Technology Mac laptop recommendations

[TMP-SMX]

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A netbook would handle everything you need for medical school. The question is at what cost and convenience do you want. I don't know why you think you need the 2.4GHz MB as the 2GHz is only around 14% slower on benchmarks. Benchmarks tax the machine and therefore you will only see a difference if you regularly max out the CPU. This is something you will very rarely do while using the machine. If you buy the 2GHz Aluminum MB for $1249 (plus tax), (plus free printer and free iPod this summer), 4GB of RAM for $60, and 5400 RPM HDD for $60 or 7200 RPM HDD for $80, it will cost you roughly $1450 for 2GHz. If you go for the 2.4GHz model you might as well stick with the original 250GB HDD and it would cost you about $1673 for 2.4GHZ. If you want to sell the iPod Touch or whatever they are giving away this summer it should rake roughly $250 on ebay new. $1200 sounds like a pretty good deal after all is said and done and the machine will last you a long time. The 2.4GHz would cost you $1423. (Something to think about). FYI, you should also buy AppleCare on ebay for about $125 to give you a three year warranty. Unless you need the graphics power of the MBP there is no reason to buy it. You can also use ebates on ebay for 3% cash back, Newegg for 2% cash back, and the online apple store for 1% cash back to give you a little extra back on top of the $5 you start with. That's $28 cash back. Just wait around for this summer and see what happens.

 

[WashMe]

A netbook would handle everything you need for medical school. The question is at what cost and convenience do you want. I don't know why you think you need the 2.4GHz MB as the 2GHz is only around 14% slower on benchmarks. Benchmarks tax the machine and therefore you will only see a difference if you regularly max out the CPU. This is something you will very rarely do while using the machine. If you buy the 2GHz Aluminum MB for $1249 (plus tax), (plus free printer and free iPod this summer), 4GB of RAM for $60, and 5400 RPM HDD for $60 or 7200 RPM HDD for $80, it will cost you roughly $1450 for 2GHz. If you go for the 2.4GHz model you might as well stick with the original 250GB HDD and it would cost you about $1673 for 2.4GHZ. If you want to sell the iPod Touch or whatever they are giving away this summer it should rake roughly $250 on ebay new. $1200 sounds like a pretty good deal after all is said and done and the machine will last you a long time. The 2.4GHz would cost you $1423. (Something to think about). FYI, you should also buy AppleCare on ebay for about $125 to give you a three year warranty. Unless you need the graphics power of the MBP there is no reason to buy it. You can also use ebates on ebay for 3% cash back, Newegg for 2% cash back, and the online apple store for 1% cash back to give you a little extra back on top of the $5 you start with. That's $28 cash back. Just wait around for this summer and see what happens.

I just wasn't sure if there were anatomy programs or something that would run slowly on a regular MB. You're talking about just buying a 2gb stick of ram (to get to 4gb) from newegg or something, right? Will that void the original warranty if I don't get the ram through apple? Also, I think I'm going to take out actual insurance instead of applecare in case my laptop is dropped/stolen (my wife has this on her laptop now, it isn't very expensive). Thanks for the advice/ help.

P.S. regarding the 2.4, I want it b/c it will be "fast" longer and it has the *illuminated keyboard*

edit: w/ the student discount I can get the 2.4ghz/ 4gb RAM/ 320gb HD for $1656. Then I was going to get Office Mac 2008 Student & Teacher ed. for $135, and get the free printer (and maybe an iPod to keep if they offer it this summer; I don't have a working iPod).

 

[rc4ch]

I just wasn't sure if there were anatomy programs or something that would run slowly on a regular MB. You're talking about just buying a 2gb stick of ram (to get to 4gb) from newegg or something, right? Will that void the original warranty if I don't get the ram through apple? Also, I think I'm going to take out actual insurance instead of applecare in case my laptop is dropped/stolen (my wife has this on her laptop now, it isn't very expensive). Thanks for the advice/ help.

P.S. regarding the 2.4, I want it b/c it will be "fast" longer and it has the *illuminated keyboard*

edit: w/ the student discount I can get the 2.4ghz/ 4gb RAM/ 320gb HD for $1656. Then I was going to get Office Mac 2008 Student & Teacher ed. for $135, and get the free printer (and maybe an iPod to keep if they offer it this summer; I don't have a working iPod).

Just get this if this is what you want. You shouldn't keep asking people to recommend you what to buy because most of the time its not what you want.

Just get this and enjoy.

 

[rc4ch]

Sorry double post

 

[confuse]

I just wasn't sure if there were anatomy programs or something that would run slowly on a regular MB.

Hello,
If your only concern is whether your laptop will be able to handle medical softwares, I can tell you that there are no medical softwares that a $500 laptop can't handle just fine. If you are a high-power gamer or you're doing some serious recording gigs then you may need a more powerful laptop; otherwise, almost all laptop on the market would work for an average medical student. I am a med student and I use a < $500 laptop (Windows Vista, 2 Gz dual core processor, 2 gb ram, 160 Gg harddrive) and I haven't found any medical softwares that my laptop can't handle.

 

[WashMe]

Hello,
If your only concern is whether your laptop will be able to handle medical softwares, I can tell you that there are no medical softwares that a $500 laptop can't handle just fine. If you are a high-power gamer or you're doing some serious recording gigs then you may need a more powerful laptop; otherwise, almost all laptop on the market would work for an average medical student. I am a med student and I use a < $500 laptop (Windows Vista, 2 Gz dual core processor, 2 gb ram, 160 Gg harddrive) and I haven't found any medical softwares that my laptop can't handle.

cool, that's all I was worried about. Thanks! 🙂 I don't game on computers, I have a 360 (skate 2 consumes my life) and a wii, both of which will be neglected for the next several years lol

 

[centrion904]

Holy cow, this thread exploded! Thanks for the advice...I may lean towards the 13 inch macbook but I will need to make sure I can run windows apps on it...

 

[TMP-SMX]

Holy cow, this thread exploded! Thanks for the advice...I may lean towards the 13 inch macbook but I will need to make sure I can run windows apps on it...

Yes just fine. You will have to have a copy of Windows though.

 

[WashMe]

Is anybody going to spring for the MBP or Air this summer? I'm right now my inclination is going something like this:

MBP: 30% of my desire
MB: 40% of my desire
MBA: 30% of my desire

I'm somewhat considering the MBP because it will be fast for a loooong time, and my laptop will be my only computer so I might want the screen size & quality (in addition to the option of using dedicated video if I need to).

I'm somewhat considering the MBA because, what the hell, it is pretty awesome (albeit overpriced) and I know I wouldn't ever get tired of lugging it around every day...

The MB is my default choice b/c of intermediate size and low cost... but I really don't mind splurging on the MBP or MBA if I can ultimately decide that one of them would suit me better than the MB.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Here's the way I see it. If you buy a MBP it will last you about 4 years and still be quite fast. For a MB it will last you about 3 years if you buy the low end MB. For a MBA it will last you about 2-3 years but depending what you do you may have problems with CPU intensive things.

For the cost of a MBP every 4 years, you could have bought a MB and used it for 2.5 years and sell it on ebay. Then you could buy a brand new MB that will be far more powerful than any MBP you bought 2.5 years ago for the same price of a single MBP. Remember that the high end MB and low end MBP at 2.4GHz are not that different power-wise. In fact, for anything except graphics they are exactly the same (because they are the same in every other way besides screen quality, firewire, expresscard, and screen size).

Now if you want a 15.4" notebook then there's no discussion you need to buy a MBP. Both the MBP and MBA have better screens. If you want an external monitor and will be in one place a lot, then obviously it doesn't matter what you buy and you should save your money.

 

[Raryn]

I'm going for the Pro. Difference in cost is negligible in the (med school) long run, and it will last longer. The 17 inch is even tempting me, but ill probably go with the 15.

 

[southerndoc]

I'm going for the Pro. Difference in cost is negligible in the (med school) long run, and it will last longer. The 17 inch is even tempting me, but ill probably go with the 15.

I got a MB because I don't want a 15 or 17" screen.

My old PowerBook 12" lasted 4 years. You can easily get 4-5 years out of this.

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

My G4 iBook 12" is still pretty much the same as when I bought it 5 years ago. Considering it has made it through med school just fine, and benchmarks considerably slower than a new Macbook, you will be tired of your computer long before it becomes obselete.

 

[WashMe]

My G4 iBook 12" is still pretty much the same as when I bought it 5 years ago. Considering it has made it through med school just fine, and benchmarks considerably slower than a new Macbook, you will be tired of your computer long before it becomes obselete.

So if I were to pop for the MB Air it would be fast enough to last me through the 4 years... hmm...

Man I really want the Air (since I'll be "packing" everyday), but I'll prob get the 15" MBP (only to avoid the MB's relatively poor screen since I'll be looking at it every day...). I am just scared that the Air would be slow, but I know the MBP would probably be annoyingly heavy after a while.

 

[TMP-SMX]

The MB screen is not that bad. I'm on the thing all day long. Sit it in front of your face and the only problem you will have post-calibration is a lack of depth in blacks. I assume you aren't doing professional photo editing (in which case you would certainly want an external monitor anyway) so you would probably be fine with the MB as it is the happy medium. If you are watching a lot of DVDs it may not meet your expectations if you are expecting to be wowed. The screen is certainly bright though which is a plus post-LED backlighting.

The main problem with the MBA is that it is underclocked even from even the underpowered CPU it uses. A G4 ran warm, but it was at least the best that was out at the time. Both the G4 and MBA are pretty difficult to upgrade but the MBA is more difficult.