<p>So I'm most likely getting a new Mac laptop for college this fall. I will be a music major. What is the standard for college, like Macbook, the macbook air, the pro? Is one better than the others for college? I'm thinking of getting the 13 inch size of whatever it is.</p>
<p>Aside from looking at the Apple Store, here’s a good site to get some of the skinny on MacBook problems and good points: [Mac</a> Rumors](<a href=“http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/]Mac”>http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/)
Check out the blog. It’s a gold mind.</p>
<p>The duo core MacBooks, 13 inch remain the most economical as well as weigh the least. They are my personal favorite. My kids both wanted 15 inch MacBook Pros for the bigger screen and also for the faster (slightly) speed of the i5 that you can get with them. One big advantage is you can multitask, meaning have multiple apps open while still writing a paper and not have the motor fan pop on for over heating. They have both loved theirs, you can save some money by buying refurbished ones and back packs now insulate for 15 inch too. BUT, they are expensive and thefts occur. I installed Lojack for Mac on my sons, gave a motion screecher to my daughter which she promptly threw away.</p>
<p>Good luck. Macs are great. Expensive, last a long time, and great to use.</p>
<p>I’ve got a 13-inch MacBook Pro and absolutely love it. It seems to be the most popular computer I’ve seen around campus. Great battery life for class. I’d go into an Apple Store and talk to them about exactly what you need - they’re great about not pushing what you don’t need or can’t pay for. For me, the standard MBP out of the box was perfect.</p>
<p>The 13 inch MacBook Pro is probably the one to put at the top of your list. </p>
<p>One of my kids did opt for the 15 inch MacBook Pro high end model, but only because he creates and edits videos for his major. </p>
<p>My other kid has the 13 inch MacBook Pro and is very happy with it.</p>
<p>Unless you are going to be editing photos, videos, or producing music on your mac, I would go with the 13 in MacBook Pro.</p>
<p>Air does not have a cd drive and that is far too handy not to have.</p>
<p>I have a 13 in Pro and love it and carry it everywhere for class. It is perfection</p>
<p>That seems to be what I’m hearing overall, that MacBook Pro=college computer. I do want one with great battery life, since I plan on taking it to class all day and studying later, and my current PC laptop has a horrible battery life now. It’s almost 3 years, and it barely makes an hour before needing to charge it, so I just keep it plugged in constantly at home.</p>
<p>^^Even if its a program on the disc, it can still be used by making an ISO, then using that.</p>
<p>And now heres the question I ask everyone getting a mac: Why?
If you havent decided on a mac model, you are still in no position to have already ruled out all other laptop options. Inb4 OS X vs. Win 7</p>
<p>Anyways, new MBPs have general issues running very hot which might prove to be a problem in hot environments, like say a dorm room without AC. Who knows for certain (till fall, of course).</p>
<p>My daughter’s new MBP does not run hotter than other laptops I’ve seen, including the brand-new Lenovo that I use at work. When I compare these two machines, I find that I like OSX so much more than Windows 7. In particular, it has been a nightmare to find and install the patches, plug-ins and drivers that I needed to run a scanner, printers, camera and video. In one case, a book publisher who uses an application for digital rights management of online texts, told me that it was not yet possible to use that application with Win 7. They suggested that I reinstall XP!</p>
<p>Besides the OS, all the little touches on the MBP make it a better experience. That magnetic power plug attachment doesn’t sound like much, but it has proven to be a lifesaver on several occasions. The screen is much sharper and more vivid, and the backlit keyboard makes the MBP so much more usable in the dark.</p>
<p>@Rhythmgaming- I have decided on a Mac for sure. I’m just looking into which model to get. I have a PC laptop right now, which I use for everything, and it’s worn out. I know it’s gonna die sometime soon here, and I need to replace it before I take it to college and it has problems there. I’ll be 500 miles away from home, so we’re taking care of it before I leave. My dad and I are going shopping tomorrow morning to look at Macs!</p>
<p>Macs are idiot proof which is what the common person likes. The hardware is all the same (everyone knows that), it’s just that OSX is easier to manage. A lot of the maintenance and updates are automatic. Downloading and organizing stuff is easier… all that stuff you hear about.</p>
<p>Go with the macbook pro 13 like everyone else said. OSX is not hard to use for the young adult living in 2011…</p>
<p>I feel like I just dont understand the average college student at all.</p>
<p>^not every student is big into computers. Alot of people just want something that works and never gives them issues. Apple has become synonymous with reliability (be it totally true or not) and ease of use. I don’t blame students for buying macs. I agree that it has become the thing to do (I did it, no regrets), but I totally get why. Word has gotten around, on college campuses especially, that macs are the way to go and its going to keep going that way until Apple isn’t surging in market share quarter after quarter. They own computing right now. I’m not nearly the huge fan of Apple as I used to be, but I can completely understand why they’re gaining so much ground.</p>
<p>One thing about college students (and everyone else for that matter) is that they probably don’t need someone telling them that they don’t need what they want. So, telling a college student who is trying to decide between different Macintosh laptops that he should go in a totally different direction is not at all helpful. It would be equivalent to responding to a grocery store shopper’s question about whether Macintosh, Delicious or Granny Smith would be the best apple to buy, and you telling him that he should really abandon the whole apple thing because oranges are so much better.</p>
<p>
But the thing is, computers are a VERY large part of everyday life, and nobody can deny this. Figuring out how to use a computer is now as important as figuring out how to jump start a car, how to use a laundry machine, how to replace a watch battery, etc. Having used both Mac and Windows OS simultaneously when I was first learning how to use a computer (and this was looong ago, when Windows wasn’t anywhere as streamlined as it is now, and Macs have been about the same), I found both operating systems to be just as easy to figure out and use for basic needs. It’s all a matter of pointing and clicking for both operating systems… I found that Windows has a lot of tips and tricks that aren’t obvious at all which you need to pick up as you go along, but these are minor things. </p>
<p>The most important thing here, though, is that we’re talking about college students here. College students are strapped for cash, and the premium that Apple charges for the OS that it monopolises is NOT worth skipping over the basics of a Windows computer.</p>
<p>The 13 inch Macbook Pro is probably what you are looking for. The 2011 13 inch Macbook Pro has upgraded the cpu from the core duo processors. There is one with an i5 cpu and another with a i7 cpu. The less expensive one is suitable for most purposes. The price difference is about $300. There is a Macbook that is a little cheaper than the Macbook Pro but it uses the older technology but the Macbook Pro is worth the additional price. Apple usually runs a student discount over the summer. The current student discount on Macbook Pro is $100 which isn’t much better than the discount offered by online retailers.</p>
<p>rymd: both are simple to use, but the ‘feel’ of the OSes is very different. Using a mac is only marginally easier than a PC, but it is a very different experience in all the particulars, even when you’re talking about Windows 7. </p>
<p>I’ve used Windows 95, XP, and 7, OS X 10.4 through 6, Ubuntu 9.04 to 10.10, #! pre and post Statler, and Debian, and none of them have felt quite the same. Even within the same OS or distro things sometimes feel different between versions, and when you compare even 2 things as similar as Ubuntu and Debian there are details that make the feel different. </p>
<p>You can argue that the feel shouldn’t matter (I’ve liked just about all of them, although I’m not entirely a fan of Windows 7), but saying “it’s all [just] a matter of pointing and clicking” is like saying that since all cars are just a matter of starting and stopping, it shouldn’t matter at all which brand you get. A Honda is not a Ford is not a Volvo is not a BMW. They’re different, and the experience is different.</p>
<p>so you’re recommending that college students get BMW, Lexus, Audi, Mercedes, etc for their first car?</p>
<p>If you have already purchased your new mac, awesome!</p>
<p>If you haven’t, wait until mid-June. Apple announces student “specials” around this time where a free ipod and printer are thrown in if you purchase a new mac.</p>
<p>Oh god, don’t even talk about price.
You are still being grossly overcharged for the hardware in mac laptops.</p>
<p>Don’t even mention i5 or i3 and the processing power of each when you don’t even know the different clockrates and the difference between lynnfield and sandybridge</p>
<p>Sent from my Droid using CC App</p>
<p>^again, i’d point to the whole mac package instead of just the hardware. I would almost agree with you last year when they were still sticking Core 2 Duos in some of their MBPs, but now everything has gone Core-I series.
PS- Everyone understands clock speed and the difference between a 1st and 2nd gen processor. We get it, you know stuff. Thanks for the input.</p>