Here's what I'm currently leaning towards:
13" MacBook Pro
2.9GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM — 2x4GB
256GB Solid State Drive
$1884.33 (tax is $125!!! )

Would be much more excited if it had a better display. Retina is crazy expensive though and no optical drive.

For all I know, I'll be back leaning towards the PC tomorrow.

 

Do some more research with what you want to use it for. You may be able to do everything with less machine. Those guys at the apple store really know their stuff. Worth a visit.

 

I'll be researching for a while yet. I want whatever I get to last me at least 3-4 years. For what I plan on spending, it better!

 

Meh, you're a baller, you can afford it. Mom and dad aren't going to let their baby do without.

 

Don't think I'm getting anything handed to me.

 

Psssshhh, your family will make sure you have anything you need. That's just the kind of people they are.

 

They'll help me out if I need it, but I don't expect anything for free. I always feel guilty when I need to ask for something.

 

Really?

Doesn't seem to bother my kids.

 

I used to be like that too. I still feel guilty when people give me stuff, even Christmas presents. That's one reason I hate it so much.

You've gone wrong somewhere. Or more likely, your wife has put her spin into them and you didn't correct it. Everyone can't be a winner, you don't deserve **** just because of who you are, and the world owes you nothing. Get that into your head, and live by it. That's what I hammered into mine. Its a wonder child protective services haven't picked me up in today's world of everyone gets a trophy, and everyone is a winner, and everyone deserves the same as everyone else no matter if you earn it or not.

 

If you're going to get the pro, get the SSD and ram 3rd party, and don't bother with AppleCare. You can get both much cheaper, elsewhere, and the pro is actually used upgradable (to an extent).

I wish the 13" Pro had the same resolution as the 13" Air though. Then it would be a no brained to have your optical drive.

 

Really though, how often does anyone use a optical drive anymore. Heck most software I install for myself or at clients is all downloadable

 

I've got an air. Bought the additional optical drive. Still new in box. Never needed it. Lol

 

How would I go about getting them 3rd party? I have no idea which brand or type to buy. I've never upgraded ram but I have replaced the HD in my dell. How do you get the OS and content off the stock one and onto the SSD though?

I still by CDs and like to watch DVDs on mine when I go up north since there's only a VCR up there. Plus downloading anything with our internet takes forever, so if I can get a disk, I'll use the disk.

 

This...

 

Don't think I could configure the Pro with an i7 without getting the 8GB ram. Unless I go with the 15, which I'm not sure I want or not.

 

http://mac.tutsplus.com/tutorials/ha...pro-to-an-ssd/

 

True, that is new. It used to be 4gb standard across the board. The $1499 13" MBP is still a good buy. Save up for a few months then upgrade to the SSD. But again, you get almost same work area on 13" Air as you do on 15" Pro

I feel ya on the DVD thing though. Of course, you could rip a bunch of DVDs into iTunes and have them on your boot drive, then import the rest onto your external

 

How do you like the Air?

Ok. Doesn't look too bad. Which method would you recommend for re-installing the OS?

Still considering the Air, but the Pro is much higher on the list.

If I could rip them into itunes, that would be helpful...I just feel dumb having to plug the drive into the computer to rip a disk or something though. I feel like it's going backwards in technology, though I guess that's the way of the download age.

 

I would personally make a USB stick of Mountain Lion from your old hard drive. It's very easy, but necessary because Apple no longer provides a copy of the OS with the machine. When the Airs first came out, they came with a USB stick with 10.6 on them, but after 10.7, those all went away - clearly Apple doesn't want you modifying your computer and copying your OS to another drive. It can easily be done using Disk Utility though.

I understand your reservations with keeping the internal drive - I thought the same way when I got my Air, but ultimately the portability and lack of mechanical parts inside that will fail, lead me to getting the Air. I actually was considering a 13" MBP with SSD option at the time, but for how little I used the optical drive on my iMac, I knew I could make do. And external HDDs are so small and inexpensive these days, I just carry mine around whenever I bring my computer somewhere, just in case. Also, every time I plug in the external (for iTunes stuff), Time Machine automatically backs up everything I've done since the last time I plugged in the drive, in the background. It's awesome.

 

I live the air and its a 13. I wanted 15 but refused to pay that much more. I'm happy with it. I don't miss the lugging around the 15.

My air does everything I need which isn't much. It's got 256gb ssd and 4mb ram. It's about a year old now.

I use it for Internet, word processing, and spreadsheets. I don't use it for anything else like video editing or anything. That's just not something I do. But for what I do it works fantastic.

I also wait for nothing. Instantly boots to password screen, instantly to desktop, when I open safari boom it's there. I have Kapersky as my antivirus. I bought a 5 computer subscription at work and use the other 4 on my macs at home. So far so good. Plus macs OS upgrades ate much cheaper. I think I paid $20 to go from Leopard to Snow Leopard and another $20 to go to Mountain Lion on my older macs that are at least 4 years old now.