Best Apple Pro Keyboard Deals

I just replaced my 2006 PowerMac G5 with 12GB Ram & 30" Cinema Display (went into the recording studio, so hoping it still has a long life ahead of it), but was stuck at OSX Leopard because it wasn't Intel. This new iMac 27 FLIES! Running OSX Lion. It is my main graphics workstation, and is perfect! I've seen reviews complaining about the glossy screen. Any professional knows that computers used for pro design and color work need to be in a lighting-neutral environment - such as mine. I get no glare, nor do I get reflections from my environment polluting the colors. All-in all, remarkable! I've been using Macs since 1993 (and computers since the mid 1960s). This baby has it all!

I'm in a small Production Company so we work with Mac's. My old Macbook Pro a 15" video card finally died was an issue with my model but lasted 3yrs of heavy use. Our Company owns several Macbook Pros and just recently bought the small 13" 2.4ghz to data manage footage from our RED cameras. After My MBP broke I started using the 13" for other tasks since it was just sitting there and was very surprised by how much I really liked the small form factor I was allowed to take it home for a weekend and liked it so much that I just ordered the 2.66ghz version to replace my downed machine.

Please note that this is a review for the February 2011 model but I am posting it here since the configuration is almost the same. (also because more people could read this before buying a MBP)I have been a Windows user since I started using a computer and I never used a Mac OS X till I actually bought a MBP in May 2011. So, this review would really help someone who is considering a Mac for the first time and wants to use it either at school or to remotely connect to work. This article summarizes what you would love and what you could be missing.I previously owned a desktop, a HP laptop and a Compaq laptop before I bought a MBP. Also, I still use Windows machine at work. One of the major reasons I bought the MBP was because it was available on a eBay deal from Macmall for $950. I assumed that if I did not like it, I could always sell it for at least $850 on eBay or Craigslist.Before reading the next part, please do understand that MBP and OS X come together. Things you need to know --**OS XSwitching between applications - This is one of my biggest quirks with OS X. Windows 7 does an awesome job in switching between applications. When you want to switch between the applications, you use ALT+TAB in Windows 7 and this would shift the focus to the next application. In OS X, you can switch between applications by using CMD+TAB but it does not automatically bring up the other application, it just changes the active application in menu bar (if the application was minimized). I never…

One year ago, disgusted by dismal experiences with multiple PC manufacturers (Dell, Acer, among others) in terms of their terrible support for Windows (along with poor hardware reliability issues and very poor servicing of hardware), I took the plunge and decided I would buy a Mac. I basically have to have windows XP because it's required to interface with various hospital systems, but I thought if the Windows partition went down (a virtual guarantee with Windows XP at some point), at least I would have a reliable Mac system as a backup. I expected a far better experience, given the customer service ratings of Apple, which are far better than any PC manufacturer. Little did I know what I was getting into.The XP partition blue screened on a regular basis, from the first moment it was created. Microsoft of course makes it anything but easy to figure out why XP is bluescreening - part of their effort to duck and cover around the OS being a buggy mess. (Any misbehaving driver will bring it down.) And Apple's position on this consistently was that "this is not their problem." Adding insult to injury, I was charged for support by Microshaft (despite this partition being built from a new copy of Windows XP professional). Well, what else is new - this is standard PC fare, and the primary reason why so many people are switching to Macs.What was a revelation was to discover (after using a great little program called BlueScreenView that not even Microsoft was aware of) that the…

I have been a PC/Windows person for a long time so every time I needed to purchase a new desktop or laptop I would always end up buying a PC because even when I had the money to get a Mac I never wanted to hand it all over. It's much easier to make a 500-600 dollar purchase than a 1,000 dollar purchase. The final straw for me was when my last laptop contracted a virus that was extremely difficult to remove. I did manage to get it off but the computer hasn't been the same since. It still locks up and crashes on a almost daily basis. That lead me to finally make the switch to Mac. I could not be more pleased. I booted up my MacBook as soon as I got it and the first thing I was happy to see was that there was absolutely no bloatware! Amazing! In the past, when I would get a new computer, I would have to spend at least 30 minutes removing a bunch of programs that were completely pointless. That is not the case with Mac though. I was worried that the transition from Windows to OS X would be hard, but so far it hasn't been. There are some minor things that will take time to get use to, but for the most part it is a very smooth transition. I love that it is a light-weight and very portable machine and yet its packing some awesome specs. That is exactly what I needed it for. I am in my last year of undergrad and planning to go to grad school so I really needed something that I could tote easily and trust to work at a decent speed. It accomplishes both. Over all, I would definitely recommend…

INTRODUCTIONDeciding on which size MacBook Pro one "needs" can be a fun and bewildering process. When I went into an Apple Store, I quite literally found myself envisioning a particular niche need for each of their MacBook Air 11", 13", MacBook Pro 13", 15", and 17" models!In the end, I decided that the MBP 13" screen was too small for my needs and although the i5 and i7 CPUs in the MBP 13" were significantly faster than the previous generation CPUs, they actually underperformed the previous generation in their graphics intensive applications as the integrated Intel GPU was not as robust as the older generation MBP 13" models.That left the MBP 15" and 17" models with screen sizes suitable for my needs. The MBP 15" is offered in either the 2.0 vs 2.2 gHz i7 speeds and only the 2.2 gHz model comes with the discrete graphics (i.e. AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory).Considering that the price difference between the MBP 15" with the 2.2 gHz i7 (with AMD 6750M GPU) and the MBP 17" was not as great as I expected, I went with the MBP 17".PROS1. Amazingly light for a laptop of its size (i.e. 6.6 lbs). In many ways, it is the perception of weight and size that matters more than the actual measurements. I own a 2008 MBP 15" which is 1.1 lbs lighter, and yet this MBP 17" actually seemed lighter, because of its larger dimensions confined within a thickness of less than 1".2.…

I just purchased the pro yesterday at my local Apple Store. I have had it for less then 24hrs so far, and I love it. I was going to get the high end Macbook, and then at the last minute decided on the low end Pro upgraded with 4GB of Memory. I am so glad I did. It is so fast, and powerful. The display is what made me make the final choice. It is still very portable. It weighs the same as my black macbook, and is thin. It would be very easy to just to throw in my backpack and be on my way. Also the firewire. It was going to be the easiest way to transfer all my data from my old black macbook to the pro. It only took and hour and a half, and I have all my information. I didn't have to do anything, just started it up and began to play. I didn't have Leopard on my old one, and I love it so far. It is easy and the graphics and set up are great. I love the stacks options, and the lighted keyboard. I also love how the controls for the dashboard, screen brightness, keyboard brightness, and dvd controls, are right on the keyboard. I was in between which laptop to get also because I am a casual gamer. However, the salesman did tell me that I could still play some of the games on the Macbook. The display alone is what I am enjoying the most. It is definitely worth the extra money to get the pro. Highly Recommended! I didn't get it from Amazon, or order it. I wanted to look at the computer before I purchased it. From reading all the horror stories on the web about people receiving damaged,…

It's well known that these 13" MacBook Pro's don't have a discrete graphics chip but that didn't stop me from buying one anyway. I was so desperate to switch from my behemoth of a laptop, the 15" MacBook Pro, to the smaller, more portable, 13" MacBook Pro. I was hoping that despite the lack of a discrete graphics chip, the huge increase in processing power would offset its absence. Boy was I wrong.When people mentioned how poorly this laptop fared against other laptops in video game performance, I thought, fine, they're comparing this laptop with the newly released 2011 15" ones with discrete graphics chips. But what if we compared this laptop to a 3 year old 2008 15" MacBook Pro? Would the huge upgrade in CPU help the 13" MacBook Pro compete with the older, 15" model?To my disappointment, it could not. I ran games like Left 4 Dead 2 and Resident Evil 5 on this MacBook and found them barely playable. These games ran smoothly on my '08 MacBook. I was so disappointed I actually considered returning it. But I didn't when I thought about the hefty 15% restocking fee Amazon charges for opened computers.On the plus side, 1080p HD video played silky smooth on the 13" MacBook Pro, while on my older '08 15" model it stuttered. I was really excited to see this as this was evidence of a vastly improved CPU. The 13" MacBook Pro also has a built-in SD card reader and a unibody construction that my '08 15" model lacked.By the way, I found…

I stepped up from an 2010 iMac i7 to the 2.8 Quad Core Mac Pro after realizing that I wanted a system that can grow with me as new tech comes down the pipeline. You can easily upgrade RAM, videocard, drives, and even the CPU if you are careful. The base 2.8 model gives you the best bang for the buck. I bought from Amazon and got 12 GB of RAM with the money I saved vs. Apple and no tax. And now the machine flys with all the extra memory. I still can't believe Apple only includes 3 GB standard. Most of the apps I run including Photoshop, Aperture, FinalCut Express really don't take advantage of multiple cores and getting the dual core 2.4 would have been an unwise choice unless you really need to upgrade your RAM up to 64 GB. Plus the 2010 model can be upgraded to the Hex Core chip to future proof my investment once the chips come down in price. Overall, I feel that I made the right purchase even though the cost is higher upfront. The ability to customize and upgrade makes the Mac Pro an easy choice to make.PROs:1)Industrial designed Chassis with good looks and ease of access for upgrades2)Decently fast components (scores almost 9000 on 32bit version of Geekbench)3)Quiet operation but not as quiet as an iMac4)Ability to use whatever monitor you may want5)Holds value well should you decide to resell later onCONs:1)Expensive for the what you get vs. PCs of the same build2)Performance already being matched by highest level iMac (i7 model)3)USB 2.0 only4)No built in eSATA port5)Western…

I have been a PC user since I started to get into technology 18 years ago. I never laid an eye on a Mac products until last year. I have to admit that ever since the new iMac and Macbook Pro came out, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had 2 Dell laptops, a 14" and a 12", which lasted me about 6 years total before and they were fine. I never had a recent to purchase another laptop until last Black Friday sale from Amazon which turned out to be a great deal. I pulled the trigger on this and I haven't had a regret since. The design and the OS is easy to use. The keyboard lit is a great feature at night time. The screen on this is SUPERB and it sure beat most of the PC laptops out there. The clarity is unbelievable. I purchased an additional 2GB or RAm to max it out and upgraded to a 320GB 7200 RPM myself. Both installation were easy and fast. Instructions were available in the manual and on apple's website. If you're still debating on getting this laptop, DON'T, JUST DO IT. I assure you won't regret having this laptops compare to any other PC one out there. Sure there are many that are cheaper and have more features but the quality of this is excellent and it's thin and did I mention GORGEOUS looking.

I read a lot of reviews on here about how happy people were to move up from their PowerMac G5s but when I tried it at the store I didn't see what the big deal was about. My PowerMac is 8 years old and for the most part it runs really well. After using it for a couple of days I will have to restart it to keep it running fast but other than that I don't see why the MacPro is such a big upgrade. It has the same case as the PowerMac, Apple is no longer making adjustments to the case every year or two like they did with the PowerMac G4. You are basically spending a fortune to get the same exact case. For a premium price I would expect more.The inside of the case is very different. It supports 4 hard drives instead of 2 however since you can now buy 2 terabyte hard drives you can fit a whopping 8 terabytes into the old PowerMacs which is adequate for most people. The advantage of the new MacPro is that you can put in solid state drive as an option. It will be very expensive but you are able to add 2 terabytes worth of solid state hard drives. The dual processor version can store 32 gigabytes of ram which is probably the biggest selling point of the machine. I max out the 8 gig limit on the PowerMac quite often. It makes me wonder how much ram I would be using if I could go beyond 8 gigs. With new programs taking better use of ram having over 8 gigs of ram will probably continue to get more important.Now I can somewhat understand why there hasn't been huge updates to this machine. Apple…

I just switched (May 2010) from Windows7 to the Mac 15" PowerBook Pro (i7). This machine is a dream!Boot time after a complete shutdown is about 30 to 45 seconds, even with tons of software. Shutdown is maybe 10 seconds! You can close the lid to put it to sleep, open the lid and voila! No waiting! (My one-year-old top-of-the line Win7 laptop grinds away, installs updates, gives me constant popups saying I have to deal with this or that--by which time I've forgotten what I was going to do when I turned it on.It's fast! It's clean! Once you get used to the interface it's delightful that it stays out of your way. Everything works. I get 5-6 hours of graphics work done without a recharge.I've even found a substitute for OneNote that works for me: Scrivener.It's intended as a writing program, but I like it because I can get in quickly to save notes, import a web page or image or sound file, and organize everything easily. For longer projects it's thoughtfully designed and intuitive to use. It doesn't have the colors and tabs of OneNote, but has all the functionality. Amazon doesn't sell it, but they should. MacWorld just voted it one of the must-have apps. ([...])One complaint about the PowerBookPro is Airport. I get dropped offline when I'm a little distance from my wireless router, even though my Windows machines find the network easily. It's annoying and needs a fix. Restarting the computer often helps, and since restart is so quick...well, still 5 stars from me!

I've debated switching to Mac for many years and am very happy with the Macbook Pro 15" I purchased. I've been a windows user for 20+ years and thought about the switch but never could convince myself to make the change. The Mac Book Pro is handsdown the best laptop I've ever used, and the Mac OS x operating system is also great. The switch wasn't nearly as painful as I expected and I still haven't mastered all of the quirks that are different between mac & windows; command v. control for example. From the initial setup on this has been the best computer experience I've had. Migrated info from my pc very easily including outlook email and calender info and all of my pictures. It also detected and setup the two hp printers we have on our home network. It took me 30 min to set up the HP printer on my wife's laptop when she brought a second printer for work. The macbook detected it, asked if I wanted to install and viola i was able to print. It just does so many things easy than the pc and I didn't think it would. The battery life is not as great as claimed but I expected that being an iphone, ipad user apple always exaggerates battery life. it does get hot and fan can be loud, but i think the reviews that gripe about that aren't factoring in that all laptops are like that, it's not just a symptom of the macbook.

I can sum up my review in one word:Superb. No, Extraordinary! No, Awesome! No... well, you get the idea.Maybe i'm over reacting, but i do love this little machine. Its just over the top, the quad core processor breezes through anything i throw at it, and the 4Gb are very capable (though i'm considering upgrading it to 8gb soon). Something that really rules is the video card. So far i've installed several games on it, and ALL of them it runs on very high settings.This is my first Mac, so i had to suffer a slight adaptation period. A very slight period. It took me all 15 minutes to get used to it. It's just so natural!I love tweeking configs and personalizing my computers, and though Mac OS is more rigid with respect to the themes one can put up, its a marvel when it comes to comfort. If you get down and dirty, Exposé and Spaces will rock your world. And the dock is just so much more practical than the standard issue windows bar.Now, compatibility wise Mac OS can seem problematic, however this is just an illusion. This particular MBP packs so much punch that you can literally run windows on it simultaneously without even a hiccup. Virtualization, however, is a must for anyone that needs specialized software (specifically anyone with a CAD oriented program repertoire).Im running Parallels 6, with a Windows XP virtual machine, and it runs all my Engineering programs beautifully (Staad.pro, MathCAD, Civil 3D, Revit Structure, MS Project). There is a Mac version for AutoCAD, but if…