[TheBlackMan]

Okay...I know this is probobly the wrong forum, but I figured it was the most appropriate. Anyway, I need a new laptop for college and am wanting to major in graphic design. I know that Apple is the standard when it comes to graphic design, but there are so many different kinds of MacBooks! I don't know if I should go Pro and if I do which model to get. Would a $1000 MacBook get me by or do I need to splurge for the $2000+ MacBook Pro? Thanks!

[TravisO]

I've been a dabbling graphic designer on the PC for about 10yrs and while 10yrs ago Apple was #1 in that realm, imho they lost the #1 spot about 8yrs ago. Apple wins on the video front (there are more & better apps available) but as for as static imagery, PC wins in my book.

And lately, computers have been getting faster quicker than software can find a use for it, even the lowest end model MacBook (the new Intel based ones I mean) are much faster than you need for Photoshop or Illustrator, and as long as you have 1gb of ram, you're good. IIRC all the MacBooks are 1gb of ram, so if you want to splurge, upgrade to 2gb ram.

I recommend you do get a combo CD/DVD burner in your laptop as you'll want to backup your work.

Despite, I would still get a PC laptop with 2gb of ram and the Intel Core 2 Duo based CPU, but if you want a MacBook, any one will due as long as it has 1gb of ram or more.

This post has been edited by travisowens: 13 December 2006 - 01:25 PM

[TheBlackMan]

whats an adequate screen size?

[ripken204]

at least 17"

[Zxian]

ripken204, on Dec 13 2006, 07:42 PM, said:

at least 17"

I'd much rather work on my 15.4" WSXGA (1680x1050) screen than a 17" WXGA (1280x800) screen - anyday.

Resolution is what you want to go for - and what you'll end up paying for. IIRC, the MacBooks come with 1440x900 resolution by default. If you want a larger screen and/or higher resolution, you might have to move up to the MacBook Pros. If you're doing a lot of image work, then WSXGA is the lowest resolution that I'd recommend. I've got it on my Dell laptop, and it definately makes whatever little graphics work I do a lot easier than with my old WXGA screen.

[IcemanND]

Ask your college what they are using in either classrooms or design studios or clusters for the students to use as far as PC/MAC and ask what they recommend, or what a professor in the discipline recommends. You will likely find that they are running Mac for this discipline and that the Macbook Pro is the recommended course to follow, especially if you are not going to buy another laptop 2 years down the road. If it has to make it all four years of college splurge now.

[harunaksoy]

I'm doing graphic design too and for school I bought a "normal" laptop. It really doesn't matter if you buy a Mac or a PC. As travisowens said, it's the hardware that matters, not software. Photoshop/Illustrator works fine on OSX as well as Windows. But if you want them to run smoothly you should get at least 2GB ram and a fast HDD, processors are not that important, well maybe important for heat/battery usage but not for running the sofware. And I woulnd't buy a 17 inch. laptop unless you're gonna replace it with your desktop. Those things are heavy and no fun carrieng around al day.