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Hello,

My laptop just broke and I am trying to decide which would be better to buy to use for law school and such.

I am debating between one of the apple laptops and the new IPAD.

Does anyone have any suggestions or insights.

EDIT - From the sounds of it I should go with the laptop - does anyone know which would be better, the Apple air or the macbook pro.

I would go with the macbook pro. The Macbook air from my research is basically the same just thinner and about 300 dollars more expensive. I have an Ipad and I absolutely love it but I don't think it would work well with being your primary source of computer...I believe in using ipads in class and school but in conjuction with a laptop not as a susitute. I love the macbook pros and Im buying a new one right before I leave to go to law school.

Seriously...?

Obviously a Macbook. Why would you even want to use a tablet as your primary computing apparatus?

Get both. Maybe you can qualify for a student discount.

Bronck wrote:Seriously...?

Obviously a Macbook. Why would you even want to use a tablet as your primary computing apparatus?

This.

Asus + Ipad for the same price as a macbook pro.

cedarseoul wrote:Get both.

Laptop for rigorous typing.

iPad for reading "textbooks" - my friend had the binding removed from his casebooks, he scanned all the pages (easy using the copiers in the library), and now just carries around the thin iPad instead of 5 different casebooks. Genius.

monkey85 wrote:

cedarseoul wrote:Get both.

Laptop for rigorous typing.

iPad for reading "textbooks" - my friend had the binding removed from his casebooks, he scanned all the pages (easy using the copiers in the library), and now just carries around the thin iPad instead of 5 different casebooks. Genius.

Is it hard to search through the casebook after scanning it to the ipad or does it go in , in the same order. wouldn't it be difficult to flip through the pages when searching for things vs. having a casebook in hand?

merc280 wrote:

monkey85 wrote:

cedarseoul wrote:Get both.

Laptop for rigorous typing.

iPad for reading "textbooks" - my friend had the binding removed from his casebooks, he scanned all the pages (easy using the copiers in the library), and now just carries around the thin iPad instead of 5 different casebooks. Genius.

Is it hard to search through the casebook after scanning it to the ipad or does it go in , in the same order. wouldn't it be difficult to flip through the pages when searching for things vs. having a casebook in hand?

iBooks along with most iPad apps come equipped with easy to use search features searching isn't a problem plus some iPad apps u can mark up the documents with highlights and notes and bookmark pages just like u could in a real case book

Desert Fox wrote:Asus + Ipad for the same price as a macbook pro.

This. Apple's prices make me cringe...

I have a MacBook and I love it. But the Air is even nicer.

mcdeeremitch wrote:

merc280 wrote:

monkey85 wrote:

cedarseoul wrote:Get both.

Laptop for rigorous typing.

iPad for reading "textbooks" - my friend had the binding removed from his casebooks, he scanned all the pages (easy using the copiers in the library), and now just carries around the thin iPad instead of 5 different casebooks. Genius.

Is it hard to search through the casebook after scanning it to the ipad or does it go in , in the same order. wouldn't it be difficult to flip through the pages when searching for things vs. having a casebook in hand?

iBooks along with most iPad apps come equipped with easy to use search features searching isn't a problem plus some iPad apps u can mark up the documents with highlights and notes and bookmark pages just like u could in a real case book

Good luck trying to take an iPad into an exam.

macbook air. If you wont be doing ne thing that you need the "pro" name for - better integrated graphics chips, large storage, and a firewire 800 port...having a thinner lighter laptop is awesome. Not to mention it has flash storage that can stay in sleep mode for up to 30 days.

Desert Fox wrote:Asus + Ipad for the same price as a macbook pro.

Yeah, this is the better call.

Aside from some cosmetic differences in the GUI, there's no real difference that your average person will notice.

Bronck wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:Asus + Ipad for the same price as a macbook pro.

Yeah, this is the better call.

Aside from some cosmetic differences in the GUI, there's no real difference that your average person will notice.

Agreed. I am a techy, both professionally and at a personal level, and I have much disdain for Apple computers (primarily because of how closed off they are to the development community and how they have ironically become Big Brother...the very entity they literally claimed they were trying to defeat back in the 80s). I love the iPhone and the iPad, I think they are awesome gadgets, but when it comes down to laptops and desktops, Apple disgusts me. They charge exorbitant amounts of money for hardware that is worth between 1/2 to maybe 3/4 the actual value on the market based on competitors. Apple makes really pretty products though. The operating system is alright, but I feel Windows 7 has reclaimed MS's place in the OS hierarchy and Windows 8 looks like it could be even cooler (not to mention, 90% of software is compatible on Windows, whereas this is not true --at least at the capacity that Windows offers-- for Macs). Sure, many people say: "well, I am not going to be playing hardcore video games or making my computer do strenuous calculations, so I just want something that works well and looks good", but, you can get this from Windows machines as well but for half the price. My HP laptop blows the highest end macbook out of the water and was 1/2 the price (I paid 1,190 for it whereas, at the time, the macbook pro with comparable specs was 2,200 bucks).

And as for Apple computers "just working, out of the box"? well, if you can't get a windows machine to work out of the box, then I am not sure you've been around for the past 30 or 40 years...

People complain about tech support, but that is company dependent. I have heard horror stories about Dell, and I probably wouldn't buy a Dell (although I've dealt with Dell tech support before and was actually pretty pleased with the outcome). But, Lenovo and HP and Asus seem to be doing pretty well and the specs they offer at the prices they have are amazing...especially around xmas or back to school times.

This post is a flame on Apple, but I mean no disrespect to anyone who has purchased Apple products. I, myself, have an iPhone and am really happy with it. But, all I'm saying is that Apple is very expensive and I don't see the added benefit from an Apple versus its competitors. On the other hand, if you have tons of money and you care about what you look like in public to the degree that you need to make a fashion statement, then by all means, macbook pro is the way to go --it's a status symbol, for sure. But for someone like me, who is not rich (or at least doesn't have 2k sitting around), I would go with a Windows machine because you get much bigger bang for your buck.

My two cents...FWIW

?

TLS_noobie wrote:...

What you wrote is dumb. 13" MBP is about the same price as a 13" PC of equal specs, minus the video card, maybe...but intel 3000 is fine. for $1099 youll get a laptop thatll last 3-4 years no problem whereas cheaper PC laptops tend to shit the bed after around 2.5. If you're going 15" and match the resolution youll also not notice a huge price disparity. That said, replacing a cheaper laptop every 2.5 years might save you a bit of money --but choosing to have a nicer laptop for a longer period with less hassles (security issues, updates that break shit...) is not unreasonable. if you're doing any video production, you need a mac.. and if you're a developer or power user, having a unix core/terminal is real nice (fuck cygwin).

to say that people only get macs to look cool is fucking stupid.

And wtf does that mean that 90% of software is compatible with windows? Where'd you pull that from?

Who describes themselves as a techie besides blog writers trying to gain some authority?

I am not tech savy, what I don't like about windows laptops is the battery life, virus issues, and I've never had one last more than a year and a half or so because of these two issues. What I like about my iPod, iPhone, and iPad is they don't have these issues. My iPod touch has been bullet proof. So I lean towards getting an Apple laptop for law school. Are their laptops as durable as their other devices? Thanks.

Any virus issues?

I am sold then! Don't really care that Apple costs more, I believe from my past experience with their products that the additional cost is worth it.

rebexness wrote:Don't get a Macbook Air. Why spend that kind of money when you can't even watch dvds?

You cannot watch DVDs on it?

My dad works for IBM so I have only ever had thinkpads/leenovos. The one that just crashed, was around 4 years old. And he fixed it, but I am afraid it will go down again.

Giantsfan13 wrote:

rebexness wrote:Don't get a Macbook Air. Why spend that kind of money when you can't even watch dvds?

You cannot watch DVDs on it?

Nope. No disc drive. Or USB ports. Or anything useful.