Help Needed - College Notebook

Hello everyone, I just joined up. This forum seems to be awesome and loaded with tons of good information. Anyways, I am a high school senior this year and will be going to college in the next few months. I plan on majoring in either Business Administration or Political Science and then going to law school eventually. These majors require that I have a PC running Windows, but I really want a Mac. I am sick of PC's and all the garbage that comes along with them. I have done some research on running a Windows platform on my Mac using probably Fusion, instead of Parallels. (I have heard that Fusion works better.)

Today I went to the Mac Store at my local mall and saw Fusion being run on a desktop and it was amazing to me, to say the least. I was asking some pretty tough questions and the guy, I could tell, had no idea about this or had not been asked about this before so it must not be a common thing.

I have some concerns that I would love to have answered: How well does Fusion actually work with a Mac? Do most Windows programs run well on the Mac? Will having this installed on my Mac slow the Mac down or hinder its performance? Is running Fusion really like having both a PC and a Mac at the same time? Would it be better just to give up my dream of owning a Mac and just get a PC since it really would fit my needs better? Has anyone ever come across programs that just did not work on the PC using Fusion? Since I am not sure what exact programs I am going to be using, this is an important question. I'm sure there are more questions that I'll think of later.

My biggest fear is spending close to $4k for a MacBook Pro with XP Business installed on it for my schoolwork and then it not being able to run a program that I need for my major. Then I've just spent over $2k what I could have spent and gotten a pretty good PC.

Also, I do not mind spending more money for a Pro with upgraded features if that is what it is going to take to make Windows run better. But, if all I need is a black MacBook, that would be fine too.

Thanks and any help is much appreciated.

UFGator said:

These majors require that I have a PC running Windows

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Why? Are these the university's requirements, or are there some software packages that you need that only have Windows versions? Share what your software needs are, and we can get you started with what you need to know.

All I can say is, you won't need to spend $4k... I'm sure you can easily buy the black MacBook and run Windows very easily with Fusion, and if not that, just use bootcamp as it will run faster (however you would need to reset, which could get rather annoying). The only thing fusion or parallels don't work that great for are games. So they should work just fine! I guess... you should have no problem running windows with fusion on a black mackbook. the only difference between that and the low end pro is a video card... otherwise everything is basically the same performance wise. Enjoy it!

The Black Macbook should work perfectly for you. And like ogacon stated...you may want to just give BootCamp a try for running your Windows OS and applications--I think BootCamp may just satisfy all your needs. Good luck <><

I too would be interested in hearing about what sort of applications your school requires you to have Windows for. I've spent five years here at school and have yet to come across a Windows only requirement and my Macbook has been working great for the last year and a half at school.

As for the Fusion question. I personally run Parallels and Windows works flawlessly on it...well, at least as flawlessly as Windows can ;P

Spending $4K is completely unnecessary for most users. With the student discount, a MacBook @ around $1200 will most likely work beautifully.

As far as Windows on a Mac--I have 2gb RAM total. When Parallels is running XP, 512mb is dedicated to XP and the remaining 1.5gb stays with the Mac OS. 512mb is the amount of RAM that came with most computers when XP first came out. You will not be able to open 20 different Windows applications as gracefully jump between them (nor could you with a PC w/ only 512mb). However, if you only have a couple applications open at a time--512 is sufficient. And the performance of the Mac OS with Windows running in the background is perfect.

Most Mac users only revert to Windows when necessary to run a specialized application. They open Parallels (Fusion), do what they need to do, and then get out. In my case, when necessary, I run Autocad 2004 in XP/Parallels on a basic 2.2ghz, 2gb RAM MacBook. I am satisfied with it's performance. It's functional.

I don't think you need to be worried about whether a particular type of Windows software will function within Parallels/XP. It's a non-issue. They'll work. Believe it or not, Windows will never have a clue it isn't running on a full blown PC.

There is a little occasional quirkyness (not a word) involved with hardware--Windows and Mac have to share the drives, printer, scanners, and anything else that can plug into a USB simultaneously. But it's no worse than the typical quirks involved in using the same hardware on a strictly Windows only network.

I know at this point, it will be difficult to anticipate what school applications will be needed. recently, got a macbook pro for collegiate daughter. added parallels (using xp pro sp2) and her existing pc software (primarily ms office/win). followed suggested parallels settings. 4gb of memory in mbp. everything set up to be seamless to user. everything worked okay without any issues.

some advice - ask and search everywhere - use student discounts for both hardware and all software. worthwhile discounts!

find out from computer support at college, the computer/network requirements. ask specifically about mac/intel/os10.5.

although everything was set up for easy access (daughter not technically inclined). daughter discovered that she liked neooffice (free download for mac) vs. ms word. also discovered she did not need IE nearly as much as she thought she would. (check with college regarding IE use).

good luck and i think you'll love the mac and windows setup.

As others have suggested you really don't need to spend that much. A black MB is plenty powerful for what you will need.

I'm running VMWare Fusion on my MacBook with only a couple of trivial issues. I've got a write up on my experiences running a development environment in it on my blog:

Mac: VMWare Fusion and Visual Studio 2008 Express Edition

VMWare Fusion works great if you really need it. You can likely get by fine with MS Office 2008 for Mac and not even have to run Windows.

If you are going to run Fusion or Parallels, I would recommend putting 4 gigs of ram in whatever machine you do get. Being able to allocate 2 gigs to each system when they are both open is amazing. Especially if you are using Vista. (not needed as much with XP)

But buy the ram from a 3rd party such as Crucial.

Yup like everyone else said get the black MacBook, and if you don't want to spend the extra cash on parallels you can just use Boot Camp which comes free on your computer. Boot Camp partitions your hard drive (you can chose how big you want the partition to be) and than allows you to install windows on the partition you just created. So you can have windows running natively on your mac, the only drawback to Boot Camp is that you can't have windows and Mac OS X running at the same time. When you start your computer up you hold the option key and chose if you want to boot up windoze or Mac.

As others have said you don't need a macbook pro to run Windows via fusion. All you need is an intel mac with at least 2 gigs of ram.

I think the best option for college would be the mid-level macbook, the blackbook is overpriced and all thats different (as far as I'm aware) is a bigger HD and the colour).

shahvikram123 said:

As others have said you don't need a macbook pro to run Windows via fusion. All you need is an intel mac with at least 2 gigs of ram.

I think the best option for college would be the mid-level macbook, the blackbook is overpriced and all thats different (as far as I'm aware) is a bigger HD and the colour).

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Yeah that's the only difference, but I figured when I bought mine that I was gunna have this thing for a while and why get the thing I am going to be happiest with as long as I have the money, but if money might bring up an issue at all definitely get the mid range MacBook.

Wow, thanks a lot for all the responses.
I know that I don't have to spend $4k on a computer and that the black MacBook would be fine for what I need it for. But, I really want to stay up to date with things since I plan on using this computer at least all the way through 4 years of college. Not to mention, mom and dad are paying for it haha so if I need to spend the extra money so that I stay somewhat more current, I'll do it. The main features about a Pro I would use are the bigger screen, obviously the better graphics card, faster, multi-tap, etc. So, I may just go with the Pro anyways if my parents will go for it, which I'm almost positive they will.

Here are some random quotes from the different colleges about computer requirements:

"All computer applications used at the law school, including electronic courseware and examination software, run under Microsoft Windows. Electronic work is often required to be submitted using Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. All professors will assume students have portable computers that meet these minimum requirements."

"The computer must run Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition or Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, include a CD/DVD drive, a wireless Ethernet port for network connectivity at the law school (and broadband connectivity – Cable or DSL – at home), and a modem meeting at least the v.90 standard for those without broadband at home and for use when traveling."

"Required Software Specs:
-Microsoft Windows Vista or XP Professional (with Service Pack 2) operating system.
-Microsoft Office 2007 or 2003 with:
Access
Excel
Outlook
PowerPoint
Word
-IE 7
-Sun Microsystem's Java
-Adobe's Flash Player
-Antivirus software" (my school offers McAfee free)

"Operating System: Windows
Operating systems other than Microsoft Windows are allowed. However, in most cases, a Windows based operating system will be the best choice since it will be the easiest path towards software compatibility in departmental courses."

"Software Required: Office Suite, Mail Client (any POP3 or IMAP client), Web Browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator)"


Haha, alright that was pretty long. That is for 3 different colleges so that's why it is so intense. If you read all that for my sake I really appreciate it. I think that I am good to go though. None of that sounds like it could not be done on a Mac running Windows through Parallels. It's just Microsoft Office and then some Java applications and Adobe Flash Player. I shouldn't have problems with any of that stuff should I?

Everything listed above will run perfectly on an entry level MacBook. They now come standard w/ 2gb RAM. Also as someone else pointed out, don't by additional memory from Apple. 4gb of RAM w/ a lifetime warranty is available for $90-100 online.

You can't add additional memory to what comes with the Mac. You will have to buy the full 4gb if you want to upgrade. But that's okay. You can sell the 2gb it comes with for $40 on ebay. All said and done, you can go from 2gb to 4gb of RAM and only be out another $60.

Personally, I have 2gb and haven't seen the need to upgrade yet--even at those prices.

For the vast majority of what you'll need to use, the native Mac OS X software that is out there will be perfectly okay, and a pleasure to use.

There are certain special-needs things, however, that will require Windows in some form. Here is my example:

My wife bought an Olympus digital voice recorder which is a very good recorder, however the software they provide only works on Windows (and if you connect the recorder to the USB port of my Macbook, for whatever reason it can't see it as just a drive...probably intentionally.) Since we didn't do much research on voice recorders because the only criteria were 'does it record, and for how long, and for how cheap' we weren't too concerned about compatibility. I learned long after the fact that there was no way it was going to be anywhere close to Mac compatible.

Except it is. Because I can fire up my Parallels VM and have it talk to the voice recorder to copy the files over. In fact that's one of the few things I use it for. I fire up the Parallels VM, connect the device, copy the files (which are .wav files) and then suspend it once I've dragged them over to the "Mac" side.

Isn't having choices nice? You buy a Macbook (which is only about 1200 to 1700 depending on color and whether you get Apple Care) and you can pretty much do whatever you need to do.

walkerj said:

For the vast majority of what you'll need to use, the native Mac OS X software that is out there will be perfectly okay, and a pleasure to use.

There are certain special-needs things, however, that will require Windows in some form. Here is my example:

My wife bought an Olympus digital voice recorder which is a very good recorder, however the software they provide only works on Windows (and if you connect the recorder to the USB port of my Macbook, for whatever reason it can't see it as just a drive...probably intentionally.) Since we didn't do much research on voice recorders because the only criteria were 'does it record, and for how long, and for how cheap' we weren't too concerned about compatibility. I learned long after the fact that there was no way it was going to be anywhere close to Mac compatible.

Except it is. Because I can fire up my Parallels VM and have it talk to the voice recorder to copy the files over. In fact that's one of the few things I use it for. I fire up the Parallels VM, connect the device, copy the files (which are .wav files) and then suspend it once I've dragged them over to the "Mac" side.

Isn't having choices nice? You buy a Macbook (which is only about 1200 to 1700 depending on color and whether you get Apple Care) and you can pretty much do whatever you need to do.

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Oh wow. I didn't know that I could copy the files from Windows format to Mac. That is pretty awesome.

Thanks a lot for everyone's help! I'm sure I will have more questions later.