Is a macbook a good laptop for college? Or should I pay a little more for a Macbook Pro? I need a laptop mainly for schoolwork (word processing, spreadsheet, powerpoint) & Internet. Does a Macbook have word processing, spreadsheet, & powerpoint software installed?
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College laptop
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velocityg4
macrumors 604
The Macbook is more than enough for those tasks. Just install the free Openoffice.org once you receive it. Then change the default save as types for Document, Presentation and Spreadsheet to the MS Office equivalents.
briansolomon
macrumors 6502
My Macbook was great for college. I started with an iBook G4, bought a Macbook my Junior year and am still using the Macbook today. You can be confident it will last all 4 years (with a Ram upgrade somewhere along the way) It does come with iWork preinstalled but you have to pay for activation, but I'd get a copy of Office. It's just easier to work with in an environment where everyone else is using Office.
redwarrior
macrumors 603
The MacBook would be more than enough for your needs, and I think you would be very happy with it.
However, check with your school to see what productivity suites they use/require.
My instructors this semester required that I use Office 2007. While I don't think, so far, that there would have been compatibility issues, others have reported that there were some with OpenOffice.
Also, I was required to use MS Visual C# last semester, and am using MS Office Visio 2007 this semester.
I am running Windows XP SP3 as a VM using Parallels, and I am very happy with the speed and performance.
Hope this helps. 🙂
However, check with your school to see what productivity suites they use/require.
My instructors this semester required that I use Office 2007. While I don't think, so far, that there would have been compatibility issues, others have reported that there were some with OpenOffice.
Also, I was required to use MS Visual C# last semester, and am using MS Office Visio 2007 this semester.
I am running Windows XP SP3 as a VM using Parallels, and I am very happy with the speed and performance.
Hope this helps. 🙂
Rodimus Prime
macrumors G4
First question is what is your major going to be because some majors OSX is not a good choice and Windows is the way to go. This is because of the software requirements that some majors are windows only software.
As some one pointed out Openoffice may not be a good choice for class due to how some profs want stuff turn in there are compatiblity issues. That being said MS offers a pretty nice deal for their office suit if you an a edu address. I think you can get Pro one for 70 bucks. Also a lot of schools give it to the students for either free or greatly reduce price.
At Texas Tech for example I could download office for free or buy the disk from the school for 10 bucks.
As some one pointed out Openoffice may not be a good choice for class due to how some profs want stuff turn in there are compatiblity issues. That being said MS offers a pretty nice deal for their office suit if you an a edu address. I think you can get Pro one for 70 bucks. Also a lot of schools give it to the students for either free or greatly reduce price.
At Texas Tech for example I could download office for free or buy the disk from the school for 10 bucks.
wordoflife
macrumors 604
I think the more money will be worth the Macbook Pro, especially if you plan to keep it for a while. I must say though, if you are going to buy iWork, check Amazon first. iWork is only $33 on Amazon, compared to $79 on Apple (I know it's cheaper if it's preinstalled, and even cheaper if you are a student, but Amazon still might be the cheapest.