This MBP good for college (or wait for update)?

[geniusABBY]

Hello everyone! This is my first post--hopefully it is in the right thread! I'm new to macs btw.

For the past few years I have been saving up for a MBP for college. Finally I have enough money and was planning to buy one after graduation. Yet, I was completely shocked to find out my family worked together to get me one for Christmas! I am so grateful because this frees up the money I would have spent for other college expenses.

They explained to me that this is a placeholder. I can open it now, or I can wait for a future update.

Here are the specs:
I just got the upgraded 13" MBP. Next fall I'll be going to college. I do not know what my major will be, but I might be going into some sort of film editing or design.

Here are the specs:
13-inch: 2.66GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB Memory
320GB hard drive
SD card slot
Built-in battery (10 hours)
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics

I am not quite sure of my major for the next few years but I know there is a possibility that I will go into film editing or design.

I know a 15" would be more powerful, but I really want the portability of the 13" for college and an Apple Genius agreed. Yet, I'm worried that the processor and graphics card isn't up to snuff. I don't know much about specs--will the computer suit my needs or should I take it back and wait for a 13" update?

Would it be worth it to take the trip to visit the Apple store for a chat, or will they just tell me what I already know?

 

[toxic]

whatever you do, your school will have powerful desktops (if it doesn't, you picked the wrong school), so your laptop only needs to be "good enough".

design is much less processor-dependent than video editing.

if you have little use for a laptop right now, I guess you should return it and wait.

 

[geniusABBY]

Yeah, my HP laptop is on its last legs. It has to be plugged in always and using Excel is out of the question. BUT, I think it can carry me through graduation.

Ahhhh....darn me and my patience (or lack of?). Good things happen to those that wait. I'll probably just tape a pic of my MBP to the wall and wait for spring.

 

[NickZac]

Here is the deciding question...do you DEFINITELY want to stick with the 13 despite the 15 having much more capability?

The 15 is also a grand more, not nearly as mobile (those 2 inches make a lot of difference actually), and costs more to insure. Looking back at my undergrad days, the 13 is a billion times better for mobility.

If you plan on going into film editing or a similar field, many people will tell you Mac's are a great platform to use, which I agree. But for the serious stuff, most people are using Mac Pros (the desktop), as serious film and sound editing (not as much design) requires numerous hard drives, extensive memory, multi-core processors, fantastic heat dissipation, and blah blah blah so forth. Can you do it on a MBP? Yes. Is a MBP ideal for it? Probably Not. Will the newer 13 inch be that much better for film editing as the current one? Well, they both will probably be poorly suited. As said, your school will have machines capable of this as they cost more money than most students can currently shell out (you can drop ten grand on these systems pretty easily)...

Since you have the current flagship 13 inch sitting in front of your face and if your primary use is going to be word processing, stat processing, database, internet usage, etc, then rip it open like an 8 year old opening a Daisy BB gun. Spend some of that money you saved on a good solid state drive and possibly 8GB of RAM and you can use your computer for all of college. Keep it now or wait, you won't look back and regret either way.

 

[geniusABBY]

Just to clarify (I'm completely new to all of this!)

No matter what, IF I were to get into that field (haha, and thats a big IF), unless I wanted to drop thousands on a high-end model I couldn't use that software?

That actually makes me feel a lot better. Because I can't imagine a school would want us to drop all that money on a high-spec computer. Plus, I'm going to Davis in CA and I heard they are pretty technologically advanced. They probably have good labs. I'll research them some more.

Thanks alot!