MacBook

[wen_wainwright]

I'm starting as a Graphic Design/Illustration student and I want to get a MacBook...I've never had a MAC before and also I have no idea what all the tech specs mean so should I get the 2.0 or 2.4 GHz? I've been looking at forums and people say to add RAM and things but not through Apple - which sounds good to me. I also plan to get a much larger external monitor for home. If I can do speed and memory upgrade from someone besides apple for less I'd rather by a base model and do that.

[Typically]

why not do a little research and find out what the specs mean? it wouldn't hurt you to learn a little bit about the machine you are going to be paying a bunch of money for.

[wen_wainwright]

I am doing research and trying to figure out what it all means! It's not working very well and even when I do know what it means I don't know what I NEED.

[Craig B]

It will be hard to tell you what you need, since we're not sure exactly how you'll be using it. If you give us an idea of what you're planning on doing with it, we can maybe help give a little guidance.

In general the rule of thumb is buy what you can afford.

I agree that buy your ram from a reputable Mac authorized reseller (most likely). It will definitely be cheaper. External monitor is a good approach as well. And honestly, if money is an issue I wouldn't worry too much about the .4 mhz jump (personally.)

[mojoprime]

the first question is always: what's your budget?

[PanToshi]

You might also ask your school or program what you need.

[anothefoo]

You could try finding out WHY you want a Mac first. And find out why some people prefer it over PC.

Not saying this applies to you - my sister wanted to try designing some posters, I told her that she's welcome to use Illy on my Toshiba anytime. She makes a face and says "On Windows?"

Just make sure you have the right reasons for buying a Mac - having a Mac doesn't make you learn design faster or better. Thought I'd share that lil story - which happened just before Christmas. (She realized she didn't have the right reasons for buying a Mac and have stuck to her old and trusty Toshiba laptop.)

[urstwile]

I'm a Mac user by choice and preference, and yet I still completely agree with anothefoo's post. Is there any specific reason you are getting a Macbook? The myth is that you need a Mac to do design work, the fact is that this is just no longer true. Of course, with a Macbook you can still run both platforms (without hacking), so it seems like a better choice to me, but since you've mentioned that you don't understand the tech specs, I'm going to guess that you're not going to be popping back and forth on a dual operating system machine.

In terms of the current crop of Macbooks, I find the lack of Firewire support to be a deal breaker. You might also do well to look into refurbished models.

[shmoo]

what makes you want a mac? just curious

[mr.potatohead]

about the mac choice:

they bring solid points. I'm personally a PC user. I learned some basic programming and animation on a PC, and so on, and so on...so now im much more comfortable with a PC. The PC vs. Mac argument is (at this stage of technology) purely preference. There are advantages to each platform. Do your research.

About buying a computer in general:

In my opinion, when buying a computer, get the biggest baddest thing you can afford. Why? because in 6 months, year, it will still be usable. Believe me, i've built and bought more computers only to turn around and get another one long before i should have because i wanted to "get by"...but it's well worth it to sack up, spend the dough and get something that will last in this speed of light tech race.

about computers for design:

if you HAVE to get a macbook/lappy i guess get one. But im willing to bet not a single professional on this board uses a laptop as their main design machine(and if you do, well...i don't know what to say). Also, keep in mind that you can mix and match nowadays. i.e. i have a pc everything, my business partner has a mac G5 with 2 LG 24" monitors and we share a PC server between a few of us... It's important to know both in todays world... i learned this in college back in the day by having a pc, and bringing everything to mac for classes...so i forced myself to learn both platforms

[urstwile]

I actually did a fair amount of work on an iBook, mr. potatohead, believe it or not. And the iBook didn't allow for screen spanning, only mirroring. It was a 13" screen. You learn to cope, and as you said, get what you can afford.

Nowadays, the Macbook allows for screen spanning, so an inexpensive screen can be hooked up to the Macbook and give additional screen real estate.

Unless the plan is to use it for video and audio editing, I think today's laptops are perfectly acceptable as a choice, particularly for someone getting ready to start up in school.

[mr.potatohead]

i hear ya... you gotta do what you gotta do

im just saying if you have the option, get what you can.

[urstwile]

I was saying the same thing. ;)

I'd love to have the option to go uber, but I don't. I find that a good amount of perspective about what you're actually going to be doing with the computer is a healthy thing to proceed with when weighing purchase options. Given that up until about a year and a half ago I was working on a 233 megahertz G4 with a max gigabyte of RAM at work, which up and died on me, I'd consider my current Intel iMac at work, with a max RAM of 3 gigabytes, a substantial upgrade. :)

[mr.potatohead]

i guess it's like having a ferrari and having to drive a pinto lol

if someone told me to design something with one monitor...i would laugh, and then puke. BUT thats only because i haven't done it in YEARS...i guess im spoiled :)

[urstwile]

Oddly, I'm typing this response to you on a G5 iMac, no dual monitor capacity.

I manage. So yeah, I'm thinking you're spoiled. ;)

[mr.potatohead]

Oddly, I'm typing this response to you on a G5 iMac, no dual monitor capacity.

I manage. So yeah, I'm thinking you're spoiled. ;)

...and i've got this tread open on my left monitor, while typing another on the right ;)

[urstwile]

Spoiledy! :D

[mr.potatohead]

new sig...specifically for you urstwile :D

[urstwile]

I see no sig. :)