FNB deal and Macbook Pro advice

d7e7r7

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Hi guys,

So after this thread (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=667505), I'm leaning towards actually not getting a PC laptop but a Mac. Specifically the Macbook Pro retina 15" that's available on FNB deal ( MGXA2 here: http://myistore.co.za/fnbdeals/).

I know it'll work out costing me slightly more in the end due to the monthly costs adding up but I feel I can afford it that way as opposed to buying it cash. It'll cost R 28 680 at the end of 24 months vs R 26 499 if paying upfront...

The "barrage" of questions:
Any advice?
Has anyone here bought a Macbook via the FNB deal?
Is it a good deal?
How's the specs (2.2ghz i7, 16gb ram, 256gb SSD, Iris Pro Graphics)?

Thanks in advance,
:eek:
 
Last edited:

stricken

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i got the 13" retina and have an external monitor at home and work. worked out cheaper plus laptop is small and light
 

ozziej

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Go for the 15" if you need the quad core cpu. But the FNB deal is really good considering the small difference to cash. Also, remember the RAM in the 13" cannot be upgraded. This would be a deal breaker for me. I need 16GB.
 

itareanlnotani

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I bought the retina deal last month on FNB.

Loving mine, although its quite a heavy machine to carry about with you.
I needed to get a larger bag to carry mine, ordered a nice leather one on Amazon that I'm still waiting on (its here, but I need to go to my friends to collect it, as he brought it back for me).

No speed issues, and the screen resolution increase is great.
I usually run mine at Scaled / "More Space" in Displays so that I get to use the resolution increase.

Video seems ok - I tested out my latest 4k tv with it yesterday (bought a 49" yesterday), and have an older 39", and could play 4k video without any hitches. Still have to try h.265 and see if the cpu can handle it at that resolution, but h.264 is fine. Mouse was a little jerky on the larger 4k screen, but thats a function of HDMI1.4 being stuck at 30fps.
None of my 4k tv's have hdmi 2.0 or dp connectors :(


256G is a little limiting, but not overly. I usually keep all my media on the venerable HP N54L NAS's, so its only VM's and dev work stored locally.

You can force VMWare Fusion to use the actual resolution for Windows, which means I can have dinky sized VM's for crappy bank apps that only use ActiveX controls (for your safety nogal!), or other crappy windows software like the rather crashy config software for my solar inverters.

Luckily for me, most of my dev stuff can be done natively now, I use homebrew quite extensively - brew install XXX...
I also only have the odd windows only stuff to deal with every now and then, so I don't have to keep windows around except for rare cases, which is nice.

I'll probably upgrade the drive to a larger unit at some point. I have a 512G floating around that I can use that a client gave me when I upgraded his Retina to 1TB (more money than sense, given the cost, but hey, free drive!).

I usually stick the old drives into HDD cases and reuse.
Apple keeps changing the sockets on the drives which is a bit of a pain, but I can get any of the adaptors for them relatively easily. Currently its a not quite standard PCI-E socket for the SSD, which I have USB3 and SATA adaptors for. Drive is removable and upgradable (I can get up to 1TB, but its $$$$$), RAM is not upgradable.
16G ram is plenty fine for most apps and VM's though.

If you look around online you can get a cheapish case - ZAStore (of all places!!!) had 15" retina ones in matt black for R200 odd.

All in all, its a great great machine. I still need to buy Applecare for mine, and put it on my insurance. Buy AppleCare.
My previous FNB Air was crap - multiple failed SSD's, motherboards, then finally *they* dropped the machine and dented it!, Apple just replaced it for me under AppleCare with a new machine last month (one of the reasons I bought the Retina, I couldn't wait for them to replace the Air). Took them 2 1/2 months to replace it.
FNB's insurance for the unit isn't a great deal, my household insurance is cheaper, so doing that.
May be different for you though.

Lastly - it doesn't have Ethernet.
That may be a big caveat. You can use the thunderbolt ethernet adaptor, but its a ton flakier than having a socket.
If I do any router firmware stuff thats time dependant on tftp'ing files over at router boot time, I usually have to pull out another laptop with ethernet. Thats about the only downside really (for me).

Battery is good, but not great great like the current Air.
I get about 5hrs good use out of the machine, which means I can almost use it for a days work before I need to get to the power again. If you have older Mac's about at work, buy the charger adaptor for it too, so you can use their chargers. I often don't have to bring my charger as I can use someone elses for a short period at clients ;)
Your mileage may vary though!
 

bwana

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If you look around online you can get a cheapish case - ZAStore (of all places!!!) had 15" retina ones in matt black for R200 odd.
Are those the shell cases? I'm getting a new MBP (and AppleCare) brought down to me from UK on Boxing day and I'm sorely tempted to get a shell for the first time.

Lastly - it doesn't have Ethernet.
That may be a big caveat. You can use the thunderbolt ethernet adaptor, but its a ton flakier than having a socket.
I've got a USB/Ethernet adapter from my old Air - will that work? I don't use ethernet often.

The new retina MBPs are too thin for a Kensington security slot which is going to be a real problem. :eek:
 
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rinorobert

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Is Apple Care really worth the extra expense if you already have household / all risks insurance on the rMBP?
 

d7e7r7

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I don't think iCare/AppleCare covers theft/fire/accidental damage/etc...
 

itareanlnotani

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There is no AppleCare in South Africa.

I prefer buying "real" Applecare vs iCare, as AppleCare is valid worldwide, and iCare is only valid in SA.
If you have AppleCare then the iStores will fix your equipment as part of their iCare service.

The pricing is the same too.

I travel a lot oversea's for work, so makes much more sense for me to have proper AppleCare vs gimped iCare.

Insurance is a separate thing. I have both.

AppleCare basically means that you get faulty equipment replaced for 3 years after purchase.
This is pretty worthwhile. I literally got a new Mac Air last month, after suffering through many many failures, around 2 years and 11 months after my original purchase. I'll be buying Apple Care for the replacement sometime soon, as it only has about 11 1/2months of warranty left now ;)


Are those the shell cases? I'm getting a new MBP (and AppleCare) brought down to me from UK on Boxing day and I'm sorely tempted to get a shell for the first time.

Yup. Its still slightly expensive - I know what they cost, and the markup is close to 150% there, but not as outrageously expensive as other options.
 

Cassady

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I prefer buying "real" Applecare vs iCare, as AppleCare is valid worldwide, and iCare is only valid in SA.
If you have AppleCare then the iStores will fix your equipment as part of their iCare service.

The pricing is the same too.

I travel a lot oversea's for work, so makes much more sense for me to have proper AppleCare vs gimped iCare.

Insurance is a separate thing. I have both.

AppleCare basically means that you get faulty equipment replaced for 3 years after purchase.
This is pretty worthwhile. I literally got a new Mac Air last month, after suffering through many many failures, around 2 years and 11 months after my original purchase. I'll be buying Apple Care for the replacement sometime soon, as it only has about 11 1/2months of warranty left now ;)




Yup. Its still slightly expensive - I know what they cost, and the markup is close to 150% there, but not as outrageously expensive as other options.

How do you go about buying AppleCare from ZA?
 

itareanlnotani

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I generally buy AppleCare online using my credit card.

The actual product is only a "serial number", so you can also ask oversea's colleagues /family / friends etc to do it also if you don't have a card. If you know someone with a student card, its cheaper too.

Retina 15" Applecare is about R3150 though with currency conversion (RMB1650 at moment where I am in Shanghai, China this week), so its not a cheap purchase!

Peace of mind though is worth the extra money, especially when its a R28,000 laptop..

As for locks:

http://www.cultofmac.com/251172/the...ves-the-retina-macbook-pros-security-problem/
http://www.tuaw.com/2014/01/29/pny-thinksafe-macbook-locking-system-perfect-for-those-macbooks/
 

rinorobert

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Messages
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I prefer buying "real" Applecare vs iCare, as AppleCare is valid worldwide, and iCare is only valid in SA.
If you have AppleCare then the iStores will fix your equipment as part of their iCare service.

The pricing is the same too.

I travel a lot oversea's for work, so makes much more sense for me to have proper AppleCare vs gimped iCare.

Insurance is a separate thing. I have both.

AppleCare basically means that you get faulty equipment replaced for 3 years after purchase.
This is pretty worthwhile. I literally got a new Mac Air last month, after suffering through many many failures, around 2 years and 11 months after my original purchase. I'll be buying Apple Care for the replacement sometime soon, as it only has about 11 1/2months of warranty left now ;)




Yup. Its still slightly expensive - I know what they cost, and the markup is close to 150% there, but not as outrageously expensive as other options.

Thanks for your advice will take a look at Apple Care. Am I correct in saying that you get 1 year of AppleCare when ou purchase a Mac anyway?
 

bwana

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I

Yup. Its still slightly expensive - I know what they cost, and the markup is close to 150% there, but not as outrageously expensive as other options.

Going on r700 at the iStore for the shell…

Turns out I may have to update photoshop as well - photos look like mush on the retina screen :eek:
 

d7e7r7

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Going on r700 at the iStore for the shell…

Turns out I may have to update photoshop as well - photos look like mush on the retina screen :eek:
Why do photos look like mush? Only in Photoshop or everywhere?
 

bwana

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Why do photos look like mush? Only in Photoshop or everywhere?

It's an older version of Photoshop - CS5 - so not retina compatible. Everything else is fine.

TBH the bulk of my PS use is opening XML files for captioning so I'm not rushing
 

bwana

MyBroadband
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So - the 15" retina with the dual graphics cards - do they chop and change as necessary?
 

bwana

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Ok - so I managed to answer my own question :)

Screen Shot 2015-01-02 at    2015•01•02   16.18.21 .jpg

Screen Shot 2015-01-02 at    2015•01•02   16.18.48 .jpg

It's automagical. :)
 
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