Hey. I am a college student in Michigan. I am looking for some advice from some other Mac owners.
I have owned an HP Pavilion G7 for about 3 years now. It was a good computer when new (graduation gift from my parents) but I have since bogged it down like crazy. I am a Mechanical Engineering Major so I work a lot with 2-D and 3-D Modeling software (I use AutoCAD 2012, NX 7.5, and SolidWorks all for different classes) as well as I play a few games (Mostly just Minecraft).
I have been looking for an alternative to my current laptop. While it is still in halfway decent working order, I can tell it's time is coming to an end and I have decided that I would like my next computer to be a reliable, efficient machine. I'm not opposed to laptops. I have several friends with either MacBook Air's or Pro's and they all say the same thing; that they would rather work by pen and paper than by anything other than their current machines. I have recently become more (self) educated about computer hardware and software. I'm no expert but I have done some research so I'm not a complete novice.
My searching brought me to the Mac Mini and after a little bit of digging (and a rather generous tax refund that I forgot was coming) I think I've found my new machine. But I don't want to just jump in and buy until I know that I've made the right choice.
The Mini that I have found has a 2.6 Ghz Quad Core Intel Core i7 Processor, 16 GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz RAM and 1TB Serial ATA Drive. (I get a relatively effective discount for being a student) bringing the total for the entire machine (the Mini itself plus an external DVD/CD Drive) to about $1300.
Of course money is somewhat of an issue as I do have tuition and rent and food to pay for yet so I'm wondering if this would be an good purchase.
The other option I am interested in is the potential of building my own PC desktop. Like I said earlier, I'm not opposed to a MAC laptop but I do not want an iMac or any form of PC Laptop because I have never known any engineers who did not have complaints about PC Laptops.
My first thought is that, if I get a Mac, I might keep my current laptop as a backup and use it STRICTLY for drafting and modeling purposes and wipe the rest off of it. That way I can keep the Mac as my primary machine for homework, writing, gaming ect.
If I do go the route of building I will be saving up and building a NICE desktop that will be able to handle everything I could need it to do but that will cost me closer to $2000.
Any advise would be appreciated. I would really like to know what some people with more knowledge and experience than me have to say and what they think might be appropriate for my needs.
Thanks in advance for the help!
I have owned an HP Pavilion G7 for about 3 years now. It was a good computer when new (graduation gift from my parents) but I have since bogged it down like crazy. I am a Mechanical Engineering Major so I work a lot with 2-D and 3-D Modeling software (I use AutoCAD 2012, NX 7.5, and SolidWorks all for different classes) as well as I play a few games (Mostly just Minecraft).
I have been looking for an alternative to my current laptop. While it is still in halfway decent working order, I can tell it's time is coming to an end and I have decided that I would like my next computer to be a reliable, efficient machine. I'm not opposed to laptops. I have several friends with either MacBook Air's or Pro's and they all say the same thing; that they would rather work by pen and paper than by anything other than their current machines. I have recently become more (self) educated about computer hardware and software. I'm no expert but I have done some research so I'm not a complete novice.
My searching brought me to the Mac Mini and after a little bit of digging (and a rather generous tax refund that I forgot was coming) I think I've found my new machine. But I don't want to just jump in and buy until I know that I've made the right choice.
The Mini that I have found has a 2.6 Ghz Quad Core Intel Core i7 Processor, 16 GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz RAM and 1TB Serial ATA Drive. (I get a relatively effective discount for being a student) bringing the total for the entire machine (the Mini itself plus an external DVD/CD Drive) to about $1300.
Of course money is somewhat of an issue as I do have tuition and rent and food to pay for yet so I'm wondering if this would be an good purchase.
The other option I am interested in is the potential of building my own PC desktop. Like I said earlier, I'm not opposed to a MAC laptop but I do not want an iMac or any form of PC Laptop because I have never known any engineers who did not have complaints about PC Laptops.
My first thought is that, if I get a Mac, I might keep my current laptop as a backup and use it STRICTLY for drafting and modeling purposes and wipe the rest off of it. That way I can keep the Mac as my primary machine for homework, writing, gaming ect.
If I do go the route of building I will be saving up and building a NICE desktop that will be able to handle everything I could need it to do but that will cost me closer to $2000.
Any advise would be appreciated. I would really like to know what some people with more knowledge and experience than me have to say and what they think might be appropriate for my needs.
Thanks in advance for the help!