Macbook vs. IMac. (college)

[timerollson]

Lol at assuming your roommates will let you use their laptop. Sorry, but that's kind of unfair. What makes you think they'll be okay with that? I'm sure they'll have group projects, want to type a paper in the library, or have it for themselves to go.

I just graduated from college this past May and I have not once seen anyone loan their laptop out unless it was with a close friend or for a damn good reason--not because you have a desktop and want portability for that day.

 

[Jozone]

Lol at assuming your roommates will let you use their laptop. Sorry, but that's kind of unfair. What makes you think they'll be okay with that? I'm sure they'll have group projects, want to type a paper in the library, or have it for themselves to go.

I just graduated from college this past May and I have not once seen anyone loan their laptop out unless it was with a close friend or for a damn good reason--not because you have a desktop and want portability for that day.

Haha -- I do agree with this... especially in my major ENG/CS people get VERY protective of their machines! But yea, generally the only reason I would even consider loaning is if I had a friend whose machine was dead with a pressing deadline on some work.

 

[tkiss]

I would definatly go with the Macbook.

 

[eXan]

iMac, definitely.

I have both iMac and MacBook and I've just finished my second year in the university. There was NEVER EVER a moment I needed to have a laptop (I study law). There's no free wi-fi in our building so no browsing the internet either

No wonder those who have laptops almost never take them to university.

 

[venusian]

there would be no way in hell i would have let anyone borrow my laptop, can you imagine how many ways your roommate will kill you if you did anything to it and they lost their work! (seriously - reality check required!)

I'd go the mb, cos you'll wanna get out of your dorm to study. In Australia, if you live on campus you have a private room, and even with that I'd always get interrupted by friends/random people making loads of noise/etc so I'd do most of my essays by taking my laptop to a library.....I'd think those sort of interruptions would be like times 394738974839 if i had 3 roommates, so that might be something you should consider. Also security isnt that much of an issue if you use a Kensington lock or the like (hell, the libraries here let you borrow em for free).



(hmm seems i like the word hell today)

 

[stixcom92]

Sorry to hijack the thread for a second, but I'm in a similar problem. I'm heading to college next year, and my current comp, a 2.0ghz macbook is starting to show some signs of wear after 3 years, a ram and hd upgrade. I do a lot of music work on it (logic, pro tools, etc.), and it works well for that, but for general work and other general computing tasks, it's starting to suffer, and it's physically starting to fall apart, so it's currently retired for portable use. I already have a netbook that I use for school, and I'm perfectly happy with that, except for college, I want to have a mac there, as I am planning to work on music, and I can only use a mac for logic, and I would just rather keep my work on there. The thing is, should I just stick with my current MB until it dies, get a new MBP, or get an imac or mini? I don't need complete top of the line specs. I just need something that can do basic logic, basic pro tools, and general desktop stuff, and will last.

I know this is pretty convoluted, but I guess my question is, assuming I use my netbook for day to day notetaking and stuff, what should I get for my other stuff? I doubt i'd be doing mobile sessions at college, but I don't want to put myself at a disadvantage.

Also, the reason I'm posting this now is that I'm getting this comp very soon for my own use for work and stuff for the end of this year also, so I figure I might as well do the college comp shopping now.

 

[caonimadebi]

Sorry to hijack the thread for a second, but I'm in a similar problem. I'm heading to college next year, and my current comp, a 2.0ghz macbook is starting to show some signs of wear after 3 years, a ram and hd upgrade. I do a lot of music work on it (logic, pro tools, etc.), and it works well for that, but for general work and other general computing tasks, it's starting to suffer, and it's physically starting to fall apart, so it's currently retired for portable use. I already have a netbook that I use for school, and I'm perfectly happy with that, except for college, I want to have a mac there, as I am planning to work on music, and I can only use a mac for logic, and I would just rather keep my work on there. The thing is, should I just stick with my current MB until it dies, get a new MBP, or get an imac or mini? I don't need complete top of the line specs. I just need something that can do basic logic, basic pro tools, and general desktop stuff, and will last.

I know this is pretty convoluted, but I guess my question is, assuming I use my netbook for day to day notetaking and stuff, what should I get for my other stuff? I doubt i'd be doing mobile sessions at college, but I don't want to put myself at a disadvantage.

Also, the reason I'm posting this now is that I'm getting this comp very soon for my own use for work and stuff for the end of this year also, so I figure I might as well do the college comp shopping now.

Get a 15" MBP, it'll be more than capable as your main computer, and will serve the possible mobile sessions. Higher-end MBP's and iMacs have been sharing technical specs, yet the iMacs don't offer significant savings (in terms of $$$) for the lack of portability. Additionally, the HDD on MBP is much easier to upgrade, should you need to upgrade in the future.
Even a 13" MBP will suit your needs better than any iMac.

 

[greygray]

Get a Macbook. It pretty much suffices a student's needs. If you need FW and an SD-card slot to store and transfer stuff, top up a little bit more money and you can get a 13" UMBP. I have a 17" UMBP and the aluminium chassis is much better than the Macbook's unibody plastic IMO.

 

[gnasher729]

If you have a MacBook that you don't want to carry around anymore, then you can just leave it shut and pretend it is a very flat MacMini. Get a nice 24inch monitor, and a good keyboard and mouse, and you have a fine desktop computer.

 

[dbwie]

If you want an "entertainment center" in your room, get an iMac. If you need portability, or like to study in the library with your friends, get a laptop. I had a laptop for many years in college, but out of fear of it being stolen, it didn't leave my room often. Thus, I treated it like a desktop. The main reason I needed a laptop was for presentations, but that was not until graduate school.

 

[chrono1081]

I too vote laptop. Indespensible for college.

I also say get an external monitor to keep in your dorm/apartment/whatever you get. This way if you have something that requires more screen real estate all you need to do is hook up your laptop and have either dual screens, or a larger screen.

 

[guitargoddsjm]

Sorry to hijack the thread for a second, but I'm in a similar problem. I'm heading to college next year, and my current comp, a 2.0ghz macbook is starting to show some signs of wear after 3 years, a ram and hd upgrade. I do a lot of music work on it (logic, pro tools, etc.), and it works well for that, but for general work and other general computing tasks, it's starting to suffer, and it's physically starting to fall apart, so it's currently retired for portable use. I already have a netbook that I use for school, and I'm perfectly happy with that, except for college, I want to have a mac there, as I am planning to work on music, and I can only use a mac for logic, and I would just rather keep my work on there. The thing is, should I just stick with my current MB until it dies, get a new MBP, or get an imac or mini? I don't need complete top of the line specs. I just need something that can do basic logic, basic pro tools, and general desktop stuff, and will last.

You didn't really hijack this thread, as it was long dead.

Anyways, I'm not really sure as to the condition of your Macbook. I have a black macbook, and I really like the new MBPs, but if your machine is still running, I'd bring that to college and use your netbook to take notes in class. I'd suggest spending some money on a decent 22"+ monitor, and a keyboard/mouse setup (if you don't already have them). You can use the macbook as a desktop replacement, and when it finally dies, you can pick up the latest MBP.

 

[stixcom92]

You didn't really hijack this thread, as it was long dead.

Anyways, I'm not really sure as to the condition of your Macbook. I have a black macbook, and I really like the new MBPs, but if your machine is still running, I'd bring that to college and use your netbook to take notes in class. I'd suggest spending some money on a decent 22"+ monitor, and a keyboard/mouse setup (if you don't already have them). You can use the macbook as a desktop replacement, and when it finally dies, you can pick up the latest MBP.

As for the condition of my comp, it pretty much works, except for a few problems, most notably, my superdrive doesn't work anymore. It still reads discs, but it always fails burns, some DVDs just stop in the middle of playback, and handbrake always fails. That's the most major problem, but the minor problems are just small things like how the processor isn't as fast as I would like it to be, or how it doesn't have SD, and how I have trouble doing long term work on it on a desk because of how low the screen is. I have a 19" monitor for it, except it gets tedious after a while plugging in all the cables, and then unplugging it for the next day.

It is still definitely usable, but I'd feel bad giving up a perfectly usable computer, even if it's for a new mbp. Maybe that's just me, but I have trouble throwing old things out. Is there any way to replace the superdrive in the macbook?

 

[guitargoddsjm]

If it's still in usable condition, I'd say hold onto it until it actually kicks the bucket.

Use it as a desktop replacement and keep it permanently on your desk. When you're in class, use your netbook to take notes.

If there's a guide to fixing superdrives, it'll be here: http://www.ifixit.com/

Good luck!

 

[1rottenapple]

I have a mbp 13 2.53 ghz with a 24 in dell screen. best of both worlds and I love the extra horsepower of the 2.53 compared to my MBA air.