Does step-son need Macbook for uni?

shortchanged_2

prowla wrote: »

See - told you:) macs were more expensive!

That's because he is talking bull.

prowla

tronator wrote: »

I'm not playing with words. To explain it to you again, here's a car analogy.

I need a new car and want a Ferrari. My wife asks me, "what do you need it for"? I say, "for the weekly shopping". So, what is it gonna be, the Ferrari or a Vauxhall?

In addition to your previous wordplay, your Vauxhall vs Ferrari analogy is totally missing the point:

1. It's not for the weekly shopping (which any old jalopy would be suitable for - I do mine in a car which cost me £900 on ebay); it's to support studies which are intended to set him up for life, and which (as I pointed out earlier) may include media editing, which is CPU-intensive.
2. The sports car vs family saloon is too simplistic with regards to CPU; the sports car is a one-trick pony, whereas a general purpose computer supports many different activities. If you were wishing to draw a comparison, a similarly specified i7 based system is faster and better in every way than a similar i3 or i5 based one; think of it more like a motor bike, sports car, bus, people carrier, transit van and tipper truck all rolled into one.
3. As for the Mac vs Wintel PC question (or Ferrari vs Vauxhall), if you contrast the prices of Apple and the high end Dell/Lenovo products, you may find that they are in a similar range (eg. Dell XPS 15 starting at £1499, Macbook Pro starting at £1599), but nobody actually does a system of the build quality of a Mac. Of course, you could go for a cheaper plastic model too, on the basis that "it'll do", but they are more bulky, lesser quality, and are less robust.
4. I would assume that the course would include photo editing, which requires high resolution to do to a professional standard (which is presumably what the course would require) The Retina display on the 15" model is 2880x1800, whereas the common budget laptops don't even do 1080p, which is unsuitable for editing photos. In analogy land, would you give a professional photographer a cheap 110 camera and expect them to produce quality work?
5. The Macbook Pro is an industry standard product, so using that will allow the student to align themselves with the anticipated tools of the trade..

Me, if I were buying a high-end laptop, it would be that Macbook Pro. (I've personally got an older 15" Dell XPS at the moment, and with work I have a Dell i7 E6540 laptop; I use Windows, Linux and Mac computers daily.) And of course, a Uni discount may bring that high-end model into a more "reasonable" price range.

In the end though, I guess the key thing is whether mum has enough money to buy him a high-end laptop. (I think Apple do interest free, if buying retail.)

buglawton

Wow and to think that the name of this site is Moneysavingexpert!

fred246

I recently went into the coffee room at work. In there was a young lady who I had been talking to recently. She had just spent at least 5 years at University. She had an iPhone 6 in her left hand and a Macbook Pro on her right knee. She was looking at a Spreadsheet. "Wouldn't it be good if you could add this column of numbers up without doing it manually?" she said. I won't have anything to do with Apples and wasn't sure but I just said "Don't you just type =SUM(C1:C40) in the box?" She followed my syntax carefully and then whooped with joy at the result.
"Oh My God, AWESOME! How do you know things like that?"
I really do wonder what a "Tech-savvy" young person really knows!

Sharon87

I would be dubious about buying expensive equipment for uni, at my uni halls of residence there were a fair few people who got their rooms broken into and laptop stolen. Does he NEED a laptop or will a mac computer be sufficient? Not sure of the price difference though.

Windows computers can be just as good if you spend the money. I've got an i7 processor and it's just as fast as any Mac I have used.

shortchanged_2

Sharon87 wrote: »

I would be dubious about buying expensive equipment for uni, at my uni halls of residence there were a fair few people who got their rooms broken into and laptop stolen. Does he NEED a laptop or will a mac computer be sufficient? Not sure of the price difference though.

Windows computers can be just as good if you spend the money. I've got an i7 processor and it's just as fast as any Mac I have used.

The superiority of macs is over rated by mac users in order for them to try to justify their overpriced cost.

duchy

buglawton wrote: »

Wow and to think that the name of this site is Moneysavingexpert!

Money saving meaning always paying the least ?

To me it is about always getting the most for your money.... Which is not the same thing.

A cheaper product that will just about do the job and last a couple of years before needing replacing versus a more expensive product that does the same job better (higher spec in this case) and lasts three times as long ....one will save money in the short term, one more in the long term.

prowla

duchy wrote: »

Money saving meaning always paying the least ?

To me it is about always getting the most for your money.... Which is not the same thing.

A cheaper product that will just about do the job and last a couple of years before needing replacing versus a more expensive product that does the same job better (higher spec in this case) and lasts three times as long ....one will save money in the short term, one more in the long term.

Precisely; what's the point in saving money by buying the wrong item?

What are we supposed to do - all buy our clothes at George and live on a diet of mashed potato for the rest of our lives?

(There has also been some money saving advice in relation to buying the particular machine, including (a) getting the uni discount, (b) buying interest-free.)

victor2

fred246 wrote: »

I recently went into the coffee room at work. In there was a young lady who I had been talking to recently. She had just spent at least 5 years at University. She had an iPhone 6 in her left hand and a Macbook Pro on her right knee. She was looking at a Spreadsheet. "Wouldn't it be good if you could add this column of numbers up without doing it manually?" she said. I won't have anything to do with Apples and wasn't sure but I just said "Don't you just type =SUM(C1:C40) in the box?" She followed my syntax carefully and then whooped with joy at the result.
"Oh My God, AWESOME! How do you know things like that?"
I really do wonder what a "Tech-savvy" young person really knows!

Be honest. I bet she really said OMG AWESOME.
Surely, there's only one way to do arithmetic, and that's with your calculator app...

mike230652

Kids ( whatever their age! ) always need the best of what's on offer if you listen to them...it starts at the age they learn to speak and continues as long as they live with you...and after!

Having said that, MacBooks are the "go to" standard for journalism / media.

Things worth exploring:

1 - Student Discounts, these are quite helpful and worth looking at, moreso if you take up the Applecare option, which is WELL worth it!

2 - How about checking eBay or Gumtree? Yes, their are some obvious shysters, but if you look for a used MacBook from a student WITH Applecare, you can get some excellent bargains. My wife has an iMac 27" and a MB Pro Retina 13". Both were from Gumtree, the MB Pro was 13 months old, in a Speck case, original box etc and I got it for £610 with 23 months Applecare left on it. the iMac cost £850, was less than 12 months old and the balance of 24 months + Applecare on it.

The iMac she went for to help with her PhD work- photography and research based. She'd done the first year on a Dell machine ( decent enough ) but played around with her colleague's iMac for a week or so. We took the plunge.... and it is SO much better. If your son is doing journalism / media then I'd personally and definitely say go for the MB Pro... if he was after it just for web browsing and social media etc... then any decent laptop will do the job.

Just ensure that you go and look at it first, ask to see original receipts etc and make sure it comes with original packaging - which makes it a LOT more saleble if and when he decides he can actually live without it!

Also remember with Macs.. the warranty stays with the machine so no hassle about " but you didn't buy it , sir/madam "

Yes, MacBooks are a lot of money, but I'm a convert to them after years and years of other suppliers who sell and forget you.