Tech guys question. Laptop choice.

[MattBimmer]

I am about to purchase a laptop for school and I am trying to determine which one I am going to get. I am going to get a MacBook, but I am not sure which one to get. It seems I could get the 13inch MacBook Pro that is "older" but then add the new i7 processor and upgrade the RAM to 8 instead of 4. That's looking at 1400 I think. Where the new one in 15 would be 2k with similar internals. Plus is it weird I think I would prefer the old MacBook that has the multiple ports and cd rom drive over the new one that needs all the adapters?
Anyone who can weigh in on this please do. Thanks so much

[Gerta]

Matt,

You know I bought a surface pro 3 (i7, 512gb / 8gig RAM) for work and have been really impressed. Great device along with the keyboard. I use it to run two monitors with a the dock and have been pleased. So pleased that I bought the pro 3 15, 128gb versions for my sons instead of a MacBook air.

Just a thought as everything now adays seems to not need a CD ROM, so if you are not stuck on Mac, then this might be a great option.

[Wschnitz]

Macbook tho, could buy 3 razors and load fresh windows on for that price lol.

Go with what you want but If I was grabbing another school laptop id grab either a 3-4 year old business T series lenovo and fresh install windows 7 or 10 on it. And use the rest of the money towards a desktop that can do more.

Do you need to do lots of intensive stuff on your laptop that you think you need an i7 and 8gb of ram?

A $300 T410 for in class note taking and general work and a $1000-1400 desktop in my opinion is a better idea, $1000 desktop will blow the macbook out of the water for complicated tasks, where the T410 is fine for taking notes and stuff you need it for in class. Also keeps you from getting distracted and playing games on it, at least for me.

Edit: Ill also support gerta on the new surface pros, they are way better then the first generation.

[MattBimmer]

This laptop will be running both all my exams for dental school along with a program that is created to mimic a dental offices program setup. Check in patients logbooks stuff like that. The school doesn't suggest getting windows 10 OS yet. I am just hoping for something that will need little maintenance and last several years. I have a 17inch Dell and it has become so slow that it is dang near impossible to use.

[Wschnitz]

The trick is putting fresh windows on it, your crappy store boughts are all going to be the same, thats why PC's have such a bad name.

Also cause noobs clicking on flashing icons that say they won a new ipad and installing virus's on their pcs and clicking ignore when windows defender pops up every 10 seconds saying this will harm your computer.

[ST1G]

I am about to purchase a laptop for school and I am trying to determine which one I am going to get. I am going to get a MacBook, but I am not sure which one to get. It seems I could get the 13inch MacBook Pro that is "older" but then add the new i7 processor and upgrade the RAM to 8 instead of 4. That's looking at 1400 I think. Where the new one in 15 would be 2k with similar internals. Plus is it weird I think I would prefer the old MacBook that has the multiple ports and cd rom drive over the new one that needs all the adapters?
Anyone who can weigh in on this please do. Thanks so much

You probably don't need and i7 processor if you're not computer savvy. You wont actually use it.

You're confusing the Macbook Pro with the new "Macbook", The new Macbook only has one port and requires an adaptor to run things since it's a single USB-C connector. This also leads me to believe that the following would fit your needs well.


I have a 2011 Macbook Pro 13 inch. It has treated me very well over the last few years. Recently I put in an SSD (user installable) and 8 GB of memory (user installable). It really brought the computer back to life and it runs quite quickly.

The current 13 inch non retina Macbook Pro is the same basic model as the one I have, with a slight processor bump. I would definitely recommend it as a solid computer that could get you through college if you're just looking to do any heavy gaming (I can play Star craft II, and other games on low graphic settings).

Here is what I would do, including the education pricing (Don't forget you get this if you ask, I would also recommend looking at Apple refurbished, they have the same warranty as new, and you can still buy a discounted student AppleCare for them. Mine is a refurbished model, and I've had no trouble over about 4 years)

I would buy this Macbook Pro



And buy this SSD

And this memory

You've got a better 13 inch macbook pro non retina then apple sells for less then the cost of the cheapest new model.

Also, you can put windows on it, so if you ever need windows it's there.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you'd like some help. I work for a company that makes computers and has a fruit grown in Washington as it's logo. ;)

[MattBimmer]

That's kinda what I was thinking. Like I said I don't really fool around with much. But I was thinking the non-retina with the updates to make it like having 2008 car with 2015 engine kinda thing. I don't play games or need a fancy processing unit. About all I would do is hope to connect it to a larger TV screen at times so that I can work on it on a bigger screen or do a split screen thing.

[Wschnitz]

Do you know what the software is called? most school software already runs off of like 10 year old windows XP machines lol

[MattBimmer]

Not a clue honestly :/

[ST1G]

That's kinda what I was thinking. Like I said I don't really fool around with much. But I was thinking the non-retina with the updates to make it like having 2008 car with 2015 engine kinda thing. I don't play games or need a fancy processing unit. About all I would do is hope to connect it to a larger TV screen at times so that I can work on it on a bigger screen or do a split screen thing.

Yep, I would do what I mentioned above. I run a 27" HD display with mine. Works flawlessly. I do mostly excel spread sheets, internet, and some light photo shop, and light online gaming.

[alB5]

You probably don't need and i7 processor if you're not computer savvy. You wont actually use it.

You're confusing the Macbook Pro with the new "Macbook", The new Macbook only has one port and requires an adaptor to run things since it's a single USB-C connector. This also leads me to believe that the following would fit your needs well.


I have a 2011 Macbook Pro 13 inch. It has treated me very well over the last few years. Recently I put in an SSD (user installable) and 8 GB of memory (user installable). It really brought the computer back to life and it runs quite quickly.

The current 13 inch non retina Macbook Pro is the same basic model as the one I have, with a slight processor bump. I would definitely recommend it as a solid computer that could get you through college if you're just looking to do any heavy gaming (I can play Star craft II, and other games on low graphic settings).

Here is what I would do, including the education pricing (Don't forget you get this if you ask, I would also recommend looking at Apple refurbished, they have the same warranty as new, and you can still buy a discounted student AppleCare for them. Mine is a refurbished model, and I've had no trouble over about 4 years)

I would buy this Macbook Pro



And buy this SSD

And this memory

You've got a better 13 inch macbook pro non retina then apple sells for less then the cost of the cheapest new model.

Also, you can put windows on it, so if you ever need windows it's there.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you'd like some help. I work for a company that makes computers and has a fruit grown in Washington as it's logo. ;)

Literally what I have, 256gb SSD in a mid 2012 13 inch MB pro non-retina with my old 500gb HDD in the optibay. Hasn't crapped out once and is lightning quick.

[Fusion]

I switched to MacBooks last year after a long career with ThinkPads and have no reason to look back. Especially if you have an iPhone or iPad, they work wonders together with Airdrop etc.
The build quality is amazing, the software has zero glitches. It simply works. As mentioned, no crapware, no viruses, an amazing track pad, good resale value.
If I were you, try looking for a second hand 15" retina late 2013 with low specs (the lowest spec will be fast enough) or a refurb.
I am not a fanboy, I just like zero hassle high quality things. The MacBook is in a league of its own compared to all the plastic-y crap sold nowadays (not saying all laptops are).
I still have my trusty W500 for work outside or where it could be damaged/stolen, but its like going 15 years back in time.

[lambo]

I believe if you buy a laptop through the Microsoft store, it shouldn't have any third party software installed out of the box.

[Wschnitz]

I believe if you buy a laptop through the Microsoft store, it shouldn't have any third party software installed out of the box.

Yea literally all these problems people have are wives tales or issues with pre installed bloatware. A T410 with fresh windows has been the best laptop ive ever used.

If your complaining about virus's your one of those said dummy's who clicks the banner ads to win a free iPad. You have to go out of your way to get virus's on a PC now.

[Gerta]

Yea literally all these problems people have are wives tales or issues with pre installed bloatware. A T410 with fresh windows has been the best laptop ive ever used.

If your complaining about virus's your one of those said dummy's who clicks the banner ads to win a free iPad. You have to go out of your way to get virus's on a PC now.

I haven't had any issues either with bloatware and I run win 8.1 pro. I'm looking forward to Win 10! My test server is running that and I think it will be great ...

I have to say, my eco system is made up of both apple and windows products. My wife and kid have Mac's ... but the kids have surface pro 3's too which the love. The little kids like the ipad.