MBPs good for college?

[r3dhawk]

Let me start off my saying that if there is a thread like this that already exists, I am sorry. However, in the fall I will start my first year of college. I'm a long time user of PCs I have worked the past couple years at my after school job saving for college and other related expenses. I was lucky enough to get a great scholarship so i have a bit of extra money laying around. Basically, my question is are MacBook pros good for college? My basic uses will be for email, word processing, presentations (maybe), internet, casual gaming. I just want a computer that will last the four years and I am afraid that a PC will just not make it. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

 

[MacDawg]

A MBP would be a great computer for college
If you have specific questions, be sure to ask

But yes, a MBP will meet and exceed all your needs

 

[spinnerlys]

Yes.

MRoogle is a good tool to search these forums, and your question gets asked a lot.

 

[mgacam2]

15 inch macbook Pro and your set that is if you play games otherwise the 13 inch is definitely all you need. It's actually pretty much ALL I see at my school. When I go into a lecture hall about 4/5's of the computers are macs. Why? Reliable, long lasting battery, great for multitasking and doing work, and very light and durable. I used my 15 for the first 2 years till it just got stolen 3 months ago and I'v been using a windows laptop for the past bit waiting for the update and all I can say is it's so so painful. For school I recommend nothing but a mac. This is coming from someone who used windows there whole life.

 

[cloroxbleach4]

It really just depends on your budget. By no means is it necessary to have a macbook pro for what your needs will be in college. But it's nice to have I must admit.

MBPs are well-built machines and should last you your 4 years, but there are PCs out there that would do the same. I've have an IBM and it's going on 6 years.

Don't limit yourself to just one computer choice.

 

[MikhailT]

Even a PC can last for years if you take care of it. But judging by the fact you'll be in college where you'll be moving all the time to different places, MBP should last you for years without any issues AS LONG AS YOU TAKE CARE OF IT.

Just remember to get an external drive for time machine back up and AppleCare for 3 years of warranty and you'll be fine. Apple has an excellent customer service and they'll take care of you.

Check your campus bookstore, they may have more information about student discounts as well as other deals like software and such.

 

[r3dhawk]

Yes.

MRoogle is a good tool to search these forums, and your question gets asked a lot.

sorry, as you can probably tell, im new to this forum... and the mac world in general. im just trying to get a good bearing on what it can actually do.


seeing as i dont really need the power of the 15", a 13" will probably do fine for me? and last? what about the faster processor, big difference or no?

 

[neondrgns]

A MBP would be a great computer for college
If you have specific questions, be sure to ask

But yes, a MBP will meet and exceed all your needs

Heres another simple answer, MacDawg is exaggerating when he says it will meet and exceed all your needs. Your college should have a website that will tell you what is acceptable in terms of laptops. My school has specialized software for testing that will only work for PC and bootcamp is glitchy as crap and they dont recommend it. So take a look and buy what works best for you.

 

[MacDawg]

My basic uses will be for email, word processing, presentations (maybe), internet, casual gaming.

Heres another simple answer, MacDawg is exaggerating when he says it will meet and exceed all your needs. Your college should have a website that will tell you what is acceptable in terms of laptops. My school has specialized software for testing that will only work for PC and bootcamp is glitchy as crap and they dont recommend it. So take a look and buy what works best for you.

I fail to see anything in the needs listed by the OP that the MBP will not be able to meet or exceed

Your school and experience is not the OPs school and experience
Had you asked the question and listed your needs, perhaps the answer would have been different

 

[mr.stinki]

I've got a current generation MacBook Pro, and I'm expecting this baby to last me from when I bought it (beginning of 11th grade in high school) to my second or third year of college. I have great confidence in it, and I'm pretty sure it'll last me that long if I take good care of it.

 

[neondrgns]

I fail to see anything in the needs listed by the OP that the MBP will not be able to meet or exceed

Your school and experience is not the OPs school and experience
Had you asked the question and listed your needs, perhaps the answer would have been different

if you read anything, you will see that he listed nothing actually related to school. I didnt list my needs, I listed his potential needs...some helpful information instead of a bestbuy sales pitch...he hasn't gone to college yet, hes starting in fall. A lot of people don't know there are special requirements at your uni, and all of them will tell you during orientation but that may be too late. stop giving bad advice so blindly

 

[silenahilena]

I'll be a journalism major at the University of Missouri - Columbia next fall. They require all j-school students to have iPod Touches or iPhones, and they strongly recommend that their students get at least Macbooks. They discourage their students from buying PC products because they know they break a lot -- at least, that's what they say.

So, I basically have to get a Macbook Pro - not that I have a problem with it.

 

[MacDawg]

if you read anything, you will see that he listed nothing actually related to school. I didnt list my needs, I listed his potential needs...some helpful information instead of a bestbuy sales pitch...he hasn't gone to college yet, hes starting in fall. A lot of people don't know there are special requirements at your uni, and all of them will tell you with you during orientation but that may be too late. stop giving bad advice so blindly

The number of people using MBPs at college all over the country (and in this thread) would disagree with you and so will I. I have nothing to gain by giving a sales pitch. I answered his question based on the information he provided.

And to say Bootcamp is glitchy as crap is misleading as well. He can certainly Bootcamp or virtualize Windows for any needs he might have. Just because your experience is one way doesn't tarnish everyones.

Don't give bad advice just to be contrary.

 

[hellojamie]

I was a PC user until my journalism department in school switched over completely to Mac. I got a staff position on the paper, and while it was never difficult working from my PC and switching over to Mac, the more I worked with Macs at school it became more difficult to switch from Mac back to PC.

I know at journalism conferences, Macs are all you see. Double check if your major has a preference- some schools require Macs, some require PC, some don't care. But there is nothing you can't do on a Mac- Microsoft Office works great, although I actually prefer Pages to the '08 version of Word (and I really wish they would downgrade my work Mac back to '03.)

Any program you will ever need, 99% of the time, there will be a Mac version of it. Mine has never crashed, never gotten buggy, and I've never run into any issues with mine. Once you switch -especially with the MBP touchpad!- I really doubt you'll regret it or ever want to go back.

Consider if you really need a Pro model, though. I got a great deal on the newest MacBook model with my education discount, and I've never noticed that I'm missing any features that the Pro has.

 

[cys920622]

I took a tour of a large university a month back, and out of the 300-400 people sitting in the cafeteria, half had laptops, and i'd say that about 60-70% of them were 13" MBP's. The 13" is capable of running recent games at lower specs, and will most definitely exceed all your needs for college. Also, you have Bootcamp to use Windows if you're in dire need (though, I think Apple spends tens of millions in making the interface as simple as possible).

 

[kny3twalker]

Let me start off my saying that if there is a thread like this that already exists, I am sorry. However, in the fall I will start my first year of college. I'm a long time user of PCs I have worked the past couple years at my after school job saving for college and other related expenses. I was lucky enough to get a great scholarship so i have a bit of extra money laying around. Basically, my question is are MacBook pros good for college? My basic uses will be for email, word processing, presentations (maybe), internet, casual gaming. I just want a computer that will last the four years and I am afraid that a PC will just not make it. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

They are great especially as a computer science major because osx can do everything Linux can and it's far more friendly. I think a MacBook pro is a great computer for school but even the 15" seems small to me when writting long papers and such. Rather than upgrading to the faster 13" or larger 15" take the $300-$600 and buy an external mouse keyboard and monitor if you will have room for them. And bootcamp runs great other than the trackpad drivers could be improved; no reason to stop anyone from running any windows software they wanted. And as others have said the build quality is top notch and the displays are excellent. In osx the trackpad is more usable than any windows notebook I have used. I am a senior in college and I appreciate owning my MacBook but I also have a 24" Dell ultrasharp for when I come home.

 

[vant]

Macs are terrible if you don't bother to become computer literate.

Prepare yourself for compatibility issues. I always recommend downloading Firefox just incase of Safari web issues (you don't have to use it unless a compatibility issue comes up). My wireless router (WRT54G2) does not load up correctly in Safari and neither do some application forms that you find in the web.

Many programs written for education do not work for Macs. Examples: My foreign language class had a flash based learning program that was not ported to OSX. I had to run it on my windows desktop (Sorry, I'm not that much of a mac fanatic) to get the homework questions. This can be solved by buying (or pirating) Windows and installing it via Bootcamp or running Windows via virtualization software.

If you want to educate yourself on being computer literate, then a MBP will be the best laptop you've ever had. The shortcuts and ease of use blow by any windows laptop on the market.

 

[mrsir2009]

Yeah, it should be more than enough. I have a 13" MBP for 4GB of RAM and it exceeds my needs.

 

[StephenHuang]

Let me start off my saying that if there is a thread like this that already exists, I am sorry. However, in the fall I will start my first year of college. I'm a long time user of PCs I have worked the past couple years at my after school job saving for college and other related expenses. I was lucky enough to get a great scholarship so i have a bit of extra money laying around. Basically, my question is are MacBook pros good for college? My basic uses will be for email, word processing, presentations (maybe), internet, casual gaming. I just want a computer that will last the four years and I am afraid that a PC will just not make it. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Get a Desktop PC, Faster and cheaper, Presentation should not be a problem in college, just bring a USB disk (8G is suggested) instead. There are computers in the college every where , even like my school in Canada.

8G USB + a decent desktop with 24'' up LCD cheaper than any MBP (from wallet economics point of view and good enough last for 4+ year


However, MBP is a lifestyle. if you like it ,then go for it