I need a retina MBP and iPad for college.

[SsupernovaE]

I'd rather have a Surface with pen input. High enough resolution (1080p@10") to be comparable to retina for me.

 

[rockyct]

My generation has such a false sense of entitlement...

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1390734

Pen+paper got me through college.

I don't think having the most expensive toys that Daddy can buy is anything new for college students. That being said it is pretty ridiculous that the kid wants the whole lineup of Apple devices. I bet by his Junior year he's going to want newer models of all of them too.

 

[Ryan711]

I think they call that a "netbook".

Except that a netbook can run big-boy programs.

except a netbook is a piece of shit and an ipad isn't. I'm surprised it took as long as it did for people to realize that. And please enlighten us to what you can reasonably do on a netbook that you can't do on an ipad. In fact, I'd say that with the amount of apps, an ipad can do more and do it better.

 

[boomhower]

A MBA makes so much more sense for a college student. Cheaper, lighter, easier to tote around. With more and more textbooks becoming digital an iPad makes a lot sense. I certainly hated carrying those monster books. Chem, physics, and Calc were the worst.

 

[OverVolt]

I'd rather have a Surface with pen input. High enough resolution (1080p@10") to be comparable to retina for me.

Paper

 

[lokiju]

I've been a Apple owner (not fan boy levels) for the past few years now. iPhone 4s, iPad 2, 2011 iMac 21.5", 2011 13" MBA.

But I have to say, the new Microsoft Surface really has my attention.

I'm overall brand/OS agnostic though. I work as a Escalation Engineer with Windows based enterprise class software for a large tech company and have owned two Android tablets and 1 phone.

Use Windows 7 at work for my workstations and Linux for my laptop...

I doubt it, but do hope the MS Surface "Pro" tablet doesn't lock down the boot loader so much that installing Linux isn't an option.

 

[Bignate603]

Are you reading a different post? He has no sense of entitlement. He didn't say need. All he did was say what he was thinking about getting and ask for people's opinions on different models. What could you possibly find wrong with that?

I agree. The OP in that thread isn't acting like he's entitled. It sounds like he's in a position where he can buy something and is asking people's opinions. That sort of stuff happens on these forums all the time for different products. When I was in school I dropped $1400 on a computer. I was an engineering student so I expected to need something more than a budget laptop but in general it's not really anything unheard of. College students use their computers a HUGE amount. If you have the cash available why not spend some money on something you use constantly?

 

[lxskllr]

. And please enlighten us to what you can reasonably do on a netbook that you can't do on an ipad. In fact, I'd say that with the amount of apps, an ipad can do more and do it better.

You're trolling, right? :^D

On my shitty 4 year old netbook, I can run any O/S I want, use a full office suite, have full featured image manipulation, and run an entirely different O/S in a VM. I can do ANYTHING a full sized desktop can do, and I do it all for $200. If I were to buy it today, it would probably be under $100 due to depreciation :^D

 

[GT1999]

Need? Hardly. Good to have? Definitely.

 

[ControlD]

You're trolling, right? :^D

On my shitty 4 year old netbook, I can run any O/S I want, use a full office suite, have full featured image manipulation, and run an entirely different O/S in a VM. I can do ANYTHING a full sized desktop can do, and I do it all for $200. If I were to buy it today, it would probably be under $100 due to depreciation :^D

This.

I am an iPad owner and I use it every day. It is a wonderful media consumption device. However, I cannot honestly think of one single work related task (except perhaps reading email if it can connect to an Exchange Server, never tried) that I can do on my iPad. When I see people say they ditched their work computers for an iPad I have to wonder if they really needed that computer in the first place. Similarly if I were going back for my engineering degree today, I imagine none of my required software would run on an iPad. That same software would most likely be able to be installed (how well it would run is another story) on a $250 netbook.

 

[purbeast0]

so OP are you saying that a computer is not necessary for college now a days?

the hate for apple products on this forum is pretty pathetic lol.

OP made a fucking thread, linking to a thread on an apple forum, that is simply a thread about a kid asking for some advice when entering college. and he did it to try and poke fun at the kid.

sad.

 

[Axon]

Well, that kid does intend to use that MacBook all four years (or so he claims). But yes, to think you need an ipad/macbook pro/iphone/android phone/G5 for college is preposterous.

I'm 32, and even back in my college days (98-02) laptops were starting to trend towards "required," especially in my senior year. Still, my parents really held my feet to the fire and were not about to buy me some high end laptop that they knew I'd beat up.

 

[Axon]

This.

I am an iPad owner and I use it every day. It is a wonderful media consumption device. However, I cannot honestly think of one single work related task (except perhaps reading email if it can connect to an Exchange Server, never tried) that I can do on my iPad. When I see people say they ditched their work computers for an iPad I have to wonder if they really needed that computer in the first place. Similarly if I were going back for my engineering degree today, I imagine none of my required software would run on an iPad. That same software would most likely be able to be installed (how well it would run is another story) on a $250 netbook.

Well, speaking as an attorney, it's great for email and file review. It's okay for drafting documents, as long as you don't need to cut and paste anything major. Engineering, of course, is a totally different animal.

 

[Broheim]

This.

I am an iPad owner and I use it every day. It is a wonderful media consumption device. However, I cannot honestly think of one single work related task (except perhaps reading email if it can connect to an Exchange Server, never tried) that I can do on my iPad. When I see people say they ditched their work computers for an iPad I have to wonder if they really needed that computer in the first place. Similarly if I were going back for my engineering degree today, I imagine none of my required software would run on an iPad. That same software would most likely be able to be installed (how well it would run is another story) on a $250 netbook.

it's supposed to, but my iPhone 4 doesn't like our exchange server, other iPhones I've set up have no problems though... (before some rabid android fanboy starts raving, our android phones give me more trouble than our iPhones and iPads)

 

[SirStev0]

I wasn't sure how this thread would go... firstly ATOT is full of tech junkies who are all about buying the latest and greatest toy, secondly it is also filled with old fuddyduddies who hate all "these kids these days".

 

[Puddle Jumper]

iPad is invaluable if you read PDFs all day.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7" is a much better choice for reading imo. It's much lighter, has better battery life, and thanks to the Super AMOLED Plus screen is much easier on the eyes if you use white text on a black background.

Personally the MS Surface pro looks to be the ultimate tablet for productivity though, plenty of power and excellent pen input.

 

[torpid]

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7" is a much better choice for reading imo. It's much lighter, has better battery life, and thanks to the Super AMOLED Plus screen is much easier on the eyes if you use white text on a black background.

Personally the MS Surface pro looks to be the ultimate tablet for productivity though, plenty of power and excellent pen input.

The problem with the galaxy tab is not the hardware... it's the software. I haven't used one for about 6 months but the software on it was abysmal compared to the android phones I've used and compared to an iPad.

 

[Anubis]

Well, that kid does intend to use that MacBook all four years (or so he claims). But yes, to think you need an ipad/macbook pro/iphone/android phone/G5 for college is preposterous.

I'm 32, and even back in my college days (98-02) laptops were starting to trend towards "required," especially in my senior year. Still, my parents really held my feet to the fire and were not about to buy me some high end laptop that they knew I'd beat up.

you dont need one but a computer in general is a good thing to have, any computer desktop/laptop running either OS is worth having, times may have changed but 99% of the people i went to school with who had laptops just left them in their room. there was only that 1 random dude who took it to class, to watch youtube on.

the rest of the stuff isnt needed at all IMO

 

[Ryan711]

You're trolling, right? :^D

I can run any O/S I want,

Ok, not really a feature that you can do anything with.

use a full office suite,

iWork and soon to be Office on ipad, not to mention hundreds if not thousands of more specialized note taking/word processing apps

have full featured image manipulation,

Not on a netbook you won't, at least not anything meaningful. Atoms struggle to even open photoshop, but ok, I'll let you have that one, editing images on a shitty, low res, tiny screen. Nice job.

and run an entirely different O/S in a VM.

again, that's not a feature, that's just something you can do on a netbook. What are you doing in the different OSs? That's like saying "I can jailbreak an ipad". I stand by my assertion, 99% of what you'd be doing on a netbook (as in, you wouldn't be doing in depth photo or video editing), an ipad could do just as well. Face it, most people only used netbooks for web, email, word processing. The ipad does all that and more, which is why it totally cannibalized the market or netbooks.

 

[ShawnD1]

I'm 32, and even back in my college days (98-02) laptops were starting to trend towards "required," especially in my senior year. Still, my parents really held my feet to the fire and were not about to buy me some high end laptop that they knew I'd beat up.

wtf were you doing that required a computer? My last trek through college was 2010 and there was only 1 guy who brought a computer to school.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

The problem with the galaxy tab is not the hardware... it's the software. I haven't used one for about 6 months but the software on it was abysmal compared to the android phones I've used and compared to an iPad.

Honeycomb is far from perfect but I actually like it much more than iOS.

 

[Axon]

wtf were you doing that required a computer? My last trek through college was 2010 and there was only 1 guy who brought a computer to school.

Yeah, it was some ridiculous initiative through the Literature/Poli Sci departments of the University, finals were conducted over laptops.

By the time I got to law school it made more sense, as the curriculum is uniform for all students. It didn't make a lot of sense as an undergrad, other than to type notes.

 

[Imp]

I know a lot of people like that: I call them paper wasters.

Also, how do you keep track of your notes on the sheet if its all in binders and boxes? I like the ability to meta-analyse notes.

I had a Playbook and tried to read course PDF notes on it... Screen size kinda sucked, but I also couldn't get over the fact that I couldn't write or highlight anything easily. And the Playbook weighed a ton compared to the 20 or so sheets I carried at a time. Paper also works in all environments and doesn't need a battery or to boot up.

And meh, if you've ever worked in an office environment or been to a university computer lab, you'd stop caring about paper wasting. Those 20 sheets you misprinted? Some fuck-face printed a hundred in extra large, extra dark font, and never picked them up. One time some genius at work printed 600 pages of contact cards: one card dead center on one side. Stack was the thickness of at least one standard 500 page LT size pack of paper. All went into the garbage because it was confidential.

As for laptop to class? Meh, it was nice to be able to type stuff, but I found out that because I could type so fast, all I did was transcribe the lecturer. I didn't process or retain much, just word for word typed what he/she said. Also, lugging 10lb bag with laptop, charger, accessories = no fun compared to no bag, one portfolio with a booklet and pencil.

 

[silverpig]

Are you reading a different post? He has no sense of entitlement. He didn't say need. All he did was say what he was thinking about getting and ask for people's opinions on different models. What could you possibly find wrong with that?

I thought this too. I read most of that thread waiting for the whiny entitled kid too. Unless he appears at the end, no entitlement found.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Realistically, the only reason anyone would attend college without a laptop in the year 2012 is that he or she couldn't afford one. As it happens my law school class (UC-Hastings, '98) was the first one where our school allowed us to take exams on a computer, so I bought a laptop at the start of my first year and used it to take all my notes, prepare all my outlines, and take all my tests for the next three years. I get bad hand cramps from handwriting (I had a mean first-grade teacher and adopted an awkward way of holding a pen out of defiance - I still can't really do it correctly), so it was a Godsend for me to be able to use a computer. I will say that I am glad there was no such thing as wi fi in those days because I would have found that an endless distraction, but obviously each of us is different in that respect.

Personally I prefer Apple laptops to any others, and if this kid is the same way, why shouldn't he use an Apple? At this point they are very fairly priced relative to other machines, the build quality and design are exceptional, and an Apple is the only laptop that will still have viable resale potential after graduation. I see no basis for outrage whatsoever.