Computers for Law School 2011

[presidentk1]

all new mac laptops have soldered everything (ram, hdd/sdd, processor, graphics)

none of them can be replaced/upgraded

you are stuck with what you get


(another 1 of the many many many many reasons not to buy a mac)

[albanach]

all new mac laptops have soldered everything (ram, hdd/sdd, processor, graphics)

none of them can be replaced/upgraded

you are stuck with what you get


(another 1 of the many many many many reasons not to buy a mac)

PCs are going the same way. That said, when it comes to laptops most consumers would never replace any part themselves anyway.

I'm not sure that alone is a reason not to buy a Mac. Rather, you should factor in the cost of Apple Care when comparing prices, as it is almost essential if you're buying an Apple laptop.

[presidentk1]

apple care = paying sticker for cooley

[shredderrrrrr]

all new mac laptops have soldered everything (ram, hdd/sdd, processor, graphics)

none of them can be replaced/upgraded

you are stuck with what you get


(another 1 of the many many many many reasons not to buy a mac)

Lol the last 4 computers I have purchased, I have done so thinking "I'll buy the smaller components and just have them upgraded later if necessary." I have never had anything changed.

[shredderrrrrr]

apple care = paying sticker for cooley

Seeing as how I am buying my computer tomorrow and deciding whether or not to get Apple Care, please explain (leaving out any opinions on why I should not get a mac in the first place).

[presidentk1]

apple care = paying sticker for cooley

Seeing as how I am buying my computer tomorrow and deciding whether or not to get Apple Care, please explain (leaving out any opinions on why I should not get a mac in the first place).

Apple care is just an extended warranty, and like most extended warranties, its a total waste of money

first off, they suck you into buying it because the computer only comes with 90 days (soon to be shortened to 30) of phone support.
so if after 3 months, something isn't working right, you can't even call them to ask a question.
If you try to call and ask, they charge you a one time $50(last i checked) fee to diagnose your problem.

furthermore, it doesn't cover the one thing that is poses the biggest threat to your laptop, accidental damage
so if you drop it, spill something on it, etc. you are shit out of luck

also, (this is according to a friend of mine who works as an apple genius + my first hand experience), if you bring your computer in which a hardware issue, like your logic board fried, your graphic card fails, 99.9999% of the time they will fix it regardless of whether or not you have apple care.

back in the day, before i realized that buying apple products = paying 2x the $ for half the specs, i owned a macbook pro and the nvidia card died. nothing would be displayed on the screen
i took the 4 year old computer in, and they replaced the graphics card, for free, no apple care, no nothing

all that aside, do yourself a favor and buy a windows machine
check out lenovo, you will get WAY MORE bang for your buck and you will have a machine that is both upgradable in every way (day 1 of owning my pc i put in 2 additional ram sticks and upgraded to an SSD) + you can take it with you to work and not have to worry about any compatibility issues.

dont be that tool that shows up for your first day at your new firm and have the IT people already hate your life because you came with a mac
you are only putting yourself at a disadvantage

[laxbrah420]

apple care = paying sticker for cooley

Seeing as how I am buying my computer tomorrow and deciding whether or not to get Apple Care, please explain (leaving out any opinions on why I should not get a mac in the first place).

Apple care in my opinion is a waste of money because you'd really need to have two major calamities (after the first year), not caused by an accident, to justify the price (versus fixing the problems yourself). Fixing computers is incredibly easy and you can overnight parts for mad cheap. With AppleCare you'd have to leave the shit for 2-3 days if anything serious goes wrong.

[shredderrrrrr]

apple care = paying sticker for cooley

Seeing as how I am buying my computer tomorrow and deciding whether or not to get Apple Care, please explain (leaving out any opinions on why I should not get a mac in the first place).

Apple care is just an extended warranty, and like most extended warranties, its a total waste of money

first off, they suck you into buying it because the computer only comes with 90 days (soon to be shortened to 30) of phone support.
so if after 3 months, something isn't working right, you can't even call them to ask a question.
If you try to call and ask, they charge you a one time $50(last i checked) fee to diagnose your problem.

furthermore, it doesn't cover the one thing that is poses the biggest threat to your laptop, accidental damage
so if you drop it, spill something on it, etc. you are shit out of luck

also, (this is according to a friend of mine who works as an apple genius + my first hand experience), if you bring your computer in which a hardware issue, like your logic board fried, your graphic card fails, 99.9999% of the time they will fix it regardless of whether or not you have apple care.

back in the day, before i realized that buying apple products = paying 2x the $ for half the specs, i owned a macbook pro and the nvidia card died. nothing would be displayed on the screen
i took the 4 year old computer in, and they replaced the graphics card, for free, no apple care, no nothing

Thanks for this information.

all that aside, do yourself a favor and buy a windows machine
check out lenovo, you will get WAY MORE bang for your buck and you will have a machine that is both upgradable in every way (day 1 of owning my pc i put in 2 additional ram sticks and upgraded to an SSD) + you can take it with you to work and not have to worry about any compatibility issues.

dont be that tool that shows up for your first day at your new firm and have the IT people already hate your life because you came with a mac
you are only putting yourself at a disadvantage

No.

[Paraflam]

apple care = paying sticker for cooley

Seeing as how I am buying my computer tomorrow and deciding whether or not to get Apple Care, please explain (leaving out any opinions on why I should not get a mac in the first place).

If you want to buy a warranty for your Mac, Square Trade is hands down the best third-party warranty company. Their warranties cover spills, drops, and all kinds of accidental damage except loss and theft. I have it on my iPhone, and I dropped it on tile floor one day and shattered the screen. Called Square Trade, they said to just go to the Apple store by my house and buy a new one and send them the bill. They reimbursed me like $600 the next day.

[laxbrah420]

AppleCare plus for iPhone covers accidents too

[Paraflam]

AppleCare plus for iPhone covers accidents too

Only allows you to make two claims, and is not offered for Macs.

[albanach]

The reason I recommended Apple Care is because you only get a single loan for a computer. If you can afford a replacement after 18 months because something breaks, then feel free to self insure. If you can afford to self insure, extended warranties will rarely make sense, since obviously they're supposed to be a profit driver for manufacturers and stores. In a situation where folk are borrowing to buy a computer that's essential for their studies and may not be able to borrow again if it dies and may not have the income to buy a replacement, the cost benefit becomes a lot more favourable towards buying the insurance.

I am an n of one, but I certainly was appreciative of my extended warranty when my logic board died in the middle of exam time last year. I had a backup laptop available, but still preferred using my newer, faster laptop with the better keyboard. Having it repaired and back to me quickly was a relief. I certainly could not have afforded a replacement.

As for getting parts, as was mentioned earlier - the RAM, hard drive and graphics are all soldered on a MacBook Air. Good luck replacing those yourself.

Square Trade is cheaper, but bear in mind that they only cover up to the insured value of the laptop. Say your screen dies. They replace it and charge $500 against your warranty. Next the logic board goes. They won't repair, but will send you a check for the balance remaining. I'm not saying it's bad, just different from Apple Care and you should be aware of what you're buying.

Accidental damage cover should be available as an option on your renters insurance.

[Opie]

Nevermind, I was searching wrong. I found it now.

[Opie]

Accidental damage cover should be available as an option on your renters insurance.

This is usually the case, but I'm not sure I would want to burn a deductible and have a claim show up on my CLUE report for this sort of thing. Also, if you do intend to cover this, talk to an agent in detail about your needs. I have additional coverage for my computers in the form of two addenda. One is for on premise only and the other is for on or off premise. I have three laptops and a desktop at home, but only one laptop ever leaves the house. In most cases though, the cost of having this kind of claim on your CLUE (like a credit report for insurance) is not worth the cost of a laptop.

(I'm a licensed insurance agent)

[moneybagsphd]

tl;dr Is it stupid to switch OSs (Mac to W7) at the beginning of 1L?

[bk1]

tl;dr Is it stupid to switch OSs (Mac to W7) at the beginning of 1L?

Why would it be stupid? Most of your time will be spent inside Word/OneNote+Chrome/Firefox/IE and it's not like either OS is rocket science.

[moneybagsphd]

tl;dr Is it stupid to switch OSs (Mac to W7) at the beginning of 1L?

Why would it be stupid? Most of your time will be spent inside Word/OneNote+Chrome/Firefox/IE and it's not like either OS is rocket science.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I went ahead and pre-ordered the x1c (through B&N gold rewards program) and I'm looking for affirmation...

[presidentk1]

tl;dr Is it stupid to switch OSs (Mac to W7) at the beginning of 1L?

Why would it be stupid? Most of your time will be spent inside Word/OneNote+Chrome/Firefox/IE and it's not like either OS is rocket science.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I went ahead and pre-ordered the x1c (through B&N gold rewards program) and I'm looking for affirmation...

by x1c are you referring to the new lenovo carbon ultrabook?

[moneybagsphd]

tl;dr Is it stupid to switch OSs (Mac to W7) at the beginning of 1L?

Why would it be stupid? Most of your time will be spent inside Word/OneNote+Chrome/Firefox/IE and it's not like either OS is rocket science.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I went ahead and pre-ordered the x1c (through B&N gold rewards program) and I'm looking for affirmation...

by x1c are you referring to the new lenovo carbon ultrabook?

yes

[presidentk1]

good choice

[wuduhel]

Why would it be stupid? Most of your time will be spent inside Word/OneNote+Chrome/Firefox/IE and it's not like either OS is rocket science.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I went ahead and pre-ordered the x1c (through B&N gold rewards program) and I'm looking for affirmation...

by x1c are you referring to the new lenovo carbon ultrabook?

yes

Would buy if it was 11"

[AspiringAcademic]

So, I've been researching the current generation of laptops for a few weeks and am finding myself torn between two different approaches:

Some type of sleek ultrabook: 14 inch screen, i5 processor, 4gb of ram.
Some type of moderately sleek larger machine: 15.6 inch screen, i7 processor, 8gb ram, minor video card.

In the 1k-ish price range, the former comes in at a bit under 4 pounds and the latter at about 5.4. Were I just using the machine to take notes, it would be a clear call in favor of the ultrabook. But I'd presumably also be using it for real work (library, on campus paper writing), making the larger screen helpful. What do people think? I'm a relatively large person, so it seems silly to obsess over 1.5 pounds, but I know I might feel differently after lugging it around for a few months.

[gaud]

I like the i7, but 8gb of RAM seems like overkill

[ph14]

My laptop is draining the battery after I close it (and it gets pretty hot). Is this a software or setting problem I can fix? a battery problem? I have a Thinkpad.

[kalvano]

My laptop is draining the battery after I close it (and it gets pretty hot). Is this a software or setting problem I can fix? a battery problem? I have a Thinkpad.

Call Lenovo tech support. I had to do it, there's a patch available and they can give you the link. It sort-of fixed it.