<p>D is entering SMPA in the Fall.</p>
<p>about to take the plunge into Mac-land as that has been recommended by those on this board and by current SPMA students.</p>
<p>i used to be a Mac user... back in the days of ClarisWorks.... good grief... I'm out of the iLoop!</p>
<p>just curious if any SMPAers might have suggestions of software packages?</p>
<p>I'm assuming she'll need:</p>
<p>iWork - Mac word processing?</p>
<p>iLife - for basics of working with photo/video/etc?</p>
<p>MS Office Teacher/Student Edition - to be able to be bi-lingual in a dual-platform world?</p>
<p>Adobe Acrobat Studio - for making PDF's & ease of platform compatibility?
*Final Cut Studio - for Digital Media course which requires Final Cut Pro</p>
<p>Anything else?</p>
<ul>
<li>Final Cut Studio is like $1,000. I'm assuming she won't need his freshman year - maybe not until jurnior year? Or should she have it sooner than that?</li>
</ul>
<p>I’d go with MS Office for Mac and forget iWorks for word processing. Word for Mac (included with Office) is very Mac-like. Anything you create in Word can be saved as a PDF, so do you really need Acrobat Studio? And I’ve never needed Final Cut Pro yet- but I bet you’d be able to get it from another student.</p>
<p>thanks shmo.</p>
<p>do you agree that Mac is the way to go for an SMPA student? </p>
<p>can i ask what year you are? </p>
<p>have you done many video/multi-media projects for which Mac would be a better platform?</p>
<p>I’ve never had anything but a Mac, so I absolutely think Mac is the way to go. iMovie included in Mac OS) is great for video editing. Seriously, you can’t go wrong.</p>
<p>Try to wait until mid-summer to buy.apple always has a special offer for students-buy a laptop, get a free iPod touch.</p>
<p>woo hoo! great tip - thanks!</p>
<p>did you all purchase your Mac’s through the school - or independently?</p>
<p>No- just watch for the computer plus ipod offer- they will advertise it on the website.[Apple</a> Education Pricing - Apple Store (U.S.)](<a href=“Education Pricing and Student Discounts - Education - Apple”>Education Pricing and Student Discounts - Education - Apple)
If this year is like every other year, it’ll happen in July. Then just go to your local Apple Store or order online.</p>
<p>ya’ll ever have any need for tech support on campus? </p>
<p>how’s the support for Macs? </p>
<p>also - getting down to the nitty-gritty of ordering a MacBook Pro…
is it worth the extra money ($300) to get a 320 GB rather than the 250 GB? if she’ll need to add software as the 4 years fo school progress, she may need the space, yes?
[320 GB is also 2.66GHz as opposed to 2.4GHz… so, a little faster processing?)</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to the Apple Store - Apple Store (U.S.)](<a href=“http://store.apple.com/us]Welcome”>Apple Store Online - Apple)</p>
<p>Here’s the annual free iPod touch offer.</p>