What is a good price for this Mac, and Macbook Pro vs. Macbook Air?

portable hard drive vs desktop image

Dayna

So I have a Macbook Pro, but I'm getting some money and looking to upgrade.
Here's what I have:
13" Mid 2010
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
8GB 1067 MHz DDR3 RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB graphics
and I have mountain lion, office mac, and iphoto, i movie, and garageband.
250GB hard drive
So I bought this Macbook about a year ago for $700, what's it worth now?

Second question: Should I upgrade to the Macbook Pro retina, brand new macbook air, or keep mine?
It bugs me that I cant watch 1080p video, so the idea of a nicer display really appeals to me. The macbook air doesnt play 1080p, but it is slightly better than my current resolution.
The other reason I want to upgrade is that i have intel core 2 duo and I'd like i5 or i7. I play games on my macbook and for the most part they run great, but it could be better.

Lastly: this december I'm joining the Air Force and I'd like a portable macbook that's gonna be updated and reliable for a long time. I just want to buy the newest one and not worry about upgrading for a while, if you get what I mean. I also want a long battery life, and a decent amount of RAM.

It's so tough because I want the nice display, fast graphics, along with RAM and a good battery life. Portability isn't a problem with either though, their both so small.

Please don't recommend anything other than Apple products. I hate windows with a passion and samsung too. i realize they make good products but im just not a fan. Thanks guys!
I forgot to add my main uses for it are:
Email
TONS of web surfing, often with many tabs and tons of downloading
Gaming, but light games. nothing super intense. (minecraft)
Streaming video (in HD whenever possible) from youtube & netflix
typing essays/papers/email (not much, as i graduate very soon)
@Doro I definitely agree that OSX is a dumbed down Linux, but I like it that way. I'm mostly an apple fan because their stuff is sooo reliable and I cloud all my crap with my phone so easy. Plus, before the disaster that is windows 8, I had a toshiba laptop with windows.....wait for it......VISTA. You can kinda see my hate now right? And I definitely can't afford a $3,000 laptop, but after selling my current macbook (maybe $600) Ill only have to pay about $800 to get the lower 13" macbook retina. The macbook air would only cost about $500 more. (i have the education discount)

I have a job that pays $10 an hour and nothing to spend it on besides gas.

Answer
Apple fanboy, huh?
I agree with Windows being crap. The only justifiable reason for Windows is hard core gaming.
Period.

Mac OSX is in fact just a dumbed down version of Linux for Dummies (NO OFFENSE).
Tried it, never liked it. Linux is sooo much better.
Ever tried Linux?

Look at my cool Linux desktop, looks better than a Mac and is faster, safer and 100% free (the OS and any software or app I ever need):
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk177/Doruletzul/MintSystemInfo_zps4cb5ba27.png
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk177/Doruletzul/Screenshot-8_zps614e2a3d.png

As far as your question, both Retina and non-Retina 13inch models of Macbook Pro under $1,700 only have integrated Intel HD graphics, I hope you know that...
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro
Only the 15inch models have a graphics card, the $1,800 non-Retina and the $2,200 and $2,800 Retina models.
The Air Force mus be paying pretty good nowadays, if you can afford to spend up to $3,000 on a laptop....

Last, but not least, even a cheap $300 laptop with integrated Intel HD graphics can play 1080p streaming video (Youtube, Netflix, HULU Plus, etc).
I know mine does, and I paid $280 for it at Walmart + another $50 after market, to upgrade RAM from 2GB to 8GB.
Wiped of Windows 7 as soon as I got home and installed Linux. It runs like a dream.

Don't bother paying for a Netflix subscription. As soon as you ship overseas, you won't be able to use it anymore, unless the Air Force somehow provides you a US registered IP for Internet connection.

What are the specs I need to look out for when buying a portable hard drive? HELP REQUIRED...please!?

roaring_le

Like the minimum transfer rate...what does it have to be?
Should it have a fan?
Is USB more easier to use then Firewire?
What is the current maximum gb available for a portable hard drive?

and any other important thingd to look out for....

By the way I only need a portable hard drive because I am running out of space on my laptop and need some where else to store my videos, photos, music and word documents...but was wondering if I have a WMA file saved on my portable hard drive would it be as easy as 'plug and play' to play it back or would I need to transfer the files back on to my laptop hard drive to be able to watch, hear or see the file???

Thanks

p.s...Could you also tell me whether there are better quality and reputable brands then other when buying portable hard drives and does price really matter?

Answer
Hi there..

There is plenty of good brands available in the market nowadays and they are pretty good in quality and reliability. The question is now how much space do you need, the physical size of it ok for you and what sort of connector you're after. Price is relatively almost the same (if you are a good shopper/bargainer you might save some $$$) so remember to shop around first..

Size / capacity:
You may find harddrive size ranging from 160Gb up to 600Gb these days maybe more. It is up to you which one to get. Too small is not enough, too big you might lose too much data when it fails. Between 250 and 400 is perfect and recommended, and you can easily buy another one in the future as required.

Physical size & fans?
Two types: 2.5" and 3.5". The first one is usually used by laptops and can be converted into a portable one. It will cost you a bit less since all you need is to get a smaller and cheaper enclosure box to put the drive in. It uses usb2 and no fancy fans so it's cheap. 3.5" drives are commonly available in store, dimension is almost four times as big. Enclosures for this normally have a built-in fan which requires external power. If you would leave the drive plugged in and running all the time, the one with fan is recommended, otherwise 2.5" hdd would be ideal.

USB vs Firewire:
Definitely go for usb but make sure it is version 2 (usb2) as it offers faster transfer rate and it's more commonly used and available in newer laptops and desktops. They are the same when it comes to ease of use. There is also another type of connection available which allows you to share with other users in your place by plugging it into your home router (uses RJ45/ethernet).

Regardless of the types, portable drives can be accessed as easy as an internal ones. Plug it in, wait few seconds to get it recognised...all yours. Accessing documents, viewing photos or playing music and videos (all types) shouldn't be an issue since it is logically treated as an internal drive. However when disconnecting, if you have other than XP make sure you first remove it from the system before unplugging the cable to prevent damaging the actual device.

heh...hope this helps...

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