Thinking of getting a Macbook

My field of study is pretty heavy into Macs, so to make my life easier I'm deciding on a Mac.
My main concerns are compatibility with software. Can Macs do everything windows can? Utorrent, old PC games, I mean, what doesn't work on Macbooks in this day and age?
Also, is it possible to add education discount to a refurb?

I'm leaning into a refurbished 13'' macbook currently mainly because it's:
-cheaper
-better battery life(right?)

New macbook:
-LED screen( especially the LED screen!)
-GPU put the old tech to shame.
-1/2 pound lighter

What puts me off the newer macbook is the looks(No black casing yet, eh?) and the trackpad and slightly underwhelming battery life. I couldn't scroll with the trackpad! That's not normal is it?

 

You should be able to scroll with the trackpad, are you scrolling properly? On a Mac, you scroll by putting two fingers on the trackpad and moving up or down, left or right (unlike most notebooks that force you to use a (usually inaccurate) strip along the side of the trackpad).

I personally think the new MacBooks are more worth it, for the better quality, LED-backlit display, new hardware and lighter weight.

There are lots of torrent clients for Mac OS X, as well most old PC games have a Mac version, or you can boot into Windows on a Mac (you do need a Windows license though).

I think the battery life is about the same...I never got 5 hours on my plastic MacBook anyway.

And no, Educational Discount can't be applied to Refurbs (that'd be great!).

 

Utorrent will be released for OSX soon! Hopefully it won't get dropped again. Generally, yes, Mac can do almost all the things Windows can (video, music, games), but when you get into specific software sometimes Mac still lack support. Since your field is heavy on Mac usage though (I'm guessing graphic/videos) you shouldn't have to worry about software compatibility much.
You can't apply education discount to refurbish, but that'd be a sweet deal if you could.

 

And yeah, you said specifically your field is dominated by Macs...well there's certain cases when there's Mac only software, such as Final Cut Pro, so yeah .

 

Thanks for the replies Sam, Douten.

Another couple of questions. The processor is Penryn/Montevina right?
Is it possible to down clock the processor or disable the GPU on the new Macbook?

 

I don't believe its possible to disable the GPU, and yes its Penryn!