Smart to buy MBP for college?

I'm beginning to look at getting a laptop for college. I will be studying Finance and Investment banking/real estate investment.

Given that my college (U of Iowa) uses mostly PCs, would it be smart to get a MBP? I'm assuming that I will only need to use Microsoft Office, but I don't want to have any compatibility issues down the road.

I was originally set on getting a Thinkpad X220, but after some recent research a 13" MBP would really be ideal for me.

So, given that I won't be doing any video/media editing or photoshop, and will mostly be dealing with business applications, should I go ahead and get a MBP?

 

What would your Finance degree say about spending 2k+ on a laptop?

 

I will go with a PC if I were you.

You might need to run custom Excel add ins, and I don't know for certain if they'll run with Excel 2011 on OS X.

 

I went from a Asus G60JX for school to a MacBook Pro, I don't regret it one but. All of my teachers pretty much hate Macs, but it doesn't matter, anything that can be done in Office on Windows can be done on a Mac, the only thing I have found is that MS does not offer Visio for Macs and we use that in a couple classes, now with that I run either Boot Camp or VMWare Fusion and run Windows 7 to do those projects. Otherwise I've had no other issues.

 

You can always run VMWARE fusion.

 

I see that you currently have a Thinkpad SL400. I don't think you need to buy a new laptop for Microsoft Office.

If you insist on getting a new laptop, this ASUS U33JC after rebate is only $615.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...278&PID=4328635&IC=ASU33JCA1&A=RetrieveSku&Q=

 

Don't see why not. An OEM copy of Windows 7 can be had for $99, if you decide later on that you absolutely need Windows.

 

His Finance degree probably would tell you to research more. How did you come up with that number?
$1500 or less with ease depending on spec's

 

Windows 7 Pro x64 can also be purchased for $30 from Microsoft and universities often sell it for much less. The one I graduated from sold Windows for $10 and same goes for the university I will attend here in a few months.

Still, if you are going to be in a Windows world, there really is no need to buy any Apple computer. You should really only buy Apple computers if you want/need to run Mac OS X. Some argue that Apple's build quality is above all others and that the trackpad is better than the competition but I really don't think that is worth the premium cost that Apple demands over others if you are just going to run Windows.

For example, Apple wants $1200 for the base 13" MBP yet you can buy a notebook from Sony (with the same specs and a Blu-ray drive) for $900, an HP with the same specs for $750, etc. They may not have the same build quality or amazingly large trackpads but they will run Windows just as good as what Apple is offering.

I purchased a MBP for going back to college but I want to run OS X. I have grown tired of the Windows environment (especially having to reformat my systems once every 6 months) and how everyone tries to attack it. I also have a bunch of iDevices and OS X simply syncs with them better (mainly due to iTunes running smoother under OS X).

 

I made the mistake of spending a fortune on a MBP when I should've got a similarly speced iMac 21.5" (way superb IPS screen too) for nearly half the price. Do you really need the portability? I lived under the illusion having a laptop in college was necessary when I pretty much ended up leaving it at home 90% of the time.

 

Are you mainly going to be doing photo's or film work? If yes, then the macbook would be a good a choice. I don't have a macbook but most of my film friends use them to edit movies in class and they work very well, albeit having slow rendering times.

In the end, just pick something that you will like. If you don't have any strict requirements, or you don't download a lot of indie or open source software then you should be fine with a macbook pro. Just remember a few things about college: its a lot easier and more effective to take notes with a notepad and a tape recorder, if you do computer science they will generally have computers for you to use and the eclipse IDE comes in mac flavor, longetivity is one of the most important factors. Just try one out, ask some friends who have one what their feelings about it are, and pick something that you can see yourself using.

If you get one and it turns out you don't like it, just return it or resell it (one of the great things about macs is that they hold their value for a long time).

 

I find it ironic that most people are recommending against buying a Mac in the Mac forum.

That said, it's all a matter what you want in a laptop, and what an extra $500 is to you. I believe that the Macbook Pro is the most common laptop among American college students, so even if your school mostly runs PCs they should be at least somewhat accommodating. If the benefits of a Mac (OSX, trackpad, sleekness, customer service) outweigh the costs (additional $500 blow to your wallet, occasional software compatibility issues), then I'd say go ahead and get one. Otherwise, the X220 is the better choice.

 

Seriously, where do you guys get your pricing from? In Canada, a X220 with the same spec's as a 13" Macbook Pro is $1049, the MBP is $1249. The price of the X220 is a special sale price and seems to change as much as the weather where Apple remains consistent. For the extra $200 the screen on the Mac is much easier to look at and touch pad is superior

 

i think you should stay with your current laptop. It still can supply plenty of juice for you current needs. Keep in mind that office for mac and windows are developed separately. So the options being offered might slightly be different.

 

It's because some people need to stay in a Windows world for their computing and we all know that there are less expensive options that can run Windows just fine compared to a MacBook Pro.

There is another major reason why college students mostly buy notebooks over desktops: space. Dorms are small, common apartments are small, and efficiency apartments are small. Even now with my 1000 ft^2 single bedroom apartment, I barely have enough space to setup a desk for a desktop. Notebooks can go anywhere and be stationed anywhere whether it is on a coffee table, a night stand, a lap, etc. Desktops, even ones so form fitting as iMacs, require much more space (and it has to be dedicated, you aren't going to use an iMac on a coffee table or your lap) to operate even compared to a behemoth 18" notebook.

The argument becomes moot once people move into actual multi-room houses but most college students don't have a lot of space to work with as they will share multi-room apartments/houses or, if they are living on their own, they opt for the dorms or efficiency apartments.

I am not saying that you are wrong it is just that there are other considerations beyond portability when it comes to buying a notebook. I made the mistake of getting a desktop instead of a notebook when I started my undergrad degree. It was a monstrous Gateway and took up over half of the space on my desk in the dorm I was staying in (the freshman dorms). I even stayed in the upper classman dorms for one semester and my desktop took up way too much space. I upgraded to a 17" notebook around that time, took my desktop back home for storage, and I could do everything I needed to in something that consumes only 1/16th of the desk space.

 

Seeing as the original poster is in the United States, the Lenovo Thinkpad X220 would cost only around ~$690 at the moment ( http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=1160758&t=2896765). Furthermore, the X220 IPS screen is actually superior to the MacBook Pro screen in my opinion. I'd recommend that the OP go with the X220.