Notebook Advice

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My Son is going to College and I'm looking to get him a Mac. My budget it around $1200 and wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions. I personally haven't used a Mac in years and don't know the different models. What is best for everyday regular use, battery life, speed, email, word proccessing. Also, should I put MS office program on it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

chscag

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2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
The new MacBook Pro 13" is now affordably priced at $1199.00 (starting price) and is a very capable machine for college work or, just about anything else.

As for MS Office 2008, that's up to you. Amazon has the "Home and Student" version on sale for $99.99 - a very good price. However, there are other alternatives such as the free "Open Office 3.X" for the Mac.

Why not go to the Apple web site store and take a gander at all the specifications and options? Or, better yet, if there's an Apple store close by your home, drop in and speak to one of the sales persons.

Regards.
 

cwa107


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14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
If you do visit the Apple Store, it would be worthwhile to visit the store's website and schedule a "Personal Shopper Appointment" as many Apple Stores are often buzzing with customers.
 
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MBP, 13.3" || iMac 20" 2.16 GHz C2D, 250 GB HD, 2 GB RAM, || 32GB i-Phone 4 || 32GB AT&T 3G iPad
I'd like to also suggest the 13" Macbook Pro. Nice machine that will do what you son would like it to do. I would suggest you and he visit an Apple Store to mess around with what they have. The 13" looks kind of small at first, but its the perfect size for me. I'm currently in grad school myself and I would suggest just going ahead and purchasing MS Office. There might be a small learning curve with learning the new Mac version of Office, but with your son having MS Office, there won't be any compatibility issues with papers and other documents that he will have to submit. I'm pretty sure the MS Office suite is the standard format of choice most university, it may be worth it to double check with your son's school. Good luck to the both of you.
 
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2009 13" Macbook Pro 4GB ram 160GB HD/8GB iPod touch 1G/iPod Classic 120 GB
I just bought my 13" MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM and 160GB of hard drive space and it was just about 1200 with the education discount. I really think that your son would love the pro more so than the standard white Macbook. I played around with one at the apple store, its very aesthetically pleasing and is very easy to use. Plus it fits right into your budget. As long as he isnt doing anything besides using the internet and doing schoolwork it should be perfect. As far as microsoft office goes, that would put you over budget, you could find it somewhere else cheaper I'm sure. However I reccomend getting iWork instead, its cheaper and looks like it does the same thing as microsoft office.
 
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13 Inch Apple MacBook Pro; 2.40 GHZ, 4GB Ram, 250GB HDD
You should get MS Office and you can get the full version free (ui think) just type in cnet downloadson google and go to the cnet.com link. Select the Mac tab and type in Microsoft Office
 

cwa107


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You should get MS Office and you can get the full version free (ui think) just type in cnet downloadson google and go to the cnet.com link. Select the Mac tab and type in Microsoft Office

That would be a trial version. And it comes preinstalled on every new Mac.
 
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15" MBP | 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo | 4 GB Ram | 250 GB HDD
I would buy the new 13" mbp. You will get it for $1100 after student discount, then you will get a free printer ($100), and a free iPod Touch ($229). You can keep the iPod touch if you think he would want it, or you can sell it on eBay and use that money to get Apple Care. If you want to keep the iPod, then you will have 1 year to purchase the apple care. I would probably get iWork, it's $49 with student discount. I picked it up with my mac for school, and it does the same stuff as far as school papers and presentations and is cheaper. Office for mac is set up completely different than office for windows, so he is going to have to relearn how to use the office programs anyways, might as well get the cheaper one.
 
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Thanks so much for everyones advice, he's actually at the Mac store now with his older brother who's kicking in some bucks, so now their looking at the Macbook Pro 15" with 4GB of Ram. He's also going with iwork and we'll install office later if he feels he needs it. Thanks again, can't wait to get home from work and fire up a Mac for the first time in 15 years.
 
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15" MBP | 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo | 4 GB Ram | 250 GB HDD
yep, it sure is a fun experience. Don't hesitate to search and ask questions on the forums though. There definitely are some adjustments that you have to make when switching from windows and it isn't always obvious how to do certain things.
 

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