Best laptop for uni - any price (1 Viewer)

[zb123]

Hey, just wondering, for a future com/law student which laptop is best?

My parents will pay for it, so I don't mind the price, but I feel there is no need to waste money on an expensive laptop that has unecessary features. ALl I will use it for is making notes/ using wifi there. I am discipined, so I will not play games on it or whatnot. I like using microsoft word etc at home, and have an ipad. So would a mac or windows be best?

Even though my parents are paying, I don't want to spend too much money on it, like I want the most suitable model. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Carrotsticks]

You will want something:

1. Light.

2. Long battery life.


http://www.onlinecomputer.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=10634

 

[oh well]

Macbook Pro 15" (that's the one I am getting) -

 

[Carrotsticks]

inb4 mac vs pc

 

[SnowFox]

Better suited in another subforum..

 

[asadass]

Samsung ultrabook.

 

[oh well]

Samsung ultrabook.

no just no

 

[asadass]

no just no

You're just jealous

Just bought it in Hong Kong for about $600 cheaper than you'd find it here

 

[asadass]

Macbook Pro 15" (that's the one I am getting) -

too heavy/expensive for what the op needs

 

[SnowFox]

Reread thread title.

 

[alstah]

Macbook Air 13''.

The Pro is too heavy for uni imo (even the 13'' Pro) - think about it, you have uni books, food and other crap in your bag...you want the lightest possible laptop. The Macbook Air has fantastic battery life, it's always lasted me a full day. The Air is just right, it's fast and reliable. I found the Air '11 to be too small and the screen strained my eyes. Go with the Macbook Air 13'' (or a comparable 13'' Ultrabook).

 

[asadass]

Reread thread title.

this was all i could come up with

Hey, just wondering, for a future com/law student which laptop is best?

My parents will pay for it, so I don't mind the price, but I feel there is no need to waste money on an expensive laptop that has unecessary features. ALl I will use it for is making notes/ using wifi there. I am discipined, so I will not play games on it or whatnot. I like using microsoft word etc at home, and have an ipad. So would a mac or windows be best?

Even though my parents are paying, I don't want to spend too much money on it, like I want the most suitable model. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Omnipotence]

Either an Air or Ultrabook

 

[Dash8]

Microsoft surface pro with the keyboard....I'm gunna get one when they are released in January....super light and thin with battery life of around 5-6 hours, 4gb of RAM and windows 8 so you can run any w8 or w7 program you want

 

[louielouiee]

13' Macbook Pro Retina- If you are only using it for work then I would recommend 128gb or 256gb of storage- anymore is just a waste.

Small, very light & portable and a battery life of up to 7 hours. Also has the latest 'flash storage' making it extremely light and incredibly powerful, especially with its 2.5GHz processor and 8gb of RAM- definitely a laptop you can use for MANY years.

I recently got one for graduating/christmas/uni and it is unbelievably fast (turns on in like 10 seconds) and yes I'm a bit of a nerd with this technology crap, like a side hobby.

Also, you can install windows 8 via boot camp. I think windows 8 is $58 at JB Hifi. Split the Mac OSX and Windows operating systems into like 64gb each.


And yeah, best of both worlds.


It works flawlessly at I believe the standard price is $1899 for 128gb.

 

[zb123]

What's the main difference between the acer aspire and the mac? I would rather have windows 8 by the way.

 

[louielouiee]

Well, if you look at the Acer Aspire S7 for instance, it only has a 1.9GHz processor, 4gb ram and 128gb storage for $1999

Macbook pro retina has 2.5 GHZ, 8gb RAM and 128gb for $1899

HOWEVER: Macbook Pro's are extremely hard to repair unless you take them to an apple store. They are almost impossible to replace parts for.

Acer Aspire can easily have their parts replaced.


That being said, unless you are horrible at looking after things that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Kostie100]

Mac Pro 15 inch or mac air depending on how portable you want the device. Im using a 15 inch pro for school.

 

[clarg]

I recently got a VAIO E series 14p - was just shy of $1000 with the following specs:

2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
750 GB hard drive

Also of a moderate weight, while not as light as the slimmest models available, still light enough to not be a burden.

 

[seremify007]

Well, if you look at the Acer Aspire S7 for instance, it only has a 1.9GHz processor, 4gb ram and 128gb storage for $1999

Macbook pro retina has 2.5 GHZ, 8gb RAM and 128gb for $1899

HOWEVER: Macbook Pro's are extremely hard to repair unless you take them to an apple store. They are almost impossible to replace parts for.

Acer Aspire can easily have their parts replaced.


That being said, unless you are horrible at looking after things that shouldn't be a problem.

I'd argue that Macbooks are easier to get parts for and repaired compared to other brands. After having several issues with Macbook Airs in the past year (namely girlfriend spilling water on them) and also seeing my parents manage to corrupt their iMac's hard drive, I've been thoroughly impressed by the quality of the Genius Bar service. Better yet they don't charge unless they need a hardware part replaced. Unlike Dell/Asus (who I've had experience with from an after sales perspective), there are plenty of Apple Stores around with Genius Bars who can assist you as opposed to you having to either drive out to Silverwater and leave your machine there for a while, or waiting for Dell to come by to your house, inspect it, and come back another day with the relevant parts, etc... if you don't have work on, then maybe that's fine, but having to take two days off work to fix a $500 netbook was definitely not worth it for me given the cost of my time.

Although that all being said, the only caveat I'd give is if you spill enough water on your Macbook and they can't clean it/fix it for you (surprisingly they've fixed mine each time so all good), the cost of the "Logic Board" (apple speak for motherboard and all the other components soldered onto it such as SSD, RAM, etc) could be nearly as much as a brand new laptop (e.g. $800+).