For College

geard

Hey Everyone of the Apple Insider Community,



I am a senior in high school, and will be going off to college next year. My parents said that they would get me a laptop for graduation. I was just curious if anyone has any recommendations. We are shooting for something under $2000. Would it be bad to buy a Powerbook G4? Have they already been outdated?



-Dan

slewis

Quote:

Originally Posted by GearD


Hey Everyone of the Apple Insider Community,



I am a senior in high school, and will be going off to college next year. My parents said that they would get me a laptop for graduation. I was just curious if anyone has any recommendations. We are shooting for something under $2000. Would it be bad to buy a Powerbook G4? Have they already been outdated?



-Dan

Outdated, yes, bad Buy, I have now experience with PPC hardware.



Macs use Intel chips now, and the current Model is the Macbook Pro. Prices for that range between $2000 and $2800. The Macbook (13.3 in Screen) ranges between $1100 and $1500.

geard

Yeah, Im thinking Ill just go with the Black Mac Book. It seems like it has enough power. Thanks for the info though. One more question.. does the integrated gpu handicap the Mac Book at all? I have no intentions of running a game besides Warcraft 3.

audiopollution

Quote:

Originally Posted by GearD


Yeah, Im thinking Ill just go with the Black Mac Book. It seems like it has enough power. Thanks for the info though. One more question.. does the integrated gpu handicap the Mac Book at all? I have no intentions of running a game besides Warcraft 3.

You'll be fine with the Macbook.



I'd suggest, if your budget is $2000, to max it out with the 200 GB drive and 2 GB of RAM. You'll be thankful for the extra HD space at some point.

ebby

If you are buying new, wait until after Macworld if you can. (Second week of January) But try to get an Intel mac. They have a brighter future then PPC.



Then again, my PPC laptop is 6 years old. (A G3!) Even today, a G4 will have lots of life left.

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiopollution


I'd suggest, if your budget is $2000, to max it out with the 200 GB drive and 2 GB of RAM.

That's an external drive, right? If so, I agree. RAM is the most important though so shovel some cash that way first.

addabox

Go to Apple Educational store. Get a BlackBook (top of the line MacBook with black case). You pay a premium for the color but it is teh sexy and you're going to college.



Upgrade the ram to 2GB. Usually Apple's ram prices are pure larceny, but they actually only charge about $40 more than the extra ram would cost you online, so you might as well have them do it.



Purchase Apple Care.



Before tax price: $1739. Use the balance to pick up a copy of Windows XP and Parallels and rule your campus.



Or, for about the same money you could get a base model MacBook Pro, which gets you an aluminum case and real video card, but half the memory and no Apple Care.



EDIT: Ah, I see we have consensus. Excellent. For a go to college machine I think I would spend the money on Apple Care over the maxed out HD, however.

audiopollution

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebby


That's an external drive, right? If so, I agree. RAM is the most important though so shovel some cash that way first.

Nope, that's the 200 GB internal drive option from Apple.



With the education discount it still comes in under $1800 with the big HD and 2 GB of RAM.

audiopollution

Quote:

Originally Posted by addabox


EDIT: Ah, I see we have consensus. Excellent. For a go to college machine I think I would spend the money on Apple Care over the maxed out HD, however.

That's a good point.



I agree. Forget what I said about the big HD.

geard

We actually found a great deal on a Mac Book Pro this morning. It was from Apples Refurbished Mac Store. It had a 2.33 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB of Ram, 100GB HD, and the standard stuff in it. It was priced at what a Black Mac Book was going for stock. It was 41% off, seemed like the way to go.

slewis

Quote:

Originally Posted by GearD


It was priced at what a Black Mac Book was going for stock. It was 41% off, seemed like the way to go.

By "seemed like the way to go" you mean you bought it and you are now a happy Mac Owner?



Congrats and Welcome to the world of Mac



Sebastian



PS: That is the way to go

addabox

You should really consider doubling that ram. Unfortunately, a MacBook Pro that ships with 1GB of ram has two 512 sticks, so you would have to buy two additional 1GB sticks and sell the 512s.



Not actually absolutely required, but makes things more pleasant, especially if you are going running much stuff under Rosetta.

aquamac

Get the white Mac Book. Save the extra 200 for food. Trust me!

geard

Yea I just figured that buying the Pro would last me longer, and like everyone said, I could just upgrade the memory and HD later if I needed to. Anyways, thanks for the warm welcome Sebastian!

lakingsfn

Whatever you get, I'd definiitely recommend Apple Care for a laptop.

bergermeister

It is still hard to tell: did you get the MBP or not? I doubt you will need anything more than a MB for undergrad work; it's also sexier, and the girls like that.



With a notebook, GET APPLECARE. I repeat: GET APPLECARE. One repair over three years and you will save money.



Get more RAM. 2 GB is great, but you can live with 1 GB.



Depending on your university and what you plan to study, you may be able to get by without Office. If you really need it, get the Mac version; it works great and saves you money (no Parallels, no Windoze, no headaches). Get iWork and be happy with an easy life.



Get an external HD to back-up your data to. This is a must and is not expensive.



Get a couple of decent apps that will help you use your Mac to the fullest.



Check out these threads:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=68848

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...hlight=college

backtomac

I got to add my 2 cents. Agree wholeheartedly with Berg. Get Applecare, 2gbs of ram and I would skimp on the internal hard drive and get an external drive. They've gotten cheap and small. I've a Western Digital passport drive, 120 gbs, and can be had for under $100. I also highly recommend iWork. Unless you are required to submit papers in word format I would use Pages. Very easy and the page layout capabilities added bonus.

geard

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bergermeister


It is still hard to tell: did you get the MBP or not? I doubt you will need anything more than a MB for undergrad work; it's also sexier, and the girls like that.



With a notebook, GET APPLECARE. I repeat: GET APPLECARE. One repair over three years and you will save money.



Get more RAM. 2 GB is great, but you can live with 1 GB.



Depending on your university and what you plan to study, you may be able to get by without Office. If you really need it, get the Mac version; it works great and saves you money (no Parallels, no Windoze, no headaches). Get iWork and be happy with an easy life.



Get an external HD to back-up your data to. This is a must and is not expensive.



Get a couple of decent apps that will help you use your Mac to the fullest.



Check out these threads:

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=68848

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...hlight=college

I got the Mac Book Pro. But I am planning on upgrading to 2 Gigs later. Thanks for all the info though. I checked out those apps, and they look pretty usefull.

mynamehere

Quote:

Originally Posted by addabox


You should really consider doubling that ram. Unfortunately, a MacBook Pro that ships with 1GB of ram has two 512 sticks, so you would have to buy two additional 1GB sticks and sell the 512s.



Not actually absolutely required, but makes things more pleasant, especially if you are going running much stuff under Rosetta.

My MBP shipped with 1GB or RAM but was in the form of a 1x1GB stick...check yours. And you can definitely get by with 1GB. I did eventually upgrade mine (using crucial.com -- don't upgrade through Apple; it's a complete ripoff) to 2GB since I frequently use Parallels, Photoshop, FCP, Aperture, Flash, Maya etc, but if you're not doing too much of that, you should be all set with 1GB.



Nice choice by the way...

backtomac

Quote:

Originally Posted by GearD


I got the Mac Book Pro. But I am planning on upgrading to 2 Gigs later. Thanks for all the info though. I checked out those apps, and they look pretty usefull.

Did you get the 2.16 ghz or 2.33 model? I've the 2.16 ghz model and it is plenty powerful for me. I'm quite happy and you will be to.

geard

Quote:

Originally Posted by backtomac


Did you get the 2.16 ghz or 2.33 model? I've the 2.16 ghz model and it is plenty powerful for me. I'm quite happy and you will be to.

I was mistaken originally. I said that the processor was 2.33GHz, however we bought the 2.16 GHz model. But yea, It should be plenty powerful for me

bergermeister

I went through school on a machine that clocked just under 8 megaherz, not gigaherz. With 2.16 GHz should be MORE than fine! You lucky #$%&#!!



All kidding aside, the 2.16 will do you very well for some time to come.



What do you plan on studying?