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Mac for College

B

blackbelt

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 2, 2008
125
0
I am going to get a mac for college, but am first debating a macbook or pro (leaning towards the pro), and second don't know when the best time to buy it would be.

I have read the rumors that there will be a new macbook pro in the next few weeks, and would wait for that, but once that comes out, and if I know I want to get the pro, is there any advantage of waiting until August or September for the college deals?

Thanks!
 
Macbook

My vote would go to the Macbook. Plenty of power unless you are doing real graphics intensive work. Also better on the wallet. Do get the AppleCare, though.

Cheers.

blackbelt said:
I am going to get a mac for college, but am first debating a macbook or pro (leaning towards the pro), and second don't know when the best time to buy it would be.

I have read the rumors that there will be a new macbook pro in the next few weeks, and would wait for that, but once that comes out, and if I know I want to get the pro, is there any advantage of waiting until August or September for the college deals?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the recomendation! Would you recomend waiting until August, or getting it now?
 
Get it Now

I'd get it now if you need it. The Macbooks were recently updated so you should be safe. My advice would be to get it configured exactly how you want it so you don't have to do it later. It will last you many years.
 
One of my classmates accidently got a pro, his dad didn't know what it was, it was like really expensive, like 30k HKD compared to the normal mac which was around 10k, my design technology teachers use pro and I probably think the media studies teachers use pro too, but you know, as srichart1 has said about the real graphics and stuff, it really depends on what you are studying for, if you are planning to media studies, then like final cut pro, adobe photo shop, soundtrackpro, you know, those stuff take alot of memory up.

Edit: (By the way, my school uses Macbooks for classes, so I guess Macbook would do the job)

Macbook = Basic - Less memory - Less money
Macbook Pro = Advanced - More memory - More money

Your choice
 
if you do any kinda of photoshop/Video work get the pro if not macbook will be fine

i got macbook (spec in sig just doing simple photoshop wiork kills my mac (80c on cpu)
 
If you're in the US, it may be worth waiting until the summer (June or later) to purchase your computer. Then you'll be able to take advantage of the back-to-school program a snap up a new iPod (if Apple offers this deal again). If you don't need an iPod, sell it on eBay or craigslist and count that as a rebate off your purchse price.

Oh, and as a student you'll qualify for an education discount too. Keep in mind that you may have to provide proof of enrollment (student ID card or a letter confirming your registration) to get the deal.
 
scienide09 said:
If you're in the US, it may be worth waiting until the summer (June or later) to purchase your computer. Then you'll be able to take advantage of the back-to-school program a snap up a new iPod (if Apple offers this deal again). If you don't need an iPod, sell it on eBay or craigslist and count that as a rebate off your purchse price.

Oh, and as a student you'll qualify for an education discount too. Keep in mind that you may have to provide proof of enrollment (student ID card or a letter confirming your registration) to get the deal.
Click to expand...

Same here in Hong Kong Scienide09, except my school does not provide an ipod, its just cheaper and a better deal, but if you buy it outside of my school, you get an ipod nano or so, not any kind of ipod, also its already happened over here, I think the US is kinda behind things, or maybe we just thought of these things faster...
 
skubish said:
usually Apple has a deal for students in the summer where you buy a mac and get a free ipod nano
Click to expand...

Woops, I guess US is not behind things lol, but yeah, I heard that my classmates were buying macs during last summer and got a free ipod nano, we just started this mac system for our school over here so I didn't know apple had a deal every summer...
 
brian9271 said:
Macbook = Basic - Less memory - Less money
Macbook Pro = Advanced - More memory - More money
Click to expand...

considering they both accept up to 4GB of memory, I can't see how the macbook is disadvantaged here.

I'll bust some more myths while I'm at it.

Graphics - photoshop barely uses the graphics card, if at all. Therefore, there is very little if any disadvantage to the macbook

Internal storage - the MacBook is easier to upgrade than the MacBook Pro, so should you need to replace your internal HDD with a larger and/or faster one, you'd be happier with a MacBook

Processor speed - Unless you are planning on getting the 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, the "better" and "best" macbooks use the same processor as the "good" (2.2GHz) MacBook Pro. The only difference in speed is going to be the chipset, and the advantage here is marginal at best.

Connectivity - MacBook Pro wins here with FireWire 800 and the expresscard slot

Display - if you are using the built in display, the MacBook Pro wins. If you are outputting to a display 24" or less, they are more or less the same.


I use a 1.83GHz Core Duo MacBook with 2GB of RAM and it chews through 50MB photoshop documents pretty well. A 2.2GHz SR MacBook with 4GB of RAM would smoke mine. I reckon save your pennies and get a 2.2GHz MacBook :)
 
BRAIN DO YOU EVER READ? LOL
in first post i said spec in sig! lol

Macbook Core 2 Duo 2.2GHZ 4GB 120GB GMA X3100 10.5.1 | 24inch Samsung | Wireless mighty mouse | wireless Apple Keyboard 4GB!!

photoshop uses CPU/HDD/RAM in that order :)
 
Spelt my name wrong smogsy lol, I guess I need to take a break, I've been on the forums for 2 hrs now, well not quite, but yeah, and how can Scarlet Fever know so much, lol, thats just over the top mate!!
 
blackbelt said:
I am going to get a mac for college, but am first debating a macbook or pro (leaning towards the pro), and second don't know when the best time to buy it would be.

I have read the rumors that there will be a new macbook pro in the next few weeks, and would wait for that, but once that comes out, and if I know I want to get the pro, is there any advantage of waiting until August or September for the college deals?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

There is an advantage to waiting for august/sept namely that apple usually gives away a new iPod nano to all students who buy a mac during this time period.

remember to use the education store for your discount and get the applecare.
 
Scarlet Fever said:
let's just say, if you got paid to know the difference between a macbook and a macbook pro, would you learn them?

Yes, I would definitely learn them, infact, I probably would get a Macbook Pro for the future, because I think I'm going to be a nerd, designing games, websites, editing movies I guess... ;)

Edit: Except I probably think I'm a nerd, don't talk much in school, hang out with the weirdo's - loners, BUT>> I do do sports, and I OWN :eek:, so I don't know for sure yet...
Click to expand...
 
-Noodles said:
There is an advantage to waiting for august/sept namely that apple usually gives away a new iPod nano to all students who buy a mac during this time period.

remember to use the education store for your discount and get the applecare.
Click to expand...

Why did you paraphrase me without citing your source? Plagiarism! ;)
 
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