Hey, this is my first post on macrumors so please go easy on me. ^^;
Anyways, I'm in a desperate need of a new laptop. I'm a college student studying Graphic Design. I guess for this major, I'll be using a lot of programs like Photoshop and dreamweaver. I plan on taking a lot more graphic design classes in the future so I'll probably be using a lot more design related programs.
My current laptop is a HP G42 and it runs about 4000 something on geekbench which is horrible in my opinion. It has 4GB of RAM and has a i5 processor that runs at 2.53 Ghz. It runs programs like Photoshop with no problem, but I've been having too many problems with it. It overheats, has crappy battery life and it occasionally gets the BSOD.
For my next laptop, I've been thinking to switch to a macbook. This will be my first Mac so it'll probably take me some time to get used to. Here are my options:
1. Macbook Air 13-inch 128GB i5 1.8GHz Upgraded to 8GB of RAM
2. Macbook Air 13-inch 256GB i7 2.0GHz Upgraded to 8GB of RAM
3. Retina Macbook Pro 15-inch 256GB i7 2.3GHz 8GB of RAM (Lower End model or basically the cheaper rMBP)
Basically, here are my worries about the above laptops.
For Option 1:
I'm afraid it's not strong enough to handle the tasks in my Graphic Design classes.
For Option 2:
Same as my worries for Option 1. I'm also wondering if there's a big difference in the performance between the 13 inch i5 and the 13 inch i7
For Option 3:
It's within my budget, but I'm still not willing to pay for that much for a laptop. If I really need to, I'll buy it. More importantly, I'm worried about the costs for repairing the rMBA if it ever breaks. In addition, the idea of having a 15 inch laptop kinda disturbs me. Honestly, I think it's too big to carry around for college. I also think it's not that light compared with the normal Macbook Pro. I also heard that a lot of programs do not support the Retina screen. I really don't want to see blurry text on the retina screen.
What I take into consideration:
1. Size & Weight of the laptop
2. Ability to run design related programs like Photoshop
3. Resale value (Which has a higher resale value?)
If I really do have to carry around a 15 inch rMBR, I'll most likely purchase an ipad so that I can have a portable device that can just simply browse the web and stuff in college.
Anyways, sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!
Anyways, I'm in a desperate need of a new laptop. I'm a college student studying Graphic Design. I guess for this major, I'll be using a lot of programs like Photoshop and dreamweaver. I plan on taking a lot more graphic design classes in the future so I'll probably be using a lot more design related programs.
My current laptop is a HP G42 and it runs about 4000 something on geekbench which is horrible in my opinion. It has 4GB of RAM and has a i5 processor that runs at 2.53 Ghz. It runs programs like Photoshop with no problem, but I've been having too many problems with it. It overheats, has crappy battery life and it occasionally gets the BSOD.
For my next laptop, I've been thinking to switch to a macbook. This will be my first Mac so it'll probably take me some time to get used to. Here are my options:
1. Macbook Air 13-inch 128GB i5 1.8GHz Upgraded to 8GB of RAM
2. Macbook Air 13-inch 256GB i7 2.0GHz Upgraded to 8GB of RAM
3. Retina Macbook Pro 15-inch 256GB i7 2.3GHz 8GB of RAM (Lower End model or basically the cheaper rMBP)
Basically, here are my worries about the above laptops.
For Option 1:
I'm afraid it's not strong enough to handle the tasks in my Graphic Design classes.
For Option 2:
Same as my worries for Option 1. I'm also wondering if there's a big difference in the performance between the 13 inch i5 and the 13 inch i7
For Option 3:
It's within my budget, but I'm still not willing to pay for that much for a laptop. If I really need to, I'll buy it. More importantly, I'm worried about the costs for repairing the rMBA if it ever breaks. In addition, the idea of having a 15 inch laptop kinda disturbs me. Honestly, I think it's too big to carry around for college. I also think it's not that light compared with the normal Macbook Pro. I also heard that a lot of programs do not support the Retina screen. I really don't want to see blurry text on the retina screen.
What I take into consideration:
1. Size & Weight of the laptop
2. Ability to run design related programs like Photoshop
3. Resale value (Which has a higher resale value?)
If I really do have to carry around a 15 inch rMBR, I'll most likely purchase an ipad so that I can have a portable device that can just simply browse the web and stuff in college.
Anyways, sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!