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I'm currently debating whether to buy a new macbook for Law School or not. From what I gathered I need a reliable computer for law school, cuz if that things crashes, I'm doomed.

Here's the deal: I don't think my laptop will crash. However, I feel like I may still benefit from a new laptop, it's just the money consideration thing. My macbook pro is a fall 2010 version, so it is only 2.5 years old. It runs "fine", however I am almost out of space on it (i don't have an external hard drive). Regardless, I am buying an external hard drive to store my music so I have a lot of space on it to prevent lagging. So when I buy a new macbook, space is not really a consideration (my comp is probably 75% music). My trackpad is broken though (you can't "click" it physically, but the tap mode works fine - and it is actually an easier mode, or maybe I'm just used to it). I'm also currently on snow leopoard os x (yes I will update it soon), although I'm not sure if the new os x will run better on a newer computer.

I've heard the benefits of the air's lightweight - and I don't need a DVD drive - so I am kind of leaning towards that. The pro is bulky, and since I don't game, I guess I really don't need the space (although I do like the sturdiness).

Is it really necessary to spend ~1,200 on a new macbook considering my situation? I do have the money to buy it, although that will be ~1,200 less to carry me out of law school when the debt collection rolls in. That considered, I will probably need an update before law school ends too, so maybe I'm better off just buying it now?

Thanks!

mcs268 wrote:I'm currently debating whether to buy a new macbook for Law School or not. From what I gathered I need a reliable computer for law school, cuz if that things crashes, I'm doomed.

Here's the deal: I don't think my laptop will crash. However, I feel like I may still benefit from a new laptop, it's just the money consideration thing. My macbook pro is a fall 2010 version, so it is only 2.5 years old. It runs "fine", however I am almost out of space on it (i don't have an external hard drive). Regardless, I am buying an external hard drive to store my music so I have a lot of space on it to prevent lagging. So when I buy a new macbook, space is not really a consideration (my comp is probably 75% music). My trackpad is broken though (you can't "click" it physically, but the tap mode works fine - and it is actually an easier mode, or maybe I'm just used to it). I'm also currently on snow leopoard os x (yes I will update it soon), although I'm not sure if the new os x will run better on a newer computer.

I've heard the benefits of the air's lightweight - and I don't need a DVD drive - so I am kind of leaning towards that. The pro is bulky, and since I don't game, I guess I really don't need the space (although I do like the sturdiness).

Is it really necessary to spend ~1,200 on a new macbook considering my situation? I do have the money to buy it, although that will be ~1,200 less to carry me out of law school when the debt collection rolls in. That considered, I will probably need an update before law school ends too, so maybe I'm better off just buying it now?

Thanks!

You aren't doomed if your laptop fails if you use software to back up your work. Install dropbox and you are 100% fine.

Your hard drive fullness doesn't cause lag.

Don't spend 1200 bucks to just get a thinner laptop. You might need that money later. Especially since things like theft, dropping it, spilling on it, etc. etc. are not lessened by getting a new laptop.

mcs268 wrote:I'm currently debating whether to buy a new macbook for Law School or not. From what I gathered I need a reliable computer for law school, cuz if that things crashes, I'm doomed.

Here's the deal: I don't think my laptop will crash. However, I feel like I may still benefit from a new laptop, it's just the money consideration thing. My macbook pro is a fall 2010 version, so it is only 2.5 years old. It runs "fine", however I am almost out of space on it (i don't have an external hard drive). Regardless, I am buying an external hard drive to store my music so I have a lot of space on it to prevent lagging. So when I buy a new macbook, space is not really a consideration (my comp is probably 75% music). My trackpad is broken though (you can't "click" it physically, but the tap mode works fine - and it is actually an easier mode, or maybe I'm just used to it). I'm also currently on snow leopoard os x (yes I will update it soon), although I'm not sure if the new os x will run better on a newer computer.

I've heard the benefits of the air's lightweight - and I don't need a DVD drive - so I am kind of leaning towards that. The pro is bulky, and since I don't game, I guess I really don't need the space (although I do like the sturdiness).

Is it really necessary to spend ~1,200 on a new macbook considering my situation? I do have the money to buy it, although that will be ~1,200 less to carry me out of law school when the debt collection rolls in. That considered, I will probably need an update before law school ends too, so maybe I'm better off just buying it now?

Thanks!

It's surprisingly easy to replace the trackpad on one of those macs. You can go that route. If you want more speed, I'd also recommend getting a extra stick of Ram and throwing it in there. Helped mine a lot.

Another consideration is that I still have USB 2.0, yet the good external hard drives out there are 3.0 compatible (and the 2.0 transfer is slow, I heard).

But yeah, I guess it would suck if I spilled coffee on my new one haha.

.

mcs268 wrote:Another consideration is that I still have USB 2.0, yet the good external hard drives out there are 3.0 compatible (and the 2.0 transfer is slow, I heard).

But yeah, I guess it would suck if I spilled coffee on my new one haha.

Unless you are quickly using USB drives to transfer stuff (a lot of stuff) all the time, the speed doesn't matter. 2.0 definitely fast enough for just a music external hdd.

You should investigate what is on your hard drive, because a macbook from 3 years ago shouldn't have a small hard drive. Unless you have a really big music collection.

prāna wrote:for your specific model, an SSD HD upgrade (crucial.com) will do more performance-wise than maxing out the RAM (8GB).

Don't buy a new machine.

Yeah but a stick of ram is twenty bucks and takes 5 minutes to install. It's a nice bump for a cheap price.

I think your current machine is fine, but if you do decide independently to buy a new one, Airs are great.

False dichotomy. Buy a new laptop for less than $800 that won't fall apart in 2.5 years and can also have its parts replaced with a $20 investment on eBay