The Ideal Law School Laptop Forum

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:02 pm

HAZMAT wrote:
Objection wrote:Went to the Apple story today to do side by sides of the 13" screen and 15" screen. I've decided on a 13" MBP. 2.53 ghz, 4 gb ram...

Now, which hard drive do I go with?

Hard Drive

* 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $45.00]
* 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $135.00]
* 128GB solid-state drive [Add $315.00]
* 256GB solid-state drive [Add $720.00]
5400 rpm is meh. If it was 7200, I would go with that. 128 gb solid state seems to be the sweet spot. It seems small, but I won't be putting music, games, etc on this comp. It will be solely for law school/work stuff during law school. I also have a 500 gb MyBook, and might actually purchase one of the 1 TB Time Capsules (the computer reimbursement covers that).

I don't know. Suggestions?
I've been reading Macrumors.com, and TCR seems to be buy a separate hard drive on your own--apparently Apple kind of rips you off on the ones they install for you, and they're not even the best. You could get a nicer/bigger/possibly cheaper SSD on your own, and then take out the included hard drive and use it as an external.

Wouldn't that void the warranty? And where can I buy a separate SSD that would fit into the unibody macbooks?

HAZMAT · Post by **HAZMAT** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:14 pm

Objection wrote:
HAZMAT wrote:
Objection wrote:Went to the Apple story today to do side by sides of the 13" screen and 15" screen. I've decided on a 13" MBP. 2.53 ghz, 4 gb ram...

Now, which hard drive do I go with?

Hard Drive

* 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $45.00]
* 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $135.00]
* 128GB solid-state drive [Add $315.00]
* 256GB solid-state drive [Add $720.00]
5400 rpm is meh. If it was 7200, I would go with that. 128 gb solid state seems to be the sweet spot. It seems small, but I won't be putting music, games, etc on this comp. It will be solely for law school/work stuff during law school. I also have a 500 gb MyBook, and might actually purchase one of the 1 TB Time Capsules (the computer reimbursement covers that).

I don't know. Suggestions?
I've been reading Macrumors.com, and TCR seems to be buy a separate hard drive on your own--apparently Apple kind of rips you off on the ones they install for you, and they're not even the best. You could get a nicer/bigger/possibly cheaper SSD on your own, and then take out the included hard drive and use it as an external.
Wouldn't that void the warranty? And where can I buy a separate SSD that would fit into the unibody macbooks?

Swapping hard drives and RAM don't void the warranty. I'm not an expert WRT what drives would and would not fit, so I recommend checking out the macrumors.com forums. Here's a thread about SSD:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=714391
Check out replies 8 and 9 in that thread.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=715187 There's another similar thread.

http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=90 Here's the subforum for MBP questions.

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:28 pm

Hm. 80 GB just seems so small. Then again, I'll have an external HDD. Still...

HAZMAT · Post by **HAZMAT** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:35 pm

Objection wrote:Hm. 80 GB just seems so small. Then again, I'll have an external HDD. Still...

SSD is still such new technology that it's disproportionately expensive... If you can deal with having a regular 5400 HDD for a little while, you could wait and probably get a bigger, faster SSD for less money once the tech becomes more standard.

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:42 pm

160 gb intel for $525 on ebay is doable. Guess we'll see next month when I make the purchase.

13" MBP 2.53 ghz 4 gb ram
1 TB Time Capsule
Brother MFC-7840W Laser Multi-Function Printer
160 GB Intel X-25 SSD

----

$2855.41 ($2330.41 without the SSD)

Not too bad. No extended Applecare, but that can be purchased anytime within 1 year, so it's not urgent.

jetlagz28 · Post by **jetlagz28** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:02 pm

Why would you ever spend more than $2000 for a laptop unless you ABSOLUTELY needed to?

Why would you spend more than $1500 on a laptop unless it was a gaming PC or a solid PC covered by a 3+ year warranty?

This is law school, not video/graphic editing, game design or 3D modeling school.

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:09 pm

jetlagz28 wrote:Why would you ever spend more than $2000 for a laptop unless you ABSOLUTELY needed to?

Why would you spend more than $1500 on a laptop unless it was a gaming PC or a solid PC covered by a 3+ year warranty?

This is law school, not video/graphic editing, game design or 3D modeling school.

The laptop itself costs $1399. I'm upgrading it with the SSD because I'm a bit of a tech junkie.

The $2800 figure included a laserjet all in one printer (I figure being able to print 25 ppm might prove useful at some point during law school...also has fax, scanner, copier) for $300, and a 1 TB wireless external hdd/wireless router for $475. And the SSD, of course, for $525.

Furthermore, my school allows $3000 for laptop and computer supply purchases. I'm going $240k into debt. Another $3k isn't going to make that much of a difference.

jetlagz28 · Post by **jetlagz28** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:12 pm

Objection wrote:
jetlagz28 wrote:Why would you ever spend more than $2000 for a laptop unless you ABSOLUTELY needed to?

Why would you spend more than $1500 on a laptop unless it was a gaming PC or a solid PC covered by a 3+ year warranty?

This is law school, not video/graphic editing, game design or 3D modeling school.
The laptop itself costs $1399. I'm upgrading it with the SSD because I'm a bit of a tech junkie.

The $2800 figure included a laserjet all in one printer (I figure being able to print 25 ppm might prove useful at some point during law school...also has fax, scanner, copier) for $300, and a 1 TB wireless external hdd/wireless router for $475. And the SSD, of course, for $525.

Furthermore, my school allows $3000 for laptop and computer supply purchases. I'm going $240k into debt. Another $3k isn't going to make that much of a difference.

Ohhhh!

!

superflush · Post by **superflush** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:07 am

HAZMAT wrote:I've been reading Macrumors.com, and TCR seems to be buy a separate hard drive on your own--apparently Apple kind of rips you off on the ones they install for you, and they're not even the best. You could get a nicer/bigger/possibly cheaper SSD on your own, and then take out the included hard drive and use it as an external.

But this isn't exactly an easy install, is it?

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:11 am

superflush wrote:
HAZMAT wrote:I've been reading Macrumors.com, and TCR seems to be buy a separate hard drive on your own--apparently Apple kind of rips you off on the ones they install for you, and they're not even the best. You could get a nicer/bigger/possibly cheaper SSD on your own, and then take out the included hard drive and use it as an external.
But this isn't exactly an easy install, is it?

Not bad. Just unscrew some screws. I'm halfway decent screwing around inside of comps.

UNC2009 · Post by **UNC2009** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:27 am

Objection wrote:
Not bad. Just unscrew some screws. I'm halfway decent screwing.

+1 TITCR

enygma · Post by **enygma** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:38 pm

Objection wrote:Went to the Apple story today to do side by sides of the 13" screen and 15" screen. I've decided on a 13" MBP. 2.53 ghz, 4 gb ram...

Now, which hard drive do I go with?

Hard Drive

* 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $45.00]
* 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $135.00]
* 128GB solid-state drive [Add $315.00]
* 256GB solid-state drive [Add $720.00]
5400 rpm is meh. If it was 7200, I would go with that. 128 gb solid state seems to be the sweet spot. It seems small, but I won't be putting music, games, etc on this comp. It will be solely for law school/work stuff during law school. I also have a 500 gb MyBook, and might actually purchase one of the 1 TB Time Capsules (the computer reimbursement covers that).

I don't know. Suggestions?

this is what i'm going to do. I'm going to buy the same macbook with you, with the cheapest hard drive possible. then i'm going to buy an aftermarket 120GB (maybe 250) OCZ vertex SSDHD and install it myself. it's about the same price as the apple one, but i don't know what brand they use and the OCZ is supposed to be one of the best performers on the market. It'll also then give me a spare 250 GB hard drive I can toss in my PS3.

enygma · Post by **enygma** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:44 pm

Objection wrote:
jetlagz28 wrote:Why would you ever spend more than $2000 for a laptop unless you ABSOLUTELY needed to?

Why would you spend more than $1500 on a laptop unless it was a gaming PC or a solid PC covered by a 3+ year warranty?

This is law school, not video/graphic editing, game design or 3D modeling school.
The laptop itself costs $1399. I'm upgrading it with the SSD because I'm a bit of a tech junkie.

The $2800 figure included a laserjet all in one printer (I figure being able to print 25 ppm might prove useful at some point during law school...also has fax, scanner, copier) for $300, and a 1 TB wireless external hdd/wireless router for $475. And the SSD, of course, for $525.

Furthermore, my school allows $3000 for laptop and computer supply purchases. I'm going $240k into debt. Another $3k isn't going to make that much of a difference.

are you going to NU? Even though i'm not in (yet) i'm kinda planning my computer purchases around the hope of getting in. Do you know the specifics of the plan? Do they give you the 3k when the normal disbursement comes out, or can you get it earlier? Do you have to get the money and then use it, or do you send them receipts and they add to your disbursement? Essentially, if I bought one now, would I still be able to get that added on to the loans?

enygma · Post by **enygma** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:48 pm

jetlagz28 wrote:Why would you ever spend more than $2000 for a laptop unless you ABSOLUTELY needed to?

because when it really comes down to it, i'm a nerd.

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:34 pm

enygma wrote:
Objection wrote:Went to the Apple story today to do side by sides of the 13" screen and 15" screen. I've decided on a 13" MBP. 2.53 ghz, 4 gb ram...

Now, which hard drive do I go with?

Hard Drive

* 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $45.00]
* 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $135.00]
* 128GB solid-state drive [Add $315.00]
* 256GB solid-state drive [Add $720.00]
5400 rpm is meh. If it was 7200, I would go with that. 128 gb solid state seems to be the sweet spot. It seems small, but I won't be putting music, games, etc on this comp. It will be solely for law school/work stuff during law school. I also have a 500 gb MyBook, and might actually purchase one of the 1 TB Time Capsules (the computer reimbursement covers that).

I don't know. Suggestions?
this is what i'm going to do. I'm going to buy the same macbook with you, with the cheapest hard drive possible. then i'm going to buy an aftermarket 120GB (maybe 250) OCZ vertex SSDHD and install it myself. it's about the same price as the apple one, but i don't know what brand they use and the OCZ is supposed to be one of the best performers on the market. It'll also then give me a spare 250 GB hard drive I can toss in my PS3.

The OCZ 250 gb is $749 at Newegg. A bit expensive.

You can find a 160 gb intel x-25 for $525.

enygma · Post by **enygma** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:45 pm

Objection wrote:
enygma wrote:
Objection wrote:Went to the Apple story today to do side by sides of the 13" screen and 15" screen. I've decided on a 13" MBP. 2.53 ghz, 4 gb ram...

Now, which hard drive do I go with?

Hard Drive

* 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
* 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $45.00]
* 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm [Add $135.00]
* 128GB solid-state drive [Add $315.00]
* 256GB solid-state drive [Add $720.00]
5400 rpm is meh. If it was 7200, I would go with that. 128 gb solid state seems to be the sweet spot. It seems small, but I won't be putting music, games, etc on this comp. It will be solely for law school/work stuff during law school. I also have a 500 gb MyBook, and might actually purchase one of the 1 TB Time Capsules (the computer reimbursement covers that).

I don't know. Suggestions?
this is what i'm going to do. I'm going to buy the same macbook with you, with the cheapest hard drive possible. then i'm going to buy an aftermarket 120GB (maybe 250) OCZ vertex SSDHD and install it myself. it's about the same price as the apple one, but i don't know what brand they use and the OCZ is supposed to be one of the best performers on the market. It'll also then give me a spare 250 GB hard drive I can toss in my PS3.
The OCZ 250 gb is $749 at Newegg. A bit expensive.

You can find a 160 gb intel x-25 for $525.

huh. when i was looking at this a few months ago the x-25 was the more expensive one.

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:01 pm

enygma wrote:
huh. when i was looking at this a few months ago the x-25 was the more expensive one.

The OCZ 250 GB is $799 on ebay. The 160 GB intel is $525 on ebay.

However, I'm thinking the OCZ Vertex 120 GB @ $355 ($2.95/gb) might be a better deal than the x-25 at $525 ($3.28/gb)

enygma · Post by **enygma** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:03 pm

Objection wrote:
enygma wrote:
huh. when i was looking at this a few months ago the x-25 was the more expensive one.
The OCZ 250 GB is $799 on ebay. The 160 GB intel is $525 on ebay.

However, I'm thinking the OCZ Vertex 120 GB @ $355 ($2.95/gb) might be a better deal than the x-25 at $525 ($3.28/gb)

i'm actually leaning towards the 120 Gig myself. it looks like it performs generally better than the x-25, and i shouldn't need too much disk space as i've got a file server on my home network for all my huge file needs.

dextermorgan · Post by **dextermorgan** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:06 pm

superflush wrote:
HAZMAT wrote:I've been reading Macrumors.com, and TCR seems to be buy a separate hard drive on your own--apparently Apple kind of rips you off on the ones they install for you, and they're not even the best. You could get a nicer/bigger/possibly cheaper SSD on your own, and then take out the included hard drive and use it as an external.
But this isn't exactly an easy install, is it?

I just did a hard drive upgrade in my Macbook. It took me about three minutes to replace the hardware. Another hour to do a restore from Time Machine (automated), and I had all of my files where they should be, all my apps working, and all my settings in tact.

UNC2009 · Post by **UNC2009** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:36 pm

disco_barred wrote:
heh... while you got a good deal, Tiger Direct's actually won out in the end. i got mine shipped for $1,029 after ebay cashback - ran the serials and it came with the, 3 year depot warranty, came with the SLC SSD instead of the MLC, 2gb ram in one dim so it was an easy upgrade to 4.

i'd have paid $1,133 for it in a new york minute though!

that being said, it looks like it was just luck that i got the laptop while others got the run around... sorry to hear it guys...

Just got my x300 from Buy.com. How can you tell which hard drive you have, between the SLC and the MLC?

sheltron5000 · Post by **sheltron5000** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 3:25 pm

dextermorgan wrote:
superflush wrote:
HAZMAT wrote:I've been reading Macrumors.com, and TCR seems to be buy a separate hard drive on your own--apparently Apple kind of rips you off on the ones they install for you, and they're not even the best. You could get a nicer/bigger/possibly cheaper SSD on your own, and then take out the included hard drive and use it as an external.
But this isn't exactly an easy install, is it?
I just did a hard drive upgrade in my Macbook. It took me about three minutes to replace the hardware. Another hour to do a restore from Time Machine (automated), and I had all of my files where they should be, all my apps working, and all my settings in tact.

Was this the new unibody macbook pro?

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:46 pm

Any recommendations on wireless routers? I'm thinking the 500 GB Time Capsule, and if that turns out to be too small (doubtful), upgrading it to 1 tb myself.

enygma · Post by **enygma** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:46 pm

Objection wrote:Any recommendations on wireless routers? I'm thinking the 500 GB Time Capsule, and if that turns out to be too small (doubtful), upgrading it to 1 tb myself.

did you catch my northwestern post up there?

as far as wireless routers, i'd do anything that can run dd-wrt.

Objection · Post by **Objection** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:53 pm

enygma wrote:
Objection wrote:Any recommendations on wireless routers? I'm thinking the 500 GB Time Capsule, and if that turns out to be too small (doubtful), upgrading it to 1 tb myself.
did you catch my northwestern post up there?

as far as wireless routers, i'd do anything that can run dd-wrt.

Not going to Northwestern. Sorry.

What are the benefits of dd-wrt? What is it?

Rossisback · Post by **Rossisback** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:53 pm

The one that allows you to jizz all over it without leaving any stains.

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