MacBook Pro 13" for Computer Science (UK)


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Hi,

In a couple of weeks I will be starting Uni, doing Computer Science. Would anyone doing that degree or a similar one be able to tell me if having a laptop is necessary? I was thinking for when I need to do group work it would be useful. I'd like to get the MacBook Pro 13 (base model).

Would that be sufficient? Don't think I will be doing any graphic intense work, more programming and word processing.

Thanks,

Chris.

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Yeah that'll be fine (it's what I used in my first year of Comp Sci :p). If you can afford the jump to the 15" I'd probably go with that due to the extra screen real-estate (and it only adds 1lb to the weight of your bag).

You don't necessarily need a laptop for lectures and such, however, it makes life a little bit easier if you're as disorganised as me with paper notes, and lets you get a bit of work done in the bar after the lecture ;)

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For a computer science course you're better off with a Windows machine as most of your course work will likely be done with that. Of course, you can still buy the MacBook and install Windows on it using Bootcamp, but you may as well safe yourself a tonne of money as you'll be able to get a Windows laptop for half the price of a MacBook.

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For a computer science course you're better off with a Windows machine as most of your course work will likely be done with that. Of course, you can still buy the MacBook and install Windows on it using Bootcamp, but you may as well safe yourself a tonne of money as you'll be able to get a Windows laptop for half the price of a MacBook.

Most universities won't teach a system specific language - they'll usually choose something such as Java which can be run/coded on any platform.

The people with laptops on my course form roughly a 50:50 split between Windows machines and Macs, with the odd Linux user here and there.

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For a computer science course you're better off with a Windows machine as most of your course work will likely be done with that. Of course, you can still buy the MacBook and install Windows on it using Bootcamp, but you may as well safe yourself a tonne of money as you'll be able to get a Windows laptop for half the price of a MacBook.

actually, at least in my first year last year, there was no need to have a Windows computer. Everything we did (Python, Java etc) could be done on a Mac or Linux machine. The uni even encouraged us to use unix a bit (Bath have a few unix servers that any student can log into and use).

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My uni everything was in unix, solaris etc.. As it has said before, we started on C, C++ and Java which are all platform independant.

If i had the chance for uni i would def get a mac, there are some excellent software packages that really help (things, procrastnate etc..) plus it has a unix underpinning which can be very handy, if you find you do need windows you can either run it as a VM using parallels or opensource VM or you can run bootcamp to run windows native.

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it makes life a little bit easier if you're as disorganised as me with paper notes

Yeah, I hate paper notes as well :p. In my college course I used to always type up the notes on the computer.

If you can afford the jump to the 15" I'd probably go with that due to the extra screen real-estate (and it only adds 1lb to the weight of your bag)

I'd like to, but I couldn't really afford the extra price (including HE discount).

Most universities won't teach a system specific language - they'll usually choose something such as Java which can be run/coded on any platform.

Yeah, apparently my course uses Java for the programming. (I use TextMate on OS X, which I believe can compile and run Java apps).

Would you say that there is a lot of students with laptops? Don't want to be turning up and me being one out of a few :p.

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For Java on Mac you can use any text editor or one of the various available IDEs (which I personally hate - I use Textmate like you).

In my lectures, I'd say there's usually between 10-20 people with laptops of varying sizes, from netbooks, to a huge 17" MBP.

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A mac makes a perfectly good windows machine if need be so you are no better or worse off with a Mac. Dual booting or using a virtual windows install gives Mac users the best of both worlds.

Choice wise, there will always be those who just say that Mac's are a rippoff and those that think that the build quality, software and design of a Mac make it worth the cost. Either way it's purely a personal view and there's no right or wrong answer.

If you are quick(today the last day I think), you can get the a Macbook Pro with an iPod touch. My family just got a base model for what will have cost ?645 by using the student discount(take along ID and acceptance letters etc to Apple store) and flogging the iPod for ?120 on Ebay which is a pretty good deal imop.

I do think that there will be many students with laptops even if they are not always brought into lectures and tutorials they are handier for moving between home and student accom.

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At my uni it was mainly mac, with the lecturers also teaching off mac's.

At the end of the day, its your decision which you go for, but theres no way that a windows machine would be better than a mac, or vice versa!

Which uni is it you're going to anyway?

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I woundn't say a laptop is necessary, I went through my three years without using one. It can come in handy in the second and especially in the third year when you have big projects to work on and don't want to move your work from uni PC to home PC all the time.

Also I wouldn't say Windows machine is necessary, you might have to do some Windows specific tasks such as flash, however for me it doesn't justify getting a Windows laptop. So its just personal preference.

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I don't think a laptop is really necessary. I managed to get by without one. If i needed to do any work i'd just use the computers in the University labs and if i needed to make notes in the lectures, i'd just write them down the old fashioned way.

And if i was going to get a laptop i probably would have gotten a Windows ones as we mainly used Windows/Unix.

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I bought a MacBook toward the end of my second year and found it equally as useful as the Windows laptop I had first.

Having a laptop for uni is going to be useful in pretty much any subject these days. I got most use out of it when hanging about between lectures for entertainment/work. If you're moving out of home it will also help a great deal when going home for weekends/holidays. But .. as has been stated, it isn't necessary, especially if you already have a desktop. Most departments in CS seem to have very good computing labs for their students. Remote access such as SSH makes it easy to transfer files between home and uni. If money is tight, then wait a while until you get a better feel for if you'll get enough use out of it.

I experienced CS in two universities and Windows was not at all necessary for any of my work, although Linux was needed for a few things. As you already know you'll be mostly doing Java, you will probably be fine on that account but you might want to investigate the options for second and third years or ask your institution first to make sure.

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Thanks everyone for the advice, i've decided i'm going to get one. As soon as I register for my course I will place my order online (as I will get the HE student discount) .

According to my research, it will come to about ?780 for the base 13" model with the University discount, is that correct?

Chris.

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I use my Macbook 13" Unibody at university, every now and then I boot into VMware for Windows or (even more rarely) Linux support but I would say 95% of my work is done on Mac OS X.

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I used a Powerbook during my university days (comp sci) and found it was put to very good effect. The only time it wasn't ideal was a couple of courses using Rational Rose and a couple of WinAP/MFC. There were other courses I could have taken in place if I really wanted to but at the time I still bought into the "you can't get a job unless you can program for Windows" mentality. (turns out since graduating I've only had to write Windows applications 3 or 4 times in the ~5 years since I finished, the majority of the code I've written was for Mac OS X or BSD/Linux).

VirtualPC was suitable-enough for typical coursework using Visual Studio at the time: the modern non-emulated version is perfectly serviceable.

One thing that made my life noticeably better: buying a small graphics tablet. It's much easier to copy down diagrams or equations in math/science-courses. They're cheap and light enough that you can keep one in your backpack until you realize you need one.

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this is just my opinion

but for engineering students a Windows laptop would be more productive

once again please dont bash me, as this is only my opinion :)

Not at all true. All of my CS courses are in Python and Java (two C courses, but that's not platform specific either), and all of my instructors use Macs (some use TextMate, others use IDEs like Eclipse).

A Windows PC might be nice for civil engineering or something (though nothing is stopping you from using Boot Camp), but CS is very *nix oriented. The Windows kids have a lot of trouble (with Python, mostly) because code snippets that the instructors give out as hints are sometimes specific to *nix environments.

On the lab computers, we're encouraged to use the install of Fedora they have running as opposed to the Windows XP install. :p

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yeah it will be more than sufficient. I do IT work and few months ago I got the base model of the 13 inch Macbook pro with 4GB RAM instead of 2.

Mac OS X has a powerful shell plus you can always install Windows OS using bootcamp or VirtualBox.

I love the battery life of the new macbooks and the durability. They are well built.

Cheers

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Just finished a CSci degree and I did my last 2 years with a MacAir and a Windows PC at home. Spent most of my time in OS X as a guide - Java dev and C dev is fine. Doubt you'll be doing much Windows specific code...?

Chris

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  • 3 weeks later...

Quick update:

After debating awhile about if I should get it, I went ahead today and bought it from the Apple Retail store. Its excellent.

Btw we are programming in C.

Thanks for the advice :)!

Chris

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