What laptop for uni?

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reven

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#398466 1-Nov-2010 12:04

i say go for a cheap macbook off trademe, reliable machines, easy to use, good battery life, software is cheaper than windows software (compare office to iwork, plus it comes with a ton of software).

and like Disrespective said, if you decide to sell it later you wont lose that much money on it compared to selling a toshiba etc.

you can get a good one off trademe for around $900, but if you do some hunting, you maybe able to get a macbook pro, 2008ish for around $1100. which still has good specs.

i brought a toshiba latop about 14 months ago for $2200, i just sold it for $1000, thats all i could get. it was a powerful machine, 17" 4gb ram, win 7 64 bit blah blah blah. a year before that i sold a macbook (13" non pro) for $1300 that cost me $1800.

people always go on about macs being expensive, and they usually are, you see the price $2800 compared to another laptop at $1800. but then there is
- quality
- battery life
- the touchpad, its amazing makes you so much more productive
- software is usually cheaper, iwork (less than $100 off trademe for family pack, 5 macs) vs office (i think its around $300 for academic), snow leopard ($60) vs windows 7 (err $300?).

but at the end of the day its up to you, if you're not comfortable with macs, and dont want to give it a try, they do have a learning curve, well a relearning curve (think different and all). just dont discount them because they are "more expensive", its not that black and white.

the biggest thing to worry about is probably battery life if you're in lectures and portability. on and make sure it come with 802.11n, better wifi range/speed.

michaelmurfy

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#398479 1-Nov-2010 12:19

AndrewTD: Last month I bought a laptop for my daughter to use at uni next year. I'd never bought a Mac of any sort before in my life, and I definitely started out looking for a Windows based laptop, but I couldn't find one that gave me everything I/she wanted for the budget I had.
Then I looked at the Macbook Pro 13". It had everything we needed: great screen & graphics, runs MS Office stuff; light; nice keyboard (back-lit); good memory & processor specs; fantastic battery life; and reasonably priced (we got ours on special at DSE for $1,799). I couldn't find any Windows based PC laptop that was better for her needs at that price.

And it's a thing of beauty.
My daughter is very, very happy with it.
I'm going to buy the new Mac version of MS Office for it when it comes out (very soon now)

So, in some respects, I am now a Mac fan!

Yeah I have the same MacBook, I am impressed with it, but you can get far cheaper laptops with better specs now (you couldn't back then)

You can be a Mac Fanboy, but please don't become a Apple Fanboy, everyone knows I am the Fanboy Basher and I would hate to bash you :P

</rant>

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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AndrewTD

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#398503 1-Nov-2010 13:00

michaelmurfy: but please don't become a Apple Fanboy...

Rest assured Michael, I am no apple fanboy, but nor am I a Microsoft fanboy. I'm very happy with my android phone (Samsung Galaxy S now, and previously HTC Magic), and I like open source stuff. Having said that, I'm still a pragmatist, and I will buy whatever best meets my needs for a particular "thing".

I am, however, a big fan of:

value - don't like paying exorbitant amounts for brand alone

function - goodness of fit

design / beauty - I increasingly appreciate this these days

ease of use - should enable me to the the basics very quickly & easily

inter-connectedness - things should play nice with my other things

reliability - happy to spend a bit more to have something that lasts and performs well for a long time

social value - i.e. will support brands that tangibly "care" about environment, workers, communities etc e.g. I pay more for SPCA approved eggs, and am pretty uncomfortable with Apple's use of Foxcon, and Fonterra (farmers)s use of Palm Kernel, and outdoor furniture made of Kwila (rainforest timber)

Not quite sure how I got on to that little rant! Never mind, I feel better for saying it :)

kind regards Andrew TD

gehenna

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#398532 1-Nov-2010 14:03

In your shoes I'd go for the 13" MBP with a 7200rpm HDD and 4GB RAM. The out of the box OS and apps are worthwhile and very useful on a day to day basis, there are numerous alternatives to Windows apps, and many Mac versions of Windows apps, Office 2011 is out and is great, and you can run Windows in a VM or Boot Camp if you need/want to.

Best of both worlds, in a super-strong body, with great battery and excellent technical support. Perfect for UNI - and my GF of 5 years used one for the last 3 years of her degree with no complaints. Can't say the same about the HP laptop she used for the 1st year of that degree :)

michaelmurfy

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#398563 1-Nov-2010 15:02

gehenna: In your shoes I'd go for the 13" MBP with a 7200rpm HDD and 4GB RAM. The out of the box OS and apps are worthwhile and very useful on a day to day basis, there are numerous alternatives to Windows apps, and many Mac versions of Windows apps, Office 2011 is out and is great, and you can run Windows in a VM or Boot Camp if you need/want to.

Best of both worlds, in a super-strong body, with great battery and excellent technical support. Perfect for UNI - and my GF of 5 years used one for the last 3 years of her degree with no complaints. Can't say the same about the HP laptop she used for the 1st year of that degree :)

But here's the thing, I would say this is really overkill, for starters it's rather expensive. While it has a strong body you are paying a premium for it, and those wee dells I posted earlier had similar specs for half the price.

Sure you are not going to be getting the unibody case, but the performance is there and Dell's support is better than what it used to be. With the money he saves he can buy a extra desktop, shove it in his bank account for food or a gaming console / whatever.

At the end of the day, if you are slightly careful the case is not going to matter. I find the huge downside to the 13" macbooks is the case does indeed heat up for lap scolding temperatures or in the winter it cools down so it actually freezes to your lap or forms a layer of ice around it (which has happened to me before ugh)

That's my $0.02.

michaelmurfy

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#398567 1-Nov-2010 15:06

AndrewTD:
michaelmurfy: but please don't become a Apple Fanboy...

Rest assured Michael, I am no apple fanboy, but nor am I a Microsoft fanboy. I'm very happy with my android phone (Samsung Galaxy S now, and previously HTC Magic), and I like open source stuff. Having said that, I'm still a pragmatist, and I will buy whatever best meets my needs for a particular "thing".

I am, however, a big fan of:

<Snip>

Not quite sure how I got on to that little rant! Never mind, I feel better for saying it :)

You actually have a point there :) - I am really happy with my Android Powered device but it's good to see you are not one of those "Screamer Trolls" we see quite a bit on GZ. High 5! I won't be bashing you today, don't worry.

We should possibly get back on topic before we get a Moderator Troll in here.

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