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Is a 15" laptop too big for school?

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paddyboy

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13 Jun 2007, 09:44

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Do the schools mandate a minimum configuration? :roll:

I already own a 1.5GHz/1Gb RAM/80Gb HDD Compaq notebook running XP and Office. Does everything I need - surfing, word processing, presentations, photo-editing...

died4me

So i just exchanged it to 12 inch tablet PC.

That be awesome! :cool

Is it the same configuration for the same price on a tablet?

died4me

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13 Jun 2007, 16:21

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Tablet is bit pricey. mine was around $1400 but it was 2giga hz/2giga ram. So w/ apple to apple comparision, the tablet is about $200 more??

I think what you have should be more than sufficient to meet any school's minimum config requirement.

It is not like we are going to use an AutoCAD or ProE design tools. :lol:

polobrute

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13 Jun 2007, 20:17

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naturallight

Thanks for the tips, polobrute. Unfortunately I live in the same state as Amazon, so I have to pay the sales tax. But I've been looking at other dealers like Frys, so that might work out.

that's too bad that you live in a state where amazon charges tax... maybe consider waiting til you get to berkeley and order it then... that is, if you can hold out that long... i know that's tough

alternately, i saw apple just started a new promo. if you buy a computer using an education discount from them, they will give you a free ipod nano or $200 off a regular ipod..
https://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/W ... 2-2454766-

3underscore

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14 Jun 2007, 04:14

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And there is the SR chipset and LED screen on the new 15" MBP. Which, through the school, I can get at $1700 for the lower spec machine.

I think I am sold.

naturallight

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14 Jun 2007, 11:08

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3underscore

And there is the SR chipset and LED screen on the new 15" MBP. Which, through the school, I can get at $1700 for the lower spec machine.

I think I am sold.

Ahh, just when I was talking myself down to the macbook, you had to do this:) Back to my original question: are you pretty comfortable with the size? Do you plan to take notes in class with it?

Quote:

alternately, i saw apple just started a new promo. if you buy a computer using an education discount from them, they will give you a free ipod nano or $200 off a regular ipod..

Yeah, and they also give you a free printer (or $100 off a printer). So with the $1-200 edu discount, the free nano, and the free printer, that's a pretty decent deal.

naturallight

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14 Jun 2007, 11:10

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By the way, I saw my buddy's lenovo x60 last night. It has a 12" screen (not a widescreen), a full keyboard, and no optical drive (I think you plug in in separately through a usb port). I think it weighs maybe 3 pounds. The sucker is awesome. Almost enough to make me think about getting a windows laptop…

swgotz

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14 Jun 2007, 12:43

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I just got a 15" Macbook Pro and am quite happy with the size & portability. I plan on using it to take notes in class (using OneNote via Parallel's Coherence mode). I previously used a 12" tablet PC and frankly was always a bit unhappy with the lack of screen real estate.

naturallight

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14 Jun 2007, 13:45

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Very interesting. Good to hear that you don't forsee any issues with taking it to class everyday.

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of OneNote, and I searched high and low for a similar mac product, but couldn't find anything that looked quite as good. Don't you think it will be a pain to always keep Parallels open? When you run something in Parallels, does it save to only the "PC side", or will it save in your general documents folder?

3underscore

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14 Jun 2007, 15:03

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I doubt I would use a computer in lectures. I am a pen + paper person for notes. I have never been in a business where meetings would be anything other than a pen and paper thing, so I haven't ever learned that approach and doubt I would just for lectures.

I might write them up, but knowing me I would just have a ring-bind hardback book for each course and about ten different colour pens (I have a very refined format for notes on study that I still use).

The 15" is 0.2lb heavier. The fact that it is a little bigger is nothing - once again, little bigger than an A4 binder.

sm176811

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14 Jun 2007, 15:13

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swgotz

How about connectivity with Projectors. I heard (atleast some Bootcamp users) had issues with Windows on MAc to work with projectors.

swgotz

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14 Jun 2007, 20:47

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I also tried to find a native Mac Onenote replacement but nothing came close to the features. Other than the Parallels Desktop icon on the launcher, in Coherence mode it really appears like I'm running OneNote natively in OS X. I bumped up my RAM to 3gb so as of now I'm not seeing any performance issues.

By default documents are saved to the PC side, however if you turn on file sharing, then you can save items to your Documents folder in OS X. I'm pretty sure you could change the default location of your Windows My Documents folder and have everything saved and easily available on the Mac side.

Haven't tried using a projector yet.

imjimmy

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15 Jun 2007, 01:02

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I've ordered a 15.4" Widescreen T61 from Lenovo with a 1680×1050 WSXGA+ resolution. Frankly the real estate is a major consideration for me; I want as much place to on the screen as I can. I've worked on Toshiba 12" tablets and I really don't like the tiny screen for excel or for anything else. When deciding I had seen both 14.1" and 15.4" and the weight difference was around .23 kgs. I love the extra width on a 15.4", so went ahead and ordered that one. I think it's still under 6.0 lbs, and I guess I would get used to the extra weight pretty quickly. A nice bagpack should also help.

avadavis

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17 Oct 2020, 22:17

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naturallight

Hi,
What size laptops is everyone buying for school next year? Are a lot of people going for the 12" no-optical-drive size or the more standard 14" size?

I'm switching to Apple, and I'm torn between the 13" black Macbook and the 15" Macbook Pro. I'm leaning towards the Pro, because it's pretty much the same weight as the Macbook, and I think it's a much better value. And compared to my 14" Compaq, the Pro is only an inch wider in each direction. And hey, what's an inch?

But then part of me thinks it's crazy to try to take notes in class with a 15" computer. Ugh, I wish Apple made a 12" Pro.

We can't say that 15-inch laptop would be "too" big but yes it's big for school and college as you always need to carry it at classes. So, the ideal i.e. not too small and portable laptop size for college is 13-inch. You won't find it's display size as too small and will be easy to carry it at school or college.

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