Advice for a student

[Applefanboy8153]

I live in India and I will be going to a new school soon and it is mandatory for me to have a laptop. I do a lot of social networking, little gaming like black ops, watch movies and do photo editing. My options are pre configured MacBook air with 256 GB SSD 1.8 GHz and 4 GB ram that is soldered. Or a MacBook pro retina 13 inch with 128GB SSD 2.5 GHz and 8 GB ram. Or a MacBook pro with 750 GB hdd, 2.9GHz sand 8 GB ram. All of these cost the same. I am also considering a MacBook pro with base config to save money. I need the laptop to last for atleast 4 years so I am concerned about the ram on MacBook air.
Please help.
Thank you.
Fanboy8153.

 

[xShane]

I live in India and I will be going to a new school soon and it is mandatory for me to have a laptop. I do a lot of social networking, little gaming like black ops, watch movies and do photo editing. My options are pre configured MacBook air with 256 GB SSD 1.8 GHz and 4 GB ram that is soldered. Or a MacBook pro retina 13 inch with 128GB SSD 2.5 GHz and 8 GB ram. Or a MacBook pro with 750 GB hdd, 2.9GHz sand 8 GB ram. All of these cost the same. I am also considering a MacBook pro with base config to save money. I need the laptop to last for atleast 4 years so I am concerned about the ram on MacBook air.
Please help.
Thank you.
Fanboy8153.

Sounds more like a personal use/gaming computer than it does for work or school

I wouldn't expect too much gaming or photo editing capability out of a MacBook Air. Or even a 13" MacBook Pro for that matter. MacBook Airs and 13" MacBook Pros do not have dedicated GPUs.

If you're not too worried about having a dedicated GPU, then I'd say a MacBook Air or the 13" MacBook Pro will definitely satisfy your personal use needs (i.e. social networking). In fact, it will most likely be overkill. Obviously a 13" MacBook Pro will be more powerful than a MacBook Air, though.

 

[Applefanboy8153]

I will not be gaming a lot, just a little zombies with my friends every weekend, so i dont game a lot. But i dont think the MacBook air will last for 4 years with just 4GB RAM, so i guess a Retina MacBook pro 13 is just perfect for me as word documents really dont take up a lot of space and my current imac has over 790GB free. i really need the laptop to last me through my college which i start next year. I have saved up something like 30K over the last 5 years and it is all going into this mac.

 

[Semiopaque]

I will not be gaming a lot, just a little zombies with my friends every weekend, so i dont game a lot. But i dont think the MacBook air will last for 4 years with just 4GB RAM, so i guess a Retina MacBook pro 13 is just perfect for me as word documents really dont take up a lot of space and my current imac has over 790GB free. i really need the laptop to last me through my college which i start next year. I have saved up something like 30K over the last 5 years and it is all going into this mac.

I hope that 30K is in rupees... Yeah, the 13" retina MBP is likely your best bet unless you need more portability or more graphics capability. I would get the 13" retina and then get an external storage drive. I keep all my data - iTunes, documents, etc. about 1.5 TB worth on an external and it works well. My main SSD drive is at around 115 GB with a bunch of games I could probably get rid of and Logic Pro, MS Office...everything I need or might want to use and I could fairly easily trim it down by 30GBs or so.

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Sorry, I should have asked this already, but what are you studying? That could make a significant difference in what you would want as well.

 

[Applefanboy8153]

Yup 30k in rupees . My parents have given me another 80k.
I am going to my 11th grade and need the laptop for some photo editing using iphoto or comic book. I will also be using imovies a lot for short vids. I need the laptop to last me for atleast 4 years. My iMac shall remain my main mac however for video and photo editing.

 

[xShane]

I will not be gaming a lot, just a little zombies with my friends every weekend, so i dont game a lot. But i dont think the MacBook air will last for 4 years with just 4GB RAM, so i guess a Retina MacBook pro 13 is just perfect for me as word documents really dont take up a lot of space and my current imac has over 790GB free. i really need the laptop to last me through my college which i start next year. I have saved up something like 30K over the last 5 years and it is all going into this mac.

I agree. A MacBook Air will likely not last you 4 years.

Considering you are a student on a tight budget and are looking for a device to last you for 4 years, I do not believe a 13" MacBook Pro Retina (rMBP) is the best choice for you. This is because everything in the rMBP has to be preconfigured. This will cost you a lot should you choose to get 16GB RAM. I'd *highly* recommend getting a non-Retina MBP so you can manually upgrade to 16GB RAM for $80 USD. You could even probably snag a 15" cMBP refurb for the price of a 13" rMBP new.

A 15" will have a dedicated GPU which will greatly improve performance for gaming, photo editing, and video editing.

Yup 30k in rupees . My parents have given me another 80k.
I am going to my 11th grade and need the laptop for some photo editing using iphoto or comic book. I will also be using imovies a lot for short vids. I need the laptop to last me for atleast 4 years. My iMac shall remain my main mac however for video and photo editing.

iPhoto itself is not to be considered a serious photo editor. If you don't have the money for Photoshop, there are some great free/cheap alternatives, GIMP being one of the most well-known.

 

[Applefanboy8153]

I have just enough money for a new mbpr and also upgrading to an ssd in a mbp is a very costly affair.
In india there is no apple refurb shop. :/ The mbp costs the same as a mbpr in india.

 

[MacKid]

If your primary two concerns are performance over time and cost, I would not consider the Air (which will not perform well 3 years from now) or either Retina (not as much bang for your buck).

I'd suggest you narrow your options to a high-end 13" cMBP or the base 15" cMBP.

 

[Badrottie]

I think you should go with 13 rMBP because it is easy to carry to school and save space on your school desk. iMovie and Photoshop look great with retina screen. I have 15" 2007 MBP but it is too heavy for me to carry around I leave it at home and use my iPad. I am waiting for 15" rMBP to arrive and I am ditching my Windows 7 desktop that is why I need 15 inches screen.

 

[Dragoro]

If you use photoshop, get a laptop with a dedicated graphics card or youll be hating life.