13" or 15"

On my first MacBook Pro, I bought what was then called the Mighty Mouse but found that I didn't use it much.

But, if you're going to use it for gaming I would take a look at the Magic Mouse (look here to see some of the comments - some good, some not so good) from users that have purchased it from Amazon. If you're a serious gamer you might want to look at some of the alternative mice, joysticks, etc., that are out there that will work with a Mac.

When (and I hope that it's soon) I get out of this nursing home, I'm hoping to get an Apple Thunderbolt Display and some sort of mouse and keyboard. And I'll be looking at the Magic Mouse and the Apple wireless keyboard as I've grown accustomed to having something that's not 'wired'.

Take a look at the comments and say what the Amazon users have to say and maybe look at the alternatives that they recommend.

Good luck in high school - READ!!!

Clinton

Linc,

I got both my SSD drive and my RAM from Amazon. Just overnight, both Amazon and Crucial lowered the price on the 512GB SSD by $200 - yesterday it was $600 on Amazon, today it's $400.

I bought my RAM from Amazon, too. It's made by Corsair and has a limited lifetime warranty, just as most RAM does. I love what I have now!

Good luck,

Clinton

Linc,

If you're not buying until Christmas, I'd wait and make a final decision sometime in October or so. Apple is sure to come out with some new MacBook Pro models by then!

Clinton

I think that I will need the DVD drive.

Your right, you will.

Over 200 million DVDs were sold just last year.

Apple and other media companies, want to get rid of the physical media so they can promote the online streaming business even more.

The game and movie industry is huge. Without a physical media, you won't be able to buy used CDs or games anymore. User will lose the ability to easily share content without the need of internet or wifi. The DVD and CD era is not over yet. It is being displaced by mp3 files and streaming, yes, but that does not justify, in my opinion, the lack of optical drive.

As an 'ex' pro photographer, I still do a ton of Photoshop work and I get by perfectly well with the (color calibrated, mind you) 'standard' resolution screen. I looked at the high-res but decided against it - it had just the same 'oomph' of the standard resolution screen.

And as a previous poster opined, I like having my CD/DVD player/recorder. I use it quite frequently. I don't believe that the USB CD/DVD unit that Apple sells for MacBook Airs will work on a MacBook Pro at this point, but who knows what the future holds? Only the rumor-mongers!

Just do me a personal favor and hold off on your purchase for a couple of weeks? Just as SSD prices are falling, you might see some MacBook Pro prices falling by then - not from Apple, maybe, but from Best Buy, Amazon, etc.

Regards,

Clinton

Just do me a personal favor and hold off on your purchase for a couple of weeks?

If having an optical drive is important to you (as it is for many) I would make your purchase as soon as possible. If you wait a couple weeks you will find that someone else has made the decision for you.

Ah, you've been reading too many rumors!

And even if that's the case, I'm sure that there will be an Apple drive, just as there are third-party drives, that will fit the bill.

I only use my optical drive when I'm plugged in, anyway. I do use it a lot, but not on battery power. If I had to use one as an 'indoor' drive only, I'd probably buy an LG Blu-Ray reader/writer anyway (which I might do at some point as I use my drive principally for backups.

Clinton

Yep - there are user instructions in the manual. You could download the manual here and take a look at it: you'll see how simple it is...

Clinton