Laptop for college??

**Lunk1** · 09-22-2012, 11:12 AM

My daughter graduates high school this year and I want to get her a laptop that she will be able to use for college. I am leaning towards an Apple Macbook Pro or Apple Macbook Air. I am open to any and all suggestions.

Also the cheapest place to purchase said laptop???

**jasc** · 09-22-2012, 11:52 AM

Damn man.. what are you made of $$? Those things are damn pricey

Tell you what, Throw me some gear and I'll let her use my computer when she spends the night. lol j/k bro

I have a Dell XPS n it's been great. Haven't been in the computer market for yrs though, not up on the new ones.

Your daughters a lucky girl to have a father like you. That's a hefty present.

**bikeral** · 09-22-2012, 11:59 AM

Macbook Pro would be my choice.

Has a optical drive if you need it.
Bigger hard drive
The 13inch for 1200 should be fine
I bought these for both my daughters.

**Lunk1** · 09-22-2012, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by jasc

Damn man.. what are you made of $$? Those things are damn pricey

Tell you what, Throw me some gear and I'll let her use my computer when she spends the night. lol j/k bro

I have a Dell XPS n it's been great. Haven't been in the computer market for yrs though, not up on the new ones.

Your daughters a lucky girl to have a father like you. That's a hefty present.

I am lucky to have her!!! We only had one so we could spoil the shit out of her. I am in nooo way made of $ and work 2 jobs so that she can have everything I didn't have at her age.

**Lunk1** · 09-22-2012, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by bikeral

Macbook Pro would be my choice.

Has a optical drive if you need it.
Bigger hard drive
The 13inch for 1200 should be fine
I bought these for both my daughters.

I see the NEW ones have replaced the optical drive for a SSD like the Air has. Optical drives are going to be obsolete in the near future IMO. SSD are so much more reliable and much faster.

**bikeral** · 09-22-2012, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by Lunk1

I see the NEW ones have replaced the optical drive for a SSD like the Air has. Optical drives are going to be obsolete in the near future IMO. SSD are so much more reliable and much faster.

I was referring to the Superdrive CD/DVD optical drive which the air does not have. Not really used much any more but nice to have if you want to use a DVD to watch or someone gives you a cd with data or pictures on it.
SSD drives are better and faster however $1000 bucks more than same size ATA drive.

**Lunk1** · 09-22-2012, 12:53 PM

Ok so the pro has a SSD hard drive AND an optical disk drive??? That would def. be best of both worlds.

I am def. leaning towards the pro but the Air seems like a nice unit for college kids due to the size.

Did you consider any other options than Mac when you were looking??

**bikeral** · 09-22-2012, 01:10 PM

I've was a PC guy for years. About 5 years ago I got fed up with the malware and viruses. I switched my whole shop to macbook pro, bought my 2 daughters macbook pro, and bought my wife one. Have not had problems with any of them. At work we use VMware to run windows for some applications we have that will not run on the Mac's. Have not had issue with any of them. I used to recommend Dell years ago but have had many issues in the last few years and just stopped. They were great 10-15 years ago. I still have a Lenovo laptop (IBM) which works great (Windows 7 they finally figured it out)

So from my limited knowledge I'd recommend MacBook Pro unless the weight is an issue and you do not need a big hard drive or DVD drive. If you really just want something light I guess the air is OK. You should buy an external drive anyway to back it up. Personally I like a big hard drive (Need space for all the porn

)

**Lunk1** · 09-22-2012, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by bikeral

I've was a PC guy for years. About 5 years ago I got fed up with the malware and viruses. I switched my whole shop to macbook pro, bought my 2 daughters macbook pro, and bought my wife one. Have not had problems with any of them. At work we use VMware to run windows for some applications we have that will not run on the Mac's. Have not had issue with any of them. I used to recommend Dell years ago but have had many issues in the last few years and just stopped. They were great 10-15 years ago. I still have a Lenovo laptop (IBM) which works great (Windows 7 they finally figured it out)

So from my limited knowledge I'd recommend MacBook Pro unless the weight is an issue and you do not need a big hard drive or DVD drive. If you really just want something light I guess the air is OK. You should buy an external drive anyway to back it up. Personally I like a big hard drive (Need space for all the porn

)

I think we both can agree that teeenage girls are probaly thinking about a number of things, but backing up their files is not one of them lol.

I don't see enough of a benifit of the Air over the pro to give up the cd/dvd drive and bigger hard drive.

I like my Toughbook but I am not spending THAT kinda $ on her lol.

**bigZthedestroyer** · 09-22-2012, 01:32 PM

I bought a macbook pro a few months back and it has been my favorite laptop by far. I found mine on craigslist. It was barley used and a couple hundred cheaper then the mac stores.

**Lunk1** · 09-22-2012, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by zreinke

I bought a macbook pro a few months back and it has been my favorite laptop by far. I found mine on craigslist. It was barley used and a couple hundred cheaper then the mac stores.

Thanks Z...I am def. leaning that direction unless someone has such a strong opinion that they care to share that would steer me another direction.

**JWP806** · 09-22-2012, 01:56 PM

I've had a MacBook for four and a half years and I finally upgraded to the cheapest new MacBook pro. I paid $1099 plus tax for it. I honestly will never spend another dime on a pc. I got my previous one around my soph year of college and carried that thing with me everywhere I went. Had no problems with it even up until I bought a new one. I just wanted a new computer.

**JWP806** · 09-22-2012, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by JWP806

I've had a MacBook for four and a half years and I finally upgraded to the cheapest new MacBook pro. I paid $1099 plus tax for it. I honestly will never spend another dime on a pc. I got my previous one around my soph year of college and carried that thing with me everywhere I went. Had no problems with it even up until I bought a new one. I just wanted a new computer.

If you get her a Mac, don't get the air. It's definitely worth the $150-200 extra for the pro. i5 processor, 4gb ram, 500gb hard drive.

**Lunk1** · 09-22-2012, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by JWP806

If you get her a Mac, don't get the air. It's definitely worth the $150-200 extra for the pro. i5 processor, 4gb ram, 500gb hard drive.

I hear ya JW...thanks. 500gig HD is for sure.

Are the mac books internal internet capable (meaning if I use verizon for srevice do I need an external device or does it come ready for this)

**JWP806** · 09-22-2012, 03:10 PM

For connecting to wi-fi they are ready to go.

**Lunk1** · 09-22-2012, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by JWP806

For connecting to wi-fi they are ready to go.

No I mean like an internal air card. My laptop is connected to the cellular provider via an internal connection so that a usb air card is not neccesary.

**JWP806** · 09-22-2012, 03:21 PM

I don't think that it does but I'm not sure.

**dev_man77** · 09-22-2012, 06:35 PM

Apple only has a good rep because they make quality products ($$$) they do have quirks as well. UNless your daughter is going for art, I would highly suggest a windows machine, because they are more versatile and compatible with most programs.
Just spend more on a better product, I hate when people compare windows machines to apple when they take a $1200 apple machine and compare it to the $500 windows machine. You get what you pay for.
Any computer out right now should be powerful enough to accomplish anything for school. The really high end machines are for gaming.

**JWP806** · 09-22-2012, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by dev_man77

Apple only has a good rep because they make quality products ($$$) they do have quirks as well. UNless your daughter is going for art, I would highly suggest a windows machine, because they are more versatile and compatible with most programs.
Just spend more on a better product, I hate when people compare windows machines to apple when they take a $1200 apple machine and compare it to the $500 windows machine. You get what you pay for.
Any computer out right now should be powerful enough to accomplish anything for school. The really high end machines are for gaming.

Apple is top quality. Like I said, I have had mine for 4.5 years. The 13.3 plastic MacBook. It still runs perfect but I just wanted a new one. Never had a virus, never had to reinstall any software. No problems at all. I'd surprised of anyone with a 4.5 yr old windows machine could say that.

She would be fine with a windows computer but if it was me personally, I'd buy the Mac.