I’m currently planning on moving to Istanbul w/ my girl & need to downsize on stuff. Figured i’ve got no choice but to sell my Pc setup as its a bit of a beast & the main Pc weighs literally 20kg so not Flight friendly!
So going to sell it along with my laptop, after backing everything up & thinking of purchasing a Macbook Pro.
I added the hi-res & antiglare for £120 & also the 750gb 7200rpm hdd for £40.
Reason i’ve not added VAT is due to a friend that works at the Uni & is able to get a discount of 20% which pretty much equats to the vat!
So the question to you Mac guys.
Is it really worth nearly £1700 for the above ?
Do you guys feel safe with them at gigs ?
What do you do to keep them safe ?
Is apple care purchasable after you’ve bought it ? Is it worth it ?
I don’t think I can afford the nearly £300 for it when I have the money for the mbp, but can probably afford it say 6 months after.
Any idea of Insurance for DJ gear that covers laptops & rough guide prices ?
Going from a beast of a pc & a pretty good laptop to a 15" macbook pro is going to be very strange. I’ve got no clue about Mac. I’m sure its going to be worth it in the end though. At least thats what I keep telling myself!
i have the exact same one.
Best decision i made. I can run everything at once. Use it at gigs, home, work, doesnt matter. get apple care. i baby mine. i bought a sleeve for it and keep it in a case when i go out and gig with it.
Thats a beast of a Mac! With those specs it will do anything IMO. Yes its very expensive, but it would be if you upgrade it through Apple. You could maybe get the standard MBP which will cost a lot less, and then upgrade the hardware yourself, and save some cash.
I’m not sure about the Anti-glare display, I have the standard display, and I don’t have any problems with it in or out the club. I would also strongly suggest getting the Apple care as soon as you can afford it. I think Apple gives you 12 months to purchase it. DO IT, YOU WON"T REGRET IT!
As for protection, I bought an awesome slim padded sleeve, and my Mac doesn’t go anywhere outside the house without it! I value my Mac so much I hardly even let my fiance touch it! I use it for everything, business, gigs, etc and it does everything. Its also not difficult to use at all, it took me a cpl of days to get the in an outs of it, and I was a-away…
Whatever Mac you decide to purchase, you will love it I assure you.
Buy the standard MBP, upgrade it yourself and save some cash, and get the Apple care! Cheers.
They’re amazing; they’re worth it; I feel safe; and it cuddles me to sleep at night.
I’m half kidding about the last one, but when it’s asleep, the status light mimics a breathing pattern. Some think it’s creepy…I think it’s a nice touch.
I’d suggest one change. Get an SSD if you can possibly afford it and know how to use a screwdriver. They’re insane. I won’t have another computer without one. But it’s worth the size constraints for me (using a 120GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G from OWC, aka macsales.com) because they don’t make laptop hard drives big enough for me to store everything, and if I can’t have everything, I might as well be selective about what I carry with me. Apple’s SSD upgrades are insanely over priced and kinda slow drives unless they’ve changed a lot since this spring.
And be sure you want a 15" laptop. I think they’re huge…but I still miss the 12" powerbooks. I think my 13" is a bit on the big side. Again…if it’s not a 25"+ screen, it might as well be 12.
And, yes, you can buy AppleCare at any point before the warranty runs out. It’s totally worth it, IMHO. Apple’s warranty is pretty darn good.
@mostapha: i’m sure 15" is the way forward. I’ve got a 17" now & thats nice but too big.
But to go from a pc with 3 monitors, 2x 19", 1x 22"ws & a 17" laptop even just to a 15" is going to feel very constrained.
The 13" didn’t come in Quadcore! I’m considering getting a SSD at some point next year when the prices have dropped more & taking out the CD drive & then have dual hdd’s.
Haha, I want to comment about you are moving to Istanbul as it is my hometown. Nightlife is great especially in Taksim. I hope you will have fun there man.
The upgrade to the SSD is well worth any other sacrifices you have to make IMHO. My dual-core i5 can easily run anything I throw at it, and I get annoyed if it takes more than 10 seconds to boot up to a password prompt. But, to each his own.
I’d upgrade to an SSD long before I’d do a ram upgrade, for example. Just don’t skimp on the SSD…a lot of the cheaper ones are using old controller chips that have problems. Mercury and high-end OCZ is the way to go.
My girl is from there & has had to go back due to her visa ending in the UK.
I pretty much only tend to be busy in the Summer months in the UK with sound engineering & the odd event, so planning to work in Istanbul for 6 months & then come back to the UK for the summer, work some festivals, try & get some sets at a couple festivals & chill!
But we’ll see what happens. Can’t wait to get this beast of a MBP
Merhaba! Taksim was crazy busy. Didn’t really see much of the night life whilst I was there but my girl knows some club owners & guys that run nights so should be epic. I’ve heard there’s a big Trance scene! But thats not really my cup of tea.
This is exactly what I got a couple of weeks ago, minus the upgraded hard drive. I figure I’ll add in a ssd in the dvd drive eventually. ALso plan to up the ram to 8gb eventually…but noticed that it can handle up to 16gb…right now thats a bit pricey, so I might wait awhile and go crazy.
The only thing I’d upgrade through Apple is the display
Buy Kingston RAM if you want that upgrading (Lifetime Warranty)
BUY AppleCare! I’m a certified apple technician and one repair may cost you the price of AppleCare, You can buy it anytime within the first year
Like the others have said, SSD all the way!
Having said that, of the drive you get will be covered by AppleCare should it fail!
Just make sure you budget for an external hard drive backup option and do regular backups, Carbon Copy Cloner is my preferred choice, but Time Machine is good enough
I had a buddy asking the same question before, so I did this video review. I think it might address some of your questions.
And to keep mine safe, I have a speck see thru case, a case logic sleeve, and i ordered a moshi clear guard keyboard cover. All on my channel, and the moshi clear guard review should be up in a week or so. I hope this answered your question. I love my MBP for DJing, I find I have no problems and it all runs smoothly, and it gives me peace of mind, knowing it will be stable in the short term (gigs) and last long term (hopefully).
And to keep mine safe, I have a speck see thru case, a case logic sleeve, and i ordered a moshi clear guard keyboard cover. All on my channel, and the moshi clear guard review should be up in a week or so. I hope this answered your question. I love my MBP for DJing, I find I have no problems and it all runs smoothly, and it gives me peace of mind, knowing it will be stable in the short term (gigs) and last long term (hopefully)
EDIT: Added this to my last post, but can’t figure out how to delete this one.
After the first complementary year you NEED the next 2 years Apple Care.
If your logic board goes bust or you have technical failure Apple will replace the stuff on the Applecare.
With out Apple Care you better have very good laptop insurance that covers general break down cus most does not cover for parts.
I wont gig with a Mac that isnt covered by Apple Care which is why i change my Mac every 3 years.
Apple care has saved my ass twice from a huge Logic Board bill.
Sounds goog guys, thanks for all the feedback. I think i’m reading the things I was expecting to read.
Glad that it gives me a while to save up for the Apple care, tho what happens in the first year & you don’t have apple care ? Are you still covered for parts under the warrenty ?
Thanks for the comments guys.
Can’t wait to get my hands on one of these Beasts…
