 am »
I've always been a windows girl but right now my laptops are so old and useless that it's time for me to get something new. I want to start learning to use Photoshop and other design programs so I thought a Mac would be a nice laptop to have. I like that it's not as likely to get viruses too.

I don't want to spend tons of money (tons being $1,000+) so I found a website that seems legit that has a few for $500 or a little more. They are older models and that's ok with me as long as it can perform the things I want it to do.

Does anyone here use a mac? Can you recommend any of these to me? Are these even worth it and I should suck it up and get a new model?

http://www.macofalltrades.com/Refurbished-Used-Apple-MacBooks-s/301.htm
« Last Edit: May 07, 2019, 05:50:27 pm by RandallS »

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Re: Mac recommendations?
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2014, 09:59:05 am »
Quote from: BrighidsAura;153982

Does anyone here use a mac? Can you recommend any of these to me? Are these even worth it and I should suck it up and get a new model?

 
I'm a long-time Mac user (nearly 30 years now of using Apple by preference), and there are bunch of reasons for that.

The thing about Macs is that when you're working within the ecosystem that Apple assumes, things tend to run very smoothly. When you want to do things outside of that, things get trickier.

I'd look very carefully at the specs for each model, and figure out which operating system variants you can and can't run (this info is on Apple's websites if you dig.) I'd look at what you can get for Photoshop (being in mind that Adobe went to a subscription model last year: you can still buy older versions, I believe, but running it may get trickier and trickier.)

Even if the Photoshop works out okay, you'll need to resign yourself to the fact you won't be able to run lots of other cool stuff - and there are *hundreds* of really neat free or very inexpensive apps that do all sorts of things that have come out in the last 2-3 years that rely on newer operating system pieces.

If you *just* wanted a computer for, say, word processing, I'd say "Mac hardware is solid, robust, well-designed, and holds up amazingly well, go for it." But if you want to do demanding things on it, it's worth the money for a newer model.

Apple sells refurbished models direct on their website: if you find one that's a year or so old, you'll still be able to run the latest stuff for a good while, and you can find a good break on price.

My general model for computers is a low-end model in one of the big lines (MacBook, iMac, depending on current use needs), replaced every 4 years or so, which means I don't run into 'can't do this OS upgrade' problems. Somewhere between 4.5 and 6 years old tends to be where you start hitting "I can't upgrade that" in ways that actively affect my use. (Which is wide-ranging, though mostly not high-end graphic stuff.)
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BrighidsAura

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Re: Mac recommendations?
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2014, 10:02:52 am »
Quote from: Jenett;153983
I'm a long-time Mac user (nearly 30 years now of using Apple by preference), and there are bunch of reasons for that.

The thing about Macs is that when you're working within the ecosystem that Apple assumes, things tend to run very smoothly. When you want to do things outside of that, things get trickier.

I'd look very carefully at the specs for each model, and figure out which operating system variants you can and can't run (this info is on Apple's websites if you dig.) I'd look at what you can get for Photoshop (being in mind that Adobe went to a subscription model last year: you can still buy older versions, I believe, but running it may get trickier and trickier.)

Even if the Photoshop works out okay, you'll need to resign yourself to the fact you won't be able to run lots of other cool stuff - and there are *hundreds* of really neat free or very inexpensive apps that do all sorts of things that have come out in the last 2-3 years that rely on newer operating system pieces.

If you *just* wanted a computer for, say, word processing, I'd say "Mac hardware is solid, robust, well-designed, and holds up amazingly well, go for it." But if you want to do demanding things on it, it's worth the money for a newer model.

Apple sells refurbished models direct on their website: if you find one that's a year or so old, you'll still be able to run the latest stuff for a good while, and you can find a good break on price.

My general model for computers is a low-end model in one of the big lines (MacBook, iMac, depending on current use needs), replaced every 4 years or so, which means I don't run into 'can't do this OS upgrade' problems. Somewhere between 4.5 and 6 years old tends to be where you start hitting "I can't upgrade that" in ways that actively affect my use. (Which is wide-ranging, though mostly not high-end graphic stuff.)

 
Great advice!

Im trying to download the latest version of iTunes onto my windows and its not letting me which is BREAKING MY HEART because my boyfriend just gave me his iPod which is barely used (he likes his iPod classic better). All of my music is on my old iTunes and now I cant even open the new version without a little screen popping up saying it won't open because it cant find the file. Ive reinstalled, uninstalled, restarted my computer, emptied my temp folder, etc.

I called the Apple support and they basically couldnt help me without me making an appointment to bring my iPod in after I purchase a warranty since my computer isnt an apple product. *sigh*

grrrrr all around.

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Re: Mac recommendations?
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2014, 10:28:11 am »
Quote from: BrighidsAura;153982
I've always been a windows girl but right now my laptops are so old and useless that it's time for me to get something new. I want to start learning to use Photoshop and other design programs so I thought a Mac would be a nice laptop to have. I like that it's not as likely to get viruses too.

I don't want to spend tons of money (tons being $1,000+) so I found a website that seems legit that has a few for $500 or a little more. They are older models and that's ok with me as long as it can perform the things I want it to do.

Does anyone here use a mac? Can you recommend any of these to me? Are these even worth it and I should suck it up and get a new model?

http://www.macofalltrades.com/Refurbished-Used-Apple-MacBooks-s/301.htm

I've got the MacBook Pro, the model just before retina display came out. If you're gonna go refurbished, make sure the track pad is one single piece as opposed to the buttons on their own bar. I went through two of those because the graphics card got fried from overheating. I think it was a 2009-2010 model. I had to suck it up and buy a new one ($1200) and haven't had a problem yet.

I was originally going for graphic design in school so it helped immensely. I of course, as the broke college student, downloaded Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator illegally. But both work perfectly after some finagling around the serial numbers and subscriptions.

 I love my Mac, even though it's the only Apple product I have.
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