1) As far as learning tools are concerned, I recommend books.
You get Xcode for free with every OS X copy and even non-paying ADC members can download Xcode updates.
5) Try Parallels, it's ready and works like a charm.
6) I'd say get Lightroom, because it's currently free and is a nice piece of software, definitely better than the average beta. Also, Aperture is still behind in terms of raw support, so you might want to check up on that before buying.
7) It depends.
Parallels eats RAM for breakfast, but if taking a peek at other OS-es is all you really need, 1 GB will be enough. For Aperture and Lightroom 1 GB is minimum, but you'll be more constrained by the resolution of your display.
Basing on what you've said, I'd recommend a mid-range Macbook and a decent external display for photo editing.
The trouble with a Gig of RAM though, is that it's quickly becoming the bare minimum like 512MB is now. Sure you can use computers with less then that, but many Apps are becoming more RAM intensive, and some already are very heavy duty (Google Earth anyone?) so I'm worried about future proofing. However, I also from experience, know that Windows does not make very good use of Hardware like Mac OS X, so would a Gig of RAM easily get me through 2-3 years before I buy a new computer?
Another concern with buying a lower end Laptop is that sometimes when I'm typing, it will take a couple of minutes for the paragraph I typed to appear. Fortunately this only happens when I push my RAM to the limits, but the more headroom I have the better, but if it's not needed on Mac OS X then I won't bother taking the extra precautions.
Many Thanks
-Sebastian
Go for 2 GB of RAM if you can instead of buying the top-of-the line notebook with only 1 GB, if you want to keep your notebook for 2-3 years. And get AppleCare, that's a must for notebooks!!! I'm not sure, though, whether you really need a MacBook Pro. On the road, the smaller screen of the MacBook (white or black) is sufficient, whereas at home you better buy a decent external screen (20 inch?) with DVI connector, an external keyboard and a mouse and use your MacBook with the big screen. All in all, the 2.0 GHz MacBook is about as fast as the 15" models, particularly with 2 GB of RAM. Like that, you'd have a notebook for class that also serves as a "regular" computer at home. Also the MacBook is more robust due to its plastic casing compared to the MBP's alu casing which dents very easily.
I prefer Mail.app over any e-mail client that is out there. It simply does what is needed and - most importantly for me - takes all the addresses from AddressBook. So no more double entries and wrong e-mail addresses stored in the AddressBook.
Do you know you can get EDU discounts on Photoshop (or the whole Creative Suite)?
Concerning the word processor, I would probably - even as I hate Microsoft Word so much - get Office for Mac (EDU discount, too) because (1) everyone uses it, (2) you can share files easily with other students, (3) you can ask anyone out there to help you with a formatting problem (say: footers or correctly placing pictures into text), (4) people with other word processors than word tend to often forget to save a file as RTF before sending them to other people via e-mail. As a recipient, I would not be able to open such an OpenOffice file - or whatever it is.
My second choice would be Pages. Third choice would be NeoOffice. But nothing comes close to the pure simplicity of my beloved MacWrite II, a program that I have used for nearly a decade since 1989)...
The Apple seminar was given by Estelle McGechie. She lead us around the Aperture interface for three hours. We all had our own 15-inch MBPs to follow along with. I'm not a pro photographer; I just wanted to see Aperture in action. I could see how it could really help your workflow.
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3) You could use NeoOffice until iWork '07 comes out. http://www.neooffice.org/
4) I am using Mail after using Outlook 2003 on the PC. It suits my needs.
6) I attended an Aperture seminar today. Damn, that is one slick app!
7) Refurbished MacBook Pros are $1500 at http://store.apple.com/
You get Xcode for free with every OS X copy and even non-paying ADC members can download Xcode updates.
5) Try Parallels, it's ready and works like a charm.
6) I'd say get Lightroom, because it's currently free and is a nice piece of software, definitely better than the average beta. Also, Aperture is still behind in terms of raw support, so you might want to check up on that before buying.
7) It depends.
Parallels eats RAM for breakfast, but if taking a peek at other OS-es is all you really need, 1 GB will be enough. For Aperture and Lightroom 1 GB is minimum, but you'll be more constrained by the resolution of your display.
Basing on what you've said, I'd recommend a mid-range Macbook and a decent external display for photo editing.
The trouble with a Gig of RAM though, is that it's quickly becoming the bare minimum like 512MB is now. Sure you can use computers with less then that, but many Apps are becoming more RAM intensive, and some already are very heavy duty (Google Earth anyone?) so I'm worried about future proofing. However, I also from experience, know that Windows does not make very good use of Hardware like Mac OS X, so would a Gig of RAM easily get me through 2-3 years before I buy a new computer?
Another concern with buying a lower end Laptop is that sometimes when I'm typing, it will take a couple of minutes for the paragraph I typed to appear. Fortunately this only happens when I push my RAM to the limits, but the more headroom I have the better, but if it's not needed on Mac OS X then I won't bother taking the extra precautions.
Many Thanks
-Sebastian
Go for 2 GB of RAM if you can instead of buying the top-of-the line notebook with only 1 GB, if you want to keep your notebook for 2-3 years. And get AppleCare, that's a must for notebooks!!! I'm not sure, though, whether you really need a MacBook Pro. On the road, the smaller screen of the MacBook (white or black) is sufficient, whereas at home you better buy a decent external screen (20 inch?) with DVI connector, an external keyboard and a mouse and use your MacBook with the big screen. All in all, the 2.0 GHz MacBook is about as fast as the 15" models, particularly with 2 GB of RAM. Like that, you'd have a notebook for class that also serves as a "regular" computer at home. Also the MacBook is more robust due to its plastic casing compared to the MBP's alu casing which dents very easily.
I prefer Mail.app over any e-mail client that is out there. It simply does what is needed and - most importantly for me - takes all the addresses from AddressBook. So no more double entries and wrong e-mail addresses stored in the AddressBook.
Do you know you can get EDU discounts on Photoshop (or the whole Creative Suite)?
Concerning the word processor, I would probably - even as I hate Microsoft Word so much - get Office for Mac (EDU discount, too) because (1) everyone uses it, (2) you can share files easily with other students, (3) you can ask anyone out there to help you with a formatting problem (say: footers or correctly placing pictures into text), (4) people with other word processors than word tend to often forget to save a file as RTF before sending them to other people via e-mail. As a recipient, I would not be able to open such an OpenOffice file - or whatever it is.
My second choice would be Pages. Third choice would be NeoOffice. But nothing comes close to the pure simplicity of my beloved MacWrite II, a program that I have used for nearly a decade since 1989)...