Windows to Mac

[Degudodger]

Just sold my 2011 MBP 17" with 16GB ram and 500GB SSD for a 2015 MBP 15.4" as i reallllllly love the retina screen. The faster processor certainly makes a difference :)

[jamie]

I use both Windows and OS X so I can speak from experience. 

With regards to the Mac, I'm still running a 2011 Macbook Pro alongside a 2015 Macbook Pro.  I would recommend them, but if all you want to do is view photos, you could use an iPad and link that to your iCloud account which I'm assuming is accessible from your Windows machine (so you can upload photos). 

>>> Also when using Itunes on my windows 7 it is really slow and takes ages even to just open the programme .
Hmm, could it be indexing your media files on the first launch (following an iTunes upgrade)?  If it never manages to finish the indexing (if you close iTunes), I'm guessing it will retry everytime you try to launch it...

>>> I have worked out about the word documents , excel documents on my ipad is there anything about a Mac that i wouldn't be able to do that i do on the Windows machine?
MS Office is available for the Mac.  What other applications do you use on your Windows machine? 

[garrardrj]

I am having second thoughts , but don't worry that's normal for me for any purchase over £1 !

I have decided (sort of!) that i quite like the new Macbook too ..... I do not use the present windows machine for anything more than basic word/excel documents , saving information in pdf form like workshop manuals etc . I view photos , watch videos , surf the internet , itunes , other basic stuff . I do not edit video or photos that often and hardly more than cutting the length down of a video or eliminating some red eye or some issue with colour . So i don't really need a MB Pro at all , i like Apple and that's what i am havin g next for 100% certain . A 13"Macbook Air with a fairly big SSD/hd with Retina screen is my ideal item ... Hopefully  one will appear soon or the Macbook may be the one (Today !)

[garrardrj]

>>> Also when using Itunes on my windows 7 it is really slow and takes ages even to just open the programme .
Hmm, could it be indexing your media files on the first launch (following an iTunes upgrade)?  If it never manages to finish the indexing (if you close iTunes), I'm guessing it will retry everytime you try to launch it...

So keeping itunes open for an hour or two would resolve the speed ?

[dazza]

I just installed windows 10 on my MBP its a lot quicker than the other versions i have tried.

Maybe a windows 10 install along with a SSD would speed itunes up?

[jamie]

So keeping itunes open for an hour or two would resolve the speed ?

Worth a try...

[garrardrj]

So keeping itunes open for an hour or two would resolve the speed ?

Worth a try...

I did leave it running for about 3 hours ..... Today it opens about 2/3 times quicker and doing stuff on it is quicker

[jamie]

So keeping itunes open for an hour or two would resolve the speed ?

Worth a try...

I did leave it running for about 3 hours ..... Today it opens about 2/3 times quicker and doing stuff on it is quicker

That's good.

It's a similar story with PCs running slowly. Normally it's a virus scan running on startup that are scheduled to run every x days. If it doesn't complete (well, you turn your machine off because it's too slow to use and isn't responding!) it'll try again the next time you boot. I see it a lot...you just have to let the scan complete or switch to manual scanning...but that's off topic.

Glad it's made a difference. Let me know if you have any other issues - happy to help as I've dealt with computer issues (hardware and software) for years!

[garrardrj]

If i wanted to upgrade the hard drive from say 128gb ssd to 512gb ssd it seems to increase the price of the machine quite dramatically , is there a cheaper way to do it and can it be done by myself ? The 13" MB Pro goes up £400 from 128 to 512 thatsd adding 40% to the cost of it ! What would i be looking at cost wise ?

[rich83]

I have replaced HD on the 2011 version of the MBP and its easy. Nore sure what its like on the new ones, but cant see it being rocket science. Much cheaper to to the upgrade yourself than pay apples premium. Just keep the old drive incase of warrenty

[dazza]

You can upgrade the ram also just a pity that they install 2x4gb meaning these are useless and you have to buy 2 x 8gb. Rather than installing 1x8gb leaving you room to upgrade.

[garrardrj]

Retina MBP 256gb 13" ordered - John Lewis 2 yr guarantee/ warranty swayed the deal. So while that is coming i am looking for a way to back up the data etc. They suggested upgrading my icloud to 1tb at £7 a month . What about other options ? My windows laptop crashed and had to get it repaired just to recover the data. What about my own cloud ? The Timecapsule seems abit expensive , what about just a portable drive ? Any advice appreciated 

[vRS Carl]

Unless you particularly want cloud storage get a 2TB portable USB3 HDD and then use time machine to back up your system.

The reason i say 2TB as you can partition the drive. 1TB for backups (or whatever size you see fit bearing in mind the size of the drive in the MBP) and the remainder to use as a normal external.

That's what i do but i do have iCloud storage but i use that as another backup for photos and iOS backups.

This is the drive i use (i have 3 of them to be precise)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passport-Ultra-Portable-Drive-Backup/dp/B00CSH1B4M/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1444861191&sr=1-4&keywords=WD+My+Passport+Ultra+2TB+USB+3.0+Portable+Drive

Do not be suckered into anyone telling you that you have to buy a Mac version. You don't all you need to do is format the drive in Disk Utility (in the utilities folder inside the Applications folder on your MBP) into OS X Extended Journaled (format that Mac uses) and it will work perfectly. I bought that drive in Dec 13 and it's worked perfectly since and i backup at least once every 3 days.

[vRS Carl]

You can upgrade the ram also just a pity that they install 2x4gb meaning these are useless and you have to buy 2 x 8gb. Rather than installing 1x8gb leaving you room to upgrade.

With the new retina's you can only update at the time of ordering at the moment. That's the reason why i went with the non-retina and upgraded the RAM to 16gb and have 2 x SSD's totalling 752gb in mine.

[garrardrj]

Unless you particularly want cloud storage get a 2TB portable USB3 HDD and then use time machine to back up your system.

The reason i say 2TB as you can partition the drive. 1TB for backups (or whatever size you see fit bearing in mind the size of the drive in the MBP) and the remainder to use as a normal external.

That's what i do but i do have iCloud storage but i use that as another backup for photos and iOS backups.

This is the drive i use (i have 3 of them to be precise)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passport-Ultra-Portable-Drive-Backup/dp/B00CSH1B4M/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1444861191&sr=1-4&keywords=WD+My+Passport+Ultra+2TB+USB+3.0+Portable+Drive

Do not be suckered into anyone telling you that you have to buy a Mac version. You don't all you need to do is format the drive in Disk Utility (in the utilities folder inside the Applications folder on your MBP) into OS X Extended Journaled (format that Mac uses) and it will work perfectly. I bought that drive in Dec 13 and it's worked perfectly since and i backup at least once every 3 days.

Thanks - just bought one