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What notebook to buy for my circumstances (student)?

Z

Zonita

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 16, 2010
8
0
England
Hi

I've just finished college and am going to university soon, i've got a dell inspiron 1545 at the moment but am looking into buying a mac.

I will be mainly word processing, web browsing, downloading torrents (which is the best torrent client for mac and are viruses an issue?). However i still want a fast laptop and i'm interested in using photoshop (can this be downloaded free from anywhere?).

Therefore i was looking into getting the new unibody macbook, however on amazon it's £802, and the pro is £882 - just £80 difference. Is it worth getting a macbook pro?

Also as far as torrents are concerned - is there an app which scans them individually for viruses before download (if viruses are an issue).

Thanks!
 
Get the 13" MBP. It comes with 4GB of RAM which is already 100£.

Transmission and uTorrent are popular Mac torrent clients, I prefer Transmission. Viruses are not an issue as they don't affect OS X, they are only harmful in Windows. The trial of Photoshop can be downloaded for free from Adobe's site but it will expire in 30 days.
 
I recommend 13" White MacBook,
The pure white polycarbonate body with rounder edges looks just clean and looks thinner than the 13"MBP.

BTW, once you put 4GB of ram in total, the hardware setting is completely the same as low-end MBP.
(Only if you like the Aluminum case)

As #2 said, Photoshop can be downloaded from Adobe website, as a trial.
(But I didn't say you can't hack it...)


Welcome to the Macs.
 
The Pro has a FireWire 800 port, and a SD card slot. Pro is also slightly smaller and lighter (hardly noticeable) and has the aluminum case. If you upgrade to the 4GB RAM in the Mac Book, it will have the same hardware. It all depends if the FireWire port, and card reader are important to you, and if you prefer the white poly shell or the aluminum.
 
Sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly is the fire thing?

Also, the SD card slot would be pretty important - i didn't realise the macbook didn't have one. Is there not any way to insert an SD card at all, like a USB device or something??

And what exactly is 4GB of memory in terms of how many documents/films/music/downloads etc can it hold?

Are they the only differences then, along with the silver case?

Thanks!
 
Zonita said:
Sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly is the fire thing?
Click to expand...

It's an interface, just like USB is but over twice as fast

Also, the SD card slot would be pretty important - i didn't realise the macbook didn't have one. Is there not any way to insert an SD card at all, like a USB device or something??
Click to expand...

There are USB SD card readers but that's an additional expense and not as nice as internal SD card reader (it's a clumsy USB dongle)

And what exactly is 4GB of memory in terms of how many documents/films/music/downloads etc can it hold?
Click to expand...

It's not hard drive space, i.e. it's not meant for storing documents etc. It's Random Access Memory which is zillion times faster than hard drive is, meaning that OS and apps will store data to it in order to allow faster operation.

It will speed up your computer. You can have more apps open and switch between them without beachballing

Are they the only differences then, along with the silver case?
Click to expand...

MBP has backlit keyboard IIRC. Anyway, MBP is so little more so unless you find the white MacBook MUCH better looking, get the MBP, it's worth it.
 
Go with whichever you think is better looking. The speed difference will be minor once you upgrade the RAM. The SD card slot isn't all very necessary since all digital cameras can be connected via usb, and you get the auto rotation that way.
 
Yeah definitely the pro. Extra ram and the aluminium case make it more than worth it!
signature_silverapple.jpg
 
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