What NOW would be the best option for a college student?

[joey911900]

With the newly released retina MBP, what would be the best option for an avid gamer who likes to work with photos and videos here and there? Seems like the only logical option would be the high end retina macbook pro for the bigger flash memory (256GB seems pretty small) but to pay $2800 would piss off my parents and burn a big hole in my wallet. Im aware of the student discount as well but still, what do you guys think would be the best option?

Edit: I play all intensive games on my xbox, im just talking about WoW, Diablo 3 and steam games.
This will also be my main computer and only computer for the next 4-5 years I imagine.

 

[boomboom2]

MacBooks really aren't the best options for gamers. The new retina MacBook has me salivating though... I have a desktop I built myself for my gaming needs.

 

[miles01110]

avid gamer

Build a gaming PC.

 

[boomboom2]

For the price of a retina MacBook you could get an entry level air or pro and use the rest of the money to build a gaming rig if you have the chops for it.

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

11 inch macbook air, 13" if you have to have the i7.

Your back will thank you, and your performance in school won't be any different.

 

[wywern209]

the 15" pro without the retina display. it has the 650m which should play most games with med/high settings on native res.

 

[strausd]

Build a desktop for ~$800-$1000 and then buy a bottom line MBA or iPad for notes in class. That's what I would do if I was in your position. A custom gaming desktop will also do well with video and image editing.

My girlfriend actually built a very impressive gaming build for $700. CPU was only a desktop i3 at 3.3 so nothing crazy on the CPU side, but she put a GTX 560 in it and it plays every game she has tried just wonderfully. She uses an iPad for everything else.

 

[cambookpro]

I'd go for a Pro without a retina display, as for gaming, you probably won't be able to play most games at native res on a retina MBP. Also you said $2800 may be 'burning a hole in your wallet', and this option is also cheaper.

 

[HighFlyers]

For the price of a retina MacBook you could get an entry level air or pro and use the rest of the money to build a gaming rig if you have the chops for it.

Honestly this. You can get an Air or 13" Pro, build a gaming PC plus get and LED monitor for the gaming rig and still pay less than the high end Retina. Heck you can probably get two LED monitors.

 

[iMusings]

Since college students are kind of rich nowadays...

1) Cash out on your student loan
2) Buy the 16gb/758gb RMBP with 2.9Ghz i7
3) Hope Obamacare is still around when you graduate and can't find a job

 

[joey911900]

Since college students are kind of rich nowadays...

1) Cash out on your student loan
2) Buy the 16gb/758gb RMBP with 2.9Ghz i7
3) Hope Obamacare is still around when you graduate and can't find a job

might as well get the thunderbolt display too

 

[Androidpwns]

Build a gaming PC.

This... go with Windows.

 

[TheMacBookPro]

Since college students are kind of rich nowadays...

1) Cash out on your student loan
2) Buy the 16gb/758gb RMBP with 2.9Ghz i7
3) Hope Obamacare is still around when you graduate and can't find a job

I know some people have large student loans nowadays, but enough to pay Intel to develop and mfg a new i7 processor and have Apple put into your computer? Wow

 

[Marat]

With the newly released retina MBP, what would be the best option for an avid gamer who likes to work with photos and videos here and there? Seems like the only logical option would be the high end retina macbook pro for the bigger flash memory (256GB seems pretty small) but to pay $2800 would piss off my parents and burn a big hole in my wallet. Im aware of the student discount as well but still, what do you guys think would be the best option?

Edit: I play all intensive games on my xbox, im just talking about WoW, Diablo 3 and steam games.
This will also be my main computer and only computer for the next 4-5 years I imagine.

Yes, that is the only logical option. How did students function before today?

 

[awesomator]

The gt 650m is actually great for gaming as long as you use boot camp for games.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-650M.71887.0.html

A gt 650m will play almost all modern games on high while running windows. Your problem here is actually the hard drive size. A partition will take up space and you will have to frequently install and uninstall games. If that doesn't bother you than you are fine with the 250gb retina mbp. I know on my gaming computer though my steam games folder is over 320 gb and single games can easily be 10 gb+. The choice is yours.