First Time Mac Buyer

[AnAngelsDeath]

I am getting ready to start school in order to get my Bachelors Degree in both the Recording Arts/Music Production and in Music (Music Theory, Songwriting, the whole nine-yards. I have been a musician all my life, started out in choir in 2nd Grade, and then started playing Alto Saxophone shortly after that, followed my Trumpet, and wrote my first piece of music when i was in 6th grade. in 8th grade I was given a Guitar, and as soon as I picked it up for the first time, it felt like someone was handing me my Destiny..I know, i know, sounds cheesy, but its true, that's how I Felt. Music has been the foundation of my entire life, and if it wasn't for music, I wouldn't be here today, it saved me from a lot of dark times in my life) ANYWAYS ! So as any of you fellow musicians/audio engineers/Producers know, Mac's are the industry standard for recording, and therefore that's what Music schools teach you to use. So I am buying a MacBook Pro for school. I've been a PC guy all my life, besides music, Custom-PC Building/Modding is my other passion. I currently have my own small business Building and Modding Custom PC's, Cases, Cooling Systems, as well as Repairing them, and Modding/Repairing Consoles/Handhelds, iPhone's/Android Phones, etc etc. And so even tho I am familiar with using a Mac, I have never owned one, the only apple products i have owned are iPod's and iPod Touches. So I have a few questions concerning the MacBook Pro I have decided to go with.

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MacBook...8151407&sr=1-1&keywords=macbook+pro+retina+15

I am going with the 2.6GHz option with the 512GB of Storage. Which is my first question, I am gonna need a lot more space then 512GB, and even tho I have several External HDD's and do plan on getting a new one that works with the Thunderbolt and/or USB 3.0 Interface that the MacBook Pro has, I still want to have a bigger sized Internal HDD. My question is, A.) Are you able to install your own HDD's in Mac's or is it all proprietary, forcing you to pay Apple a stupid amount of money to do something you could do yourself ? and B.) when it talks about the HDD it says Flash Storage, does this mean it has a SSD ? cause that's what I've heard, but I just wanted to make sure. And if so, are these the same SSD's that are available for PC ? do they have the same Connections ? Also I noticed that previous MacBooks accepted SATA HDD's. Do the new Models still accept SATA or is it only SSD ? Cause I would prefer to have 1TB of HDD space minimum, but 1TB SDD Drive is pretty friggin spendy, but a 2TB SATA doesn't cost much at all. I would prefer to have both, the SSD for the OS and main programs, and a SATA Drive for Mass Storage, as I do in my PC, but I am thinking that two HDD's would prolly not fit inside a MacBook since most PC laptops, which are thicker, only handle one HDD as well.

And finally, I just wanted to hear overall Opinion about the Model I've chosen to go with, the good the bad and the ugly.

 

[vsboxerboy]

A.. No, you can't install your own HDD - you can't even change the RAM unfortunately. What do you need the extra space for? You're going to be much better off keeping a 1TB portable external hard drive with you. They're small, cheap, and easy to use.

B. Yes, it's a SSD. No it does not use the standard form factor as a typical 2.5" SSD that you might find in a desktop.

There is no way you're going to get more space in that laptop without spending a fortune on a custom product. The replacement SSDs for macs already cost a small fortune (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Aura_Pro_Retina_2012) and for that price you can get a much, much better external solution.

You're really going to want to weigh what you want out of this computer.

I'd start by going over what software you need to be running (are you sure you need a mac?). If you need more than 8GB of RAM you need to know that NOW because you can't upgrade the RAM later.

Then I'd consider if you really want to get the $2+ model vs one of the cheaper ones. Make sure you get the education discount too!

Personally, I'd go with the base model 15" retina MBP without any upgrades. All my storage is on network shares both at home and at school so I don't need to worry about anything.

 

[Sixthsense]

Personally i think you should go for the non retina macbook pro (they are specced the same minus the display). Last i checked both bays (optical and hard drive) are user upgradeable. RAM is not soldered to the board as well.As an alternative you could build a hackintosh desktop if you're not looking for a mobile replacement

 

[Serpico]

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I'm actually going to suggest one of the Fatbooks. Yeah, the display isn't as good as the Retina MBP (nothing is) and optical drives are a thing of the past, but it sounds like you'll appreciate being able to put in larger internal hard drives. You can even mod your MBP by removing the optical drive and placing a second 2.5" hard drive in there.

http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/

Maybe buy a standard 15" and your own aftermarket 512GB SSD and 2.5" mechanical hard drive. Load them both up and you'll have loads of internal storage. Get external USB 3.0 hard drives for your big music files and storage and you'll be set.

Another suggestion is to go with the baseline Retina Macbook Pro and do your work with external hard drives.

Good luck!

 

[UnknownSouljer]

Basically everything that has been said in this thread in the replies is accurate (in terms of non upgradeable ram and a relatively non-upgradeable hdd).

The only thing I can add really is that in the music industry, generally a lot of this stuff is going to be stored externally. There isn't any amount of space that you could put in any Laptop that would be enough. (2x 1TB HDD's still wouldn't be enough space for an active person working on tracks). That said, you may want to rethink the way you're looking at the amount of storage you have.

I personally would get the retina, and then invest in some sort of small (relatively) portable external raid 1 setup. Yes, it's an extra thing to carry, but I personally don't see a way around it. It's no different than having to carry around a Mic, or an audio interface, portable keys, etc.