Computers for Law School 2011 Forum

[23402385985]

One vote for a 11.6 Macbook Air. Great computer — small & extremely portable. Survived one year thus far and I am now upgrading to the newer i5/4gb MBAIR.

I had an original 13", then went for the smaller when it came available. I replace my laptop every year generally, and the resale on Mac products is infinitely better than my craptastic returned-8-times-in-one-year Lenovo that is now worth barely 200 despite what I paid for it.

I want an 11" air so bad. I think I can justify a laptop and an air. I'm getting closer every day

I am thinking about buying one just for fooling around on. Use my MBP for work and an Air for fun.

Yeah I just got a new MBP for work. I wouldn't mind using an Air for on the go/class purposes and my MBP at home for more intensive purposes

I am thinking long and hard about that, really.

This is going to be my set-up: http://www.hengedocks.com/ (just with a cheaper monitor, obviously)

Getting an air to bring to class sometimes would be great. I just need to see how much cash I have left.

[missinglink]

The 11" Air is so tiny. I kind of wish my 13" MBP had more space, though the screen size is definitely fine and I prefer the portability/overall size, but any lower than 13" and I don't think I'd be happy at all.

I came to the same conclusion looking at the two in person. The form factor on the 11.6 inch MBA is great. It's very portable, it feels sturdy, and it comes with a full size keyboard.

But for me, the screen is a tad too small, especially if I have to be looking at the screen for hours on end. The vertical height on the 11.6 is a little smaller than the 13.3 (16:9 vs 16:10). The screen seems fine for just note taking in class, and probably excels at that task. But for work outside of class - papers, outlining, etc - it feels just a tad cramped.

Another factor that swayed me towards the 13.3 was the palm rest. I found my hands getting cramped on the 11.6. Typing was more comfortable on the 13.3. Also, the trackpad is larger on the 13.3, which might be useful with all the new finger swipe gestures introduced in Lion.

Ultimately, I didn't feel the extra weight of the 13.3 was too much - it's still under 3lbs. Who knows, though, I might come to find it a burden to carry, but I doubt it.

Oh yeah, one last things is that the 11.6 is rated at ~5 hours of battery, whereas the 13.3 is rated for ~7.

For anyone trying to decide between the two, this review is very well done: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4528/the- ... h-review/1

[Zazelmaf]

Any computer on the market is overkill for law school. /endthread.

[albanach]

Any computer on the market is overkill for law school. /endthread.

You're correct that any new laptop will work for school - that's been said before in the thread. That doesn't mean every laptop is good value, nor does it mean that for a particular student there might not be a better choice than the laptop they are considering. There's a lot of variables in operating system, cost, build quality, keyboard quality, screen size and weight to name just a few.

[Sandrew]

So I've decided on a new laptop for law school. I'd like to sell my old one, but I'm at a loss as to how. I figured I'd give eBay a try.

Now, I've never used eBay before (either to buy or sell), so I was wary. I did some research on the scams to look out for, and took my time setting up an auction. To my surprise, within a few hours of my auction being listed, a buyer had clicked the "Buy It Now" button. Wow! Had I really just sold my old laptop in just a few hours? Of course not. The buyer wanted me to ship it to--you guessed it--Nigeria, even tough I explicitly said in the listing that I'd only ship to a US address. No honor among thieves, I suppose. Thankfully, eBay is pretty proactive about potential scams, so they sent me a message to the effect that they've voided the bidder's purchase, deregistered their account, and instructed me not to ship anything.

Anyway, the upshot is that my eBay listing has been pulled down and, since I'm new to eBay, they won't let me relist it without a 30-day waiting period. Makes sense. I may give eBay another shot in a month (this time with an upgraded PayPal account that will allow me to require payment before my auction gets delisted by eBay), but in the mean time, I'm wondering if anyone has had any success selling a used laptop by other means.

[missinglink]

Craigslist, dude.

Sell it in person, for cash. No eBay fees, and no scams. I've sold computers, bikes, and other random stuff.

Just exchange the money for the computer in a public place. People have gotten robbed in the past selling their iPhones on Craigslist at shady places late at night.

This is assuming you live in an area with a healthy Craigslist market. You might also try Gazelle if you want a hassle-free trade in for cash. But if it's just a PC, you're going to get little-to-nothing. Only Mac's seem to hold their value really well.

[bendtheslurry]

I just got my 15" MBP. I added the hi res display and the 7200rpm/500GB hard drive. I wanted to be able to do all my law school stuff, professionally edit photos, and (if I am so inclined) be able to play the new star wars MMO. I'm a first time Mac buyer, but so far I've been really impressed.

[missinglink]

I just got my 15" MBP. I added the hi res display and the 7200rpm/500GB hard drive. I wanted to be able to do all my law school stuff, professionally edit photos, and (if I am so inclined) be able to play the new star wars MMO. I'm a first time Mac buyer, but so far I've been really impressed.

Great computer. The display is absolutely gorgeous too.

[Sandrew]

Craigslist, dude.

Sell it in person, for cash. No eBay fees, and no scams. I've sold computers, bikes, and other random stuff.

Just exchange the money for the computer in a public place. People have gotten robbed in the past selling their iPhones on Craigslist at shady places late at night.

This is assuming you live in an area with a healthy Craigslist market. You might also try Gazelle if you want a hassle-free trade in for cash. But if it's just a PC, you're going to get little-to-nothing. Only Mac's seem to hold their value really well.

Thanks for the tip. Giving Craigslist a shot in the interim. Incidentally, it's a Mac(book Pro) I'm trying to sell, for which Gazelle offered me a measly fifty clams!

[bigjinjapan]

So I've decided on a new laptop for law school. I'd like to sell my old one, but I'm at a loss as to how. I figured I'd give eBay a try.

Now, I've never used eBay before (either to buy or sell), so I was wary. I did some research on the scams to look out for, and took my time setting up an auction. To my surprise, within a few hours of my auction being listed, a buyer had clicked the "Buy It Now" button. Wow! Had I really just sold my old laptop in just a few hours? Of course not. The buyer wanted me to ship it to--you guessed it--Nigeria, even tough I explicitly said in the listing that I'd only ship to a US address. No honor among thieves, I suppose. Thankfully, eBay is pretty proactive about potential scams, so they sent me a message to the effect that they've voided the bidder's purchase, deregistered their account, and instructed me not to ship anything.

Anyway, the upshot is that my eBay listing has been pulled down and, since I'm new to eBay, they won't let me relist it without a 30-day waiting period. Makes sense. I may give eBay another shot in a month (this time with an upgraded PayPal account that will allow me to require payment before my auction gets delisted by eBay), but in the mean time, I'm wondering if anyone has had any success selling a used laptop by other means.

eBay is a total cesspool these days. I wouldn't go near it. If you can't find anyone to buy your old laptop at a fair price, you might consider donating it, or using it for a project like a digital photo-frame. Just don't wind up like this guy:

--LinkRemoved--

[ResolutePear]

Craigslist is the best way. Cash at hand.

[rcweedman]

So I just checked my Lenovo laptop order status and it shows that my estimated ship date is 8/10/2011. When I paid for it a few days ago, the site showed the estimated ship date to be 8/4/2011......WTF?!

Just went to the Lenovo sales website and it shows an estimated ship date of 8/8/2011 if I buy another computer right now!

bait and switch bastards!

[Miznitic]

So I just checked my Lenovo laptop order status and it shows that my estimated ship date is 8/10/2011. When I paid for it a few days ago, the site showed the estimated ship date to be 8/4/2011......WTF?!

Just went to the Lenovo sales website and it shows an estimated ship date of 8/8/2011 if I buy another computer right now!

bait and switch bastards!

It gets worse. Just wait until you have a problem with the laptop. They are nowhere near the quality they had during the IBM days.

[beach_terror]

So I just checked my Lenovo laptop order status and it shows that my estimated ship date is 8/10/2011. When I paid for it a few days ago, the site showed the estimated ship date to be 8/4/2011......WTF?!

Just went to the Lenovo sales website and it shows an estimated ship date of 8/8/2011 if I buy another computer right now!

bait and switch bastards!

Chat them and threaten to report them to the BBB. They'll ship it out today if you do.

[NC1]

So I just checked my Lenovo laptop order status and it shows that my estimated ship date is 8/10/2011. When I paid for it a few days ago, the site showed the estimated ship date to be 8/4/2011......WTF?!

Just went to the Lenovo sales website and it shows an estimated ship date of 8/8/2011 if I buy another computer right now!

bait and switch bastards!

It gets worse. Just wait until you have a problem with the laptop. They are nowhere near the quality they had during the IBM days.

I wish someone would've told me this earlier. Yet this entire forum advocates for them. With that said, mine say 8/10 as well. Which is ridiculous.

[beach_terror]

So I just checked my Lenovo laptop order status and it shows that my estimated ship date is 8/10/2011. When I paid for it a few days ago, the site showed the estimated ship date to be 8/4/2011......WTF?!

Just went to the Lenovo sales website and it shows an estimated ship date of 8/8/2011 if I buy another computer right now!

bait and switch bastards!

It gets worse. Just wait until you have a problem with the laptop. They are nowhere near the quality they had during the IBM days.

I wish someone would've told me this earlier. Yet this entire forum advocates for them. With that said, mine say 8/10 as well. Which is ridiculous.

If it's any comfort, you won't ever need their support staff because nothing will go wrong with it.

[rcweedman]

i'm chatting up one of the reps right now....I swear they handle like 10 different chat sessions at once with how slow they are....he says call back on monday when there are more people there

[typ3]

So I just checked my Lenovo laptop order status and it shows that my estimated ship date is 8/10/2011. When I paid for it a few days ago, the site showed the estimated ship date to be 8/4/2011......WTF?!

Just went to the Lenovo sales website and it shows an estimated ship date of 8/8/2011 if I buy another computer right now!

bait and switch bastards!

Chat them and threaten to report them to the BBB. They'll ship it out today if you do.

What did you order? I ordered my T420s on 7/28 and it shipped today (7/30).

Based upon Notebookreview forums the turn around for ordering is 10 days from when you first submit your order until it's out the door.

[rcweedman]

What did you order? I ordered my T420s on 7/28 and it shipped today (7/30).

Based upon Notebookreview forums the turn around for ordering is 10 days from when you first submit your order until it's out the door.

I got a T520 on 7/27 but its probably the upgrades that are killing me. I upgraded to the 128G SSD, 16x9 screen, bluetooth 3.0, 2x2 wireless and downgraded from windows professional to windows home.

[missinglink]

This question is about software, not hardware, but I figured this was the best place to ask. I need a word processing software for OSX. In the past, I used Office 2008 for Mac and more recently Office 2010 for PC.

Is Microsoft Office 2011 for OSX any good? Or should I go with the Pages / Numbers / Keynote trifecta?

[Miznitic]

You'll need office for mac because office is just so ubiquitous, no real way around that. Best to avoid those minor/major compatibility issues before deadlines start approaching.

You can generally get it free or for a greatly reduced price depending upon your school. But yah, Office 2011 is good to go.

[Naked Dude]

You don't need office for basic word processing. Word is pretty powerful software, so if you're doing stuff with multiple languages or cross referencing it's awesome, but if it's only the occasional essay it's not necessary.

As far as presentations, Keynote is just as good as Powerpoint if not better (I think it's better). As far as spreadsheets go, I'd go with Excel, even if it's not as pretty.

But that's just going off usability and utility. I have Word and not Pages, but that's because I have had advanced word processing needs. If I didn't I might've gotten Pages or stuck with Libre office like I have on my netbook. I'm not going to marry myself to a proprietary format just because a lot of people have that. No thanks. I'll use what I like best.

[The Valkyrie]

Someone should get one of those "tough books" for LS. I wish I had!

[Dany]

Is Microsoft Office 2011 for OSX any good?

I've used it on a friend's computer for doing reports and presentations and such and I really like it. Definitely getting it for my Mac when I can figure out how to get it cheap from my school.

[ResolutePear]

Is Microsoft Office 2011 for OSX any good?

I've used it on a friend's computer for doing reports and presentations and such and I really like it. Definitely getting it for my Mac when I can figure out how to get it cheap from my school.

Versus the alternatives, 2011 is the way to go.