Choosing My First Notebook

[Xcallibur]

Hi, I am going to university this September and will be wanting a laptop for then, question is, what do you guys think is the best notebook for me? I've never had a Mac before, nor have I had a laptop before but I'm thinking of buying a Macbook Pro in the hope it will last me years and its performance will sufice for many years to come.

I'm planning to use it for all university work and will possibly hook up some Stanton virtual decks for use with DJ'ing software such as Mixxx and as I'm going to carry it to and from university I can't see the 17" notebook being an option.

Can anyone suggest an appropriate notebook? Thankyou for any replies

 

[srxtr]

Going to university... ah to be young again

Do you care about gaming at all? If so then I'd probably stick to a Windows notebook for all your gaming/homework/music needs. But if you're not a gamer, and you really want a mac, then you should look at MacBook Airs as a possible options since it's great for carrying around in your backpack, and using for taking notes in class.

All the "how much RAM/CPU power/etc do I need" questions should be answered based on what applications you will be running.

 

[wordoflife]

I think that the 2.3ghz i5 MacBook Pro 13" would be perfectly fine for your needs. I would upgrade the RAM to 8GB though. Don't buy it from Apple, buy it from elsewhere (more or less $120 cheaper).

 

[Xcallibur]

Going to university... ah to be young again

Do you care about gaming at all? If so then I'd probably stick to a Windows notebook for all your gaming/homework/music needs. But if you're not a gamer, and you really want a mac, then you should look at MacBook Airs as a possible options since it's great for carrying around in your backpack, and using for taking notes in class.

All the "how much RAM/CPU power/etc do I need" questions should be answered based on what applications you will be running.

Haha and no not really maybe the odd multiplayer game of Call of Duty 4, but nothing more, and yeah I've just had a quick look, great resolution on the screen but do you think it would be capable of running Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop with ease? Ohh and streaming HD video would be nice too.

 

[Xcallibur]

I think that the 2.3ghz i5 MacBook Pro 13" would be perfectly fine for your needs. I would upgrade the RAM to 8GB though. Don't buy it from Apple, buy it from elsewhere (more or less $120 cheaper).

Right okay, thanks for the reply! By the way do you think it would easily handle the streaming of full HD video and be capable of editing large Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop files? Just out of curiousity, could this MBP handle 3D graphics editing?

 

[wordoflife]

Right okay, thanks for the reply! By the way do you think it would easily handle the streaming of full HD video and be capable of editing large Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop files? Just out of curiousity, could this MBP handle 3D graphics editing?

Ahh okay, you didn't mention that in the original post and it might be important.

Will it handle HD video? Sure it can! I have a 2.4ghz MacBook Pro 13" (the 2010 model) and it handles HD perfectly fine.

I'm not sure about Adobe illustrator or photoshop. I assume it would be fine, but hopefully someone else can shed more light on it. from what I've heard, it's better to have big screen when doing that kind of stuff. It might be worth getting the 15" model if you think you need more space

 

[AustinZ]

If you get it from Apple with the student discount you also get a $100 iTunes/App Store gift card. The base discounts for students for the MBPs range from $100 to $200 off list price (depending on size), while the discount for the Air is $50. So you could 'save' anywhere from $150 to $300, depending on whether you think you could usefully spend $100 on the App Store.

See Apple's store site.

By the way, as a to-be student you should get used to education discounts for various types of software. Your campus store should sell software at a discount; check out sites like academicsuperstore.com as well. You can save large amounts of money on legitimate software.

 

[Barnzee]

The 13" would be just fine for you. However if your doing Photoshop I would go with the base 15" MBP. it's the only way to get the High Resolution display. Plus the 13" uses Integrated graphics, while the 15" uses discrete graphics.

 

[Atamagaii]

Buy a Macbook Air 13". Seriously, I've just finished my first semester with it and it's an absolute dream come true.

1. Power is truly not an issue - I sold my iMac and now just hook my MBA up to a display, BT keyboard and trackpad when I come home to work on assignments. Light to medium photoshopping is fine as well, and would be even slicker on the new Sandy Bridge models (did they update the GPUs?). Plus, with the solid state drive, it actually feels snappier than any of the beastly 27" iMacs I've tried. You say that you have some 17" behemoth anyway, which might be fine for your non-mobile powerhouse requirements?

2. Battery life is excellent - easily lasts, say, a 10-5 day on campus and even longer with the backlight turned down when inside.

3. Resolution is higher than the 13" Pro, so you're getting more bang for your limited-screen-size buck.

4. The thing is LIGHT and TINY - seriously, it just slips in amongst my books without any need for a case or extra carry-bag and then wakes up in an instant when I get to a lecture. It's kinda funny to watch all the PCs take the best part of a quarter of the lecture to start up, while I just open the lid and pick up where I left off.

All my friends with Macbook Pros now wish that they'd gone for the Air. Highly recommended.

 

[groschi]

Just wanna add something: try the it store of your new university. Most of the time they are cheaper than apple education store and you'll get some extra goodies like a printer.

 

[Obscurelight]

I think you should get a Windows Laptop first so then you can truly appreciate a Macbook

 

[Xcallibur]

Ahh okay, you didn't mention that in the original post and it might be important.

Will it handle HD video? Sure it can! I have a 2.4ghz MacBook Pro 13" (the 2010 model) and it handles HD perfectly fine.

I'm not sure about Adobe illustrator or photoshop. I assume it would be fine, but hopefully someone else can shed more light on it. from what I've heard, it's better to have big screen when doing that kind of stuff. It might be worth getting the 15" model if you think you need more space

Awesome, would be good to watch full HD content so thats good to hear!

 

[Xcallibur]

I think you should get a Windows Laptop first so then you can truly appreciate a Macbook

Haha

 

[Xcallibur]

The 13" would be just fine for you. However if your doing Photoshop I would go with the base 15" MBP. it's the only way to get the High Resolution display. Plus the 13" uses Integrated graphics, while the 15" uses discrete graphics.

Right okay, but if I was to decide on the 13" MBP, do you think it could handle 3D graphics editing? Ohh and I've noticed that the system requirements for Adobe Photoshop are a resolution of at least 1280 x 900, whereas the highest resolution of the MBP 13" is 1280 x 800; do you think this would hinder the installation and use of Photoshop?

 

[Xcallibur]

If you get it from Apple with the student discount you also get a $100 iTunes/App Store gift card. The base discounts for students for the MBPs range from $100 to $200 off list price (depending on size), while the discount for the Air is $50. So you could 'save' anywhere from $150 to $300, depending on whether you think you could usefully spend $100 on the App Store.

See Apple's store site.

By the way, as a to-be student you should get used to education discounts for various types of software. Your campus store should sell software at a discount; check out sites like academicsuperstore.com as well. You can save large amounts of money on legitimate software.

Yeah I've noticed that offer whilst browsing the Apple site; thing is I've asked the Apple staff what kind of discounts I'd be looking at getting and the best discount seems to be from applicants of Universities, however they said I'd need a user ID card showing that I'm from a university, thing is the $100 offer ends on the 20th September and I don't start University till then so I wouldn't receive the user ID in enough time.

Is there another way of me receiving the best discounts without providing a user ID; maybe a letter from the university?

 

[Xcallibur]

Buy a Macbook Air 13". Seriously, I've just finished my first semester with it and it's an absolute dream come true.

1. Power is truly not an issue - I sold my iMac and now just hook my MBA up to a display, BT keyboard and trackpad when I come home to work on assignments. Light to medium photoshopping is fine as well, and would be even slicker on the new Sandy Bridge models (did they update the GPUs?). Plus, with the solid state drive, it actually feels snappier than any of the beastly 27" iMacs I've tried. You say that you have some 17" behemoth anyway, which might be fine for your non-mobile powerhouse requirements?

2. Battery life is excellent - easily lasts, say, a 10-5 day on campus and even longer with the backlight turned down when inside.

3. Resolution is higher than the 13" Pro, so you're getting more bang for your limited-screen-size buck.

4. The thing is LIGHT and TINY - seriously, it just slips in amongst my books without any need for a case or extra carry-bag and then wakes up in an instant when I get to a lecture. It's kinda funny to watch all the PCs take the best part of a quarter of the lecture to start up, while I just open the lid and pick up where I left off.

All my friends with Macbook Pros now wish that they'd gone for the Air. Highly recommended.

Arr right, well the only thing I'd be worried about is if I was to attempt the odd Call of Duty 4 game (not essential though!) or 3D graphics editing just to try and teach myself in my spare time. Have you ever tried any games or graphics intensive tasks on the 13" Air? Thanks for your input btw