Macbook for college

[CAPkuang]

Hi this is my first post here and I am finally switching to the darkside, Apple, for college (windows user until owning the iPhone 4 which is awesome to say the least) and I'm wondering if I should upgrade the MBA base model 13'''s RAM from 4gb to 8gb. I will be doing a lot of Microsoft Office, emailing, surfing the web plus many more programs I'm bound to pickup in college but I will be doing no gaming. However I am also stuck on whether 128gb of storage is enough to last me for 4 years. Thoughts?

I also hate to clog up this thread so if there is a similar thread please redirect me

 

[Kungshi]

It should be only an additional 90 dollars or so for a student to upgrade the ram so you just about can't afford not to for the MBA being that it is soldered onto the motherboard and can never be upgraded later. Though you may not utilize that extra RAM on an every day basis, you will effectively be "future proofing" your machine.

Hard drive space is just too specific for the user. Check how much space you use now on your windows computer. That aspect shouldn't change much. Though do consider that over time applications do take up more space and you will naturally accumulate more apps, music, movie, files, etc.

There is also the option to have an external hard drive that you can connect through the new USB 3.0. You may only spend about $100 for a ton of extra space vs the exorbitant price for a small SSD upgrade from apple.

 

[dkersten]

Definitely get the 8GB of RAM. A couple years ago, 2GB was considered quite acceptable, now its laughable. If you want to be able to use this laptop for awhile, I highly recommend the 8GB upgrade. As for the SSD, I would consider USB 3.0 external HDDs, cloud storage, and hopefully in the future a thunderbolt external SSD (if the prices ever fall).

 

[palpatine]

Hi this is my first post here and I am finally switching to the darkside, Apple, for college (windows user until owning the iPhone 4 which is awesome to say the least) and I'm wondering if I should upgrade the MBA base model 13'''s RAM from 4gb to 8gb. I will be doing a lot of Microsoft Office, emailing, surfing the web plus many more programs I'm bound to pickup in college but I will be doing no gaming. However I am also stuck on whether 128gb of storage is enough to last me for 4 years. Thoughts?

I also hate to clog up this thread so if there is a similar thread please redirect me

For your usage, 4GB would be plenty. Save your money and spend it more wisely elsewhere. If you feel like your usage might change (gaming, graphics, etc.) then go for the 8GB. That is the safest course, because it costs money

I am a graduate student with terabytes and terabytes of information doing just fine with an 11" MBA 4GB and 128 GB storage. Make use of things like Google Drive, Dropbox, Time Capsule, Time Machine, external hard drives, and external flash drives (I have a 32GB thumb drive). I could probably get by with 64 GB to be honest.

 

[CAPkuang]

Thanks for all the replies and say that I get the 8gb RAM even though I'm just doing "light work" such as just internet and Microsoft Office, would I see a drastic change between the 8gb and 4gb?

By the way, can the 100 dollar Itunes gift card from the education promotion be used to by software instead of songs and apps?

 

[Kyllle]

By the way, can the 100 dollar Itunes gift card from the education promotion be used to by software instead of songs and apps?

Yes, if the software you want is on the Mac app store. It can be used on any of Apple's software stores (Mac app store, iOS app store, iTunes, iBook store)

 

[fuzetsu]

Thanks for all the replies and say that I get the 8gb RAM even though I'm just doing "light work" such as just internet and Microsoft Office, would I see a drastic change between the 8gb and 4gb?

By the way, can the 100 dollar Itunes gift card from the education promotion be used to by software instead of songs and apps?

You won't see a "drastic" difference, but later on as apps become inevitably heavier you do yourself a favor by upgrading the RAM and "future-proofing" your macbook. You can use the gift card within the appstore and itunes, that includes apps for iOS, mac and music/videos.

EDIT: and books as Kyllle says