Propane Posted July 23, 2008 Posted July 23, 2008 I'm not going to get the 17" version cause it seems too big. However, the 15" doesn't seem like it would be a pain at all to carry around and it only weighs 5.4 lbs. I do plan on taking course notes on it. My choice also isn't anywhere close to being set in stone. I'm still shopping around and open to other choices (I've been looking at some of the Sony VAIOs and Thinkpads). I just wanted to see what other people thought and appreciate all the input. Yeah from my experience, the 15" isnt. Also one thing to keep in mind is that OS X is developed with the hardware inside in mind, and ONLY the hardware inside. This might not seem like a big deal, but you'll be able to know that everything is going to work out of the box and that apple support can help you with any issues that arrise (well most of them, I did see one nasty one but was able to fix it in single user mode... not fun though), which is nice because you wont be diaganosing that wierd issue that started happening when you are trying to study for finals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 eh Apple's too expensive... I found that HP wins in cheapness for 14-15" laptops (that you can configure yourself). I never want to get a prebuilt laptop, I just built my next laptop (15" with 2.53ghz processor, and nvidia 512mb 9600gt, 1680-1050res, wireless N, bluetooth, 320gb hdd etc...) and it still comes to $1582.52 (That's final price w/shipping and tax) and I don't have to sport the white apple on my computer. But get what's best for you if you want a mac, have fun with Airport. I don't see a reason for Mac OSX, I love how Mac users will install windows on their computers, when I never need anything that Mac OSX has, AND I saved more money/got better hardware. Hmm... Sorry for the rant, I just try to keep every Franklin out of Apple's hands as I can. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
asus Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 Its a sweet laptop, and now with the multi-touch track pad its amazing. I have a macbook pro, mac pro, iphone, and my fiance has a macbook and so does my grandmother. 0 problems what so ever. Leopard is amazing, anyone who knocks it does not know what they are talking about. You have the ease of use of a simple but fast and effective OS, with the SUPERB security and power of a unix operating system. Only one word sums it up 'Amazing' But don't take it from me, get yourself one and you will be glad you did! BTW, I manage the entire maclab for SUNYIT college. I love it, it's an amazing responsibility and the mac computer's are a pleasure to work with!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 Leopard is amazing, anyone who knocks it does not know what they are talking about. You have the ease of use of a simple but fast and effective OS, with the SUPERB security and power of a unix operating system. When you can game on it (and no, I don't mean the piecemeal titles they have now) I'll care. If I'm not gaming, I'm going to go straight to a flavor of Linux. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 (edited) Its a sweet laptop, and now with the multi-touch track pad its amazing. I have a macbook pro, mac pro, iphone, and my fiance has a macbook and so does my grandmother. 0 problems what so ever. Leopard is amazing, anyone who knocks it does not know what they are talking about. You have the ease of use of a simple but fast and effective OS, with the SUPERB security and power of a unix operating system. Only one word sums it up 'Amazing' But don't take it from me, get yourself one and you will be glad you did! BTW, I manage the entire maclab for SUNYIT college. I love it, it's an amazing responsibility and the mac computer's are a pleasure to work with!! give me like 10 minutes and I can get administrative access on all of them , you must have money my man. I never said Leopard isn't OK it's just boringly simple, I like knowing what's going on with my computer at all times. No rainbow wheel of death here. Basically what it comes down to is Mac OS:Processor Hungry Windows OS:Memory Hungry you get a Mac get a good processor or it'll run like crap you get a PC with alot of memory or it'll run like crap. That's what I've noticed in my experiences. We have like 28 quad Power Pc's (wish they'd not taint "PC") in my classroom and there is nothing that my little 14" laptop can't do that they can. Even rendering I'm only a small portion slower than them. I usually lock out the schools IT department for fun, thats about the only fun thing I can do. It was hard to find any good genesis emulators for a mac real quick, found a decent NES one but then lost interest with the Genesis. I refuse to buy Apple until they can do 100% of what a PC can do at an equal or lower price. But that'll never happen. Edited July 30, 2008 by IVIYTH0S Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RimX Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 Also, any particular reason those people regretted getting a more expensive laptop? Just curious. Well I bought a nice, expensive laptop, when I started college 4 years ago. I have regretted it every day since. I ended up being such a waste of money, I was always worried about something happening to it, it falling or something like that. Not to mention that I spent a lot of time in labs, and would need to go out every once and a while for a smoke or to ask the prof a question about something. So it was always a worry leaving the laptop in the lab while I left, I would have to wait for someone I knew to come in before I could go. If I had the money to buy a laptop today and was doing it all over again, I would just go to Best Buy and pick up one there for $600 -$700. As far as Mac Books go in general, I have got to say that they are great machines and Mac OSX is great lots of nice features. Would I buy one for school? No, it would put me in the same situation that the one I have did. All this talk of a mac book and looking at the apple store is making me want one again. Like I said the are very nice machines and a friend of mine's parents have like 3 or 4 mac book pros an Imac and a mac mini, in my experience using them they run very smooth an run nice, the interface can be a little iffy at first but it gets a lot easier very quickly. No matter what route you go make sure you pay extra for the warranty and get the accidental damage plan as well, it's always worth it you never know what may happen. As far as what you should do, it's your choice. If you feel that it is what you want and would like and that it isn't going to make you paranoid about something happening to it, then go for it. Then again you could buy something cheaper and have the money you saved to spend on books or something else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 I'm not going to get the 17" version cause it seems too big. However, the 15" doesn't seem like it would be a pain at all to carry around and it only weighs 5.4 lbs. I do plan on taking course notes on it. My choice also isn't anywhere close to being set in stone. I'm still shopping around and open to other choices (I've been looking at some of the Sony VAIOs and Thinkpads). I just wanted to see what other people thought and appreciate all the input. Try taking notes on a laptop before you decide that's the way you want to go. I tried. It didn't work out. Too many equations (mechanical engineering). That...and the professors think you are fooling around in class. I got my thinkpad T40 as part of my undergrad financial aid...if I had to buy it, it would have been well over $2k. Now, it's not worth anything. Laptops are not nearly as robust as desktops. You can't upgrade as easily. They get hot. Things break. Batteries lose their storage capabilities. My T40 came with a 3 year warranty. That means, you basically try to get everything fixed before that period is up, otherwise you pay for it out of pocket. I am on my 3rd motherboard, 2nd DVD drive, 2nd Hard drive. Upgraded the memory (easy). Replaced the battery (out of pocket). Replaced the heatsink (horrible job...but it was almost completely dead and overheating). During my sophomore year, I built the rig in my signature. Once I had worked out the bugs (tied to cheaper hardware and a POS PSU), there was no contest. Desktops are so much easier to work with. More space, wider variety of parts, etc. I lived both off campus and on campus, and have never had a problem with space for a tower (huge tower, mind you -- TT armor) or large monitor (20.1 widescreen - well, maybe not that large ) The laptop spent a large amount of time in my room, next to my desktop. There weren't very many times where it was required, except in specific classes (which were oriented as such because 95%+ of the students at RPI had these laptops). I'm sure other colleges are different. RPI is very wired (or...unwired). If you don't actually need it mobile...don't bother with a laptop. I'm not a mac hater, but, I feel that you're just paying extra money for, pretty much, the same hardware. Granted, in my house, there are 4 PCs (XP, Linux) and 2 20 inch IMacs (my brother just installed XP onto his...so ha!). I will never buy a laptop unless I *absolutely* need the mobility. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 My backup arrives! It's good to hear my friends and I are not the only ones who think these things. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Nate Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 My backup arrives! It's good to hear I'm not the only one who thinks these things. I'm waiting for my laptop to die, so I can get rid of it. The only thing I like about it at the moment, is being able to bring it from school (MA) to home (MD) easily. Other than that...no use for it (heh...I don't even really need it...there are way too many computers in this house anyways) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve adams Posted August 27, 2008 Posted August 27, 2008 I have a HP DV9000 notebook....I love it. now 17" may be to big for lugging around the campus. check out the DV2000 series. The monitors on the DV series are second to none...I LOVE THEM. so much so I bought a Hpw2207 monitor for my desktop... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bg8780 Posted August 27, 2008 Posted August 27, 2008 Get a netbook for college, and use the rest of that money for a nice desktop rig. I bought a little acer aspire one for college and does everything i need to and more. I have my desktop for gaming and storage. Thats my two cents. but get what you want and what you are comfortable with. For me the smaller the better. and i have been very impressed with the intel atom so far. Not that its gonna compare with the 2.4ghz t8400 i believe it is that the MBP's start out with. My friend has a fully loaded MBP 17" that he spent 4K on. I have to say i havent been impressed, It runs extremely hot doing the simplest things (on a flat table mind you). Mac seem to run hot in general from my experience. and i wouldn't worry about because they wont engineer it like that if it couldn't handle it right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
My_Inner_Fred Posted August 27, 2008 Posted August 27, 2008 Get a netbook for college, and use the rest of that money for a nice desktop rig. I bought a little acer aspire one for college and does everything i need to and more. I have my desktop for gaming and storage. Thats my two cents. but get what you want and what you are comfortable with. For me the smaller the better. and i have been very impressed with the intel atom so far. Not that its gonna compare with the 2.4ghz t8400 i believe it is that the MBP's start out with. My friend has a fully loaded MBP 17" that he spent 4K on. I have to say i havent been impressed, It runs extremely hot doing the simplest things (on a flat table mind you). Mac seem to run hot in general from my experience. and i wouldn't worry about because they wont engineer it like that if it couldn't handle it right? I agree with bg8780 Just get a cheap notebook that's enough for school and spend the rest on a desktop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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