Macbook or not

londonbairn · 9 Oct 2006 at 13:05

I need a laptop to carry around campus with me, considering getting a Macbook for this reason.

My question is, is it worth going for the 15" pro model? Or is the 13.1" sufficient?

Will be using Scientific Workshop, Mathematica and Stata, of course with Windows installed

Given the HE discount, its unbeatable for spec...

londonbairn · 9 Oct 2006 at 13:08

Perhaps I should also ask if it is worth waiting for the alleged new versions?

Sul · 9 Oct 2006 at 13:09

I'd say go for the Macbook (not the pro) - the 13" one. I have it - in fact I am on it right now. I love it.

It'll be super portable and still give you the power you require. From what I heard, it's not too far behind the pro in any case. Make sure you equip it with a gig of ram. I went for the 2ghz, 1gig ram, in white. I went to the apple store and found the white looks way better than black (if colour concerns you) - remember this is just my personal taste.

I'm not sure why you even need to install windows.. all these programs come for mac or have mac equivalents - I know since I've used them and my supervisor at university uses them too (studied Physics at Imperial College).

As for waiting.. I dunno, you know how it is with computer hardware.. you wait, and by that time something better is coming up by the horizon again.. you may as well just get it when you need it rather than waiting, unless you know for sure when the new versions are coming out, and if they're coming out by the time you need them.

londonbairn · 9 Oct 2006 at 13:18

I am not prepared to buy the Mac versions as the cost is a bit high to repurchase, about £250 for Stata Mac!

I would be installing Windows XP on it, my main concern is the resolution not being high enough for working on...

Sul · 9 Oct 2006 at 14:33

With mac os installed, I've had no problems with the screen size, it's ample for what I use it for. However, for your applications, I can anticipate that it could be a problem on windows. It's odd that you've got to pay for your apps.. my university provides them to us for free :confused:

My advice to you would be to go into an apple store or any store that displays these macbooks and just give them a go, and then decide which is best for you. I can definitely vouch for the macbook, the only concern is screensize for your needs, other than that it should be fine.

Energize · 9 Oct 2006 at 16:22

Windows laptops are cheaper for the same performance or better performance for the same price. For the same price you could get a zepto laptop with geforce 7600go 256mb graphics and 1gb of ram.