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Looked through some older macs/law school threads and didn't seem to find a direct answer, so thought I'd ask here. I'm going to be getting a new macbook in the next few days, and know I'll need bootcamp, windows, etc. Any current mac users have any suggestions for specs/upgrades to consider? Specifically, should I look into getting extra RAM and/or memory simply due to the need for bootcamp. Know nothing about computers other than 'get the applecare' and how to use hot corners.

To summarize: what are the optimal specs for a law student's macbook?

ohiodem wrote:Looked through some older macs/law school threads and didn't seem to find a direct answer, so thought I'd ask here. I'm going to be getting a new macbook in the next few days, and know I'll need bootcamp, windows, etc. Any current mac users have any suggestions for specs/upgrades to consider? Specifically, should I look into getting extra RAM and/or memory simply due to the need for bootcamp. Know nothing about computers other than 'get the applecare' and how to use hot corners.

To summarize: what are the optimal specs for a law student's macbook?

You shouldn't need extra memory if you are running bootcamp, since it isn't running both systems concurrently. Bootcamp basically is a partition on your harddrive that acts as a whole separate PC. From what I have heard, if you need PC software you might want to consider parallels instead. Then you can have windows programs running alongside Mac OS.

You might not even need Windows at all, depending on your school and exam software. I'd imagine any MacBook configuration will be able to cover your needs, but if you are looking at Parallels then go with 2GB or more of RAM?

If you need Office, you can buy Office 2008 now for the student pricing and upgrade for free to Mac Office 2011 when it comes out in October.

Emma. wrote:

ohiodem wrote:Looked through some older macs/law school threads and didn't seem to find a direct answer, so thought I'd ask here. I'm going to be getting a new macbook in the next few days, and know I'll need bootcamp, windows, etc. Any current mac users have any suggestions for specs/upgrades to consider? Specifically, should I look into getting extra RAM and/or memory simply due to the need for bootcamp. Know nothing about computers other than 'get the applecare' and how to use hot corners.

To summarize: what are the optimal specs for a law student's macbook?

You shouldn't need extra memory if you are running bootcamp, since it isn't running both systems concurrently. Bootcamp basically is a partition on your harddrive that acts as a whole separate PC. From what I have heard, if you need PC software you might want to consider parallels instead. Then you can have windows programs running alongside Mac OS.

You might not even need Windows at all, depending on your school and exam software. I'd imagine any MacBook configuration will be able to cover your needs, but if you are looking at Parallels then go with 2GB or more of RAM?

If you need Office, you can buy Office 2008 now for the student pricing and upgrade for free to Mac Office 2011 when it comes out in October.

yeah-- check with your school to see what they require. By now, most schools have mac compatible exam software, so you shouldn't need windows or any windows apps

Just watched a "mac" fail with ExamSoft during an exam.

Best macbook setup for law school would be ebay and the realization that computers need not be style/status symbols.

edit: Just kidding, I would check with your school and see what they recommend for their exam software. Also, I would look into getting OneNote hooked up as it seems to be popular amongst law students.

OneSixtySix wrote:Best macbook setup for law school would be ebay and the realization that computers need not be style/status symbols.

No, you had it right the first time

capitalacq wrote:

Emma. wrote:

ohiodem wrote:Looked through some older macs/law school threads and didn't seem to find a direct answer, so thought I'd ask here. I'm going to be getting a new macbook in the next few days, and know I'll need bootcamp, windows, etc. Any current mac users have any suggestions for specs/upgrades to consider? Specifically, should I look into getting extra RAM and/or memory simply due to the need for bootcamp. Know nothing about computers other than 'get the applecare' and how to use hot corners.

To summarize: what are the optimal specs for a law student's macbook?

You shouldn't need extra memory if you are running bootcamp, since it isn't running both systems concurrently. Bootcamp basically is a partition on your harddrive that acts as a whole separate PC. From what I have heard, if you need PC software you might want to consider parallels instead. Then you can have windows programs running alongside Mac OS.

You might not even need Windows at all, depending on your school and exam software. I'd imagine any MacBook configuration will be able to cover your needs, but if you are looking at Parallels then go with 2GB or more of RAM?

If you need Office, you can buy Office 2008 now for the student pricing and upgrade for free to Mac Office 2011 when it comes out in October.

yeah-- check with your school to see what they require. By now, most schools have mac compatible exam software, so you shouldn't need windows or any windows apps

This. Also, check with your school before you buy office. Michigan sells it for only $47.