If you scrap on a Mac laptop

[Keely~B]

Can you tell me what your specs are and if they work for you? I'm trying to figure out what I'd really need and if it's a worthy transition. Our family has three laptops that are all trying to die at the same time, mine's the only one with enough oomph to scrap on. (but it's embarrassing what I go through to make that happen) I'm debating on biting the bullet and moving to a Mac but I'm skeered. I'm using CS3 now so I'd have to buy a laptop ( I don't want a desktop) and a new version of CS(hopefully a student version) and I'm assuming a new EHD. I'm just trying to figure out what I really want/need to see if it's doable. Do I need Applecare? Is the OS really that different? I'm not completely tech ignorant but I'm not super savvy either.

Help

[Traci Reed]

So, you're obviously going to get the Mac Vs. PC debate here so I'm going to preface this by saying that I had PCs my entire life until I was 4 years ago when we went Mac and never went back.

The OS is different, but not so much so that you can't use it, and within a week of using it all the time, you'll be used to the differences. The only advice I have is to not skimp on the RAM. If you're using an EHD then hard drive space isn't as much of a factor.

The new Macbooks are gorgeous. If it's in the budget, I'd go for the 17", but 15" will be just fine. I've been using a 13" to scrap/work on all this year and while I miss my 22" iMac, I've been able to get by.

I never got Applecare and didn't need it, but it's good to have once you get out of the initial warranty period so they'll replace anything that breaks.

MY Pros for Macs vs. PC

They're faster, much much faster straight out of the box without massive upgrades and they don't slow down over time the way PCs do.

Mac OS is designed way better than Windows, so much so that every time Windows changes their OS, it's becoming more and more mac-like

Adobe products were designed for Mac and had to be made backwards-compatible for PC so they run better on Macs, less crashing and freezing.

[BrattyMeg]

I think Applecare is worth it but you don't have to buy it when you buy your laptop...just extend it 2 more years a few days before it expires

[Laura_A]

Traci, what do you think is a good amount of RAM? I thought of something yesterday when having this same debate with myself. Will all my current actions/styles work in CS6 for Mac?

[Traci Reed]

Yes on the styles/actions

I would say at least 4 gigs is necessary.

[Traci Reed]

The only thing you'd have to buy that has to be mac-compatible for scrapping is PS

[BrattyMeg]

Keely depending on the type of EHD you have you can probably use it on your mac..Fat32 format will work on pc and mac and NTFS is just PC. If yours is NTFS you'll at least be able to use what's on there now and everything will open on the mac..you just won't be able to save onto it without reformatting it...if you reformat to Fat32 you'll lose what's on there now

[Traci Reed]

MOST EHDs are formatted to FAT32

[Lyd]

I LOVE my MacBook Pro!! I have a 15 inch and can't imagine going smaller, but don't feel the need to go larger, either. I have 8GB RAM. I upgraded from 4 GB last time I got a new MBP, and I'm sooo glad I did. Photoshop runs tons faster now! Are they offering the solid state drives in the new MacBooks? I can't remember if that comes standard or if you have to add it. I know Lynnette got one in her most recent MBP. A solid state drive will also improve performance, but it definitely isn't necessary.

I've never purchased AppleCare on my lappy, and I've never needed it. I do have it on my iPhone and iPad Mini, though.

[KateD]

Keely, I'm on a 15" MacBook Pro with Retina display and I've found the screen size to be fine for scrapping. I can't really help you with minimum requirements, because we got the most of everything we could. My MBP has a 750GB solid state drive and 16GB of RAM. Needless to day, it's smokin' fast.

[color of my heart]

i don't scrap on my laptop (macbook air, 11"). but the applecare question: i have applecare on my desktop, but not my laptop. i regret that. i'm more afraid to drop my laptop and break it than i am my desktop. if it's not too expensive (i can't remember how much it is), i think it's worth it, "just in case".

[ayaandjudah]

I have a macbook pro 15 inch and I love it.

I had a bit of an adjustment period but since making the switch, I will never go back to PC and I cringe when I have to use my husband's PC for work.

I say GO FOR IT!

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by KateD

Keely, I'm on a 15" MacBook Pro with Retina display and I've found the screen size to be fine for scrapping. I can't really help you with minimum requirements, because we got the most of everything we could. My MBP has a 750GB solid state drive and 16GB of RAM. Needless to day, it's smokin' fast.

This is what I have too. It was pricey but my only regret was not upgrading to it sooner. I it. 16GB of RAM rocks my world.

As far as Applecare, normally I'm against those type of warranty things but I didn't buy it when I bought my first Mac and I regretted it because mine was a lemon. I just passed it on to my sister since almost everything in it is brand-new at this point, haha. I'm pretty sure that's the exception to the norm but since so much is built into the Retina MBP directly, I purchased it this time around. So my advice would be to buy it, even though it sucks to spend the money. It's much cheaper than them quoting you $700+ for a new motherboard!

[dana]

i have a 17 inch MBP - and although i love the size when i'm at home, it's really big and heavy for travel. i'm on planes a lot, and always wish it were smaller.

i have a 8 GB of RAM and a 500 GB HD ... i am thinking of upgrading my HD b/c i'm not great about moving things to my EHD and i'm always at the upper limits of space ... i'd love more RAM too ... i think 8 was the most i could get when i bought my computer (?) - but my computer runs fine with 8.

[mrshobbes]

Keely, after coming from a PC lappie (and PCs all my life) I went and switched to a MBP last August. I've always liked the look of Macs but was skeeered of the adjustment with programs, etc. And like you, I was coming from CS3. I'm currently using CS5 and don't really notice that big a difference.

What I am really happy about is, in about a month, I taught myself how to scrap using just the trackpad (yays to Lydia for encouraging to do so!). I can't believe it, but yeah, it only took that long to get used to the "gestures" for the trackpad. Now I really really love being able to bring my laptop and really scrap wherever I am.

I got my MBP secondhand, but my friend is a die-hard Mac head and photographer so I got a really good deal: it was about a year old, has Applecare until 2014, has 16GB RAM, 15-inch screen, 500GB harddrive, and he got me good deals on Adobe software licenses.

All in all I am really happy with it, and can foresee using it until it keels over, lol.

[Keely~B]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it, the info helps if/when I go there.

If you have the SSD, did you get an optical drive? I don't use mine a ton but enough that I can't imagine not having one.

[Lyd]

I'm pretty sure the new MacBooks don't have optical drives anymore. But, if it were me, I'd probably get an external optical. I hardly ever use mine either, but every now and then, you still need one.

[Nettio]

I don't have one on my mine and I didn't buy one but I'd only used the one on my old Mac a handful of times in 4 years. I figure if I run into a situation where I really really need one, I can always buy it later.

[Keely~B]

I ordered a new Macbook today! Yikes. I'm so nervous but excited too, new operating system, jumping from CS3 to CS6 (paying for it ) Thanks for all the input ladies, you really did help. I'm hoping I fall head over heels in love.

[Laura_A]

Originally Posted by Keely~B

I ordered a new Macbook today! Yikes. I'm so nervous but excited too, new operating system, jumping from CS3 to CS6 (paying for it ) Thanks for all the input ladies, you really did help. I'm hoping I fall head over heels in love.

I just made this jump...exactly the same as you, PC to Mac, CS3 to CS6...about a month ago and I'm not gonna lie, it was frustrating at first because I hate change and not being able to just breeze through key commands in PS. But, it didn't take long to pick it up and, while there are still a few things I get frustrated about, all-in-all I'm very glad I made the change.

The most beneficial thing for me was to just google CS6 and Mac tutorials. I found a bunch on YouTube and they really helped. That and poor Traci being patient with all my dumb questions. lol

Yay for the new Mac and good luck!

[Nettio]

Woohoo! You're going to love it!

I made the jump from CS3 to CS6 last month and while there's a few changes I don't love (the way text transforms now is especially ridiculous but apparently it's a "feature"), but for the most part, it really hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I have a Retina MBP and adjusting to the Photoshop CS6 Retina update (which is why I upgraded to CS6) has been a much bigger adjustment, so as long as you don't have to deal with that, you should be fine.

[Keely~B]

I'm getting a Mac with Retina display but honestly I didn't even know there was such a thing as a CS6 Retina version. I guess I'll have to Google that. I'm not going to do the Adobe Cloud thing, I think I'll just stick to plain old Photoshop and forego all the extras.

[Keely~B]

That's comforting Laura. I know I'm spoiled because so much is just second nature, I'm not really afraid of change I'm just really impatient . I want to know how to do everything NOW LOL

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Keely~B

I'm getting a Mac with Retina display but honestly I didn't even know there was such a thing as a CS6 Retina version. I guess I'll have to Google that. I'm not going to do the Adobe Cloud thing, I think I'll just stick to plain old Photoshop and forego all the extras.

It's the same copy of Photoshop, it was just added as an update from Adobe back in December I think. Just make sure CS6 is updated to the most recent version after you install it. I will warn you, because the pixel density of the screen is double, everything in PSCS6 even with the Retina update shows up half-size. So trying to check the sharpness of a 700x700 layout is near impossible since you either have to zoom to 200% to see it full size (which makes it gross and blurry) or you're trying to check the sharpness on a 350x350 layout since that's the size it displays at 100%. It's really annoying.

[Keely~B]

Well Lynnette, I do not approve of either of those issues LOL

[Nettio]

LOL, me either! I keep hoping there's a trick to fix it that I don't know about but I'm pretty sure it's how it's designed to work because I haven't found one yet. I thought the CS6 Retina update would fix it so things showed proper size again but uh, it didn't.

[Nettio]

I will say (so as not to scare you, haha) that when the Retina display is displaying true high-quality images, it's GORGEOUS. The clarity of text on the web is especially crisp and clear. There's just a few quirks that come with being an early-ish adopter, haha.

[Rainman_mark]

I think Applecare is worth it.
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[Laura_A]

Originally Posted by Keely~B

That's comforting Laura. I know I'm spoiled because so much is just second nature, I'm not really afraid of change I'm just really impatient . I want to know how to do everything NOW LOL

That's a more accurate explanation for me too.