Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Buying Advice for a Liberal Arts Student

A

Ach111es

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 23, 2010
128
0
Next year I am going off to a nice little liberal arts school.

I currently have a Dell Vostro 1510 with a 2.1 core 2 duo and 8400m chip
I am currently using 70 GB which is all my music, pics, and a bunch of programs. It currently lasts about 3 hours on normal use which is horrendous.

I am not interested in the 11 because the battery life is a bit weak, and I can't handle the midget screen. I do not plan on having an external in my dorm, I will plug in to one in a library if need be.

The following are my personal needs:

--battery life, battery life, battery life
--decent mobility (I don't really have a huge issue with my 15, its bigger than most 15s, but I deal with it)
--fast wake
--solid color gamut>>current screen is a crappy matte 1280x800 on a 15.6
--capable processor>>RAW files, ripping CDs, converting music/video files for personal use
--bootcamp w/ win7 (I have a disk already)
--a loooong excel file (been using it for 2 years now)

Class stuff:

word processing
note taking
presentations


I don't want to lose a ton on this if I resell in 2-3 years also.

Is it worth it to wait for the MBA upgrade too?
 
Almost every liberal arts major at my school can fall into 3 categories: MacBook, MBP, or MBA.

If I was a liberal arts major... I'd probably go 13in MBA (refurb 2010 or refreshed 2011). It could definitely handle what you need it to do, while also cutting down on the weight you lug around. Plus the 1440x900 resolution is something to definitely consider. Also, long battery life (7 hours) and instant-wake ;)
 
darknite38 said:
13" baseline MBP.
Click to expand...

thanks for the second opinion, I was leaning that way but w/ the new MBA's was unsure. I will be putting in aftermarket SSD though.

Also, Kyle how is the screen quality of the MBA--I kinda dig the glossy, it makes colors pop. Any reason to
Think the new airs will have better screens or just a minor adjustment
 
Another vote for upcoming MBA. Since you like glossy, you'll love MBA screen. You will also appreciate the portability of MBA.

Resale value should hold up fairly well compared to current MBA models.
 
Ach111es said:
thanks for the second opinion, I was leaning that way but w/ the new MBA's was unsure. I will be putting in aftermarket SSD though.

Also, Kyle how is the screen quality of the MBA--I kinda dig the glossy, it makes colors pop. Any reason to
Think the new airs will have better screens or just a minor adjustment
Click to expand...
From what I understand, the MBP's screens are glossier and of higher quality (perhaps marginally). I don't own either of them, so that's just what I've read. But I'd take a (marginal, I'd suspect) hit in quality/glossyness in exchange for a higher resolution any day.

I'm waiting for the refreshed MBAs, which from a culmination of rumors from the last 4 months, are supposed to be released in late June or some time in July. If you're not in any particular rush, I'd just wait to see if anything substantial is added (aside from the CPU).
 
I plan on running VMware also for windows 7, I cannot replace OneNote.

Will 4gb of ram cover that?
 
KylePowers said:
Almost every liberal arts major at my school can fall into 3 categories: MacBook, MBP, or MBA.

If I was a liberal arts major... I'd probably go 13in MBA (refurb 2010 or refreshed 2011). It could definitely handle what you need it to do, while also cutting down on the weight you lug around. Plus the 1440x900 resolution is something to definitely consider. Also, long battery life (7 hours) and instant-wake ;)
Click to expand...

I'd agree with you. To the OP, remember that you'll be carrying that laptop around a lot of the time, and the you will notice the weight difference between the MBA and MBP.

I have had both the MBP and the MBA; both are excellent computers, but the weight and form factor of the MBA make it an ideal computer for life as a liberal arts student.

Cheers
 
Ach111es said:
I plan on running VMware also for windows 7, I cannot replace OneNote.

Will 4gb of ram cover that?
Click to expand...

Yes I was running that on my old 2008 MBP. I would recommend bootcamp though cause VMware is like running 2 OS (OS X and Windows) Bootcamp only runs one. I had Vmware and then realised Bootcamp was much faster.
And also you said you wanted to rip cds and dvds, you cant with a MBA, but you can buy an external drive i guess....
 
I'm going to start out by saying that I don't know a whole lot about the MBA.

But in my opinion I would go for the 13" baseline MBP. The MBA seems more like a niche item it cost almost as much as the baseline MBP and doesn't even have as much under it's hood. The one plus is the lighter weight which, as a college student myself, I know can make a big difference. But, please correct me if I am wrong, would it not be pretty much as sufficient to get a $400 netbook and just hackintosh it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back