SRL Archive - News and General

Hey, I need a laptop for University and my dad agreed to foot the bill!
I'm in two heads at the moment, the Air or the Yoga 2. Keep in mind they're basically the same price.

I'm sorta leaning toward the Yoga 2 since I'd really like to save the cost of a tablet (will probably sell a lot of my old ish before going to Uni and buy a tablet) and it can turn into a tablet hybrid.
However… I've always wanted the Air, and will Boot Camp into Windows (Can't program C++ on OSX).

Help me make a decision please!




No doubt people are going to be calling me spoiled (I'm looking at you Brad, ill hit you up when I get my A5 ;)), you have no idea how wrong you are. I'm paying 50% of my tuition and 100% of my res/food/books which is why my dad said he'd buy it and save me the money.

So are you looking to be a tablet like computer or just a laptop?

From: Sin
Can't program C++ on OSX

What?

Also look into an education discount through your university, especially if you decide to go with the Air (which I like).

From: core
What?

Also look into an education discount through your university, especially if you decide to go with the Air (which I like).

Heard somewhere that OSX is absolutely terrible for Computer Science students… Something about not being able to run IDE's?
We don't get an education discount :(

Get the Macbook, I did and I love it. I can do so much with it, and I am a Computer Information System major. I either use my external hard drive for Windows or the Parallel software to browse through my Windows 7. Or you can use BootCamp which comes with the Mac, all you have to do is get ahold of Windows :)


Good Luck!

Although I prefer Macbook Pro than the Air, CD's are still around, you know :p.

From: P1nky

Although I prefer Macbook Pro than the Air, CD's are still around, you know :p.

What do you mean with that? You can't put CD's into a pro..

From: hoodz
What do you mean with that? You can't put CD's into a pro..

U could in the past, @P1nky; is probably not aware of the update ;)

From: Sjoe
U could in the past, @P1nky; is probably not aware of the update ;)

oooh :O

off topic: where is your santa?

From: hoodz
oooh :O

off topic: where is your santa?

xmas is over :s

I have to agree with @P1nky. I have an iMac and iPad and love them right now. I use a keyboard dock on the iPad and just take notes with that in class then transfer to my iMac when class is over (It just syncs to pages for me..) I like it better than carrying around a laptop. My iMac also can double as a TV when I want to watch Netflix/Movies.

Really depends on what you want. I would personally recommend getting the Macbook Pro over the Air. If you are going the Air route you might as well buy an iPad.

What are you going to be using the laptop for? If you need programming IN class then ignore my tablet suggestion and go with a Macbook Pro.

Do you have a gaming computer already? Unless you are programming in class I much prefer hand written notes…so I would get a laptop (a chunky 15.6") with a dedicated graphics card so you can do school on it in your dorm and game a bit.

I would go for the MacBook Air. Is practical, easy to carry from one place to another.
I really don't like the idea of the hybrid. I would go for the Mac, if I were buying a new computer.
P.S.: If you go for the MacBook Pro, the 15' is prettier :p

From: onilika
I would go for the MacBook Air. Is practical, easy to carry from one place to another.
I really don't like the idea of the hybrid. I would go for the Mac, if I were buying a new computer.
P.S.: If you go for the MacBook Pro, the 15' is prettier :p

Well thing is, I don't need a new computer. This will be mostly used for notes, assignments, Netflix, and some casual gaming. I have my PC which i'll be taking to the res, and i'll be gaming mostly on there.

C++, Eclipse, Java, Android etc. all work great on OSX.

3200x1800 isnt great under Windows. Nearly all programs have scaling issues because you will be at 200%.

1600x900 effective is still pretty small on 13". I have a rMbp late 2013 myself and it's great.

Non retina programs are gonna annoy you though. Air is fine but only 150$ diff to retina at 256 gb ssd 8 gb ram edition.

I get 7-8h battery or so with quite a few resource intensive programs

From: Sin
Well thing is, I don't need a new computer. This will be mostly used for notes, assignments, Netflix, and some casual gaming. I have my PC which i'll be taking to the res, and i'll be gaming mostly on there.

Was talking about me, if I were to buy a pc for all those things you mentioned above. I bought a computer that can handle heavy games, but the thing is.. I don't even play! I mostly use it for University. I have an iPad, and I use it mostly for reading, and also for taking notes.

Guarantee the first problem you have with your macbook you get charged out the ass for it. There is no safe haven for mac problems just the same as there ain't no rest for the wicked.

From: Wu-Tang Clan
Guarantee the first problem you have with your macbook you get charged out the ass for it. There is no safe haven for mac problems just the same as there ain't no rest for the wicked.

I have never and any issues with any of mine, on top of that they are really not that hard to fix? Just have to have some knowledge of them. Invest in Youtube videos of who to work on them, they are out there :P

Ok, so if I'm honest I usually a hater of mac. I see it as over priced, extermly well marketed brand.
HOWEVER I do think that they have great displays and good battery life and in this case (as I personally think the who 2-in-1 tablet laptop thing is stupid) I'd go for the air.
If you want a tablet then I'd get the nexus 7 (but if you use mac computers you might want to keep with apple stuff so idk). I have a nexus 4 and a laptop, I don't really have a need for a tablet what so ever since my phone is fairly big.
It's your choice at the end of the day but I don't think the laptop tablet thing is a good idea (I can just see the connectors/hinges breaking after a year…)

From: The Killer
Ok, so if I'm honest I usually a hater of mac. I see it as over priced, extermly well marketed brand.
HOWEVER I do think that they have great displays and good battery life and in this case (as I personally think the who 2-in-1 tablet laptop thing is stupid) I'd go for the air.
If you want a tablet then I'd get the nexus 7 (but if you use mac computers you might want to keep with apple stuff so idk). I have a nexus 4 and a laptop, I don't really have a need for a tablet what so ever since my phone is fairly big.
It's your choice at the end of the day but I don't think the laptop tablet thing is a good idea (I can just see the connectors/hinges breaking after a year…)

Macbooks do have pretty good price/quality value compared to other ultrabooks. Especially if you want a higher end Macbook/Ultrabook the price difference isn't that big. Most of the Haswell ultrabooks I looked at were more expensive than a Retina Macbook Pro with similar specs.

That's the reason I went for a 13" rMBP 256/8. Asus Zenbook, Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and a few others were just as if not more expensive here in NL with atleast 256GB flash storage and 8GB RAM. On top of that the Macbook holds it's value much better and I can also develop for iOS now. :)

You pay a lot for an iMac and you are much better off building your own PC IMO. Otherwise you are going to spend 2k on a 27" monitor with laptop hardware. Can get a 30" 4K display with SLI videocards/16GB RAM/i7 for that later this year! Dell is going to release a 28" 4K monitor under 1000$ next month or something ;)

From: J J
Macbooks do have pretty good price/quality value compared to other ultrabooks. Especially if you want a higher end Macbook/Ultrabook the price difference isn't that big. Most of the Haswell ultrabooks I looked at were more expensive than a Retina Macbook Pro with similar specs.

That's the reason I went for a 13" rMBP 256/8. Asus Zenbook, Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and a few others were just as if not more expensive here in NL with atleast 256GB flash storage and 8GB RAM. On top of that the Macbook holds it's value much better and I can also develop for iOS now. :)

You pay a lot for an iMac and you are much better off building your own PC IMO. Otherwise you are going to spend 2k on a 27" monitor with laptop hardware. Can get a 30" 4K display with SLI videocards/16GB RAM/i7 for that later this year! Dell is going to release a 28" 4K monitor under 1000$ next month or something ;)

Don't have much to say in response :P But yeah building your own is worthwhile and you can even use hackintosh if you have a thing for their os.
I agree with the point that they keep their value (and thats because they're over priced and well marketed ;)) but they are well built ofcourse :P

From: Sin
Hey, I need a laptop for University and my dad agreed to foot the bill!
I'm in two heads at the moment, the Air or the Yoga 2. Keep in mind they're basically the same price.

I'm sorta leaning toward the Yoga 2 since I'd really like to save the cost of a tablet (will probably sell a lot of my old ish before going to Uni and buy a tablet) and it can turn into a tablet hybrid.
However… I've always wanted the Air, and will Boot Camp into Windows (Can't program C++ on OSX).

Help me make a decision please!




No doubt people are going to be calling me spoiled (I'm looking at you Brad, ill hit you up when I get my A5 ;)), you have no idea how wrong you are. I'm paying 50% of my tuition and 100% of my res/food/books which is why my dad said he'd buy it and save me the money.

I did Enie Meanie Minie Moe (or however it is spelled) and the result is: the Macbook Air. ENJOY!

I bought a late 2013 macbook air 13in with the i7, 8gb ram, and 256 storage. I have not looked back. It runs everything great, even some light gaming(borderlands 2 on mid/low settings at 30fps). I use it to take notes in every single class(9 hour school day) and come home with ~50% battery(I have a couple free periods when I don't take notes). I have no complaints with it. But, if you are a gamer like me it WILL not replace a desktop computer. I got it over the pro because of the fact that it weighs a lot less and it has a few hours of battery life more then the pro(in terms of price they were almost identical with my configuration). Also people say that the macbook pro performs better when gaming which is simply not that true, since the macbook pro has a much larger resolution then the air, so the intel5000 and iris graphics provide almost the same FPS during gaming.