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College student MBP users...

D

danielveeee

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 21, 2010
120
0
Just to get a feel for what I'll need next year, when I start college, I was wondering how you guys use your mbp in a normal day. Do u bring it to school with you or do you just use it at home, etc etc. Or do u just bring it to the coffee shop.

I'll be living at home, I was wondering you commuters what your experience is like with your mbp, and if you'd rather have an iMac.

I just wanna know everyones experiences with mbp in college and what u use it for.
 
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First off, if you can only have one computer and you're just starting college, get a laptop. The convenience of having a portable machine for class, study groups, library sessions, etc is immeasurable. If screen real estate and power are huge factors, an external monitor and max specs should be enough to do the trick in your dorm room.



I personally take mine almost everywhere on campus, despite the fact that I have an iPad/iPhone/iPod/Android phone as well.
 
Although I am already done with my undergrad carreer, I can hopefully give a little insight.

I used my MBP a lot during college. I wasnt the type to bring it to EVERY class or lecture, but when I did it was used. I have a 15MBP that i upgraded just recently. I bought a neoprene case for it and threw it right in my backpack with no problems. The battery life is so good on the MBP's you never really have to worry about bringing your charger, unless your watching movies all through out class...:eek: , cant help ya there!

I don't really see why any college student would want an Imac. Sure they may be a little cheaper and have better specs but with as many times as I switched where was living in college, and trips back home etc, an iMac would have only been a burden at that point. Others may disagree.

I would strongly recommend you stay with a 13 or 15'' MBP/MB. They are great computers and you will certainly get plenty use out of them. Whether to get a 13 over a 15 or vice versa is also another story as there are pros and cons to both.

Others may chime in when necessary but mobility was key FOR ME, during college and im sure many feel the same. Hopefully this helps!
 
Well I do have an iPad and preorderd ip4 and will be living 10 minutes from campus and it's a commuter campus so I don't see myself going back to do work when I'm not in class.

Do u guys take your MacBook just to take notes ?
 
MacBook Pro

It sounds like you are talking yourself into getting a MBP.

It is a great computer, I take mine to school and work without any issues.

If you really want a larger screen by portability go for Apple's 24" cinema display. Apple offers college students a discount of $100. I bought it after getting tired of using such a small screen at home as my main computer, well worth it.
 
For the past year i have been taking my macbook into university, and then hooking it up to an external monitor when i get back home.
However, ive just ordered a 27" imac so i will be using that for working at home, and using the macbook to take into university with me.
I agree with everyone else here though, portability is very important when it comes to college/university, so i'd say go with the macbook. Although id probably suggest leaning towards the 15" if you can afford it.
 
Just curious what makes portability so important. Like being able to take notes In class. Working on essays in between classes?
 
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As a distance commuter during my undergrad (25+ miles) and close commuter during my grad (<5 miles), I can say that you'll generally spend more time on campus than you realize. For me, college is not something you do alone. You'll form study groups and find that there are things you simply can't do at home. They will require library time or resource time or lab time, etc.
 
It is great having a laptop for college, especially with group projects and whatnot. I personally don't take notes on mine because chemistry and physics problems are hard to type out :p But I have a monitor for my desk that is very nice when doing homework, but when I had to work on my very intensive, quarter-long design project with my group, it was great to just be able to whip out my computer and do what I needed to do without having to leave the group. It's also nice for when you want to study elsewhere than your desk, like I did fairly often. Plus you can carry it around the house and surf or watch movies or whatever from somewhere more comfortable than a desk chair.
 
Definitely go for the 13 inch mbp.

I just finished my first year at UCLA and I definitely wouldn't have been able to survive without my mbp. I know students in the dorms with just a desktop and it's a huge pain to sit at your desk all day.

In the mornings, I slip my neopreene sleeve on and trek right to campus. Lectures and discussions are a breeze when you can pull information quickly on wifi. In between classes, when I'm too lazy to walk back to my dorm, I just relax right in the coffee shops with my ac adapters and waste (precious) time Youtube.

It's also a huge benefit to be able to take your mbp with you to libraries, review sessions, and/or study groups.
 
Depending on what you choose for your major but I use my laptop ALL THE TIME at college. Could not get by without it, and no an iPad would not...waaaay too many things it cannot handle when being compared to an actual computer(any sort of real engineering program and boatloads of other programs). It is by no means a laptop replacement...yet.

From my 3 years of college experience, you will need a laptop. But you really havn't been very specific, do you have a desktop at home AND an iPad? If you do, and also live really close to campus, there is no reason that set-up wouldn't work.

Bottom line: do not confuse an iPad with any sort of real computing device. It's a giant iPod.
 
Thanks for all comments

I actually just gave my old MacBook away and I have an iPad right now and iPhone, and will be getting a 15 MBP or a 27 iMac next week. I will be going to a commuter school and living at home which is about ten minutes frommmy house, I will also be a biology major.
 
I'm a UK university student (studying law) and I absolutely swear by my 13" MBP. If (as your most recent post seems to suggest) you're torn between the 15" MBP or an iMac, I'd most strongly suggest the MBP to best suit your circumstances. Saying that, you know better than anyone else what you will benefit from most, and I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you decide!
 
I love mine. I take it to school, come back home and study/listen to music or procrastinate on it. I don't drink coffee so I don't take it to coffee shops ;)
 
I guess I'll play the devil's advocate here. I just finished an undergrad science degree without a laptop. Yes, it was a pain at times, but I was able to get by just fine with a desktop (which likely saw just as much gaming as work!).

For all of my classes, I prefer to either write out notes (ie science, history courses), or print out the slides ahead of time and modify/add to them in class. Personally, I prefer to study off of paper as it's just easier on the eyes. For work between classes, I would just hop onto a campus computer terminal (any good college should have plenty available). In the evenings, I would work at home. Any group work generally required special software on the school computers anyway, but this may vary for you.
 
As a senior at college I can safely say that the MBP is the better choice imo.

The portability is worth it for these reasons.
  • Notes during class
  • Online Textbooks
  • Group Projects (main reason why it's worth it)

The best setup is a big screen at home with a keyboard/mouse to hook the laptop up to. Provides the mobility you will most likely need, and the screen real estate at home you come to expect.

Of course you could be the sort who never brings your computer to class. That works too, but I like having it all on my computer versus paper.

If you are not already using Dropbox, start to! I keep all my documents on there for school and I love its functionality.
 
No question in my mind. Go with the MBP, and don't look back.

I'm just finishing my B.Sc in Biotech and I went the first two years of my degree with an iMac at home instead of a laptop. After getting the MBP there is absolutely no way I could go back to the iMac.

Take the machine to class with you. Take notes with it. I can type a lot faster than I can handwrite, to the point where I could often transcribe whole parts of a lecture word-for-word. Then I come home, and condense them down to the relevant details. You could always just make audio recordings of the lecture too (ask first!) AND some profs at my school do podcasts of their lectures too.

Notes will likely be posted ahead of time in some cases. Often these are posted either in PPT or PDF format. Powerpoint allows you to take notes on any given slide right in the app, which is nice. IMHO anyone who uses a computer for college should also purchase Adobe (yuck) Acrobat Pro. You can add notes to PDFs right in the document in a much better way than Preview can do for you.

You'll also have breaks between classes probably. Having your own computer to surf the net or work on labs or papers with will be much better than running home or working on a lab machine.

Get a neoprene sleeve for it, and a good backpack with a padded laptop compartment. I've carried mine for two years with that setup and it is still in mint condition.

--mAc
 
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