What laptop for uni?

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Gringuito

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#70824 31-Oct-2010 20:12

Hey guys, I was just wondering if a could get some advise on a laptop to next year.
I'm studying Engineering at Auckland Uni next year I would like a laptop to use out and about (I have a fairly average desktop at home) Thus far I am stuck on public transport so ill have to take it on the bus everywhere until I get can run my car. I won't bother using it in lectures as I'm fairly proficient with pen and paper. My budget can't really exceed $3000. I was interesting in getting a Macbook Pro but I've had mixed feedback on whether I should or not. I really appreciate the help. Cheers.

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#398211 31-Oct-2010 20:39

I reckon all you need is a basic netbook, and you could splash out and get it a larger battery so you dont have to bring a charger and maybe SSD make it handle the knocks.

Im second year science at canterbury, and all I use my laptop at uni for is word processing and net browsing. In second year and beyond particularly you will need to use specialised applications e.g. CAD, Maple, Matlab, which are only available on university workstations, so you will find yourself using your laptop even less.
Having said that, if you plan on majoring in computer sci then you will need a good laptop to play games over wifi in the back row during lectures :p

Ive currently got an average laptop and and average desktop which I acquired over time before I started uni. If I could do it all over again, Id definately get a ~$600 netbook and build a decent desktop.

Good to see you plan to use pen and paper in lectures - I see so many first years bring their shiny new laptops to lectures to take notes, and then wasting their time and attention drawing simple diagrams in word. If theres a slightly curved line on the whiteboard then they were lost for a few minutes as they figured out how to draw it. Physics was the funniest because it had the most complicated diagrams and greek symbols!

Gringuito

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#398220 31-Oct-2010 20:52

A netbook, hmmm... I've never been a bit fan of netbooks, can't play any games on them but I spose I could just get a sweet desktop with the money. The new Macbook Air looks good but is a little pricey for what its offering. What netbook would you suggest?
Cheers

nickb800

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#398229 31-Oct-2010 21:12

Ahh if you wanted to game on the bus then thats a different story. A cheap macbook is under $2k and has heaps of battery life plus good performance.

Cant help you with specific netbook models sorry, havent a lot of hands on experience/knowledge with netbooks. Im sure someone else will chime in.

tardtasticx

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#398231 31-Oct-2010 21:13

Instead of getting a macbook, get the windows based laptop with the same specs. and its way cheaper so you can spend some more on getting a bigger battery and maybe a spare bat and some accessories and stuff.

dwknight

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#398245 31-Oct-2010 21:47

Don't forget you can get a student discount on Apple products.

tardtasticx

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#398253 31-Oct-2010 21:58

dwknight: Don't forget you can get a student discount on Apple products.

Oh thats right. How much do they usually discount?

dwknight

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#398257 31-Oct-2010 22:05

It looks like you'd save $80 if you went with a MacBook Air. Not a lot I guess, but better than nothing. You can compare prices by visiting the Apple store website and clicking Education store on the left hand menu. I'm on my third MacBook Pro with education discount, and couldn't be happier.

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tardtasticx

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#398260 31-Oct-2010 22:06

dwknight: It looks like you'd save $80 if you went with a MacBook Air. Not a lot I guess, but better than nothing. You can compare prices by visiting the Apple store website and clicking Education store on the left hand menu. I'm on my third MacBook Pro with education discount, and couldn't be happier.

3rd? Are they breaking? or do you just buy them because you can? lol

dwknight

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#398262 31-Oct-2010 22:10

Haha well my first was in 2002 when I was a student at Auckland Uni. In 2004 I decided to upgrade from a 12" screen to a 15", but sadly that one was stolen when my house was broken in to :( The insurance payout let me buy the third one. I'm doing postgrad at Canterbury now.

tardtasticx

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#398266 31-Oct-2010 22:16

dwknight: Haha well my first was in 2002 when I was a student at Auckland Uni. In 2004 I decided to upgrade from a 12" screen to a 15", but sadly that one was stolen when my house was broken in to :( The insurance payout let me buy the third one. I'm doing postgrad at Canterbury now.

Oh right. hahaha.

michaelmurfy

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#398275 31-Oct-2010 22:55

To be honest, don't touch a MacBook - for what they are they are really overpriced, I have one but back then I didn't really know what I wanted.

A laptop with a 13.5" screen is good for both portability and usability, I do carry my MacBook around with me everywhere and it doesn't add much weight to my bag. When I need a bigger screen I hook up a external monitor to it + keyboard, Mouse and just like that I have a Desktop.

I would go for the Dell 13.5" range, it's a good size screen and since you will be traveling on the bus etc it will be just the right size for you as a laptop. The keyboard is not cramped and for somebody like me who does quite a bit of touchtyping it makes it the ultimate laptop.

Take a look at: http://dell.to/9NQe2q - It's a dell, but these laptops are not bad at all. Plus the great things with these laptops (unlike the macs) is you can chose what Operating System you would like to install, you can have that Windows Thing, or Linux, or if you are up to a bit of hack0ry you can also install OSX.

What I like about the Dells too is even though they are a small laptop, they do have graphics grunt. These laptops have GPU's that will play most games out there quite nicely. In saying that - your a student, you shouldn't be gaming, you should be studying, right? :P

I find a 15" laptop is just too big to carry around with you if you are bussing etc, the last thing you want is this weight around your shoulders. At least with a 13.5" it's small enough to fit into any "Man Bag" plus you won't notice it too much, the battery life of them is good too so you can sit on the bus with your Mobile Broadband and do study, etc.

Ah well, hope that helps.

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Disrespective

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#398405 1-Nov-2010 10:32

michaelmurfy: To be honest, don't touch a MacBook - for what they are they are really overpriced, I have one but back then I didn't really know what I wanted.

I completely understand what you're saying here but also keep in mind their build quality and re-sale values are much higher than the alternatives.

I would also recommend looking at the Dell options for the bang for buck.

Or as a nice alternative to the Apple products the HP Envy line are a very nice machine with a build quality pretty close to the Apple lineup too.

If i was buying again i'd be looking at the new Envy lineup myself. (I have the latest macbook pro 15" as i needed mac osx for software)

michaelmurfy

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#398438 1-Nov-2010 11:24

Disrespective:
michaelmurfy: To be honest, don't touch a MacBook - for what they are they are really overpriced, I have one but back then I didn't really know what I wanted.
I completely understand what you're saying here but also keep in mind their build quality and re-sale values are much higher than the alternatives.

I would also recommend looking at the Dell options for the bang for buck.

Or as a nice alternative to the Apple products the HP Envy line are a very nice machine with a build quality pretty close to the Apple lineup too.

If i was buying again i'd be looking at the new Envy lineup myself. (I have the latest macbook pro 15" as i needed mac osx for software)

Yeah I can't fault the build quality of the MacBooks, my one has got dents in it and has been dropped numerous times, but still works really well.

I tried feeding it Linux, but the touchpad didn't like that too much, plus I actually needed Photoshop so ended up going back to OSX.

At least with a Dell Machine, the build quality on these laptops are good, plus you can use whatever OS you desire.

Paulthagerous

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#398452 1-Nov-2010 11:50

My 2 cents: Get a netbook. I found that with all my text books etc I had to carry around, the laptop was just too bulky and heavy. Got a netbook to replace my laptop and it is much better. Depending what sort of games you want to play, for $3000 you could buy a note-taking netbook AND a decent laptop......

As for models, mine was the one that Harvey Norman sold for $288 a while ago, similar in specs to this: http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/computers/notebook-computers/pc-notebook-computers/hp-mini-110-3017tu-black-netbook/prod108255.html. For uni work I really don't need anything more. But its really personal preference.

AndrewTD

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#398463 1-Nov-2010 12:01

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!

kind regards Andrew TD

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