I just got a Samsung T200HD for $170 shipped, it's a 20" with a really high resolution and works great as an external monitor, but also as a TV. Best of both worlds, and great if your dorm will have a cable hookup.
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University
- Thread starter ElusiveTramp
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I would definitely go for the MBP over a desktop if you are planning on going to college in the next few months. While you might enjoy a desktop, a laptop is more practical especially if you go into a field that requires computers such as Business. I used my laptop on a daily basis when I was getting my undergraduate degree in Business Management and I found, on numerous occasions, it actually was great because I could have meetings with group members on campus without leaving since I had all the data on my laptop.
Insurance ! Either via your parents or specific student insurance via Endsleigh or similar. Online backup to Dropbox (free) - sorted !
Here's a tip.. as anti-social as it may be.. LOCK YOUR DOOR whenever you know you're not going to be in your room for a bit. Any contents insurance will NOT cover you if they find out your door was open and something happens. Most halls have a common area or kitchen/lounge that's shared so use that to be social is my advice 
My student contents insurance (Endsleigh, included in my rent) actually covers a desktop computer, but not a laptop. So do check that as well - I had to add a laptop onto it (but it wasn't especially expensive to do so).
I realise this stuff is all very boring but you really do want to make sure if you get a computer you plan to treasure Of course, contents insurance also covers accidental damage which is the thing I worry about even though I'm as careful as careful can be.
I was working from a Windows laptop hooked up to a screen and I personally found it a bit cumbersome as it took up more space than a desktop would've (it was a 17" laptop mind you)... so I've actually just dumped that and now I have a shiny iMac, BUT I also got a 13" MBP too for portability, heh. I travel around a lot and also want the laptop for lecture notes.
I was the only person in my class last year who would type notes on a laptop but we were categorically told it was allowed, so I do it. I love it because it means I get so much more down during classes. I'm not noisy with it and the MBP keyboards are very quiet. Also for this purpose, the new MBPs have great battery. I'd get the base model 13" MBP and look at upgrading the memory and HDD in the future if it's something that interests you (it'd be much cheaper to do it that way, it's what I plan to do too).
But yeah I can't wait to get back home either and work on my iMac. The screen is just beautiful and sad as it is, I kinda miss it. If I could only get one though it would have been the MBP as it makes more practical sense. (I worked for a few years before uni so I could splash out a bit more heh).
Best of luck and enjoy your new purchases! By the way, you get the same discount in an Apple retail store as you do online through the university network as people are talking about but obviously if you're not at uni yet you can't access the discount through them. In your shoes, best to go to an Apple retail store (or maybe try ringing them too), with a copy of your UCAS acceptance letter etc, maybe you can give those details over the phone but I suspect if you're not in a physical shop you'll have to send them proof off some way or another.
It seems the printer rebate has stopped in retail shops now - either that or the Apple store in Bentalls Centre, Kingston, was lying to me... but I think you can still get it online though, as said, you might have difficulty with that as you can't prove your future student-ness. (The discount you get for being in further, rather than higher, education, is far worse).
Buying online though does get you free three year apple care I believe, whereas in a retail store you have to pay about £46. The online apple care doesn't extend the telephone support for three years though, it's just the extended warranty, whereas what you buy in store (and DO GET IT! either way, you can only get it at that price when you buy your Mac, otherwise it's about £200 for a MBP...) is the full monty as it were.
There's the free iPod offer too. A bit misleading - it's actually a rebate of up to £145 so it depends how expensive the iPod is as to whether it's free. I went for a 120GB classic so I'll only have paid £30 for that.
The printer/iPod offers are via rebate - you'll need to cut out labels and such from your pretty boxes and mail them off
My student contents insurance (Endsleigh, included in my rent) actually covers a desktop computer, but not a laptop. So do check that as well - I had to add a laptop onto it (but it wasn't especially expensive to do so).
I realise this stuff is all very boring but you really do want to make sure if you get a computer you plan to treasure
Of course, contents insurance also covers accidental damage which is the thing I worry about even though I'm as careful as careful can be.I was working from a Windows laptop hooked up to a screen and I personally found it a bit cumbersome as it took up more space than a desktop would've (it was a 17" laptop mind you)... so I've actually just dumped that and now I have a shiny iMac, BUT I also got a 13" MBP too for portability, heh. I travel around a lot and also want the laptop for lecture notes.
I was the only person in my class last year who would type notes on a laptop but we were categorically told it was allowed, so I do it. I love it because it means I get so much more down during classes. I'm not noisy with it and the MBP keyboards are very quiet. Also for this purpose, the new MBPs have great battery. I'd get the base model 13" MBP and look at upgrading the memory and HDD in the future if it's something that interests you (it'd be much cheaper to do it that way, it's what I plan to do too).
But yeah I can't wait to get back home either and work on my iMac. The screen is just beautiful and sad as it is, I kinda miss it. If I could only get one though it would have been the MBP as it makes more practical sense. (I worked for a few years before uni so I could splash out a bit more heh).
Best of luck and enjoy your new purchases! By the way, you get the same discount in an Apple retail store as you do online through the university network as people are talking about but obviously if you're not at uni yet you can't access the discount through them. In your shoes, best to go to an Apple retail store (or maybe try ringing them too), with a copy of your UCAS acceptance letter etc, maybe you can give those details over the phone but I suspect if you're not in a physical shop you'll have to send them proof off some way or another.
It seems the printer rebate has stopped in retail shops now - either that or the Apple store in Bentalls Centre, Kingston, was lying to me... but I think you can still get it online though, as said, you might have difficulty with that as you can't prove your future student-ness. (The discount you get for being in further, rather than higher, education, is far worse).
Buying online though does get you free three year apple care I believe, whereas in a retail store you have to pay about £46. The online apple care doesn't extend the telephone support for three years though, it's just the extended warranty, whereas what you buy in store (and DO GET IT! either way, you can only get it at that price when you buy your Mac, otherwise it's about £200 for a MBP...) is the full monty as it were.
There's the free iPod offer too. A bit misleading - it's actually a rebate of up to £145 so it depends how expensive the iPod is as to whether it's free. I went for a 120GB classic so I'll only have paid £30 for that.
The printer/iPod offers are via rebate - you'll need to cut out labels and such from your pretty boxes and mail them off
the amount of theft in dorms is exaggerated. i'm going to my senior year and i don't know anyone who's ever had anything stolen from their dorm rooms. and i know some people who left their rooms unlocked 24/7
one other thing. i know there's no way in hell i would be able to get through college without a laptop. desktops suck. laptops are great.. you can bring them to class to take notes and stuff (some professors will require you to bring a laptop at some point), take them to the dining halls/common area/library/outside to do work, or just take them down to a friends' room when you're just hanging out.
In fairness, you are talking (I assume) about American dorms. Here in the UK, new students are prime targets for theft (not from other students really though). Thieves will walk into residences when people are holding doors open whilst they're bringing stuff in.. people leaves their expensive toys out in the main corridors for the taking... and then there's the window grab where people leave their laptops in view of their windows (which actually don't even open far for the most part, but far enough), and a thief reaches through and bye bye laptop (and no money if your contents insurance doesn't cover laptops). True enough this is only for the ground (or even first - I've known it happen) floors, though.
That's why when I move in I always do it in more trips and make sure stuff is behind a locked door whilst I go and get more. But others don't work the same way.
Leaving your room unlocked though here is a bad idea for the most part - student accommodation, unless it's part of an on-campus university in the middle of nowhere (we don't have many of those since our country is so small), is usually is the ..err, less nice parts of town, shall we say. Most halls these days have electronic lock type things though, and your main flat door locks behind you, so it's not so much of an issue, but for corridor type accommodation you definitely want to lock your door.
Yeah, I totally agree. You definitely don't want to leave your door unlocked. As long as you lock your door when you're not there, you'll be fine.
Or how about just getting the 17" MBP? It's a compromise between the 13 and the iMac.
It might work for you since you don't like to take notes on your laptop during class. I myself could never type that fast and keep up with the lecture!
The 17 is definitely small enough to carry around occasionally and I know people who carry it everyday and tell me it's ok. The 17 would be big enough and small enough in the dorms and you could move it to your bed, take it to another room etc. while with the iMac you're a bit locked in.
I think it depends on how you feel about the 13. I know some people feel it's just too small and went with a 15 plus external display. I think in that case, just the 17 would costs less.
It might work for you since you don't like to take notes on your laptop during class. I myself could never type that fast and keep up with the lecture!
The 17 is definitely small enough to carry around occasionally and I know people who carry it everyday and tell me it's ok. The 17 would be big enough and small enough in the dorms and you could move it to your bed, take it to another room etc. while with the iMac you're a bit locked in.
I think it depends on how you feel about the 13. I know some people feel it's just too small and went with a 15 plus external display. I think in that case, just the 17 would costs less.
Don't forget to check the Apple re-furb store for some cheaper options. If you do go for a new one with the 'free' iPod, a Touch and a subscription to MobileMe would be a nice addition.
Whatever you do get it well before term so you get to know the differences between WIndows and OSX and you can suss out what software you'll need.
I'd love to pack in work and go to Uni, just to justify buying a MacBook!!
Whatever you do get it well before term so you get to know the differences between WIndows and OSX and you can suss out what software you'll need.
I'd love to pack in work and go to Uni, just to justify buying a MacBook!!
^ How long ago was that?
At my sisters college everyone had to buy a custom configured PowerBook from the school, and where required to take it to some of their classes.
At my sisters college everyone had to buy a custom configured PowerBook from the school, and where required to take it to some of their classes.
I just finished my second year of uni in the UK and I have to say, definitely go for the laptop as it just makes everything easier, as is suggested in the posts above.
I ended up buying an external monitor/tv for my room, meaning you can have a laptop, "desktop" and regular TV all in one.
Btw, I too am one who prefers to write notes in lectures, then re-organises and sometimes re-writes them when I get back to my room...whatever makes you remember it!
I ended up buying an external monitor/tv for my room, meaning you can have a laptop, "desktop" and regular TV all in one.
Btw, I too am one who prefers to write notes in lectures, then re-organises and sometimes re-writes them when I get back to my room...whatever makes you remember it!
Thank you everyone for the suggestions.
An external monitor does seem to be the way forward with a MBP, I just have to find one that's looks as good as the Apple LED one.
Plus an external monitor would let me have the best of both worlds as previous posts say, a workstation in my room and a multi-touch track pad I can take outside.
Now to raise £1000
Take a look at some of Dell's offerings. They're very nice and fairly priced. I bought a cheapie Acer 22" and am very happy with it, but sometimes wish I'd spent a bit more and got something a bit nicer (like something with more inputs so I could plug my consoles into it!
).As a tech head I actually don't like having my computer screen to also be my TV/console screen. I guess I'm lucky to have a nice wide desk so that I can be so picky.
But I often have some TV show running off my DVDs and want to do some work, or play a game, or browse the web even!
But I often have some TV show running off my DVDs and want to do some work, or play a game, or browse the web even!
...as others have said, desktops would be covered by insurance where most policies won't cover laptops... I'd go with an iMac 20" and a netbook...
...part of college is going out to parties and if everyone is on the way right from class, a netbook would be a lot less expensive investment to be dropped, damaged or stolen while out and about...
...part of college is going out to parties and if everyone is on the way right from class, a netbook would be a lot less expensive investment to be dropped, damaged or stolen while out and about...
But it's not as though you can't add laptops to your contents insurance....? It just has to be budgeted for.
Well said. Using a laptop in class pretty useless in MOST classes, unless you're a graphic design student or something. Sometimes you just NEED a pencil and paper. Drawing diagrams, cirlcing important things, and writing darker and bolder all compensate for whatever a laptop could do. Plus, with the Internet at your fingertips it's really easy to lose attention to anything going on in class.
I'd say 13-inch laptop and external monitor for the room.
I realise I'm not in the majority here, but there's one thing writing with a pen and paper can't do for me and that's keep up with some of my lecturers.
The only way I get everything down in class is to type - admittedly I could be writing and then consolidate my notes from their slides when I get home, however its the bits they add to their slides that I want, the bits that aren't written on them when I get home. Those bits that ultimately mean I get a better grade at the end of the day!
We certainly don't have time to draw diagrams in our classes either (I'm studying Radiotherapy & Oncology, so we can't draw complicated anatomy in a lecture although I do concede that some neat little diagrams can help with the physics), rather hopping onto the uni intranet and getting the slides live means I can drop the on-screen diagrams into my text as we go along.
It's all very subjective. Depends what you're studying and how your subject material is delivered. I wouldn't take a laptop for my seminars (unless we were working on or delivering a presentation), but for my lectures it was a great tool last year.
Sure, I could've spent more time re-writing my notes if I had done them by hand initially, maybe the info would've sunk in a bit more that way, I'm not sure. But getting home and simply tidying up my typed things, and doing the required reading around the subjects and slotting the info in, saw me through to 94% in one module so it can't be all bad!
I tend to think it depends on what you're majoring in and/or the nature of your classes. For instance, I'm taking Intro Organic next semester and I know a computer will do me no good; drawing mechanisms and explaining reactions can NEVER be done on a non-tablet notebook. But I'm also taking a course called "Technology and Culture", a lecture-based course where note-taking on a notebook would not be a bad idea at all.
It also depends on the amount of technology available at your Uni. I don't carry around my Macbook a lot....maybe 10 or 15 times throughout a semester, and that's because we have two huge libraries with a good # of computers available, plus several computer labs.
That being said, most posters are right by saying that having a laptop when working on a presentation (which is almost inevitable) is pretty much a must. But also, a laptop is nice and convenient to have for a multitude of other things...if you decide to go home often, it's nice to have your laptop around. If you want to go to a coffee shop or the student union to do some studying, it's good to have it around then as well.
You don't NEED strictly a notebook these days as well, however. You can get by with maybe a Mac Mini/iMac plus a netbook. Or, think about getting a used Macbook plus a new Mac desktop.
It also depends on the amount of technology available at your Uni. I don't carry around my Macbook a lot....maybe 10 or 15 times throughout a semester, and that's because we have two huge libraries with a good # of computers available, plus several computer labs.
That being said, most posters are right by saying that having a laptop when working on a presentation (which is almost inevitable) is pretty much a must. But also, a laptop is nice and convenient to have for a multitude of other things...if you decide to go home often, it's nice to have your laptop around. If you want to go to a coffee shop or the student union to do some studying, it's good to have it around then as well.
You don't NEED strictly a notebook these days as well, however. You can get by with maybe a Mac Mini/iMac plus a netbook. Or, think about getting a used Macbook plus a new Mac desktop.
The course I'm taking is, a little obscure shall we say, and I can imagine a hell of a lot of note taking to be done. For that reason I'm thinking the MBP would be pointless but I'm all for the idea of taking it between rooms and being able to take it out and about.
I think it comes down to what I want from the machine, I know that a 13" MBP would cope perfectly well, an iMac may be a tad surplus to requirements.
2 more questions I'd like to ask; Is it worth upgrading either RAM or Hard drive? I can't afford to do both really and I feel like 2GB and 160GB just ain't going to cut it.
The other question is would I need the Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter if I was connecting to an external monitor?
Again, thank you everyone for the suggestions, they really do help
I think it comes down to what I want from the machine, I know that a 13" MBP would cope perfectly well, an iMac may be a tad surplus to requirements.
2 more questions I'd like to ask; Is it worth upgrading either RAM or Hard drive? I can't afford to do both really and I feel like 2GB and 160GB just ain't going to cut it.
The other question is would I need the Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter if I was connecting to an external monitor?
Again, thank you everyone for the suggestions, they really do help
I would go for 4GB of RAM, 2GB is too little, and 8GB is a rip off. The hard drive RPM is not going to make huge difference unless you do a lot of film editing, and the HD size depends on how much stuff you have.
An external display connector depends on the monitor you get. Mine has HDMI so I bought a MiniDP to HDMI and cable at Monoprice for $16, it works great.
An external display connector depends on the monitor you get. Mine has HDMI so I bought a MiniDP to HDMI and cable at Monoprice for $16, it works great.
Upgrade the ram and hard drive yourself. Even if you don't feel comfortable doing the hard drive, the ram is fairly basic.
The DVI, depends on the monitor, but in general "yes"
The DVI, depends on the monitor, but in general "yes"
Cheap Macbook Pro (or maybe even a Macbook) and a cheap iMac.
I always liked having 2 computers whilst at college. An old Powerbook for taking to class and a (then powerful) iMac for the heavy stuff.
In your situation I'd get a second hand, large screened iMac and a new 13 or 15" Macbook Pro.
I always liked having 2 computers whilst at college. An old Powerbook for taking to class and a (then powerful) iMac for the heavy stuff.
In your situation I'd get a second hand, large screened iMac and a new 13 or 15" Macbook Pro.