Need new notebook for law school.

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Need new notebook for law school.

Hey guy's,

I just started my first year of law school. I want to get my first Mac. I'm a bit conflicted about whether I should get a Macbook Air or a Pro.

Portability is essential to me, my iPad just isn't cutting it anymore. A CD-Drive isn't essential to me, I could buy the superdrive if I need it, and the smaller HDD capacity isn't an issue either cause i'm planning on buying an external HDD also. All of these factors point me towards a Macbook Air but what worries me about the Air is that once I buy it I can't upgrade it later on, and this computer has to last me for at the very least the next 4 to 5 years.

Main reason I want a Mac is because, almost everyone in my class has one, they're good looking devices, like I said I love my iPad and my iPhone. Lol! All jokes aside, I mainly want a Mac because my neighbor has had his Macbook Pro for the last 5 years and the only problem he's had with it is he had to buy a new battery for it. Clearly Mac's are built to last, but that's a Pro I don't know how long Air's last. Also even though I said earlier on that the CD-Drive isn't that important to me, the fact that Pro's come with one is nice.

I asked my friends with Mac's which one I should get and it was a waste of time, my friends with Pro's told me to buy a Pro and my friends with Air's told me to get an Air.

I already have 2 PC's at home, I want to be able to use Microsoft Office ( I don't like Pages), I'm waiting till the 15th, hopefully Apple will announce new MB Pro's and that will help me decide. I want a notebook where I can download and save cases from Westlaw ( The Westlaw iPad app doesn't allow it). Also I hope to purchase the Thunderbolt display next year.

I'm sorry this is a little long it's just that I felt like I needed to give you the most information possible so that you guy's and gal's could give your best possible answer. Lastly I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors or if this all seems a little incoherent, English isn't my first language.

Please answer I don't know what to do!

Cheers!

MacBook Air, Macbook Pro

Posted on Oct 6, 2013 3:32 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

sberman

Level 10

264,213 points

Oct 6, 2013 3:37 PM in response to yarel_23

Two comments:

1. Your question is too long and involved for me to read in detail. I skimmed it quickly.

2. Your question is a bit like asking what type of car you should purchase. It's your decision.

Having said that, I suspect you should go with the MacBook Air. It's a great machine, and should suffice.

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Answer 2

Oct 6, 2013 3:39 PM in response to yarel_23

I own both a Pro and Air..., I wouldnt part with my macbook Air (owned 3 of them) for anything. Used to repair laptops, and owned well over 100 diff. varities. As a person who generally doesnt like anything,....I love the macbook Air. 😊

Here is an excellent video comparison between the 11” I5 vs. I7 2013 Macbook Air.

http://www.apple-tubes.com/apple-macbook-air-11-mid-2013-haswell-i5-vs-i7-compar ison/

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7113/2013-macbook-air-core-i5-4250u-vs-core-i7-465 0u/2

I5 vs. I7 performance 13” Macbook Air 2013

Boot performance

11.7 I5 ……11.4 I7

Cinebench

1.1 I5….1.41 I7

IMovie Import and Opt.

6.69 I5….5.35 I7

IMovie Export

10.33 I5…8.20 I7

Final Cut Pro X

21.47 I5…17.71 I7

Adobe Lightroom 3 Export

25.8 I5….31.8 I7

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Performance

27.3 I5…22.6 I7

Macbook Air:

Only one moving part, ultrafast boot time SSD, the full power of laptop with the weight of an Ipad (close).

Air is the only Mac that has Haswell, 802ac wifi, and incredible 12hr. batt life in 13" I5.

Recommend buying the Air with 8gig Ram.

Pack around a regular laptop around about 20 days, then an Air, .....after that the standard laptops stays at home.

Only one moving part, the fan. No moving HD heads to crash or moving platters. Runs a LOT cooler than anything else out there (which = durability). Heater is a killer on a scale of 10X over that of accidents.

Also the AIR has far fewer parts to fail inside than a standard laptop. Really only a few replacement parts

The Air in general is faster due to the SSD, also if you have a 802ac Router (i.e. Airport Extreme) then the Air over wifi is a LOT faster than ANYTHING out there

If youre going to be dragging a notebook around campus all the time, the Air makes things a lot more lovely.

The FINAL consideration of course is your application USE, and needs regarding same (see specs and video above)

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