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What computer for college?

The only Macs with Matte displays are MBA's and 17" MBP. I think I'm just going to get the 15" MBP and an external then in 2 years when my major gets more serious see what Apple as released.

On that note, what external do you guys recommend?
 
if you are doing graphic design and photo you need to think about what you need. as someone who is a graphic designer, photographer and design teacher, what i think you need (IMHO):

- very high quality screen for color accuracy, correction, etc.
- lots of storage for large files
- lots of horsepower, especially if you get into any motion graphics, video, etc.
- portability for classes, onsite photo-shoots, etc..

so what i would do is a small macbook pro and a middle- or high-end mac pro with a good display.

I would not do JUST a laptop because:

1. you absolutely cannot get good, accurate color on a laptop display.
2. your internal storage options are limited.
3. compared to a mac pro, a laptop will be notably slower with things like batching photoshop files, RAW processing, and if you get into video/animation, rendering time, etc..

I would not do JUST a desktop because:

1. not portable at all
2. laptop in classes will be useful if not required (depending on where you go to school)
3. having laptop at a photoshoot is priceless for tethering, etc..

I would get a 13" macbook pro (not an air), and a mac pro mid-to highend. I would also invest in a good display, either Eizo, Lacie or for less, one of the higher end NECs. I would also invest in a LOT of storage, both internal to your mac pro and external to be able to make offsite backups.

so very loosely speaking you are looking at:

13" MBP: $1500
mac pro: $3000
good screen: $1200
Adobe CS4: < $500 thru school

plus you will get discounts on the hardware, etc.. as well. yes you can obviously get a display for a just the laptop, and external drives, etc.. but the two machines for different kinds of things are great - we have a similar setup in our studio - desktops for horsepower, laptops for portability, etc. having said that, i am a professional who makes money with these machines, not a student. as a student, if this is overkill i would go for just the 13" MBP, a high-end display, and lots of external drives. the big screen on a 17" MBP is pointless as anything you do that matters will be done on an external display anyway, so you may as well have the small + light 13" to carry around.
 
Is the Apple 24" cinema display good? I was thinking of a 15" MacBook Pro wih dedicated graphics and a 30" Cinema Display. Is that good?
 
Has anyone else ever considered the fact that this $6k isn't only for a computer?

What about books? Your college probably at least requires a general education which usually revolves around 2 semesters of English, a science course, humanities, social science, government, etc. Books are EXPENSIVE. I came very, very close to paying $360 for one book, for a class at a community college. Books are most likely $100+ you need about 4 per semester, for at least one year, you probably need about $500 - $800/semester for books, at least until you get out of general education. How long does this $6k have to last you? All 4 years? 1 year? Try taking the future into consideration.

That being said, you're not a professional, yet. You're a student, and most colleges will provide you with the proper equipment to practice on anyways, or give you a list of recommended computers. I really doubt you need the best machine possible right now, maybe later, but currently, perhaps a 13" or 15" MBP (You don't even need those dedicated graphics unless you're going into animation or something), and maybe an external harddrive when things get serious. I really don't think you'll be too caught up with it in your first year though, but I could be wrong so don't quote me.
 
the matte cinema displays are great - would not get a glossy.

personally, i prefer the NEC displays like this: 26" NEC MultiSync LCD2690WUXi2 or 30" NEC MultiSync LCD3090WQXi. I really prefer the Eizos but they can get prohibitively expensive.

harmless abuse has a good point - with that in mind i would probably steer towards the macbook pro, display, and storage rather than 2 machines. when i was at art school we got a 15" G4 powerbook fully loaded as our machine.
 
Harmless Abuse said:
Has anyone else ever considered the fact that this $6k isn't only for a computer?

What about books? Your college probably at least requires a general education which usually revolves around 2 semesters of English, a science course, humanities, social science, government, etc. Books are EXPENSIVE. I came very, very close to paying $360 for one book, for a class at a community college. Books are most likely $100+ you need about 4 per semester, for at least one year, you probably need about $500 - $800/semester for books, at least until you get out of general education. How long does this $6k have to last you? All 4 years? 1 year? Try taking the future into consideration.

That being said, you're not a professional, yet. You're a student, and most colleges will provide you with the proper equipment to practice on anyways, or give you a list of recommended computers. I really doubt you need the best machine possible right now, maybe later, but currently, perhaps a 13" or 15" MBP (You don't even need those dedicated graphics unless you're going into animation or something), and maybe an external harddrive when things get serious. I really don't think you'll be too caught up with it in your first year though, but I could be wrong so don't quote me.
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I get 6K a year plus 2.5K a semester for financial aid after my room and tuition has been payed off. So don't worry about my money because that is covered.
 
When purchasing things like monitors, I would wait and see what others are using. There are few places where you can go and see any of the higher-end monitors, especially side-by-side...
 
Spartan_aG1 said:
I get 6K a year plus 2.5K a semester for financial aid after my room and tuition has been payed off. So don't worry about my money because that is covered.
Click to expand...

dont forget you will spend a lot (a LOT) of money on art supplies and if they still do wet darkroom, photo supplies. you will also be spending some serious money on good glass too.
 
Ok I'll just get a 15" MBP for now and decide on the display later.

For camera I'm hoping on getting a Nikon D90 or the D5000
 
I think you are making the right choice. I am taking web design in school and have a 3 year old MB. Even that little bugger runs all of the adobe suites more than fine. So powerwise youa re laughing with whatever you decide. Now my biggest problem is that when you get to designing (I may be wrong here dont want to generalize but at leats it is the case with most people i know in the industry) is tht we like to work with space, now the resolution and the small screen on the 13 is aweful for that (IMO) working on say Flash where you us ethe timeline, stage, opening and closing action and properties tabs all the time it's just close to impossible for me to design comfortably on a 13 incher. The lowest resolution I can work comfortably is at 1440-900, but I never do, At home i plug in my Mb to a monitor that has higher res than that, same at school, or use school Peecezz that are hooked up to 1440/900 screens and i can deal with that. the 15 mbp has 1440/900 I believe. Perfect. My friends 17, he loves it, wouldn't change it for anythign in the world, but we have to always wait for him everywhere while he re-arranges everything in his backpack so that his laptop can go in it. Working on a couch with a 17? Some may like it, I don't, and my friend that love shis 17 doenst either... i think you made the right choice. I will be upgrading to a 15mbp by the beginning of next year as well
 
Great thank you guys for all the input. I'll definitely go for the 15" MBP for now and decide on the camera and display later. I know for a fact the program at SJSU only supports Digital SLR's.
 
juanster said:
I think you are making the right choice. I am taking web design in school and have a 3 year old MB. Even that little bugger runs all of the adobe suites more than fine. So powerwise youa re laughing with whatever you decide. Now my biggest problem is that when you get to designing (I may be wrong here dont want to generalize but at leats it is the case with most people i know in the industry) is tht we like to work with space, now the resolution and the small screen on the 13 is aweful for that (IMO) working on say Flash where you us ethe timeline, stage, opening and closing action and properties tabs all the time it's just close to impossible for me to design comfortably on a 13 incher. The lowest resolution I can work comfortably is at 1440-900, but I never do, At home i plug in my Mb to a monitor that has higher res than that, same at school, or use school Peecezz that are hooked up to 1440/900 screens and i can deal with that. the 15 mbp has 1440/900 I believe. Perfect. My friends 17, he loves it, wouldn't change it for anythign in the world, but we have to always wait for him everywhere while he re-arranges everything in his backpack so that his laptop can go in it. Working on a couch with a 17? Some may like it, I don't, and my friend that love shis 17 doenst either... i think you made the right choice. I will be upgrading to a 15mbp by the beginning of next year as well
Click to expand...

Off Topic: If you don't mind me asking what school do you go to?
 
Spartan_aG1 said:
I know for a fact the program at SJSU only supports Digital SLR's.
Click to expand...

thats unfortunate, but a topic for a different thread entirely :)

i think the 15" is a good choice. do not forget to take advantage of academic discounts on as much as you can - especially Apple and Adobe. Also you can look at www.academicsuperstore.com for more things you can get discounted. Pantone books especially :)
 
17" MBP for your double major. High resolution, matte display, nice CPU/GPU, and all in a nice sleek package that you can carry around.
 
I've been hearing soo many responses I don't know what to buy. These are some ideas I have:

A) 15" MacBook Pro 2.66/4GB/256MB Dedicated Graphics $1800
24" Apple LED Cinema Display $800 Total: $2600

B) 13" MacBook Pro 2.26/4GB/Intergrated Graphics $1100
24" iMac 2.66/4GB/Intergrated Graphics $1400 Total: $2500

C) 17" MacBook Pro 2.8/4GB/512MB Dedicated Graphics $2300


I'd consider a MacBook Air if it ran all the Adobe Suite without problems.
 
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