PC user looking for a mac

[kyzen]

I'm looking to pick up a Macbook. This will be my first in-depth experience with the Mac OS in the last decade. It's not that I've hated macs; I've just never had a use for them.

Mostly I'm looking for a laptop that I can do the following on:
-Minor photo editing (currently use Lightroom 2 on PC)
-Minor video editing (nothing serious; just home-movie type stuff - brothers soccer games, graduations, girlfriends & my vacations, etc).
-iPhone/iTouch app development (was having fun on Android, but it's getting more difficult to make sure my stuff works on all the new phones; so I'm taking a break from that)
-General web surfing/movie watching


The Macbook Pro is quite sexy, but I'm not sure if the aluminum case and built-in SD card slot is worth the extra money, especially since I can pick up a USB SD card reader for cheap.

My questions though:

How much RAM do I really need? All my Windows laptops sport 4GB, and my desktops run 4-8GB. And of course Apple marketing would have me believe that 2GB is fine; but Microsoft marketing claimed the same for 512MB on Vista . Is 2GB enough? Should I go for 4GB? Should I spring for 4GB at the time of purchase, or is it easy to upgrade the RAM yourself later?

I have a NAS with a ton of media on it; formatted as FAT32. I'm fairly certain a Mac could access that - right?

Will the included software cover the needs I listed above, or should I budget in some additional software (Lightroom excluded, as I can get a free license for that, but I may also check out Aperture)?

And lastly, any trick to finding a good price on a Mac? Waiting till next summer for their back to school free iPod deal unfortunately is too long . I can get a 7% discount via work, and some of the prices at macmall look decent. And Microcenter has a slightly slower last-gen Macbook for $800. Any of those worth considering? Or are there other deals to look for?

Many thanks in advance

EDIT: And yes, I'm only considering the 13.3" models; I want something portable, and I personally find 13.3" to be the largest reasonable size to lug around.

 

[CowZ]

Seems to me that you are going to be happy with the new mb white unibody. I would spring for the 4 gig the more the better in my opinion. I'm not sure if the ram is easily accessible now after the redesign. You can always check ifixit.com and see their breakddown (how man screwed what to go around etc). I honestly I would suggest the 13.3'' mbp its just built so much better. Also, this also matters if you are fine with the 9400 video card. Its nice enough and since you said you are only doing minor video and photo editing it should be okay. If you were a pro then thats a different story. As for the software, I enjoyed aperture you can consider getting that. I have never tried "lightroom" so can't comment on the difference.

oh yes, maybe you should wait a couple weeks. If the rumored black friday sale for Apple is legit then you can possibly get up to 30% off whichever macbook you so choose.
CowZ

 

[VinylxScratches]

I'm using 4GB on my Macbook and I am satisfied with it. It def. feels a lot more snappy than 2GB.

 

[speg]

I use 2GB on a Macbook and it's fine. The only thing would be how intense light room is? You might want to jump to 4GB if it is.

 

[Ka0t1x]

I have 2GB in my MBP, it seems pretty good, although when I fire up a VM for testing purposes I can feel a slowdown. Its around $100 to get a 4Gb upgrade kit, either from Apple or Newegg/OWC.

In all honesty, I'd pickup a 13" MacBook Pro on the refurb store. SD card slot, Firewire 800. 2.53Ghz/4Gb machines are at $1299.

With OSX the more RAM you throw at it the better, its just how the OS works. Ram is one of the biggest upgrades for an OSX machine, after an SSD.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

The Macbook should be fine for all your needs. The external drive will be read fine.

 

[KeypoX]

Snow leopard reads NTFS drives fine, also will read and write fat. I had major issues enabling NTFS 'native' write support on snow leopard so until mac fixes that (dont see that anytime soon) i would stick with fat or only reading ntfs drives.

2 GB is fine for a laptop. 2GB will not be more snappy unless you use greater than 2GB of ram. Pretty easy with a mac, due to the way it uses memory. Keeps all programs you opened stored in memory. I would personally upgrade it myselft when i see fit, if at all. I can live great with 2GB, 1GB is horrible though lol.

 

[TheStu]

If you are willing to spend the $1000 on the MacBook, and are a don't think the $200 extra for the MacBook Pro is worth it (in my opinion it would be, I am not crazy about the shiny white plastic on the new MacBook, plus on the Pro you get FireWire, SD Card Reader and a little bit better screen.) Then wait until the 13" base Pro goes on refurb. It sells for $999 refurbished, and you will be getting the same warranty as a new system. In fact, refurbed doesn't have to mean used even, it might just be an opened but not used return.

Tyranicus got a refurbed 15" Pro and loves it, saved $200 going that route.

 

[ILoveUNC]

Is it worth waiting for the tablet?

 

[mmntech]

Is it worth waiting for the tablet?

I would say no. We don't even know for sure if one is coming.

 

[sourceninja]

Not that it is morally advisable, but you can buy online though the EDU store and apple does no checking to verify that you in fact go to school.

That can save you some cash if you want to buy new.