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13" or 15" for Single Heterosexual Caucasian College Student?

imahawki said:
I kind of figured the OP was joking. I've seen so many people post asking which laptop to get and then saying "I'm a 5'3" 120lb female". OK, so? Unless your body proportions are WAY out side the norm (i.e. under 4ft. or over 9ft.) your height and weight has no bearing on what laptop to get. Now if you are weak and can't carry a heavy weight fine but say that instead of listing your weight. I weighed 130 in high school and carried newborn 70lb calves over my shoulders across a feedlot, so my weight has no bearing.
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If you're right then I'm applauding . SO many people either post "what should I get" without giving usage and, in tern, end up needing the baseline like every body else who asks.

And of course searching and reading takes too much time; creating a topic is a lot easier -_-.
 
LMAO at this forum thread.

Clearly either will change both your sexual preference and ethnicity. I recommend a typewriter.
 
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You need a legal pad, a box of pencils, and a calculator.

Don't call yourself an engineer just yet - a lot of people switch majors.

A core duo 13" MacBook got me through school just fine.

Judging by your post, you have a lot to learn.
 
You know, if your hand is bigger than your face it means you have cancer. ;)

I second, or third, the pen and paper combo for class. Bringing your laptop to class, if you don't actually need it, is just extra weight and an added distraction.

I also second the suggestion to check your departments site to see what they recommend in terms of computer(s).
 
If you're going to be carrying a lot of books and notes in between classes, it would probably be better to go with the more portable choice. 1.5-2 lbs can make a huge difference, unless you pull the bag on wheels.
 
NathanMuir said:
You know, if your hand is bigger than your face it means you have cancer. ;)

I second, or third, the pen and paper combo for class. Bringing your laptop to class, if you don't actually need it, is just extra weight and an added distraction.

I also second the suggestion to check your departments site to see what they recommend in terms of computer(s).
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Troll thread... You all took the bait and are posting in it methinks
 
Jaffa Cake said:
I'd recommend the 15", given that you have cats.

Should one of your cats decide to sleep on your laptop, it may totally cover the 13" – making you think that it's been lost or stolen. The extra size of the 15" should mean that a bit of it will poke out from under the forty winks seeking feline so you'll know exactly where it is, thus avoiding unnecessary worry and potential embarrassment on your part.
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Cats do love warm surfaces. :D
 
The original posting is a hilarious parody of itself. "Which computer says the most about who I am (as opposed to what I use it for)?" Also, the pretentiousness in calling oneself Mech. Engineer before the studies have begun, is a subtle yet brilliant reference to another Apple-user stereotype: "I'm an artist, because I have a Mac and play with PhotoShop on it". And finally, we have the emphasis on sexual orientation, implying that having a Mac (of any kind) could either diminish your masculinity, alter your currently straight orientation, or in the very least make others perceive you as "playing for the other team" (a.k.a "the macfag").

This is one of the best threads I have seen in this sub-forum for a long, long time :D Outstanding!
 
snaky69 said:
I've tried virtualizing Solidworks and honestly was not satisfied with the performance, I much rather like having all the computer's power being dedicated to it. Especially as you get into the COSMOS FEA module...

I have an older MBP though, maybe the newer quad cores make this point moot, I wouldn't know.

Mathematica/Maple and Matlab are aimed at different things, so they definitely do not work the same way. I like using Maple for symbolic equations and ODE and PDE work, as it is much faster programming for them with it. For the rest, Matlab/Simulink is king IMO.
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Maybe it is your older computer. I dedicated 4GB of RAM to the VM, and have an i7 2.8GHz processor. For modeling, even complex things, its quite smooth unless I am running an external monitor. For heavy FEA, I jump into BOOT CAMP. But even for things like modeling gear trains, it's faster in VM than it was on my old Dell.

VM is nice, too, because you can write design reports as you go with the VM maximized in another desktop/Space, without having to have Word for Windows.

You are lucky that your professors let you use Matlab/etc. for PDE's. I used it in ODE's, but PDE's was a strict pen-and-paper class. Of course, if you are being exposed to PDE's as an undergrad, that might be the difference.
 
BAC5.2 said:
Maybe it is your older computer. I dedicated 4GB of RAM to the VM, and have an i7 2.8GHz processor. For modeling, even complex things, its quite smooth unless I am running an external monitor. For heavy FEA, I jump into BOOT CAMP. But even for things like modeling gear trains, it's faster in VM than it was on my old Dell.

VM is nice, too, because you can write design reports as you go with the VM maximized in another desktop/Space, without having to have Word for Windows.

You are lucky that your professors let you use Matlab/etc. for PDE's. I used it in ODE's, but PDE's was a strict pen-and-paper class. Of course, if you are being exposed to PDE's as an undergrad, that might be the difference.
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We had to do it by hand as well, but the teacher insisted on showing us how doing it on the computer would work, as that's what we'd most likely do later should we face some.

I have a 2.4ghz core 2 duo with 4gb ram, so I guess that does make quite a bit of a difference when virtualizing solidworks.
 
as other engineer students say... be sure you have nice, reliable and pleasant to hold pen, a large pad and pencil, ruler & eraser. also, remember to take your brain every morning.
 
This thread gave me a good laugh but I will be nice and give you my advice..

If you get a fully specced MBP13 with a 256GB SSD, you will be fine for all 4 years. You can run Windows virtually or in Boot camp.. the added graphics capabilities of the 15" is not necessary for your usage pattern in my opinion. For a school student, the portability of the 13" far outweighs the marginal performance benefits you get from the larger models.. Of course, if you opt in for the high-end quad core i7 15/17" model there is a significant performance increase.. but other than that, unless you need the dedicated GPU for games, the 13MBP is more than enough for you.. caucasian or not..
 
Jaffa Cake said:
I'd recommend the 15", given that you have cats.

Should one of your cats decide to sleep on your laptop, it may totally cover the 13" – making you think that it's been lost or stolen. The extra size of the 15" should mean that a bit of it will poke out from under the forty winks seeking feline so you'll know exactly where it is, thus avoiding unnecessary worry and potential embarrassment on your part.
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my siamese covers my 15" MBP LOL...and he's not fat, my only worry would be the little footyprints they leave all over the screen
(and the cat fuzz on the keyboard)
 
Maybe Metro - Sexual leanings?

ayeying said:
When did having a Mac make you gay? lol
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Seriously - I opt to Mac Book Pro 15in Mid-2010, I7 2.66 Mhz., I recently upgrade my hard disk 500 7200 rpm / 8 GB for os x lion.
needed for development.

Get AppleCare if you do not plan to open up your machine.

Get external backup drive

If you can make your own desktop build it yourself.

If they have labs use it you paid your lab fees and they have software.

With regards to vmWare or Parallel, you need to max out your hardware specs.

I used boot camp with Windows 7. - Again backup your machine before any major changes.

Usually schools have licenses for mathlab & productivity software - check with school IT support site, which software they will provide for "school use".

Never leave the laptop alone in the library or dorm without a bolt chain!

Cheers;)
 
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/13200148/


ChefMacDaddy said:
Hi guys, I would firstly like to thank everyone who helped me make the decision on my previous forum. I have made my decision and have bought it early due to move-in-day.

I have decided to go with a 15" MBP!

After settling in and meeting my male roommate for the first time, I also compared his notebook with mine. I'm very glad to say that he has bought a 13" Macbook Air, so I will not be the homosexual when people come in our dorm. I got the high-resolution 15" so I will still be seen as the manly one.

I haven't used this machine a lot, I have only used it for some of the freshman activities. I feel that carrying this laptop will be a pain in my back after a while, but will be well worth it for when lectures begin. I did see the comments about taking notes with pen and paper, but come on guys, I bought this 2K machine to be able to show it to my colleagues, not my cats back at home. After going to NJ, I don't know if there are many Catholic girls my parents will approve of, which is a bummer, but I'm here to study! Not meet a potential wife.

I haven't been satisfied with the 15" MBP, I find that my wrists hurt after an hour of use due to the sharp edges, and the speakers aren't really too good on it. So I decided that I'll continue to use my old HP Envy in my dorm and just take my MBP to local gatherings and lectures.

Hopefully my colleagues won't think I'm not normal for having an anti-glare screen with the silver border.

Anyways, thanks again. Best wishes.
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:rolleyes:
 
I honestly can't tell whether the OP is just pulling our legs, or whether he is really like that. If he is, it's eerily similar to a religious David Brent.

I would gently suggest that he doesn't need to worry about a laptop preventing him from making friends, or meeting his future wife, at university. He should, however, give some thought to his personality...
 
PurpleMarmalade said:
I honestly can't tell whether the OP is just pulling our legs, or whether he is really like that.
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If the latter was the case, he wouldn't have asked for advice here. I can't believe any of you people actually thought the OP to be genuine. But I had a great laugh, though, really! :D And now I'm laughing again.
 
Mbp 15" anti-glare!!!

I personally think you should go with the 15" MBP anti-glare screen because im pretty much in the same boat as you, and i dont know how many times ive been surfing porn only to see myself in the reflection in the screen hovering in the bathroom over the toilet :eek: to have to re-work the screen angle to get myself out of there. It causes a lot of trouble and time out of my workout to clean everything up afterwards :mad: . So put that thought into your decision making ;) and im sure it will really make more difference in your performance of the machine than any other of your criteria, as it will probably also be the most consuming features of the MBP.
 
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