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Which would you all recommend? The Mac Air or the Mac Pro w/Retina?

thisislife49 wrote:Which would you all recommend? The Mac Air or the Mac Pro w/Retina?

I have a MacBook Pro but not with retina display. It's a gem.

thisislife49 wrote:Which would you all recommend? The Mac Air or the Mac Pro w/Retina?

Macbook Air any day; all-around best laptop I've ever owned. The 12-hour battery life is not exaggerated (I've gotten 14 on occasion since upgrading to Mavericks), and it's more than powerful enough for any purposes you will have in law school. It's also a good time to buy since it just got a faster processor and a $100 price drop. If you really want a Pro for some reason (i.e. the Retina, which is beautiful but way overpriced), wait for the next release cycle since it's almost due for an update.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Air

Edited: Wrong forum.

I have a Mac Air. I'd say 2/3 of my 2L class has either an air or a pro. For law school an air is all you need, and the books are pretty heavy so it's nice to have a lighter computer.

I have a Retina MBP, but it's my only computer so it has to do everything. If I didn't need the horsepower for Photoshop and video editing, I'd get a 13-inch Air in a heartbeat.

Thanks all--- follow up questions now though, does anyone think the 13" for either Mac laptop handicaps you in the classroom or library (by being too small of a screen) say compared to the 15"? At home I plan to have a bigger monitor, so that's not a problem there.

thisislife49 wrote:Thanks all--- follow up questions now though, does anyone think the 13" for either Mac laptop handicaps you in the classroom or library (by being too small of a screen) say compared to the 15"? At home I plan to have a bigger monitor, so that's not a problem there.

I can't imagine how it would. 13" is plenty of screen estate for taking notes or writing briefs, and if you have poor vision you can either wear reading glasses or just increase the zoom/font size. That said, there is a huge difference between 11" and 13", and I highly recommend against the 11" MBA. It's barely any lighter than the 13" anyway, and the battery life is worse.

Also - and maybe people will disagree with me on this - the library is kind of a miserable place to get work done. The air reeks of stress and desperation, and unless you share an apartment with loud/distracting roommates, home usually a much more productive and peaceful place to work. I can't fathom wanting to spend any more time sitting at school than you're forced to anyway.

thisislife49 wrote:Thanks all--- follow up questions now though, does anyone think the 13" for either Mac laptop handicaps you in the classroom or library (by being too small of a screen) say compared to the 15"? At home I plan to have a bigger monitor, so that's not a problem there.

For the record, I'm an 0L, but decided to comment since I just completed a PhD and MBA while using a 13'' MacBook Pro and feel I can comment on this question. I didn't feel that the 13'' hindered my work at all over the last 5 yrs of both grad programs. I used my laptop for everything at the library, laboratory, home office, etc. and never felt the screen was too small. I wrote a 260 page doctoral dissertation in 3 months and it worked great. I never felt I was handicapped due to a 13'' screen size. In fact, a 15'' would have been too big to bring to the lab/library every day for me.

I don't use a mac but I'll comment on the screen size. I'd kill myself if I had to live with a 13". I'm ok with a 15" for class notetaking, but when I actually need to work (researching, writing, outlining) I have to have a dual monitor setup with a 23" screen and my 15" laptop.

My SO uses an air 13" for law school and loves it. And I already have a fairly new Pro Retina 13" that I will use for LS in the fall. In terms of screen real estate, 13" is totally comfortable for both of us. And if you already have another monitor at home, you're all set.

If I'm just using the MBA for schoolwork will the 4gb suffice or is it worth it to upgrade to 8gb?

HuskyMuskie wrote:If I'm just using the MBA for schoolwork will the 4gb suffice or is it worth it to upgrade to 8gb?

Upgrade. While total memory is less important than it used to be, given modern processors, the 8GB makes a noticeable difference over the 4 when heavily multitasking, especially given what RAM-hogs Chrome and the Microsoft Office Suite can be. It's also nigh impossible to upgrade later, so it's worth spending the extra $100 or whatever now and enjoying your "future-proof" laptop throughout all of law school and some years after.

For similar reasons I recommend getting the larger internal hard drive now unless you store all of your music/movies on the cloud and/or don't mind carrying around an external hard drive all the time. But I also have some unnecessary games taking up a lot of space in the summer months, so you might be just fine with the 120GB model.

ymmv wrote:

HuskyMuskie wrote:If I'm just using the MBA for schoolwork will the 4gb suffice or is it worth it to upgrade to 8gb?

Upgrade. While total memory is less important than it used to be, given modern processors, the 8GB makes a noticeable difference over the 4 when heavily multitasking, especially given what RAM-hogs Chrome and the Microsoft Office Suite can be. It's also nigh impossible to upgrade later, so it's worth spending the extra $100 or whatever now and enjoying your "future-proof" laptop throughout all of law school and some years after.

For similar reasons I recommend getting the larger internal hard drive now unless you store all of your music/movies on the cloud and/or don't mind carrying around an external hard drive all the time. But I also have some unnecessary games taking up a lot of space in the summer months, so you might be just fine with the 120GB model.

Thanks!

Have you all found it necessary to purchase the Microsoft Office suite or did you stick with Pages/Numbers/Keynote?

kenwash wrote:Have you all found it necessary to purchase the Microsoft Office suite or did you stick with Pages/Numbers/Keynote?

My school requires office so I was forced to purchase it (something worth checking).

kenwash wrote:Have you all found it necessary to purchase the Microsoft Office suite or did you stick with Pages/Numbers/Keynote?

You can get Microsoft Office 365 for four years if you're a student for ~$80. OneNote is now available for Macs as a free separate download, as well. I personally don't really care for the Apple office apps.

kenwash wrote:Have you all found it necessary to purchase the Microsoft Office suite or did you stick with Pages/Numbers/Keynote?

I bought Office for $10 through Microsoft's Home Use Program. Depending on where you work or go to school, you might qualify. You can check here.

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schmooky wrote:For what it's worth, I have to say I hate my macbook pro. My first one broke just before an undergrad finals week when it was only a year old, and my second one has been pretty iffy since I got it when apple replaced my first one. I don't want a repeat of this in law school! Does anyone know whether the macbook air is more reliable? Or if there are any other really light laptops that have a better/at least decent track record? Thanks!

Your experience, while unfortunate, is highly atypical, as MacBooks tend to rate at the very top of customer satisfaction and reliability rankings by Consumer Reports and the like. That said, the next-highest positions are typically occupied by Dell products and (with a bit more year-to-year variation) the Lenovo Thinkpad lines. So if you're unhappy with Apple one of those might be worth checking out.
Dell often has fantastic offers through their direct outlet site, especially for refurbished laptops. I haven't owned one in years, but the XPS line of ultraportables in particular used to be some of the best lightweight laptops out there. I've owned two Thinkpads and was very satisfied with them as well - the first lasted literally twelve years, and the second is still mostly functional as of its eighth birthday.

On that note, though, my original white Macbook from high school is still churning along, despite a dead battery, so it could just be I've had ridiculously good luck with my machines in general.

Thanks for all the advice... guess my next step is the Mac store!

thisislife49 wrote:Thanks for all the advice... guess my next step is the Mac store!

If you are a student, be sure to ask for the student discount. Although it is not a lot of money, it could be ~$50-100 that you can put to some other use.

haus wrote:

thisislife49 wrote:Thanks for all the advice... guess my next step is the Mac store!

If you are a student, be sure to ask for the student discount. Although it is not a lot of money, it could be ~$50-100 that you can put to some other use.

Interesting, good to know. I didn't know Apple stores offered that. I knew my bookstore did, but I'll try the store. Thanks!

thisislife49 wrote:Thanks for all the advice... guess my next step is the Mac store!

Make sure to get the student discount. Used to be $100 off your purchase, or at least a $100 Apple gift card depending on the year, but either way it's worth taking advantage of:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/findyourschool

ymmv wrote:

thisislife49 wrote:Thanks for all the advice... guess my next step is the Mac store!

Make sure to get the student discount. Used to be $100 off your purchase, or at least a $100 Apple gift card depending on the year, but either way it's worth taking advantage of:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/findyourschool

Definitely worth it! I got $100 off my macbook last year. When I bought one in 2008 it was $200 off + free printer (~$120 value) + free ipod touch ($300 value). So I essentially paid around $900 for a macbook, got a free printer and ipod, and then sold the macbook nearly 5yrs later for $350. It's amazing how well they continue to work after a few years' use and how they retain their value.