So, next year I'm off to poonivesity (see what I did there?), and have decided I don't want my desktop with me, especially seeing as I don't game all that much any more, and if I do game, its usually the occasional hour long session on something quite old, CS:S, HL2, Portal and the like, and a basic laptop can do that. That was originally one of the things that stopped me getting a mac, but now that steams on there, all is groovy. Any-who, at university I am going to be doing civil engineering, which is going to require a CAD package (AutoCAD/Cobalt I've been told) and a full adobe package, which work very well on a Mac, but will they run better on a Mac when compared with a PC? Also, is it worth going for a 15" over the 13" Macbook Pro? No matter which one I went with, I'd be hooking them up to my 24" Dell in my room, and with a proper mouse etc. Would having the 13" screen (1280 x 800) make doing CAD difficult due to the relatively low resolution and size, and would having a 15" (1440 x 900) be better off? On the same subject, would I notice the extra 0.5kg of the 15" compared with the 13" when carrying it around with me? I guess not, but hell, I've never had a laptop before. Other sides of the 13 vs. 15 debate is whether the its worth the extra £200 for the bigger screen and the i5 vs a C2D processor. These were the models I was comparing. So, thoughts?
Personally, I'd get the 15" one. I can't stand working on a small screen, and the i5 will give it slightly more power for everything else. Having said that, I'd suggest a PC: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/toshiba-satellite-l505-144-04127246-pdt.html Less than half the price, a very slightly slower processor (but still faster than the Core 2 Duo), and a gpu that can play your Valve games just fine, according to notebookreview.
Go for the i5! Macbooks are pretty sweet, the trackpad is awesome, to the point where you will prefer the trackpad to a proper mouse for web browsing (which most people tend to do). I love the two-finger scrolling and the three finger swipe left for previous page and right for the page ahead. If you use iTunes the track controls along the top of the keyboard also come in handy. The keyboard is well spaced and i've typed out long essays on it (i have a normal macbook) multiple times with very few mistakes compared to other laptops i've used.
I study Mechanical engineering myself, and use Solidworks and AutoCAD almost daily. I bought a 15" C2D (2.4 gHz) with a 9600 (I think) - PC It was more than enough for the simple things I am doing in the programs. People in my class with onboard Intel 3100 graphics, on cheap brands are doing just fine as well. Some in my class is also running the programs on macs, and they do it just fine. I daily carry my labtop 8 km on my bike to an from school, so weight is an issue. My current labtop weighs about 2,5 kg, and that is way too much, because sometimes I need 7 kg of books - If you will be biking on a daily basis, invest in a proper bag (Haglöfs backup). I can reccomend getting a wireless mouse. Integrated blutooth and a logitech mouse works fine for me. Edit: I would get the cheaper one, and invest in a proper bag and wireless mouse.
You may want to check the remote situation. AFAIK they took the IR receiver out ogf the new MBP's (but you can still order a remote on the website)
I personally think the extra money is worth it. The bigger screen and resolution will make it more pleasant to work with when away from a screen, and the i5 processor is far better than the C2D in the 13" one. As for weight, I really don't understand it when people complain that a laptop is too heavy. I'm a skinny guy, but I regularly carry up to (and over, a few times) my own weight in guitar equipment. Case in point: I once had to carry my amplifier head, two guitars and a pedalboard over a mile uphill to get home after a gig. The amp head weighs about 8-9 stone, the guitars together are maybe 2 stone or so, and the pedalboard was about 1.5 stone at the time. I weigh 10 stone myself. But anyway, back to the point, if you can carry 5 bags of sugar, you probably can carry a laptop. I've lugged my friend's Alienware laptop to college for him before, along with my guitar and books, because he had to carry a bass guitar and a tuba into college. ... I guess my point in all this is that I think that laptops aren't that heavy if you put them in a comfortable bag and think "This is £1400 worth of metal, solder and silicon I am carrying here. I am glad it doesn't weigh as much as sleepy's amplifier." Or something.
I have a 13" unibody which is fine for me, but if I could afford it I'd go for the i5 15". They're pricey but worth it in my opinion - lots of power and still lots of battery life - 10 hours now I believe. Plus the screen is fantastic.
But, why do you want a Mac? I mean, you could get something like this for the same money, and that's just after a two minute search. I'm not going to start calling you names or anything (well, okay, I might ) and it's your money but I just can't see the logic in choosing a Mac over a more powerful laptop.
OSX supposedly works better with a lot of different programs, most commonly creative stuff like photo editing, video editing, AUTOCad, music editing and sequencing etc etc etc. Plus, the styling is very fashionable. However, my girlfriend and I have made a pact, that is we ever go to a college where nearly every student has a Mac, we are going to buy expensive Alienwares, and spend most of the day playing L4D together, or something.
I had a Mac Book, not a MBP, but the fact is, I got rid of it. It frustrated me. I realised that a lot of the things I wanted to do on a laptop were a pain in the ass. MS Word on the Mac is utter crap compared to the PC version. Problems with sharing files across the network when I used it at home had me wanting to smash it to pieces. Mac OS itself wound me up due to it being harder to customise, and do what I want it to do, and look how I want it to look. Seriously... unless you have a very good reason to buy a Mac (that CAD software you mentioned), just buy a far superior PC laptop for the same money. As for Adobe products running better on a Mac than a PC... rubbish. I've done benchmark tests with PS and Premiere: My i7 against a a Xeon Mac Pro, and my rig wipes the floor with it consistently. If you absolutely have to get a MBP.. get the 15. Small screens for productivity software are an exercise in frustration. Even 15" will wind you up.
I don't want to start a PCvsMac war here, but the above is nothing more than a viral marketing myth encouraged by Apple. People in industries such as graphic design, engineering, architecture and music allow themselves to be convinced by their peers that Macs are better for those purposes without any empirical evidence to suggest it, then a year later when someone else asks them they'll also say "Oh yes, Macs are better for that. Get a mac." and the free advertisement continues while more and more people are convinced to join the high-society Mac-owner club by their peers. Any real advantage Macs had by working out of the box in those areas is nullified by Windows 7's stability and performance and for someone who knows their way around a system a better-priced system running Windows will offer more for less. A Mac running OSX might perform marginally better using programs that have historically been tailored towards Apple (such as ProTools), but that difference is small and more than offset by the faster hardware you could get for the same price by buying a non-Apple system. There are plenty out there for whom Macs do suit, but that's where the advantage begins and ends: Preference and the availability of choice. If you prefer the Mac way of doing things, the OSX interface, the stylisation - And the price and wider incompatibility aren't issues for you, then go with Apple! If you'd rather get arguably better value for your money and aren't too fussed about using OSX or having a stylish laptop then get a non-Apple laptop running Windows 7 and use that instead. To sum up; To each their own - Choose the platform that suits you and your wallet best, but please avoid the marketing myths propagated by both sides of the divide and remember that love'em or hate'em, Apple are unparalleled when it comes to marketing, especially when so fervently aided by their fans - Caveat Emptor.
I cba writing an essay of thoughts on this because of the Apple haters in this thread (yeah, I can see you) so here are my thoughts in a nutshell: - You'll love the Mac. If you like great design, you'll like this. It is extremely well designed and if you get the one that's just right for you, it'll last you a long time. - Of course you can get a more powerful Windows based notebook, and may even be able to get it for the same money, but it won't be anything like this, and definately won't come with the same support. Who said PC Laptop? Really? A Personal Computer laptop? Makes sense.... or not. - For CAD work and Adobe programs they are great. Mac OS and these applications get on very well because the software devs spend the time and money producing versions that are optimized for both Windows and Mac OS. - I recommend the 15" version for a couple of reasons - the screen will be much more comfortable to work on in general. When you introduce the possibility of using it for CAD work this becomes even more important. I have tried to use SolidWorks on my 12.5" laptop before and it was an unpleasent experience. If you're going to be hooking it up to a 24" when you're at home, 24+15 will look much more natural and feel better to use than 24+13. That's if you use it in a multimonitor setup of course. You can just use it as a single primary and keep the lid closed. The other reason you'll like the 15" better are the better memory and CPU options. A C2D will not run the Adobe Creative Suite or CAD applications well at all. I've tried it with AutoCad 2010 and Solidworks 2010 and the C2D failed miserably. - The screen quality is great on the MBP. - After sales service is second to none. Zurechial - There is no such thing as incompatability issues with buying a Mac anymore. Each one is shipped with a copy of Mac OS that includes Boot Camp. Relating to software, there is now nothing you can do on a PC that you cannot do on a Mac. And your comments on Apples marketing techniques and their alleged use of hearsay and viral marketing is nothing but your opinion. There's no way you know how well or how much better software runs on Mac OS compared to Windows. You're nothing but a Windows fanboy, and everyone who has eyes can see it. I really ****ing hate how when anyone posts a valid, reasonable thread asking for advice about anything relating to Apple on this forum, all the Apple haters come out of the woodwork and crash the thread as all the Mac owners and those who know about Apple software and computers try to give good advice. That **** really pisses me off. Apple are a computer company, this is a computer forum. There is no good reason in the world for anyone to refer to all Apple products and software as being inferior or rubbish or over priced or whatever other than them just not liking the Apple compurer company. You know that's exactly the same as me saying I hate my Dads Ford Mondeo because my Renault is better, right? It's absolute rubbish.
Ok, I'm not an Apple hater, and I'm not trying to continue a flame war here. Nonetheless, the below post is mostly accurate, apart from the bit about support. Apple support is good, but even if you have an AppleCare protection plan they'll try hard to get out of servicing your warranty. I know a few people who have had to use their rights under the sale of goods act to have their products fixed, just because Apple have tried to deny them their rights. Apart from that, it's good
So to sum Unicorn's post up from the other side (I'm against overpriced Macs): Windows laptop: - More power for your money (or same power, cheaper) - Environment you're likely already used to - More choice Macbook: - Better screen than most laptops - Fantastic to look at (well-designed) - Excellent after-sales service Both: - Debate on screen size + budget - Software equally optimized, unless it's something very specific you're after (even Unicorn said so)
The price just doesn't justify what you get to me. Plus Apple are bad with updates, have they fixed the MBP's touch pad issues yet? When more viruses are released for OSX how long will apple take to patch the flaws. I will be honest, I am a windows man, and I have this debate with one of my best mates regularly. The question is, what could you spend several hundred pounds on? As that is the difference between a MBP and a windows laptop. One of the guys I live with recently got a Mac, and he only ever uses the windows Vista that came loaded on Boot Camp, as it works better for day to day uses. He's doing a music production degree and his tutors convinced him he needs a Mac. The bottom line is, if you are one of the very few who NEEDs a Mac get one. If you see one going cheap second hand, get one. If you see a sale, get one. At all other times get a Windows machine as for day to day tasks and uses, the 90% of the time you'll use it for, it will be better. And as I said, you'll have several hundred pound left in your pocket. /flame If you decide you need one, go for the 15" model, as it's only (!!!) £200 more, bit if you got the 13" and it struggles you'll be stuck with it.
By the way, I forgot to mention that as a University student at a UK institution you'll be eligible for about 15% discount on your new Mac as long as you preprder/order it on the Apple UK site from within the university (on their network) or on the phone giving them your name, uni registration number and what course you're studying.
Hence my use of "Supposedly". I, personally, hated used the iMacs in college for music use. Sibelius was a PITA to work on compared to the XP machines, Garageband and Logic didn't play nice with the M-Audio DI boxes next to each one and browsing the internet was a pain, as Safari constantly asked for passwords. From my own use, as well, the keyboard's action felt dead and awkward to type on, and the might mouse was... frankly terrible. The machines were sluggish (fairly low spec, 2GB RAM, 2.0ghz C2D, 320GB HDD 24" screen. They were selling an old refurb one for £600, I think. I just didn't find them any easier. Most of my friends in college agreed.
