Anybody bought an Apple MacBook lately?

[minkman]

I'm writing this on a 15" MBP, last generation. I bought it as a refurb about 2 years ago to replace an aging PB G4. The current Macs have enough horsepower to handle photo editing and such. The iLife suite is great for video editing and dvd creation. Don't waste money on MS Office for Mac. Get Neooffice, a Mac version of OpenOffice. I'd also advice using the savings from buying refurbished on AppleCare. Apple specific laptop parts are pricey.

I don't personally use a TimeCapsule. I use an smb share for Time Machine backups. If your a fairly skilled computer user, you can fore go the cost of the TimeCapsule. TimeCapsule or a USB/FIrewire attached drive are much easier to use and supported by Apple. The Time Machine software is pretty cool and easy to use. I think the 30 minute interval is a little too frequent.

As other said, be very wary of CL Mac deals. Most are scams.

[COWBOY]

+1 on most of the MBP owners sentiments.   in the MBP go for the 15".

It's a solid machine and will crush any photo or video work you want to do with it.  I'm one Gen back with a 2.6 Ghz.  iPhoto and my 4000+ pic photo library launchs in under 10 seconds with no hiccups ever.  iMovie and HD Video also loads incredibly fast and is very easy to use.

For a home machine there's really nothing better out there than a MBP with iLife.  As far as an office suite you can get MS Office for 150-200 or iWork for 99.00.  iWork will allow you to both open and create MS Office formatted docs if that's a worry.  I actually prefer Pages over Word and Keynote better than Powerpoint but still like Excel more than Numbers.

Best of luck.

[sbrguy]

i have a 2 year old 13 inch model, it works fine and i use leopard now on it.

if you are going to be editing videos and you do a lot of photo work or takes tons of pics buy a 15 inch model as they have the better graphics abilitie you are going to want.

the 13 inch model can do that stuff but honestly, if you can afford teh bigger screen get it, its worth it.  also the 17 is really if you think of it a desktop replacement for you if you have limited space for a tower, bc its really bulky, the 15 is good if you are going to move the computer around your house, and the 13 is better for if you travel a bit.

if cost is a concern consider a refurbished model, youw ill as a teacher get the discount on it i believe somethin glike 5-10% off the price but don't quote me.

the only good thing about the new 15 and 13 inche models is taht they have been out for a few months so most of the gliches have been worked out.

good luck.

[Mash]

I've had my 13.3" MacBook for a few months now, and I'm happy with the purchase.  This was to replace my 15" Powerbook, which went to my daughter.

The screen is very bright, has excellent contrast and I don't miss the extra real estate at all.  The touch pad is a marvel of engineering that is not only as good as a mouse, but sometimes better.  I used to carry around a separate mouse with the powerbook.

When shopping for this machine I could have picked any of the new mac laptops, but wanted the smaller form factor.  Much easier to schlep around, and I routinely get 4 hours or more on a charge, even using the wireless.

I was using Microsoft Office on the powerbook, but now i've switched to iWork.  It's inexpensive, technically elegant and has the Apple look and feel.  Also, I can import/export to/from Word, Excel and Powerpoint, even the latest versions. 

what I use the macbook for mostly though, is Ableton Live music software.  it runs it perfectly, with no hiccups even with a buttload of samples playing.  The performance of this little macbook beast is quite impressive.  I'm very happy with it.

Dan

[junior varsity]

my 17 is heavy. for what i am using a computer for now (no longer doing any CAD or complex spreadsheets, just word processing, playing on the internet, and looking at naughty pictures) I don't need a lot of computing power nor do I need a lot of screen real estate. My two criteria for judging laptops has changed dramatically:

Portability and Battery Life.

Pick the one you can fit in the things you normally carry, won't burn your legs, and has more than 1.5 hrs of battery life while on the internet.

[slowpoke13]

I've got the 13" macbook and I had the previous gen 13" macbook (the black one). I've got the Time Capsule and use Time Machine for backups. Only reason I bought the time capsule instead of a generic aftermarket external hard drive is it acts as a wireless router, has a USB port and 1TB of storage. Caught it on sale for ~$250. It was a bit of a pain to do the initial set-up. BUt, after that, no worries.

I love the macbook. I wanted the 13" as I travel with it often and it fits in my small messenger bag. And, fits in my locker on ship easily. Portability was very important.

I am a bit of a mac nut though. I like the simplicity of it. I'm an IT by trade and hate dealing with computers. So, the simplicity and plug-n-play was a big selling point. I've got the iPod Touch (with Skype now available), 2 macbooks, airport express (really cool for streaming music to your stereo), apple tv, and the time capsule. Most of it works well together. But, I don't think I'm utilizing everything to its fullest capability.

[stateprez]

Currently have a 3 year old 13" MB that I got after my 5 year old 15" TiBook screen died.  Definitely like the 13.

Have a Dell running Vista for work....misery.  Why can't Microsoft figure out two-finger scrolling?  Accidentally try it about 50 times a day on the PC.

I could get down with this though...http://i.gizmodo.com/5058287/dell-inspiron-mini-9-now-running-os-x-leopard

[Gator]

I just bought a MacBook Air a few months ago.

Could not ask more out of a machine...
except maybe a in built dvd drive, the external are only $100 more, but I never use cd anymore I just push information onto a server and if I did need to burn it to disk I could do it from another machine.

Its all well and good to buy on-line but you should pop into a shop and have a look at them in person.
I ordered the new 17' Pro online and when I went in to pick it up they told me it was held up in customs still and to come back in a couple of days.
I had a look around the shop and started playing with the MacBook Air and canceled my previous order and bought it.
I don't regret the decision at all.

[bluemoco]

I see that Apple will be upgrading to the Snow Leopard OS sometime soon.  Walt Mossberg at the WSJ suggests waiting 'til the new OS is out before buying a new computer (and I can certainly wait a lil' bit.). 

[il d00d]

Personally, I would buy based on where the hardware is in its life cycle - this will give you a good idea:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

Apple is usually pretty good about allowing you to upgrade for free if you are close to the release date for the new OS - that would be something to ask the people at your local Apple store if you have one.  If not, they have good long-term support for their OS if you decide not to upgrade.
It would make sense to wait to save yourself some dollars on a future upgrade, but it doesn't look like 10.6 will have a whole lot of whiz-bang features (looks more like optimizations) if that's what you are thinking about waiting for...