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apple mackbook pro?

someone probably mentioned this but students get a discount on macbook pro. So make sure you take your daughter's student id when you buy this laptop.
 
I bought a macbook pro and wish I would have bought the air instead. the pro is so much heavier and for my the purposes of 95% of the population is overkill. just my two cents.
 
Does the same thing as a PC for 3x the price. Because your daughter has to be cool like everyone else :rolleyes
 
JackTheTripper said:
It also lasts 3x as long.
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I had one mac in my life, the hard drive exploded after a couple years, which I had to have replaced at great expense (whereas on my current computer I can just buy something cheap and replace it myself).

And it lasts 10 times as long as it takes before it becomes obsolete :)

Poxy said:
Did you notice that the question wasn't Mac versus brand x?
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I guess I'm just being unhelpful then. :teeth
 
Abyss said:
Does the same thing as a PC for 3x the price. Because your daughter has to be cool like everyone else :rolleyes
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Show me a PC notebook that can do 2880x1800 resolution? Also, you assume everyone just uses OSX and not Windows as well on their notebook.
 
rumor has the macbook air getting the retina display.

the 11" air with retina display is (for me) the perfect laptop: super small, with a high resolution display.
 
Got a 13 Air last year to try Apple. (Best buy on sale) Loved it but wanted more power for video editing. The air is now the wife's and she loves it, fast and light. The wife is not tech savvy she has trouble with cut and past, but does well with the Air. I got a refurb 15" rMBP does everything I want and more. I did buy an external DVD drive, used twice for Zumo software and making a back up of some pictures. Now use a usb3 external drive for storage.

To be honest if you are not a heavy user the Air will do everything you want and be fast and light.
 
2008 MacBook Pro. First one where they made the whole touchpad the button instead of having the separate clicky button IIRC. Still going strong with only 1 issue that the Genius Bar fixed in an hour. It's been dropped, survived ridiculous heat in Iraq/Arizona/Texas, several moves, and I use it daily for school. 320gb hard drive has plenty of space left since I use a 500gb external USB for movies and such. Only time I ever used the CD drive was to update the OS (thanks again Jack!).

Had an Alienware 17" laptop before the MacBook, and various PCs. I do not foresee myself going back to PCs anytime soon.

Back on topic - agree with less is better. 13" Air w/external monitor when she needs it (she probably won't) and a 32-64gb thumb drive for backing up and easy transfer of docs.

I'm actually leaning towards buying an iPad once I transfer to finish my degree. Many college books are often available as PDFs and it's far easier to lug around a single iPad than a bunch of heavy (and expensive) textbooks.
 
The only comment I'd make is definitely get the extended warranty.

The reason is that the newer models are pretty much impossible to repair without significant work. In turn, this bumps up repair costs.

If your daughter is away at college and it breaks, it would be best if she can get everything fixed under warranty by dropping by the local Apple store.
 
Pounding away on my '09 Macbook.

Replaced the hard drive with an SSD. Put the old (spinning hardrive) where the CD drive was. Got an external $30 superdrive. Updated twice the OS....added about 3 years to the machine until it will be outdated enough i'll have to buy a new one.

The Air is perfect for a college student. Never are you fiddling with cd's in the classroom. It has a USB port for thumbdrives. All you need. You can even keep it running and stash it in the backpack as there are no moving parts.

Macbook Pro, especially the '12 and newer models, are beast machines and overkill unless you're a DJ or heavily into photoshop, movie editing. Save the extra $$ for software for the Air.
 
Get her Office for Mac.

Everything else has already been covered regarding their super sweet Facebook machines.
/Mac user
 
Since we are comparing our junk, I still use my IBM Thinkpad T60 on a near daily basis, circa 2006.

Shame they don't make 'em anymore. IBM knew how to do hardware.
 
maxandgrinch said:
Her school probably has a deal with Apple - check here.

Unless she's doing processor eating stuff - I'd look at the Apple Refurbs first; you can still get AppleCare on these too.

Buy AppleCare - 3 years of support via phone and the apple store. In my case, when I've fleabayed the computer at 2 years, I've typically gotten 60-80% of what I paid for it because AppleCare is transferable.
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this
 
I had the air for a few years, dropped it several times, it's held up ok. the light weight makes it perfect for general purpose computing. I moved on to a chromebook pixel, which is great but you need to be able to mostly use google apps. the hardware quality is unbelievable though, best screen and construction out there. and a clear cut above macs.
 
I've never owned a PC and have always really liked my Macs. I currently have a 15inch Macbook pro and I am wanting to switch to an Airbook. With the advent of cloud technology and the affordability of external harddrives, I think it's the way to go. I'd imagine a 13" one be a good fit for a college kid doing a lot of papers.

As others have said, buy the Microsoft Office suite and I'd suggest buying Acrobat pro for editing and creating PDFs. I really find it useful to have.

I've owned Macs for 16 years and have never had any major problems. Granted, I am pretty tech savvy and I've been able to reinstall operating systems and baisc stuff like that with ease.

I'd also suggest Apple Care, as others have, because anything goes wrong, she can just walk into an apple store and they'll fix it.
 
If the Air processor is up to running photoshop and multiple applications and windows at a time, I'd go for a 13" Air. Otherwise a 13" Pro.

I have a 2007 MacBook that gets used for hours almost daily and still runs almost flawlessly (I never upgraded the OS, so I'm finally starting to run into some problems with Internet applications). It's a workhorse that has gotten me through my complete undergrad. I only wish it were a Pro, because sometimes when you're writing a research paper and you've got 10+ windows open, with multiple tabs open in each, plus your word processing program all on different virtual desktops (the awesome Spaces feature), the bogging down is really annoying.

As for software, I can imagine a marketing major having some marketing projects, so maybe something like PhotoShop. I would get Office simply because universities use it, but I personally hate it and prefer Apple's iWork suite. Each component (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) has the capability to export work into its MS counterpart, but the formatting issues are a pain to deal with.

I took a gamble and did NOT get Apple Care, but I was just lucky. If I'd had the scratch at the time, I would have gotten it.

Also, get her a plastic shell for it and a padded sleeve. The shell adds some weight and fattens it up a bit, but if I take mine off and wipe the exterior down, it looks almost brand new. It's lasted short drops just fine.
 
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