Choosing a new university setup for next year

[joemcneil]

Hi,

I am a geology student at university, heading into my second year this September. I currently own: base 21" iMac (2012), base 13" Retina MBP (2013), and an iPad 2. I use the iMac when I'm working in my dorm, and the macbook for taking notes when I'm out on campus. The iPad 2 is very rarely used, but this is because it's now very slow; apps lag and the screen just is not great compared to my macbook (I use that in its place for watching Netflix etc in bed).

Having done one year of university like this, I have come to realise that this setup (as cool as it is with features such as handoff and iCloud) is ridiculously excessive. As such, going in to my second year, I am wanting to reduce the number of devices I own, so it's more manageable and streamlined.

In terms of what I need to do with my devices: Web Browsing, PDF reading, using Office/iWork, very occasional light gaming (mostly Minecraft every few weeks or so), Watching video (iTunes/Netflix), some video conversion [.mkv to .mp4] every now and again (using Handbrake).
Ideally I'd like the thing I take to lectures to be as portable as possible. In lectures, the most I do is browse the web, read PDFs and type/write up notes.

Below, I have outlined some ideas I've got for next year's setup. I'll be using Apple's Student discount from their online store.

• Sell both iMac and Macbook Pro, get 15" Macbook Pro (either buy now, OR wait until Skylake [probably preferred] when it arrives).
• Sell both iMac and Macbook Pro, get 27" Retina iMac + iPad Air 2 (my local store currently has a great trade-in deal on iPads that I could use).
• Sell both iMac and Macbook Pro, get Macbook + PS4 for gaming.

If you've got any other ideas, or think that some of mine are cataclysmically bad, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments. Which option do you think would suit me best?

Thanks for the help.

 

[talmy]

I'm not a believer in churning equipment when what I've got is doing the job. I'm sure your light use runs just fine on either Mac you already have (one always wants faster Handbrake, but that's not really an essential). So I'd suggest keeping the MBP and selling the iMac. Then buy a larger monitor to use at the desk. You'll have money left over this way. As an alternative if the iPad Air 2 would suffice for class would be to sell your MBP and trade in the iPad for the new one. You'll have money left over that way was well. Any simplification that costs you money would be a bad choice.

 

[casperes1996]

I wouldn't want to use an iPad for anything but consumption. I've tried with an attached keyboard and all, but it's just... It's just too small and lacks features. It's brilliant for consumption though. I'd go the MacBook Pro route.If your gaming needs are what they sound like, it'd do you better than a PS4 even at that. If you prefer controllers, you can use playstation controllers with it.