Students and Macbook?

yes,you can!

 

Sweet! 10char

 

i see that you like apple more, good to know.

 

I don't get the point. I'm not comparing what the laptops are used for, I'm comparing aesthetics. In the looks department - for the majority of people - Apple > Lenovo.

haha. is it really good to know or are you just being unnecessarily sarcastic? half the people i know bought a macbook because it looks "cool" and its the certain truth that apple wouldn't sell as many notebooks if they looked bland. in fact, this is a general marketing tool: make your crap look awesome and people will buy it.

lets do a little experiment here.

wife a: is smart, funny, fun to talk to, does everything you tell her to, does her work faster and it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg when you two go out. but she looks like this: http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/cottontop86/untitled.jpg

wife b: is slightly less witty and intelligent, the conversations can be lacking at times and it certainly costs more money to keep her happy. but in general, the two are comparable in what you get from the relationship. and she looks like this: http://fitblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/jessica-alba-california.jpg

according to your logic, you'd pick the more productive wife (a). yikes.

i'm not trying to objectify women so don't flame me for that, and it might be that im stretching the comparison here, but people who say that looks dont matter are either saints or lying. im going to vote for the latter.

 

^^^ROFL hahahaha that's a funny example no matter what, but people don't get as emotional about a laptop as they would about Jessica Alba.

 

The idea is good but your comparaison is not valid: .Thinkpads are not ugly . Students are looking for a balance between performance and portability. Maybe .Macbooks are more stylish than business class laptops but you can't conclude that business laptops looks horrible: they are just not eye-catching.

And could someone explain to me why .Macbooks are more "stylish" or "cool"? I know that its slim and sleek but...what else is there? I mean, the surface is completly white or with an aluminium surface, with an Apple logo on it, and it lights up in white. I can't find anything special there, at least compared to this: http://xoticpc.com/exterior-finish-option-a-10.html.

 

maybe thinkpads are not ugly but they just dont look as refined as the macbook. they are thicker, have a black matte finish, rectangular in every aspect, and a keyboard/touchpad layout that is not symmetric (i know that there is no such thing as a symmetric keyboard but apple comes close). another way the macbook keeps its clean look is by having only two colors: black and silver. thinkpads have 5 or 6. at any rate, if you dont think a macbook is "stylish" or "cool" then i dont know if there's a way to "teach" someone how or why a macbook looks good. to each their own.

 

I'm not saying that looks don't matter, but I'm saying looks are relative. Even if you take your example of women, one women a man might find appealing may not look as good to another man's eyes.

I'm not saying Macbooks look bad either, I think they look good and I'm sure that factors into why some people buy them, but I think it goes past that as well.

To me, there are other notebooks who look just as good as Mabooks though.

 

Lol half the arguments here are so bogus. You either like it and/or want it or you dont. End of story. Not like any of you is paying for my MBP.

 

The laptops with skins are more or less along the lines of this though: http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/paris-hilton-set-for-scary-musical.jpg
A ton of fun to begin with, but gets old pretty quickly with poor lasting appeal.

 

Well the point of this thread wasn't for anyone to bash whether or not they like the Macbook, but more for me to understand what made it such a good laptop for student so I was hoping to get students' opinions as to why it would maybe cater to them more than any other brand

I wasn't trying to open a "should I buy a a Macbook or not" type of situation. More of an analysis of the Macbook's actual appeal to a certain class of people.

Obviously, maybe I just know too many Apple fanboys/fangirls lol , but I was just questioning their statement that's all

 

God that is tacky.


Apple caters to a more refined taste.
(And clearly not yours, I might add )

 

Nothing is perfect you can't make everyone happy with one product and still get profit

 

between mac and pc my image is more like jobs who talks well and gates to makes the money

computers as girls? then the next few years you will be facing an elder regardless of what you have

 

I think you tried to get so logical that in the end, you may have outsmarted even yourself. The reasons a person employs to choose a partner are vastly different from what he or she employs to choose a mate. I certainly see where you were trying to go, but . . . you're comparing different things entirely.

I do believe that there are people out there that would pick an "ugly" (subjective) piece of machinery that gets the job done over a "pretty" (also subjective) piece of machinery that may be, in some way or another, less capable. I'm certainly not suggesting that the MB are less capable, especially since I've never actually used one for any extended period of time. The point that I'm making, however, is that not all people care about what their tools look like. Give them something functional and durable, and they'll gladly tote it wherever they go; hence, Thinkpads or even Asus.

I'd actually like an older model MB just to play with from time-to-time. I like their OS quite a bit. I do wish that I could use it more. I might look around on eBay to see if I can find one that's been refurbished.

Unfortunately, you can have the best of intentions, but most threads turn out this way no matter how you phrased the initial question/comment and no matter what section it's in. I have found that people get very defensive whenever someone strolls into a thread and even slightly talks negatively about their beloved (fill in the blank).

 

I'm quite sure I didn't outsmart myself and I even suggested that the comparison was iffy at best, but it was something clear that everyone could understand and apply to the situation. Obviously there is a difference between your wife and your laptop... I was merely comparing "good looking" to "not good looking" so don't look too far into it. Of course not everyone cares what their "tools" look like, thats pretty much the point of this thread - it has been mentioned several times, thanks for reading.

As far as negative threads go, this one is rather benign as we've moved to discussing the philosophy of having something pretty vs. something more capable rather than yelling at each other about how the mac is better than a pc and vice versa. In the end, the only person that needs to be happy with the decision is you.

 

Whoa, relax homie. I know what you pointed out and I even stated that I saw where you were going with it. In the end, that's all that matters, right?

 

For sure. I didn't mean to come across as too brazen.

 

Since you have a MB, I do have a question for you. The heat issue has been up-and-down, from what I've read. Some people have persistent problems with it and some don't. What has been your experience? I'm interested in picking up a refurbished machine at some point in the next six months to a year.

 

I have the late '08 mbp and with that one heat is not as much of an issue. Using the integrated chip, I'm idle between 40-45C but on the 9600gt it's idle around 60C - for both CPU and GPU. When using the 9600gt it tends to get a little warm on the left palmrest as well as on the extreme left edge of the keyboard, but its certainly usable on one's lap. I guess in my case the heat issue is "down." But then again, I don't game or use many cpu/gpu intensive apps.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what are some of the more common tasks you use your machine for?

 

It may be a bit hot but don't forget its also quiet
Mine is able to idle the GPU at 52 and CPU at 45 but the fan is always working a bit.

 

On any given day I usually use these programs (open at the same time): Word, Ppt, Excel, terminal, safari/firefox, mail, xcode, MacPymol (molecular visualization), SwissPDB (same), quicksilver, and adium. I might be leaving one or two out, but thats the gist of it. I mainly use my mac to code and write papers/make presentations.

 

I hear you . . . pretty much all the same things I would use it for, give or take.

 

i mean you can do all of those things on a pc, no doubt, but i love expose because im constantly switching through a ton of open windows and i get so sick of "alt-tab-tab-tab-tab-tab" and then 2 seconds later "alt-tab-tab-tab-tab-tab." the four-finger expose swipe is a god-send. mac productivity win!

 

Would you ever go back to PC?

 

my desktop/media center runs vista ultimate and i like it just fine for light gaming and HD playback. i simply do my "real" work faster in os x so i don't think i'd go back to using windows full time.

 

How many windows do you have open? A million? Indeed, a million open windows is hard to manage. It is a good thing Expose can sort through a million windows.

 

Yes, a million. Does that satisfy your trolling desires?

 

I hear you. Once I get squared away with my main laptop, I'm definitely going to look into a refurbished MB. Thanks for the info.

 

I just like how I can use a combination of command + tab to switch between apps, command + ~ to switch between the windows of the same app, and expose to switch between any windows, and not to mention command + arrows to switch between spaces.

 

Keep on-topic and post appropriate comments please. I had to delete several posts. Thank you.

 

My only advice for students is don't get into credit card debt just because something on the Mac or PC is really cool.

You get what you can afford or given to you by your family. A Netbook, $499 budget notebook, whatever that can get you on the web, submit your HW, or print a doc is enough.

Do not read into which OS is better or why some i-diot cannot live without certain features.

You'll find out later in life that worrying about details and features on computer won't improve your social life or your grades in college.

 

True words of wisdom. Thanks.

 

I agree. I still prefer pen and paper

 

While that is true, some students (like myself) need to print off 100s of lecture slides to take notes on. Sometimes that is annoying so I just take my computer and type notes faster.

I like to study in the library and having a computer there with me to look up things is quite handy.

 

True, plus its a matter of personal preference. For example, I can type faster than I can write. My writing is also...horrid (always has been). MS office One Note makes things quite easy. I take my notebook to all my lectures except for math class.