Converting to Mac from Windows

Hey tsr,

I am just looking for a bit of advice / help please.

I've always had a Windows laptop however i'm now converting to Mac as Windows just isn't reliable!!

I am undecided between the 13" MBAir and 13" MBpro/retina - especially with the price difference not being all that much once VAT is added.

My usage will be from basic browsing, writing essays, research and I also want to try and get into some basic editing- I have read reviews and people recommend the MBA for this usage yet others say pay the extra and go for the MBP.

I have to admit, i have not got a clue about Macs so a lot of the reviews / articles regarding the technical parts including processor and the RAM is a foreign language to me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
studentb

Reply 1

username612415

21

Original post by studentb

Hey tsr,

I am just looking for a bit of advice / help please.

I've always had a Windows laptop however i'm now converting to Mac as Windows just isn't reliable!!

I am undecided between the 13" MBAir and 13" MBpro/retina - especially with the price difference not being all that much once VAT is added.

My usage will be from basic browsing, writing essays, research and I also want to try and get into some basic editing- I have read reviews and people recommend the MBA for this usage yet others say pay the extra and go for the MBP.

I have to admit, i have not got a clue about Macs so a lot of the reviews / articles regarding the technical parts including processor and the RAM is a foreign language to me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
studentb

If the price difference is negligible, go for the Retina Pro. It's worth doing for the screen alone, both because it's far nicer to look at than the frankly pedestrian display quality of the Air, and the extra resolution is very nice to have for most editing applications. It's still very thin and light for a 13" laptop, which is pretty much the Air's sole advantage at this point in time, and in exchange for being a bit thicker you get a much more powerful processor, better integrated graphics, a longer lasting battery and a more ports. Unless squeezing every possible millimetre of space out of your laptop is the top priority, the Pro represents a lot more laptop for your money.

Reply 2

studentb

OP

Hey Gofre, thanks for your response. I have a couple more questions if that's ok?

1. I'm told adobe flash player is not recommened for Mac however, BBCiplayer etc requires this plug-in and I would want to watch this, I know there's nothing stopping me from doing so however, people have said not to because it's then open to viruses? What's your thoughts?

2. Is the MBP better than the latest MacBook? Because again, the price difference is not that much!

Thanks again
studentb

Reply 3

track

Original post by studentb

Hey Gofre, thanks for your response. I have a couple more questions if that's ok?

1. I'm told adobe flash player is not recommened for Mac however, BBCiplayer etc requires this plug-in and I would want to watch this, I know there's nothing stopping me from doing so however, people have said not to because it's then open to viruses? What's your thoughts?

2. Is the MBP better than the latest MacBook? Because again, the price difference is not that much!

Thanks again
studentb

The new MacBook has the same power as a MacBook Air from 2011 so I recommend you avoid it. I own a MacBook Air 13" at the moment and it's a brilliant little laptop. However if you are choosing between the Macbook Air and the Pro, definitely go for the Pro if money is not an issue. The retina screen and extra processing power is worth the extra money. I'm selling my MacBook Air to upgrade to a 13" Pro as it will become my go to computer for uni and work. Theres no problem with having flash installed just be weary of going to dodgy websites and check your downloads.

If your are looking for something alternative to a Mac checkout the Dell XPS 13.

Reply 4

username612415

21

Original post by studentb

Hey Gofre, thanks for your response. I have a couple more questions if that's ok?

1. I'm told adobe flash player is not recommened for Mac however, BBCiplayer etc requires this plug-in and I would want to watch this, I know there's nothing stopping me from doing so however, people have said not to because it's then open to viruses? What's your thoughts?

2. Is the MBP better than the latest MacBook? Because again, the price difference is not that much!

Thanks again
studentb

1. Flash is discouraged because it's not particularly efficient, but it doesn't cause larger issues on Macs than it does on Windows based PCs. This isn't just for Macs, the industry is generally moving away from Flash towards standards that are less demanding and work better on mobile platforms, Apple were just the first to publicly start favouring other options and start working towards prioritising them. On OS X browsers like Safari can be set to disable Flash by default, but Flash content still works fine when enabled and runs the same as it would on Windows, and you can enable Flash for specific pages when necessary, for things like playing specific videos. For example you can have Flash turned off but if a web page uses Flash by default it will prompt you in the video window to enable Flash for that specific tab.

2. As long as you don't need the insane thinness of the MacBook, the MacBook Pro is generally a far superior laptop for roughly the same price for the same RAM and storage configurations.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 5

typonaut

17

Original post by studentb

I am undecided between the 13" MBAir and 13" MBpro/retina - especially with the price difference not being all that much once VAT is added.

Personally I don't get the whole no optical drive, no ethernet thing (and no Firewire), and I don't think anyone could ever persuade me to buy a laptop with a glossy screen - but I'm a bit old school like that.

However, I think I'd probably buy the MBP, at least you get HDMI out without having to worry about adaptors. Apart from that there doesn't seem much to choose between that and the MBA - for the same money (£999) you choose between 256GB storage in the MBA (v 128GB in the MBP) or 8GB RAM in the MBP (v 4GB in the MBA).

As to the question about Flash - works on Macs fine. I think the issue with it seems to be that it's constantly getting fixes for security exploits, which is something Mac users aren't particularly used to.

Reply 6

BobLoblawLawBlog

16

Original post by studentb

Hey tsr,

I am just looking for a bit of advice / help please.

I've always had a Windows laptop however i'm now converting to Mac as Windows just isn't reliable!!

I am undecided between the 13" MBAir and 13" MBpro/retina - especially with the price difference not being all that much once VAT is added.

My usage will be from basic browsing, writing essays, research and I also want to try and get into some basic editing- I have read reviews and people recommend the MBA for this usage yet others say pay the extra and go for the MBP.

I have to admit, i have not got a clue about Macs so a lot of the reviews / articles regarding the technical parts including processor and the RAM is a foreign language to me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
studentb

Out of interest, what in particular has turned you away from windows? What's specifically is unreliable about it?

What kind of editing? Photo editing? Music editing? Video editing? Document editing? For the most part, I'd say you really don't need a Mac and you're unnecessarily spending hundreds of pounds that you could use to buy a house or as a down payment on the next iPhone.

My advice would be spend £500 or so on a windows laptop and forget about apple. To quote Cortana, "Apparently I'm going to help save the universe in 500 years".

I don't like apple.

Converting to Mac from Windows

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