Apple laptop advice

scottduffy

scottduffy

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Hi Guys,

A while ago i posted on here for some advice when choosing a new laptop. I got my mate to free up tons of space on mine so didn't bother. Now though i am going to college and it's macs they use and i have no experience whatsoever with this brand. I have never even used an ipad or iphone and now i need to cut the android strings and invest in an apple laptop so that i'm not struggling when it comes to editing in class.

I am looking for a laptop that i can use for general web browsing and some photo editing. I have no idea whatsoever how much these cost and what model or spec i should be looking for. I am happy to go down the refurb route if it has decent savings. Could someone please advice me on a model? I have always used a 15 inch laptop and would prefer that size. Budget wise as cheap as possible.

Regards

Scott
 
Apple and cheap are not bedfellows I'm afraid.
I also think they are worth it, but like iPhone/android debates that's an endless internet argument.
If you have have decided on a 15" apple laptop then it's the 15" macbook pro retina, costs £1600.

For refurbs check here


http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
 
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I knew they were expensive but that's just too rich for me. I might get an ipad to get used to their layout as i really don't want to start off blind. I need a basic understanding of their workings. There's about four of them in my parents so i might borrow one of them.
 
Wait until you get to college. You should qualify for Apple education discounts. They also quite often do good finance deals for education users aswell. Have a talk to the college and your likely tutor. They'll say what you'd need and may even offer leased laptops or loan ones or good second hand ones. Fellow students upgrading are a good source as well.
 
scottduffy said:
I knew they were expensive but that's just too rich for me. I might get an ipad to get used to their layout as i really don't want to start off blind. I need a basic understanding of their workings. There's about four of them in my parents so i might borrow one of them.
Click to expand...

To be honest, if you are looking for an Apple laptop, then an iPad is really not going to do you much good.
The other thing you can do, is check the software specs of whatever software you need to run, and then perhaps pick up a secondhand model.
 
If you are used to PC's why not continue using your current laptop? Just check what software you will be using and see if you can get your college to sort you out with the windows version? I know lots of people who run PS on PC.

Other thing, I just bought a 13inch MacBook Pro retina from an airport as I was traveling, and it cost me £780. Do you know anybody who is traveling outside Europe?!
 
I'd be concerned if a college applies unfair competition rules and forced any of their students down the route of having to get an Apple MacBook. Now don't get me wrong I like them, heck I have plenty of them. I also fundamentally disagree that they are more expensive, I've just gone through the process of getting an 'equivalently' good Windows laptop and I just really could not find one cheaper and readily available that is spec for spec the same or better. So keep that in mind as well.

It has been years since I've had my 15" MBP stolen and went down the 13" MBA route for myself. This weekend I've had in two 15.4 MBP Retina i7/16GB/512SSD laptops and the verdict in my family was unanimous, the 13" every single time. I would not want to carry a 15" laptop about if I was going to college, damn these things are heavy. If I was all day based around my desk then it would be ok, but too big and heavy for my liking.

But as said before, there is no point in getting an iPad to get the 'feel'. The 'feel' is totally different, the experience and what you are able to do and not do is totally different. In my opinion that would be a waste of time.
 
13 inch Mac book retina, I got the slightly cheaper MacBook Air, am very pleased with it but should have gone up one step to the retina version. I agree with JP above, they are not more expensive than the equivalent Windows machine, I did the changeover from windows to Apple in November last year.
 
Agree with other statements regarding the college making students purchase over expensive/certain brands of laptop. Surely the tutor should take into account his lecture to show editing options during the class for both windows pc and mac pc. Every tutorial I watch usually gives editing options within Photoshop for windows or mac based systems.
 
No college will force students to one brand.

Recommend maybe, but as a senior lecturer I bought one at staff/educational discount and it was worthwhile.

There are differences between between 11"/13" MBA & 15" MBPro which is not just the price. The smaller computer screens can be limiting if using spreadsheets that require you to scroll. The Air is certainly light and easy to carry, but also therefore easily nick able. If I was having to drag a computer around the campus then yes go for the Air.

Definitely use a Retina if you are doing anything photographic related.

But I don't believe you will need to be constantly carrying it around to lectures. Most courses will have content downloadable via their own intranet and in my experience of delivering lectures, tutorials and seminars, the laptop was very much more for producing submissions for assessment and for accessing the University/college intranet.

Macs are a breeze to use and very powerful so as some else said, when you actually compare the specs, the prices are not that dissimilar, it just that there are a lot of low specced p.c.s out there that need frequently replacing and updating. And of course you can save by not needing antivirus software too.

Software is a massive saving, sometimes the University/college will have unbelievably good deals on software that are course specific. Unless you have been in this sector you will not have experienced this and is often due to the University/college taking a volume student licence and then sharing it between the students quite legitimately on their network. I had Adobe everything and Autocad complete just for the asking although I was putting the course together. Nevertheless the relevant students would have had access on the intranet for free to such software too.

Of course the University/College will have their own suite of computers, usually in the library, which you will be able to use for free.

Software4students offers good deals, but I would not purchase anything until you are there and 'in the know'.

Often the best discounts are obtained when using the University/college network to which you will be given a login. That way the providers know you are a genuine student. Otherwise you will need a letter/stamped approval from your college to confirm your student status.

So just have patience for the time being...
 
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If the Editing software is made by Adobe, it's essentially going to be visually the same on both platforms. Other things like closing windows, looking for files and other general computer tasks are going to be similar and easy to pick up - in many ways, Mac OS X is not that different to Windows when it comes to basic functions. If you have an Apple store nearby, or a computer shop that stocks Apple computers, I would go and have a look and try the OS. Many people (myself included) switch between the two on a daily basis, and it's not difficult at all (aside from occasionally using a Windows keyboard shortcut on a Mac, and vice versa!).

Bear in mind that the iPad runs a completely visually different operating system, designed for touch input rather than keyboard and mouse, so it won't be helpful to 'prepare' you.
 
scottduffy said:
Hi Guys,

A while ago i posted on here for some advice when choosing a new laptop. I got my mate to free up tons of space on mine so didn't bother. Now though i am going to college and it's macs they use and i have no experience whatsoever with this brand. I have never even used an ipad or iphone and now i need to cut the android strings and invest in an apple laptop so that i'm not struggling when it comes to editing in class.

I am looking for a laptop that i can use for general web browsing and some photo editing. I have no idea whatsoever how much these cost and what model or spec i should be looking for. I am happy to go down the refurb route if it has decent savings. Could someone please advice me on a model? I have always used a 15 inch laptop and would prefer that size. Budget wise as cheap as possible.

Regards

Scott
Click to expand...

Hi Scott

My daughter uses a Macbook Air 13" for Uni - absolutely great, very nice to use and light enough to carry around - which is very important when you've everything else to carry. One of the main reasons for her opting for this, apart from how nice she thought it was to use, was the battery life - lasts her all day and for Uni, that is a major benefit. Oh and bear in mind, she has never used Apple previously, doesn't have / want an iPhone (so isn't in the "it has to be Apple" brigade) and she chose this.

Depending on what you actually are doing at College, your other option is the Macbook Pro Retina as previously mention in the thread.

With regards to educational discount at Apple - yes very good and def worth it, and it gives you a very good discount off Applecare swell. If you pop into your local Apple store, explain your c=going to college and which one, they should be able to tell you what it will cost you after discount...

Good luck and enjoy yourself :)
 
13" MBP retina 256GB SSD is the lowest sensible spec laptop.

ipads and iphones have little to do with excellent Mac OSX. They are heavily dumbed down media consumption devices for people who want all the glitter but minimal involvement with the tech.
 
Just for clarity no one has asked me to buy an apple anything. I just know they use them exclusively and I don't want to struggle in the editing section because I'm learning that and how to operate a Mac.
 
The struggling wouldn't be with the OS anyway, surely it is the software they use that is the important part. It is your choice then, however I would have thought uni is about learning to learn, not training in a particular software package ;)
 
I thought apple was completely different to Windows. Will the software package work exactly the same with either Macs or Windows? Say it's lightroom for instance. Will all the functions be the exact same regardless of the os?

If that's the case I'll just buy a better laptop as although mine is functioning again it's still not up to editing.
 
Lightroom is the same on PC or Mac. The operating system outside of that is quite different. Personally I'd buy a Surface Pro 3 with a keyboard as I think they're fabulous, if I were spending Apple Mac money. In practice though, I'd spend £500 at the Dell Outlet on a machine and get something with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a big SSD and save the rest of the money for other things...
Looking at it now you can get a 15.6" Dell XPS with an i7, a 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, a touch enabled 3200x1800 display for £864 for example at the top end, and quite a nice machine for half that too.

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=7&c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh
Bought loads from Dell Outlet and every single time they have been immaculate and indistinguishable from new...
 
+1 for the surface pro. They are brilliant. And for college/uni they are even better. I'm loving the speed and the hybrid nature of it. Heck with the Xbox one controller connected, Xbox games play brilliantly via a Miracast receiver on the big screen :) superb little machines.

And proven to be very stable so far, I like it that it has microsofts reference build on it. Windows 8.1 works superbly.
 
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