Buying a Macbook for my colllege bound son

[Richie2017]

Hey I was wondering if anyone could offer me some recommendations. I am going to switch this year from PC to Mac for college.

I am looking to Purchase the MBP, 4gb ram, 200gb hd at 7200rpm...
now my main question...

I am also purchasing VMware Fusion and Windows Vista Ultimate......

Should I install Vista Ultimate under my boot camp partition then point VMware to the partition?
or should I do a clean install with VMware? I would want to sometimes run windows alone to get Max. Power using windows. But having the virtulization software is a necessity.

 

[zioxide]

I'd think long and hard about whether your son or daughter needs a laptop as powerful as the MacBook or MacBook Pro. An iMac combined with an EEE perhaps.

screw that, 2 computers is a pain in the ass in college. i have my mbp and an old ibook 12'' that i use for taking notes (actually, more facebook/aim/espn/etc) I find myself using the ibook less and less though. I might not even use it next year.

MB or 15'' MBP is great for college. I take my laptop to class (like I said above, its the ibook but i might just use the mbp next year), in to my friends dorm rooms when we're just chillin in there, out on the quad when its nice out, and even to the library a few times when i was meeting people to work on projects.

Honestly, unless you are majoring in film/graphic design/etc or really want the 15'' screen, the macbook is good. Don't worry about gaming. There's way more **** to do at college than sit in your dorm room and play computer games. Besides, if you're going to be playing anything, its going to be some multiplayer **** on 360/ps3/wii (buy your kid a wii instead, most girls love playing wii ) with a bunch of your friends, not sitting alone in your room playing wow or something.

An iMac ties you to your desk. harder to steal though.

theft is made out to be a much bigger issue than it actually is (at least at my college). I don't know anyone who's ever had anything stolen from their dorm room... even the kids that leave their rooms unlocked all the time. As long as you lock your door you'll be fine.

My kid willl have his desktop rig with him

he'll probably never use it

I personally like to take notes by hand because I learn better that way and I am not distracted by AIM or Facebook. Although there are some classes where those are a necessity to get through the lecture.

qft.

 

[vchalupa]

I'm also looking forward to the update on the MB and MBP. I am going to college in the fall and I need a new laptop.

I don't mean to be a pessimist but does everyone really think that an update for the laptops are actually going to come out? I was looking at the buying guide that Macrumors has up and if you look at it, Apple hasn't had a release for laptop updates in June/July in a while and it hasn't happened very frequently. I am really looking forward to this update but I'm worried it may never show up.

Any thoughts?

 

[zioxide]

Apple hasn't had a release for laptop updates in June/July in a while and it hasn't happened very frequently.

MBPs got an update in June last year (MBs were 2 weeks earlier in May)

Anyways, if you're just doing the normal college **** (papers, aim, facebook, downloading music, watching movies) then just buy one. Any update that comes out won't really matter. You don't need that extra 5% of performance to write a paper..

 

[vchalupa]

MBPs got an update in June last year (MBs were 2 weeks earlier in May)

Anyways, if you're just doing the normal college **** (papers, aim, facebook, downloading music, watching movies) then just buy one. Any update that comes out won't really matter. You don't need that extra 5% of performance to write a paper..

Well I'm going into engineering and I do a bit of photo editing and video editing. And I'd like to get more involved in the video editing in college so there's no doubt that the update will be useful for me. I need any power boost I can get for engineering programs and video processing. And what's the possibility of getting a blue-ray dvd player/burner in the new update?

 

[Jack Flash]

screw that, 2 computers is a pain in the ass in college. i have my mbp and an old ibook 12'' that i use for taking notes (actually, more facebook/aim/espn/etc)

You gave a great argument for a desktop computer.

Your laptop distracts you in class. You take it to your friends' dorm, but you prefer to do things that aren't being on the computer with them and you work on projects in the library where there are already computers.

 

[rscott505]

Wait, but be careful

My experience is that Apple usually upgrades or redesigns during the summer for back-to-school. Add that to the fact that historically Apple does a free ipod deal at back-to-school time, and it makes sense to wait at least until mid July.

However, one big caveat is that if it's a complete redesign of the macbook pro (which I recommend macbook pro over macbook), then you run the risk of having a first generation machine. The problem with first generation is that I cannot think of an Apple computer that did not have a problem in the first generation. Others may disagree, but the first generation is always a challenge early on. I know that I own four Apple Computers, and I bought an end of life iBook nearly three years ago and an end of life iMac G4 over four years ago, and knock on wood, I have not had a problem with either. However, I bought a first generation iMac G5 and a first generation macbook pro, and both had problems and I had to replace the mother board on both.

Good luck.

 

[zioxide]

You gave a great argument for a desktop computer.

Your laptop distracts you in class.

Well, gen ed requirements are boring. if I didn't have my laptop to take to class I probably wouldn't go to class.

You take it to your friends' dorm, but you prefer to do things that aren't being on the computer with them

Yeah, but while we're watching the game/hanging out/listening to music/playing video games/whatever, I can have my laptop there in case anyone IMs me or if I want to check random **** on the internet.

and you work on projects in the library where there are already computers.

Which are always taken by commuters who don't bring their laptops to school every day. The library computers are also much slower and generally a pain in the ass (plus they run windows). Also, if you have your laptop in the library instead of using one of the library computers, you are always going to have all of your files with you for whatever you need.

Other reasons why a laptop is better:
They take up way less room than a desktop. Dorm rooms are small enough, and if you're trying to deal with a huge tower + monitor setup, it's a pain in the ass.
They're much easier to take with you if you go home for a weekend/thanksgiving/break.

 

[Jack Flash]

Well, gen ed requirements are boring. if I didn't have my laptop to take to class I probably wouldn't go to class.

I can agree with the notion that these classes can be boring, but you need to pay attention.

Also, if you have your laptop in the library instead of using one of the library computers, you are always going to have all of your files with you for whatever you need.

USB drives are very inexpensive.

Other reasons why a laptop is better:
They take up way less room than a desktop. Dorm rooms are small enough, and if you're trying to deal with a huge tower + monitor setup, it's a pain in the ass.
They're much easier to take with you if you go home for a weekend/thanksgiving/break.

An iMac takes up relatively little space and is not portable in the sense that you might bring it to the library, but it can easily be repackaged in its original box and brought home.

 

[e12a]

I'd think long and hard about whether your son or daughter needs a laptop as powerful as the MacBook or MacBook Pro. An iMac combined with an EEE perhaps.

Because when he/she takes it to lecture, he/she will NOT be taking notes on it.

I wouldn't generalize the OP's kid quite yet.

As a college student i take notes perfectly fine and I bring my MBP everywhere. I also use Office's audio recording function to capture stuff I miss. Also its easy to take notes on Powerpoint slides on the computer, at least at my school its not uncommon for teachers to post up .ppts.

if i'm feeling extra studious its also convenient to bring your MBP/MB so you can go to the library and get some work done.

 

[Jack Flash]

I wouldn't generalize the OP's kid quite yet.

As a college student i take notes perfectly fine and I bring my MBP everywhere. I also use Office's audio recording function to capture stuff I miss. Also its easy to take notes on Powerpoint slides on the computer, at least at my school its not uncommon for teachers to post up .ppts.

if i'm feeling extra studious its also convenient to bring your MBP/MB so you can go to the library and get some work done.

I should have been more specific in that I'm generalizing most college students. When you see laptops pop open in lecture, most of them aren't diligently taking down notes.

But, why would they? Taking notes by hand makes it much easier to remember the information. Studies have been done that strongly support this notion.

 

[hotsauce3868]

According to the front page, the new rumor is new MB in quarter 3.

 

[Prometheus2000]

Oh student days, long they are gone

I realy wonder how helpfull it is to take notes on a laptop in class since its good for text notes but what about graphics and sketches?

If you want to fully digitalize you son , I would say a Macbook + a goot slate tablet with MS OneNote. I love my HP TC1100 which you should find on Ebay for maybe $600, I bought mine for around £350 here in the UK. Maybe Apple gets into gear this summer and brings a tablet to take notes (I pray to the lord every morning that this happens ).

Otherwise I would say Macbook Pro, for me (an owner) its the all-in one replacement, its not that heavy (2,4kg or so? My "subnotebook" from 2004 weighted 2kg...), its rather compact even for a 15,4" Laptop, it has a great performance and a high quality graphic chipset which allows occassional gaming in windows.

And that its portable is a big plus over a desktop, since students come home for summer/weekends, might go away for internships etc. Also, even when I have my MBP set up as a desktop with external screen and keyboard, I find myself working on the laptop itself most of the time, so ergonomic compared to my older PC Labtop, its a great "work comfortable anywhere rule them all" device for me. Sit on the bed, lie on bed, sit on couch, lean against couch, sit on kitchen table, sit on chair in garden, sit on grass in garden.... Its just that a find nothing I can't do with the Pro. Well besides writing with a pen on it,...

The only think which might be a bid difficult is to use the Macbook Pro in small spaces like on public transport. But I am sure students in the US rather travel by car

Andreas