Poor teacher needs help with buying computer

I have a MacBook Pro that has slowed down to a ridiculous speed. I'm a teacher and I'm also in a doctoral program, so I need something that has good memory. I use the computer for lots of things outside of work: online class discussion with video and audio, music, tv, movies, photo and video editing, random web surfing to sometimes questionable websites(don't judge- I'm inquisitive), etc. I really need help because I can't afford another Mac and I really don't want to sell anything just to keep my Apple (though I totally love it). I initially switched to Mac because my PCs would always crash, get viruses, or crap out soon after purchase (my Mac is 7 years old). So...I need some internet assistance. It's tax-free weekend and I've got about $1000 burning a hole in my pocket and an online discussion on Monday. What's a girl to do?

I think I'm looking for 8gb, lots of ghz, and decent battery life, but I'm open to suggestions. I may need a new wireless router since mine is really old and i do love the time machine idea where I can automatically back up stuff since I can't risk losing my school data. I also have a wireless printer that never fully worked with my MBP and I'd really like to take advantage of that. I was researching around and found that the HP Envy or Dell XPS looked pretty good, but I am bummed big time that I can't stick with Apple. I also have an IPad through work and a personal IPod and IPhone.

Any help, suggestions or interventions would be fabulous! Lay it on me - what should I do?

Do you know that Apple gives educational discounts? Just go to the online store and you'll see a thing for "Education Store." Put in your university and that's pretty much it.

Slightly above your budget would be MacBook Air or 13" MacBook Pro. I'm really unfamiliar with the PC laptop market, so I'll let someone else chime in on that option.

In terms of storing your school files, I'd recommend considering something like Dropbox. I used Apple's Dot Mac (then MobileMe, now iCloud) for this during graduate school, but Dropbox is infinitely more elegant in my opinion. A free account is 2GB, larger account sizes are reasonably priced. One thing I really like about Dropbox is that the files are also backed up by Time Machine (or any other backup utility). There are several competing services to look into, but when I switched to Dropbox it was the only compelling option. (I'm sufficiently happy with them to stay).

I don't know of any PC-land thing that mirrors Time Capsule. The auto-backup like Time Machine is surely available in the PC world: most external hard drives come with some sort of software to do this.

You need to note that Time Machine is different than Time Capsule: the latter is a wireless router with a built in hard drive. Time Machine is just the software component. Apple sells the Time Capsule, Airport Extreme, and Airport Express base stations. Express is great for home use, and the USB port on it will support a printer. Airport Extreme has more wired connections, and the USB port can do external hard drives or printers (or both, with a hub). Time Capsule has the hard drive built in, so the USB port is free for a printer.

The entry-model 13" MBP, configured with 8GB of RAM, will run $1299. A bit above your budget, but you may find the ease of transition to the new machine worth the $. A 2TB time capsule runs $299; if you already have a hard drive, then the Airport Extreme or Express would be the better move.

I know being a grad student sucks financially: been there, done that Let me know if you've got more questions.

Thanks so much! I looked into the education discounts but a decent machine was still way above my $1000 sweet spot. I do use Dropbox and since my computer has given up on me, it's the primary way I've been storing my files. Do you think it's worth it to buy more space? I keep making ghost emails to get more accounts, but that is getting old.

I gotta say I really love my Mac - when I first got it, I considered marrying it. The thing is, it seems like I can get a lot more PC for the money. I really am at a loss here...

Oh, and you are totally right- I was thinking of Time Capsule. When I price everything out in Apple, I keep getting a checkout amount upwards of $1300 and that's with less memory and speed. I actually ran out of memory on my current Mac and had to move all my music and vids onto an external drive I Velcroed to the top of my computer.

if you have a fry's locally, i believe they are selling the 13" macbook pro for 1000

If you like your Mac, I'm not going to try and talk you out of it. But yes, you can get more computer for the money if you go with Windows.

Do you need RAM or hard drive space? Because if it is RAM, it is going to be cheaper to buy the baseline of whatever Apple has and then buy RAM yourself. The same applies to hard drive space, but if I remember correctly, that's a bit more involved than a RAM swap in the MBP. There's always Apple refurbs.

Were I in your position (and were buying a Mac) I'd buy a baseline MBP 13 inch, then get an 8GB RAM kit when money allowed.

If I were stepping out of Apple-land, I'd go to the Dell outlet and pick up a Latitude 64xx.

True, it is cheaper to upgrade the RAM yourself. This requires a Phillips 00 (very tiny) screwdriver and a few minutes of time. The only downside is that you'll replace the memory as opposed to just adding. http://macsales.com is a company that sells memory (and lots of other stuff), and will "buy back" the factory RAM for a little bit.

You did say "memory" as in hard drive storage though. I spec'd a machine, base 13" MBP, with 8GB ram instead of 4GB. Stock hard drive in that is 500GB. You can upgrade that with Apple too. It's a little trickier to do it yourself, but not significantly harder than the RAM upgrade.

As for Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/pricing lists their pricing. You can get some small increases in space for free from referrals etc. I have the 100GB plan and pay yearly. When I started using them, it was 50GB for the same price, but they recently upgraded the plan at no extra cost. I currently am using about 15GB, which includes a huge number of extremely hi-res images of medieval mathematical texts. All in all I've been very happy with Dropbox; the seamlessness between my laptop, home computers, and office desktop is freaking awesome.

My personal bias is to stay on the Mac. I had to make similar decisions in grad school, but felt that spending a little bit more upfront was worth it. Depending on what software you use, having to re-buy it for Windows could add up.

I had forgotten about the refurb Mac option. You can also buy a generation-old, like models from 2011, for some degree of savings.

How big is the external hard drive, and how much is used? That may help you select the right hard drive in whatever computer you purchase.

MacBook Pro 13". I wouldn't get the Air in your position. Upgrade the RAM to 16GB.

All the help is much appreciated. Sounds like sticking with Mac and spending a little more is worth it. I'll probably post for pointers on installing the components you all mentioned

Consider not using the education discount. Get the machine new on eBay or MacMall. No taxes and lower prices.

If you love the Mac that much then I'd say try to stick with it. You should be able to grab a new-ish Mac in your price range somewhere, though you might not get all the bells and whistles on the newest 2012 edition. A 2011 MBP could be had for that price though.

If you decide to step out of the Mac market I suggest looking at a Thinkpad T430 or T430s for a great all around machine. Your budget even leaves you a bit of room to make a few upgrades. If you are going to be using the laptop with a desktop I'd suggest the X230 instead.

1. 4GB of memory should be sufficient for your needs. How much memory does your current Macbook Pro have?
2. A new Macbook pro comes with 500GB of hard disk space
3. Go to B&H and purchase the laptop for $1138.95 no tax and free shipping. (The store is based in NY, so you only pay tax if you live there)

reasoN said:

1. 4GB of memory should be sufficient for your needs. How much memory does your current Macbook Pro have?
2. A new Macbook pro comes with 500GB of hard disk space
3. Go to B&H and purchase the laptop for $1138.95 no tax and free shipping. (The store is based in NY, so you only pay tax if you live there)

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You might be able to get the Mac lower than that. Call BH and ask.

The only thing I'm nervous about with the 4gb is that I ran out of space with my current Mac. Maybe if I store more stuff on Dropbox and an external drive that won't happen?

Mmsykes said:

The only thing I'm nervous about with the 4gb is that I ran out of space with my current Mac. Maybe if I store more stuff on Dropbox and an external drive that won't happen?

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Huh? Putting files on your HARD DRIVE (500GB) doesn't dictate how much memory (4GB) you are using.

4GB is enough for you.

Mmsykes said:

The only thing I'm nervous about with the 4gb is that I ran out of space with my current Mac. Maybe if I store more stuff on Dropbox and an external drive that won't happen?

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MMsykes, you're confusing random access memory (RAM) with hard disk space

RAM is memory used by programs while the computer is on. The more RAM you have the more programs you can run at the same time and at a faster speed.

Hard drive space is used for STORAGE of data like pictures, documents, video, programs. The more hard disk space you have the more you can store.

You say you liked your Mac a lot, so I get the feeling you'd like something with a little style...Sony is currently running a couple different offers.

First is a $100 off rebate on select Windows 7 home PCs ($150 rebate for Win 7 Professional)
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...151&langId=-1&identifier=S_Visa_Prepaid_Offer

Second, Sony is also running assorted discounts through it's education store: Up to 10% off, or a free PS3 or PS Vita. Different discounts apply to different machines, use the Shop Now links on the page below to see which qualifies for the deal you want.
https://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/s...51&langId=-1&identifier=S_VAIO_Student_Offers

Now we have some options, please note these prices are before $100 Rebate and your choice of 10% off or free PS3/Vita. All Ivy bridge 3210m, 500GB HDD and 4GB RAM minimum.
13.3" Vaio S $899
Qualifies for the free PS3, but not 10% off.
13.3" Vaio S Premium $1119
1600x900 Screen and dedicated graphics are the upgrades over the standard version. Qualifies for PS3 or 10% off.
15.5" Vaio S Custom $999 or $1199 with the quad core and 2GB GPU.
One of the thinner/lighter 15" laptops you'll find at under 1" thick and 4.4lbs. A 1080p display and free sheet battery offer (doubles battery life) make this an attractive option if you can step up to a 15". Qualifies for either PS3 or 10% off.

$999 - 10% ($100) - $100 rebate = $799 final
$1199 - 10% ($120) - $100 rebate = $980 final

Coupon codes are applied at checkout when you're putting in Address/Billing info.
10% code: CAMPUS10
Free PS3 code: 250PS3 - You could probably get about $200 for a brand new in box PS3 on craigslist/ebay/school bulletin board.

Mmsykes said:

The only thing I'm nervous about with the 4gb is that I ran out of space with my current Mac. Maybe if I store more stuff on Dropbox and an external drive that won't happen?

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A bit more in-depth explanation, in case you like to learn as much as you like to help others learn there will not be a test.

There are two basic kinds of memory, Active Memory and Storage Memory.

Active Memory is absolutely necessary for a modern computer to run, because programs can only be run from Active Memory. Nowadays, Active Memory is typically called RAM, or Random Access Memory, so called because a computer can access any part of it at (well, almost) any time. The few exceptions implied by the "well, almost" have to do with timing issues, along with the fact that a computer, being a glorified and very fancy sequencer, can only do one thing at one time (multitasking is simulated by extremely fast task-switching) -- if the RAM is busy, the computer gets a busy signal (just like on a telephone) and has to wait to try again later.

Storage Memory, called Main Memory on the really old systems (like mainframes and minicomputers), can be random-access (eg hard drives), sequential access (eg tape drives -- remember them?), or read-only memory (ROM). A computer *cannot* execute directly from Main/Storage Memory. That's why a Commodore 64 has to read the entire occupied portion of a cassette tape (and sometimes the entire tape!) into RAM before it can execute the program on that tape -- which can take quite a long time!

A note about ROM. ROM is usually a special kind of chip that can only be written to under special circumstances. The early kinds needed a particular kind of UV light to erase them, and had a little round window on them for that. (So-called EPROMs -- Erasable Programmable ROM chips.) Newer ROMs are called EEPROMS (Electronically Erasable...) and don't need the UV light. Still newer is "flash memory" (there are a couple kinds, but I won't bore you with that), which is a kind of ROM where parts ("blocks", as they're called) of the ROM chip can be erased, rather than the you-have-to-wipe-the-whole-thing-at-once approach. Flash drives use that kind of ROM.

By the way, there's a few odd kinds of Active Memory in addition to RAM. Cache Memory, aka L1/L2/L3 Cache, aka Prefetch, is Active Memory built into a microprocessor such as a CPU. It stores a small number of instructions to make the CPU even speedier. Registers are really, really tiny spaces of Active Memory within the CPU, used for executing instructions at the binary level, where the distinctions "logical" (software) and physical (hardware) get really blurry.

Since that was gratuitously off topic, I'll leave it to you to research more info. Wikipedia has some really good stuff on this, although the techno-jargon can get a little heavy in spots.

Although it's been a few years since I've been in school (graduated college in '09), if you want me to send you an in-depth essay (on any computer topic, not just memory), I'll be glad to dust off my old citation-and-form guidebooks and see what I can come up with. Technology is fun when it's not bewildering I love this stuff.

EDIT: wow, that formatting looked dorky. Removed. Also... phew, that was way longer than I wanted it to be. I'm a serious windbag

I would also second a dell latitude or vostro in the current generation. Business class machines tend to hold up much better than consumer grade models.

"random web surfing to sometimes questionable websites(don't judge- I'm inquisitive)"

Have you had someone computer savvy look at your computer? Maybe you have installed some bloatware from these sites...I'm not sure if that is a problem with MACs or not.

Perhaps simply purging the junk from your system would improve performance to an acceptable amount, and save the 1000 dollars!

stevebc said:

"random web surfing to sometimes questionable websites(don't judge- I'm inquisitive)"

Have you had someone computer savvy look at your computer? Maybe you have installed some bloatware from these sites...I'm not sure if that is a problem with MACs or not.

Perhaps simply purging the junk from your system would improve performance to an acceptable amount, and save the 1000 dollars!

Click to expand...

It might be part of the issue, but his system is 7 years old. That's what, 4 to 5 doublings under Moore's Law, and that means it really is time to upgrade.

Usually a mac is good for longer then a PC (it's one of the upsides to the closed development/driver environment), but 7 years is pretty old for anyone.





Personally, I would suggest getting the 13" MBP, or maybe going nuts and get a 13" MBA.

I think you'd be fine with 4gb of ram (and it's an easy, and FAR cheaper upgrade to do after the fact, at least in the MBP). You had 512mb or maybe 1gb of RAM in your current system as comparison.

In fact, as a general comparison, you probably have a gen1 unibody MBP, as comparison it's probably running a 1.83ghz T2400 Intel Core Duo, with 512mb (or MAYBE 1GB) of ram.

Let's compare that to a modern MBP

A Base 13" MBP has a 2.5ghz Core i5 (if I can count, that is 7 or 8 generations of processor more advanced). Doubling speed doesn't begin to describe it), and 4gb of ram (either 4 or 8 times what you had.


You had somewhere between 80gb and 120 gb for harddrive space, a modern base 13" MBP has 500gb. So approximately 5 times the amount.


You might want to go to a local Apple store/Worst Buy/Campus Store and play with the MBP and the 13" MBA.

The Pro is faster, has more storage space, and has a DVD drive, but the MBA is seriously light and portable, and has a smaller SSD. I say smaller, but the SSD would be a little larger then the hard drive you current system has, but would also be approximately 1,000 times faster. That's the advantage of an SSD, it's seriously fast.

I am going to say forget the mac and go to Dell's outlet store and get a Vostro and call it a day. in your case a vostro v131 should work out nicely.

BTW if you were really poor, you would not be looking at a mac as they are seriously overpriced for what you get.

EDIT: I just picked up a Dell Vostro 3450 with the following config for $750 shipped from their outlet

i7 2640m (2nd gen)
4GB
500GB 5400 rpm drive
ATI 6630m
Wireless N
BT 3.0
backlit keyboard
for $280 more I am upgrading the display from 720p to 1600*900, adding a 750GB 7200rpm HDD, BD-Rom drive and a genuine Dell 9 cell battery. Total cost $1030 for a machine that will seriously go. Plus give good run times due to switchable graphics

I also picked up a Vostro 1440 for $480 shipped
i3 2.53Ghz
2GB ram
320GB hdd
Wireless N
BT 3.0
It will get an additional 4GB from the first machine that is upgraded to 8 when i remove the single 4GB sim and replace with mached pair.

2 machines total for $1510 and both are built to actually work in a business environment unlike the consumer grade mac.....

Zumino Zufeilon said:

It might be part of the issue, but his system is 7 years old. That's what, 4 to 5 doublings under Moore's Law, and that means it really is time to upgrade.

Usually a mac is good for longer then a PC (it's one of the upsides to the closed development/driver environment), but 7 years is pretty old for anyone.





Personally, I would suggest getting the 13" MBP, or maybe going nuts and get a 13" MBA.

I think you'd be fine with 4gb of ram (and it's an easy, and FAR cheaper upgrade to do after the fact, at least in the MBP). You had 512mb or maybe 1gb of RAM in your current system as comparison.

In fact, as a general comparison, you probably have a gen1 unibody MBP, as comparison it's probably running a 1.83ghz T2400 Intel Core Duo, with 512mb (or MAYBE 1GB) of ram.

Let's compare that to a modern MBP

A Base 13" MBP has a 2.5ghz Core i5 (if I can count, that is 7 or 8 generations of processor more advanced). Doubling speed doesn't begin to describe it), and 4gb of ram (either 4 or 8 times what you had.


You had somewhere between 80gb and 120 gb for harddrive space, a modern base 13" MBP has 500gb. So approximately 5 times the amount.


You might want to go to a local Apple store/Worst Buy/Campus Store and play with the MBP and the 13" MBA.

The Pro is faster, has more storage space, and has a DVD drive, but the MBA is seriously light and portable, and has a smaller SSD. I say smaller, but the SSD would be a little larger then the hard drive you current system has, but would also be approximately 1,000 times faster. That's the advantage of an SSD, it's seriously fast.

Click to expand...

How is a mac good for longer than a PC? It isnt that breaks physical laws. The only difference is when people pay alot more for something they make it last longer which means putting up with slowness / old software that much longer. If you hardly use your mac for anything and were able to make it last 7 years, then you could have done exactly the same with windows or linux on any computer. In fact from my experience servicing a hand full of macs I find macs are good for far less time because apple is quick to stop supporting older hardware and due to the closed nature of the system that means you are just SOL on some issues. People have got windows / linux running on amazingly old hardware. In fact were I work there are many computers that have lasted as long as a decade running windows 2000,xp, 98.

In addition if you want to randomly surf to unsafe websites you need to learn security with OSX or windows. Fact is now that apple has become much more popular sites are actually starting to target the OS where as before no one even bothered because there were not enough macs in the wild. If you dont know when you can or cannot install something / say ok / enter your password, then dont do it.

That being said if you love macs buy one, whatever you $1000 can get will be way faster than what you have.

rudy said:

How is a mac good for longer than a PC? It isnt that breaks physical laws. The only difference is when people pay alot more for something they make it last longer which means putting up with slowness / old software that much longer. If you hardly use your mac for anything and were able to make it last 7 years, then you could have done exactly the same with windows or linux on any computer. In fact from my experience servicing a hand full of macs I find macs are good for far less time because apple is quick to stop supporting older hardware and due to the closed nature of the system that means you are just SOL on some issues. People have got windows / linux running on amazingly old hardware. In fact were I work there are many computers that have lasted as long as a decade running windows 2000,xp, 98.

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Down boy, down!

During grad school I worked at a Worst Buy, and as one of the very few (there were like 3 of us) people in Home Office/Geek Squad who actually knew anything about computers, I learned to change the way I talk about computers to customers who would come in, especially the non-tech savvy ones, which is what the vast majority of them were.

If the customer confuses RAM and HDD, like the original poster, then I consider them non-tech savvy, and that changes how I talked to them about computers.

For example, to your average non-techie I would say

"an average PC is going to last 2-4 years, depending on what your doing with it, you can't realistically expect to get much more then that"

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There are ALWAYS exceptions to the rule, if Grandma came in, I'd let her know she'll probably get a few years extra, because while Grandma is non-tech savvy, she's also not likely to be browsing questionable websites, etc.

With a Mac, I would tell people

An average Mac is probably going to last 3-5 years, depending on what your doing with it

Click to expand...

For your average non-tech user, the 'longer life' of a Mac is based on a few points.

1) Higher initial specs/build quality. This is not to say you can't get a PC with better build quality/specs, but if someone's buying a computer at Worst Buy, they aren't shopping for a Elitebook/Thinkpad, they are looking at consumer grade HPs, Asus, Acer's and Toshiba's, and Mac's are easily better build quality and spec's then any of those.

2) Closed Ecosystem. Because OSX is unix based and fairly closed as far as hardware goes, the drivers and OS play better, this limits conflicts and system stability issues.

3) A general lack of Virus/Malware/etc. While there have been a few malwares for OSX of late, there is still nothing like the volume that exists for Windows. Expecting non-savvy people to have any actual concept of how to avoid virii/malware is unrealistic, and expecting them to be pro-active about it is less-so. So, because OSX is Unix based (i.e. more secure) AND has a lower footprint (security by obscurity), for the majority of people, they aren't going to get any malware/virii.



Of course I've seen computers from long ago still working, and running fine. Hell, I myself have a Macintosh (the original 1984 version) that still runs fine. I've got an old low power system running WinXp. But I am tech savvy. Like you, I know how to keep machines clean and running. I do not expect most people to know how to though, because experience has shown me time, and again, that they don't.

If you drift out of the Apple land, I highly recommend getting a ThinkPad-series business-level laptop from Lenovo. (1) it will last a long time due to its durability, reliability, and higher quality hardware, and (2) it will easily be component-level upgradeable for more memory, more powerful CPU, diskspace, etcetera.

I would stay away from Dell, as they are infamously known for overheating laptops. Depending on the model, replacing the stock thermal paste can make anywhere from no difference to minimal to huge difference in temperatures. I have replaced thermal paste on some Dell laptops that overheated, and no difference was made. On others, a huge and enormous difference was made in idle and stress temperatures (from burning so hot I can't have the laptop on my lap to I can't even feel heat from the laptop when it's on my lap).

EDIT: Lenovo ThinkPad X220 (http://www.amazon.com/Thinkpad-X220...id=1344864494&sr=1-3&keywords=Lenovo+THinkPad) for $1100

i7-2620M @ 2.7GHz
4GB DDR3
9-cell battery
320GB HDD
Intel HD Graphics 3000

I admit, I personally don't like that it has Intel graphics instead of a dedicated AMD/NVIDIA GPU. The RAM and the HDD you can upgrade over time if it isn't enough. You could change out the HDD for an SSD, and use an external USB HDD for storage.

Or if you want to save money, get a Refurbished Thinkpad X220 from the Lenovo Outlet. They can be had for half that price and it's not uncommon to find one with an SSD... you just have to keep an eye out.

The Thinkpad T-series is good too, in your price range.

OrangeWolf said:

Or if you want to save money, get a Refurbished Thinkpad X220 from the Lenovo Outlet. They can be had for half that price and it's not uncommon to find one with an SSD... you just have to keep an eye out.

The Thinkpad T-series is good too, in your price range.

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+ 1

Generally I stay way clear from used laptops (they are not worth it, except...). However, I am actually open and have no problem to getting used Lenovo/IBM T-series business-class laptops (because they're actually that good). I myself have a used T61 (has a dedicated GPU - NVIDIA Quadro NVS140M) and got it for a net of $15 after selling my crappy consumer-level Lenovo laptop (yeah, stay clear from consumer-level Lenovo laptops; business-class is the way to go).

There's little to add to this thread that hasn't been said already, but why not hop on your local Craigslist. At least in my area (Greater Boston), I constantly see 2009-2010 MacBook Pro's (13-15") running from 800-1,200 bucks. Some with warranty's up to 2014 even. It's definitely worth a look, and the majority of these are very well taken care of, so there's little worry needed.

watch and learn boys

Mmsykes said:

I use the computer for lots of things outside of work: online class discussion with video and audio, music, tv, movies, photo and video editing

I really need help because I can't afford another Mac and I really don't want to sell anything just to keep my Apple (though I totally love it).

(my Mac is 7 years old)

I've got about $1000 burning a hole in my pocket

I also have an IPad through work and a personal IPod and IPhone.

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so here are the important points. this individual is already trained on mac os. this individual is already a member of the apple ecosystem. and this individual has an ancient, very bad mac that may actually be a powerpc.

so, even on a fixed $1000 budget, there is only one choice: a newer cheap mac. it doesn't matter what model it is because anything you can find will be perfect. this person isn't complaining about their fast computer being not fast enough. they don't need a fast computer at all. they're using something as fast as an intel ATOM right now. ANYTHING will blow it away.

so, whether refurb from apple, or otherwise used, you stick to what you know and get a $1000 macbook. as long as it is a core 2 duo or sandy bridge model (it should say "core 2" or "core i5" in the parts list) it will perform excellently for you. they'll all have hard drives multiple times bigger than yours. (do check to make sure). all you need to know is: how big do you want the screen to be?

if 13.3" is fine, there is a 2011 macbook air for under $1000 refurb that would be perfect for you. comes with a 1 year warranty and I assume you can return it in 30 days if you don't like it. go look at a similar one in a store to see if you like the size. ( these have less storage space because they use ssds: 128gb space: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC965LL/A , 256gb space: http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0ME0LL/A )

finding a 15" macbook for $1000 will take more work. there are lots on ebay for $800-1000, search for 15" macbook pro 2010, or 15" macbook i5, and filter by price 500-1100. ( http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sac...ple_Laptops&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=500&_udhi=1100 ) I would feel very comfortable buying something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/mint-Apple-...ple_Laptops&hash=item35bee6d9e2#ht_919wt_1187 because if you compare that to some of the others which are beat up, you can tell this owner cared about theirs and that is where you want to be when buying used.

Mmsykes said:

I have a MacBook Pro that has slowed down to a ridiculous speed. I'm a teacher and I'm also in a doctoral program, so I need something that has good memory. I use the computer for lots of things outside of work: online class discussion with video and audio, music, tv, movies, photo and video editing, random web surfing to sometimes questionable websites(don't judge- I'm inquisitive), etc. I really need help because I can't afford another Mac and I really don't want to sell anything just to keep my Apple (though I totally love it). I initially switched to Mac because my PCs would always crash, get viruses, or crap out soon after purchase (my Mac is 7 years old). So...I need some internet assistance. It's tax-free weekend and I've got about $1000 burning a hole in my pocket and an online discussion on Monday. What's a girl to do?

I think I'm looking for 8gb, lots of ghz, and decent battery life, but I'm open to suggestions. I may need a new wireless router since mine is really old and i do love the time machine idea where I can automatically back up stuff since I can't risk losing my school data. I also have a wireless printer that never fully worked with my MBP and I'd really like to take advantage of that. I was researching around and found that the HP Envy or Dell XPS looked pretty good, but I am bummed big time that I can't stick with Apple. I also have an IPad through work and a personal IPod and IPhone.

Any help, suggestions or interventions would be fabulous! Lay it on me - what should I do?

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I don't know if this helps, but here are my thoughts. I bought a Macbook Pro about two years ago for around $1900 after a student discount and I loved it... I ended up selling it recently because my family has gotten on a tight budget so we had to sell a bunch of our things. Just recently my future wife and I were walking around the international mall near us in Tampa, and I walked into the Sony store and was looking at their laptops and instantly regretted buying my Macbook and wishing I had $800. I can't remember what model it was I think it was a model S or something but it was a beautiful laptop. Thin, light, powerful, 14" screen I think, blu-ray drive, 1080p screen, backlit keyboard, awesome build quality, and the specs were great too... I think it was a 3rd gen core i5 or i7 with 8gb of ram and a 500gb hard drive.

The laptop was beautiful. And to think that I spent so much on a stupid Macbook two years ago really made me feel silly because at the time I just wanted "the best." Well, I can tell you that once things pick up for us again, I will definitely be going back to the Sony store to pick up one of their laptops because for the specs, quality, design... I don't see myself ever considering a Macbook ever again especially with their ludicrous starting prices. I think other manufacturers are catching up to Macbook build quality when it comes to laptops (although, Apple has taken many ques from Sony since they started which Steve Jobs even admitted to of how much he admired Sony and their products). So really the only people I think that will be buying Macbooks in the (maybe somewhat distant) future are the people already entrenched in the Apple ecosystem.

I was absolutely impressed by what I saw at the Sony store. I remember picking up this laptop and seeing the slot loading drive, gorgeous 1080p display, blu-ray, backlit keyboard, and feeling how light it was and being blown away wishing I had around $1000 to spend right now (especially because we happened to be there on tax-free weekend). Anyway, I have come to the conclusions after owning a Macbook that they are in fact overpriced for what they are. I did love OSX and the reliability of the system, but I truely felt for the first time that I overpayed for my Macbook after what I saw. Take that for what it is. Hopefully it helps in your decision... I know it would for me since OP and I seem to be under similar financial limitations.

I would have to 2nd the suggestions for a business class Lenovo/Dell from their outlets, as these machines are better value and will last longer. But if you are really attached to your Mac, feel comfortable with OSX and are unfamiliar with Windows then that may be a factor. You could of course also buy a new Windows laptop like a Sony Vaio, and it would still be cheaper yet more powerful. Unlike Macs, there are many many deals on pc's, you can look in the deals forum here or any other deal site once you get a basic idea of what you want.

For your budget, you can easily get a windows laptop for cheaper, and then make sure you have a tech savvy friend (or ask people here) to help you set it up, with the proper anti virus software etc. Windows is a LOT better now than it was 7 years ago. Your wireless printer and router will also probably work.

For storage, in addition to Dropbox I'd recommend Skydrive and Google drive. And you can always pick up a 16/32GB Usb drive to carry around with you.

BiH115 said:

There's little to add to this thread that hasn't been said already, but why not hop on your local Craigslist. At least in my area (Greater Boston), I constantly see 2009-2010 MacBook Pro's (13-15") running from 800-1,200 bucks. Some with warranty's up to 2014 even. It's definitely worth a look, and the majority of these are very well taken care of, so there's little worry needed.

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you only go to craig's list if you want to get murdered
http://www.examiner.com/article/college-student-lured-on-craigslist-shot-dead

I knew this kid through my kids......