Long time mac user, soon to be college student. Can't decide between..

[Alaskanmac]

So I've always loved macs and since last year I've had it all planned out to buy the new macbook pros when they came out. Well, now that the time has finally come, I am having last second thoughts and I'm looking for some reassurance.

I can't decide between buying a 15" i5 Macbook pro or a 15" i7 Hp Envy. Instead of typing out long boring paragraphs, I've decided to simply give you bullet points of what I'm looking for. Then, I'd love it for you to give me your own opinions.

• Entering as a Computer Science major, PC OS would be a must have, even if I went with the MBP
• Long time gamer so Envy definitely takes the cake on this one
• Long time mac user, had very bad experiences with pc laptops before
• Never used windows 7, have no knowlege about whether it has the problems Vista did.
• PRICE. Obviously as a soon to be college student, I'm looking for the best bang for my buck.
• Overall durability. I currently live in Alaska and will be traveling a lot between school and home. I definitely don't want a flimsy computer that could be easily damaged.

I do know that a lot of people with no prior computer knowledge come here and expect people to tell them exactly what to do. I however am not one of these people and simply am looking for the experiences of others. I've read up on both computers, but that doesn't make up for my lack of knowledge of both windows 7, and new PC laptops as a whole (the last pc laptop I bought was 5 years ago)

Thanks for any help you can give

 

[pknz]

I have just finished my computer degree.

My advice, considering you have been a Mac user for some time would be to stick with Macs, dual or triple boot Windows and Linux (as your course requires it). As long as you are happy with Mac OS X as your primary OS, go with a Mac.

This is how I got through my degree.

I can't really speak for your gaming needs as I have dropped out of that area.

 

[Fasailmac]

So I've always loved macs and since last year I've had it all planned out to buy the new macbook pros when they came out. Well, now that the time has finally come, I am having last second thoughts and I'm looking for some reassurance.

I can't decide between buying a 15" i5 Macbook pro or a 15" i7 Hp Envy. Instead of typing out long boring paragraphs, I've decided to simply give you bullet points of what I'm looking for. Then, I'd love it for you to give me your own opinions.

• Entering as a Computer Science major, PC OS would be a must have, even if I went with the MBP
• Long time gamer so Envy definitely takes the cake on this one
• Long time mac user, had very bad experiences with pc laptops before
• Never used windows 7, have no knowlege about whether it has the problems Vista did.
• PRICE. Obviously as a soon to be college student, I'm looking for the best bang for my buck.
• Overall durability. I currently live in Alaska and will be traveling a lot between school and home. I definitely don't want a flimsy computer that could be easily damaged.

I do know that a lot of people with no prior computer knowledge come here and expect people to tell them exactly what to do. I however am not one of these people and simply am looking for the experiences of others. I've read up on both computers, but that doesn't make up for my lack of knowledge of both windows 7, and new PC laptops as a whole (the last pc laptop I bought was 5 years ago)

Thanks for any help you can give

i suggest you wait, for Asus to update its line with the Ul i7's. I took a comp sci elective this year and the TA had a macbook pro with XP on it. I talked to him and he said he used the windows side more often. Also if you do decide to go with the pro definitely go with the higher res screen. In the comp sci course i took i used my envy instead because i found it difficult to enter code in text edit and review my site simultaneously with the resolution of my 15 pro.

 

[mklnz]

Well I voted for MBP, but then again I'm probably biased (most people on this forum actually).

I'm doing Software Engineering - so similar field here and no doubt I'll vote in favor of the MBP. First of all - its better in the long run as the value is better kept in the MBP than the Envy. You can always install Windows via Bootcamp like I have and work with both Windows and Unix/Mac platforms, I like this flexibility as I'm doing a project for the iPad but I also need Windows for few courses.

Price is probably the main issue here - but to be honest it is better to just pay the "Apple tax" and enjoy a better experience overall. As I said before when it comes to selling the laptop later on, you'll lose a lot less than a PC laptop.

 

[Bibble]

My personal opinion is that, for laptops, Mac is the way to go. It's better for reliability and usability. I would say that, if you are a long-time gamer then, either you have already been using a PC for that, or the gaming requirements for your preferred game are less demanding. Either way, a MBP will either deal with your needs, or it won't. If it won't then a dedicated PC is probably the way to go.

 

[Alaskanmac]

Thanks for all of your responses.

 

[cpfay]

As a lifelong alaska I have had no problems with lugging my trusty iBook back and forth to school and other travels. I am a mechanical engineer so I dont run my computer nearly as hard as you, but I am more than excited for my new MBP which is supposed to ship today!

 

[Macchino]

I had two HP's, before i went mac, (dv5000, and dv 9000 series) and they both died within a year. My macs are just going on and on and on, so for durability I would definately reccomend the mac.

 

[rmbrown09]

I am entering uni as a Freshman next year for a CS major.

I talked with many of the professors there and tried to figure out if getting a MBP would be worth it.

Turns out it will be. All your python, C++ etc programming that is in console, doesn't matter what OS you're on.

Unless you start getting into actual win GUI programming, it won't matter.

I myself would like to learn Osx gui cocoa stuff, but hey