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

What should I do?

  • stick with the imac

    Votes: 23 42.6%
  • get a macbook

    Votes: 21 38.9%
  • replace the imac with a macbook pro when nehalem comes out

    Votes: 10 18.5%

  • Total voters
    54
The MB is a very powerful computer. Also since it's high school, it doesn't play games very well which is a plus. Keeps you focused.

thats not a problem, im not a video game guy, if i were to play any game, it is to be The N (2D flash game, the best)

or FSX, which needs time and patience, and i only do that in the summer.
 
my worry is the fact i may use the mb over the imac:eek:


Thats similar in my decision to sell my mac pro since I have a 17" mbp... The mbp has only 1/3rd power as the 8 core mac pros but for most things the 17" mbp would do fine.. and I'm thinking about selling the mac pro to use the mbp as my main machine. I usually like to use one machine.
 
I thought this was true for college students as they can carry it around campus... but high school.. are you even allowed to bring your laptop to class? I remember when I was in high school I've never seen anyone carry a laptop around, I think 1 kid did but he needed it because he was deaf..

even in college you dont need a laptop


you do NOT need a laptop for classes PERIOD. let's get real, how can a school enforce that if not all families can buy their kids a laptop? seriously? they may need a computer but not a laptop

i say stick with your desktop and save the 1-2 grand personally
 
even in college you dont need a laptop


you do NOT need a laptop for classes PERIOD. let's get real, how can a school enforce that if not all families can buy their kids a laptop? seriously? they may need a computer but not a laptop

i say stick with your desktop and save the 1-2 grand personally

I agree with you, I personally think taking notes on a sheet of paper is much faster and much more expandable (especially if you need to draw a graph/chart/equations).
In college I never used a laptop in class unless you absolutely need to run and use a certain program.
 
I agree with you, I personally think taking notes on a sheet of paper is much faster and much more expandable (especially if you need to draw a graph/chart/equations).
In college I never used a laptop in class unless you absolutely need to run and use a certain program.

after 5 years of college, i have never needed to use my laptop as a laptop. never taken it to class or nothing. it sits on my desk as a desktop.

i use my laptop's portability when running home or buisness trips. school obligations has not made me get a laptop in the least

is it nicer....sure but not more money nicer for school purposes

once again, my opinion, but everyehere on campus, there are labs if im have to check my email, which frankly to me can wait till i get back home lol
 
after 5 years of college, i have never needed to use my laptop as a laptop. never taken it to class or nothing. it sits on my desk as a desktop.

i use my laptop's portability when running home or buisness trips. school obligations has not made me get a laptop in the least

is it nicer....sure but not more money nicer for school purposes

once again, my opinion, but everyehere on campus, there are labs if im have to check my email, which frankly to me can wait till i get back home lol

I've had classes that explicitly required you to have a laptop.;)
 
after 5 years of college, i have never needed to use my laptop as a laptop. never taken it to class or nothing. it sits on my desk as a desktop.

i use my laptop's portability when running home or buisness trips. school obligations has not made me get a laptop in the least

is it nicer....sure but not more money nicer for school purposes

once again, my opinion, but everyehere on campus, there are labs if im have to check my email, which frankly to me can wait till i get back home lol

Yea, I totally agree. Most of the time I couldnt understand why people were carrying laptops upfront and I always wondered how they are drawing all the graph/charts so quickly as the professor just rummages to the next graph/chart rather fast..

But most of the time by looking over at someone's laptop I did see them not paying attention and just web browsing or listening to music/watching videos and especially IM chatting.
 
All my computer classes either had your own dell that you sat at or you would go to the "computer lab."

So did we but it was our choice and we brought them. I see nothing wrong with bringing a laptop. As someone who is in collage my laptop never leaves me. I take it everywhere. Sorry if I seem like Its fine or something but I see nothing wrong with bringing laptops to high schools.
 
in high school though?
I don't believe a public high school would require students to have their own laptops. There are a handful of private high schools here in Chicago that have started an initiative to have students have laptops, however, that is through the school with financing.

Back to the OP, I think a MB works just fine for school purposes.
 
You should do what ever you think you should do.

For me I Have a MacBook Pro. I use it mostly at my house and sometimes at freind's houses.

very rarely, I take my MacBook Pro to school for:

Keynotes,
Essays,
When I don't want to use the crappy IBM PCs at my school.

and thats really it.

I would love to have a MacBook Air to take to school everyday. But its a little pointless but hey,
 
Heh, I was in a similar situation as you (currently a Junior in HS).

But I managed to keep my mind off a laptop until college. It's all a teen hype for some of us who want a laptop rather than need one.

Do yourself a big favor- wait on a laptop for college. That's what I'm doing. You can always do your school work at home on your iMac.

Instead, get your license to drive around and get a good paying job for all the things you can do aside from a laptop. Trust me, waiting until you need one is a lot better, and you get the most potential out of a laptop you would not have to replace after you finish high school and enter college.

Not only would you save money, but you will probably find so much more if you had that $1k-$2k set aside for some different things! =)
 
I would get the laptop in college. There, you are guaranteed the ability to use it anywhere and it won't be as much of a distraction in the classroom as it would be in a high school setting.

Furthermore, although laptops can get stolen anywhere, bringing it to a high school is just a different kind of environment.
 
Keep your iMac and wait to get a laptop for college.

In 3-4 years when you go to get a laptop, here's what you can expect:

Blu Ray
SSD becoming standard
32nm, possibly 22nm Sandy Bridge chip (two microarchitecture revisions from now)
Better integrated graphics
Multi-touch out the butt
LED backlit standard for everything
etc.

:D
 
My vote-MBP.In your case, MB

For you, get a MB and keep the iMac. you'll be glad you did later.
As for me, My girls are in Middle school and High school. They both use MBP line laptops. I am a big believer in getting the most you can afford as needs change and expand over your original intent. Now, both of my girls are budding artists and the MBP with CS is great. :apple:
 
My high school had had a dedicated laptop program that students could opt in to. This led to scheduling scheduling students with laptops into classes together. I used my laptop all throughout high school. (my handwriting is and always has been atrocious)

I'd go with having a laptop.
 
in high school though?

all of my engineering classes have been book and notebook classes. if not, then using the lab's workstations

No, not in HS. You said in college you don't need a laptop. That is not true. I'm doing engineering too, and a few of my classes explicitly required a laptop. Without one, you would have been lost.
 
All my computer classes either had your own dell that you sat at or you would go to the "computer lab."

Same here, though I also had a Alphasmart Dana for note taking, and writing assignments (The reason why is kind of complicated), otherwise a computer may be unnessary. My limited experience with APUS shows that typing notes is better than writing, depending on the speed of the lecture. It can help in some classes in college as well (worked out great with note taking in history). I have a Macbook Pro SR 07' 2.4 15". Overall I would stick with the iMac, there is no real need to have a laptop in high school. It would be more of a distraction than a help. What may help is the investment in a Alphasmart Neo if you do a lot of writing or note-taking.

Go for the macbook, thats what i have. I like it because i have portability, if needed, i can take it into class for a presentation, writing a research paper, or simply taking it over to a friends house.
Mine stays on my desk like 30% of the time, i know that i would hate having to be grounded to the desk all the time due to lack of portability.
If screen space is an issue, get a external monitor.

btw, i am 15 and class of 2011!!!

Class of 2007 here :D
 
The only reason for high-school students to have laptops is..... wait... there is none.

Laptops + high school students = texting/chatting/surfing and not studying.

High school grades suffer = epic fail.

I'd love to know why you'd automatically think that. I have either my MacBook Pro or iBook at school and I couldn't imagine a day without it. I use it to study everyday, in my media and communications classes. Many of the students at my high school have laptops, many of them being Macs. And yah we're a public school. It's becoming more and more common to see kids with laptops at school.
 
Personally, an iBook G3/G4 running Panther/Tiger is decent enough for taking notes, Excel, spreadsheets, internet, basic photography stuff. If it has atleast 40 GBs of HD Space, and 512 MBs of RAM, I think that would be decent enough.

I am a Freshman in high school and had an iBook G3 Clamshell 466 MHZ, Combo Drive, 320 MBs of RAM, 40 GB HD, running Jaguar (Mac OS X 10.2). I then got a first generation BlackBook in May 2006 from inheritance, the Uncle died about 2 days after buying the MacBook and I got to get it. I didn't use it for about 2 weeks after receiving it because I was tranced from the event, so I couldn't return it. I decided to keep it. I gave the iBook to a friend for a birthday present. The MacBook had numerous problems and after receiving 3 more MacBooks to replace it, they gave me a MBP for free. Even the MacBook was overkill, and now I even have more overkill. The iBook was wonderful, had a brand new battery so it lasted about 4 - 6 hours. It was more portable, more durable, and I wasn't afraid to bump it. I could run iTunes, FireFox, and Word all at the same time without much trouble.

You could easily buy the iBook I had with the same specs for 200 dollars shipped. It is better for a high schooler, that way, when you get to college you can buy a brand new, spanking top-of-the-line laptop for your whole 4-5 years of college life.
 
YES

is that clear?:cool:

you sure its not just a want rather than a need lol.


seriously NO hs can enforce that policy unless they finance it. too many families cant afford to give their kids a laptop


is that clear? :rolleyes:

require a computer ....ok as a family can have one computer at least but require a laptop no way as laptops are more for one individual and are more expensive to begin with


either way i think you should stick with the imac and get a lap top when you trueley need it. think of it his way, the longer you hold off getting a laptop, the better it will be lol
 
you sure its not just a want rather than a need lol.


seriously NO hs can enforce that policy unless they finance it. too many families cant afford to give their kids a laptop


is that clear? :rolleyes:

require a computer ....ok as a family can have one computer at least but require a laptop no way as laptops are more for one individual and are more expensive to begin with


either way i think you should stick with the imac and get a lap top when you trueley need it. think of it his way, the longer you hold off getting a laptop, the better it will be lol

Heh, I second that.

You're even lucky to have an iMac... right now, I don't own Macs at all. I'm only here cause I'm researching into its extremities, and one day, buy a Mac.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.