What do you use your MacBook for? (students)

[heatmiser]

Last night, I took pictures of an assignment, uploaded them to my MB, and converted them to PDF files through Preview so I could forward them to my professor--so there's that. I had a hell of a time shrinking the PDFs to an acceptable size because I took 6mp pictures, which was overkill.

 

[Sage Harupyuia]

I use mine for the usual (internet, itunes, word processing, etc.) but also for some basic music production (Messing around in Garageband and recording with Logic) but will be getting pro tools and an mbox soon.

ProTools is EVIL... T.T but that's only because i downright hate Radio Communication (i cant speak well, i prefer to write instead, and my lecturer is always going all out to force me to do the speaking in my radio classes)

 

[onebloodonelife]

Why is VoodooPad better than Macs default text editor or Microsoft Word? I need to be sold on it.

Let's see...it's better than Word for note taking because it's not a massive, bloated program. IMO, Word is overkill for simple notes. As for Text Edit, I don't have much of a preference, but VoodooPad is nicer looking. You can have multiple tabs in one document, so I have a new tab for each new topic in class. It works out very nicely. That's probably my favorite feature about VoodooPad: the ability to have many pages in one document through tabs. And, it's much better for reviewing because I don't have to open several documents at once. Oh, and VoodooPad has linking to other pages, which can come in handy. So, if you have a page called "Realism" and you type realism into a different page, it automatically links back to the original page so you can look at what that one is.

It's free, at least for VoodooPad Lite, so you may as well download it and give it a try.

 

[bluedoggiant]

I plan on getting a macbook for the basics, browsing, email, ichat, itunes, and put video on it to take home to my imac for editing. im 14 (15 this month), and right now I have a 2.8 imac, I'm gonna be honest and say, I'm really just an average user if not less, but what sets me apart from the crowd is my video production.

 

[skins0304]

ProTools is EVIL... T.T but that's only because i downright hate Radio Communication (i cant speak well, i prefer to write instead, and my lecturer is always going all out to force me to do the speaking in my radio classes)

I'm not the biggest fan of ProTools, but it's amazing at what it does. I've been using it for a few years, so I'm pretty at home with it.

 

[bart rijksen]

Office apps, web browsing, mail, iTunes, and games.

 

[smokestack]

law student:
word, web browsing, mail (i now love non- web based mail).

as a musician, i have only done some light overdubbing stuff in garage band, and it passes on those simple tasks.

any games (C&C3, diablo 2) really get the fan humming, but they run fine.

on a late 2007 blackbook.

 

[xwilx]

engineering

1 web browsing (firefox, safari)
2 email (firefox)
3 document editing (MS Words, Powerpoint, Preview, Emacs, Texshop)
4 Programming (Matlab, GNU gcc/g++, make, etc)
5 others, itune, dvd player etc.

 

[bigbadnewill]

Electronic Enginering Degree:

To be honest I mainly use windows when doing Uni work, a lot of the programs i require aren't available on Mac OS X.

I use it for:

Circuit design (Protel)
Programming (Visual Basic, C, CTask, VHDL)
Report Writing etc (MS Office 2007)
Internet etc etc

However, when I am not doing uni work i always use Mac OS X, because i much prefer it.

With bootcamp it's dead easy to use dual boot, you get the best of both worlds then.

 

[lapetitefurie]

For the college-bound

law school:

My MacBook goes everywhere with me; I take notes on it in class. I use it for iChat, WoW, word-processing, email, internet surfing, iTunes, whatever I need it to do.

If you're taking a machine to college, think--are my classrooms conducive to laptop use for notes and things? Do I want a big, heavy laptop to lug aground (I went with the 13" MB because they weigh the least)? Or, will my machine live mostly in my dorm room/apartment? If that's the case, I'd go with a MacBook Pro, incidentally. I had the aluminum PowerBook for years, and the metal case is more durable but also weighs a small ton.

Just FYI, and admittedly, all of this has probably been posted elsewhere.

And I've really seen very little on the PC side that would make me leave Apple, but that's just my two cents.

 

[jdmlight]

If you're taking a machine to college, think--are my classrooms conducive to laptop use for notes and things? Do I want a big, heavy laptop to lug aground (I went with the 13" MB because they weigh the least)? Or, will my machine live mostly in my dorm room/apartment? If that's the case, I'd go with a MacBook Pro, incidentally. I had the aluminum PowerBook for years, and the metal case is more durable but also weighs a small ton.

Well, I am going to University of Minnesota. The entire campus has WiFi (except the brick dorms where the reception was about 10 feet from the router when they tried it Although it doesn't matter to me because I won't be staying in the dorms) and the classrooms seem to be fairly set up for computer use (lots of outlets & ethernet jacks just in case). I want something lightweight because the campus is HUGE and I don't want to be lugging around an 8-pound 17-inch PC gaming laptop . For that reason, I like the MBA, but I can't afford the price tag. If you've read my signature, you would see that I currently have an iBook. It even seems kinda heavy at 5.75 pounds (that's what my scale said, not what the specs said). I know that I rarely use the optical drive because I usually rip movies to the hard drive (for better battery life - playing a DVD sucks power more than Photoshop sucks RAM ).

Anyway, what I am looking for in a laptop is an improvement on my iBook. I would like something lighter-weight and more powerful (stupid G3 can't even play YouTube videos - not to mention that most websites render slowly). I'd also like the new laptop to have a battery life that's similar to what I get with my iBook (3.5-4 hours). (Although I think I could get along with less if I could use the laptop while plugged in (if you plug it in, it will shut down hard if you press below the trackpad where the latch is). And yes, I have tried repairing it to no avail - it's not the DC-IN board, but the connector on the logic board.)

So, after noting what has been said so far, it seems that most people use "the basics" - internet, mail, instant-messaging, some sort of office productivity suite, iTunes, and some light gaming. It also seems that other engineering students need Windows for assorted circuit design/programming software. In other words, what I'd want from Apple would be a MacBook with Boot Camp/Windows.

And I've really seen very little on the PC side that would make me leave Apple, but that's just my two cents.

I have been eyeing the EeePC from Asus. I don't need the optical drive as stated before, the small internal flash-based drive would be fine for nearly everything (aside from movies, which I intend to put on my external USB 2.0 hard drive) and is not susceptible to shock, and most importantly (to me) IT WEIGHS TWO POUNDS!!! I like the price too - $399 for the one I'd get, which is the 4G with webcam and extended battery. I wouldn't mind the small keyboard - I have tried it out on a friend's and I was still able to type 50 words per minute accurately. The small screen wasn't really a bother either (for me). I like Ubuntu's user interface, so I would probably install that instead of Windows (for my primary OS). Windows could go on my 8GB flash drive or that portable hard drive...

Is there a reason that I'm missing as to why I wouldn't want an EeePC? I'm open to suggestions because if it turns out that the Eee is not for me, I'll get a MacBook. (But $600 isn't anything to scoff at either...)

 

[jay1097]

I'm a first year Commerce student in Uni.

I use my Macbook for web browsing, taking some notes in class. I also have vmware with XP Pro for Stata (statistical analysis tool) and office 07 for access.

I'm also learning some web design and I want to learn flash so i have Dreamweaver CS3 and Flash CS3.

I bought the macbook because I like the form factor (compared to my old Toshiba) and the battery life is amazing.

 

[haxderek]

Applied Economics - Florida State University

- Camino for web browsing
- MS Excel (statistical pack add-on) for regression analysis etc
- iCal
- Mail (Imap Gmail)
- OmniOutliner (typing up notes from class/note taking)
- iTunes
- Transmission
- BBedit (great to-do list + combination of Quicksilver append to function)

 

[lxuser]

History major

picked up the 2.4 white macbook a few days ago because I needed firewire for my music equipment (recording is a hobby) and my tax return was burning an e-hole through my online bankings pocket

but for normal use its...

firefox - internet
thunderbird - mail (university and gmail)
iwork 08 - pages for documents, and I have yet to REALLY use numbers or keynote, but numbers was gold for all the spreadsheets ive made thus far. pages is awesome, very well made, and opens more stuff than office for mac 08 does right now i believe...plus it was waaay cheaper than office at my student store and at normal stores too i believe.

ichat but im trying out audium for IM
garage band for random recording here and there
and itunes for music

just used imovie to make a film for a class, and idvd was amazing to use to finish it off
and finally...
VLC for video

 

[119576]

Popular Music major.

I use Logic Studio extensively on my MacBook (to the point where it's open pretty much 24/7) and then just the 'basics'.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Hey, I'm at the U right now! You're right, the entire campus does have WiFi, and we're upgrading it in the next couple years. My dorm happens to get wireless signal as well, but that's a rarity. I take my Macbook to some of my classes, specifically Global Politics for note-taking and to History of Rock from 1970 to Present for recording the lectures.

Yes, the campus is huge, but they do cut down on that quite a bit by having an amazing bus system, both University run and city run. If you get a good backpack (I have a Swiss Gear one), you'd be surprised at how light 5lbs. really is. The key is to find a bag with thick shoulder straps to distribute the weight better across your shoulders.

My Macbook gets a consistent 4 hours of battery life, sometimes more depending on what I'm doing. Most of the low-end PC laptops won't get half of that, so keep that in mind.

Anyway, you'll figure it out, and welcome to the U! It's a great school; I'm sure you'll love it here.

Well, I am going to University of Minnesota. The entire campus has WiFi (except the brick dorms where the reception was about 10 feet from the router when they tried it Although it doesn't matter to me because I won't be staying in the dorms) and the classrooms seem to be fairly set up for computer use (lots of outlets & ethernet jacks just in case). I want something lightweight because the campus is HUGE and I don't want to be lugging around an 8-pound 17-inch PC gaming laptop . For that reason, I like the MBA, but I can't afford the price tag. If you've read my signature, you would see that I currently have an iBook. It even seems kinda heavy at 5.75 pounds (that's what my scale said, not what the specs said). I know that I rarely use the optical drive because I usually rip movies to the hard drive (for better battery life - playing a DVD sucks power more than Photoshop sucks RAM ).

Anyway, what I am looking for in a laptop is an improvement on my iBook. I would like something lighter-weight and more powerful (stupid G3 can't even play YouTube videos - not to mention that most websites render slowly). I'd also like the new laptop to have a battery life that's similar to what I get with my iBook (3.5-4 hours). (Although I think I could get along with less if I could use the laptop while plugged in (if you plug it in, it will shut down hard if you press below the trackpad where the latch is). And yes, I have tried repairing it to no avail - it's not the DC-IN board, but the connector on the logic board.)

So, after noting what has been said so far, it seems that most people use "the basics" - internet, mail, instant-messaging, some sort of office productivity suite, iTunes, and some light gaming. It also seems that other engineering students need Windows for assorted circuit design/programming software. In other words, what I'd want from Apple would be a MacBook with Boot Camp/Windows.


I have been eyeing the EeePC from Asus. I don't need the optical drive as stated before, the small internal flash-based drive would be fine for nearly everything (aside from movies, which I intend to put on my external USB 2.0 hard drive) and is not susceptible to shock, and most importantly (to me) IT WEIGHS TWO POUNDS!!! I like the price too - $399 for the one I'd get, which is the 4G with webcam and extended battery. I wouldn't mind the small keyboard - I have tried it out on a friend's and I was still able to type 50 words per minute accurately. The small screen wasn't really a bother either (for me). I like Ubuntu's user interface, so I would probably install that instead of Windows (for my primary OS). Windows could go on my 8GB flash drive or that portable hard drive...

Is there a reason that I'm missing as to why I wouldn't want an EeePC? I'm open to suggestions because if it turns out that the Eee is not for me, I'll get a MacBook. (But $600 isn't anything to scoff at either...)

 

[CalmEnvy]

I don't know what I'll be using it for. I'm going to Seneca College at the York University Campus in Toronto this September. Going for Computer Systems Technology which is a 3 years course. I'll find out then but for now this is what it will be used for:

- Word processing
- Web
- Photoshop
- iTunes
- Possibly boot camp (if needed)

That's about it for now.

 

[airjuggernaut]

High School

-Surfing the internet (Safari)
-Skype (Talking to friends while gaming )
-MSN (Self-Explanatory)
-Garageband (For School Radio Programs)
-iMovie
-iTunes
-Photoshop
-Word and Powerpoint
-Paralells (For my Linux Fix)
-Programming occasionally (Windows)

-Gaming on Bootcamp
--------CSS
--------WoW
--------Source Mods
--------HL2
--------Portal
--------TF2

 

[northy124]

Secondary School (Going College In September Starts At 16/17 In UK).

I use my MacBook for:
Web Surfing (Safari)
MSN
Final Cut Studio 2 (Only Motion and Colour Don't Work Which I Have No Use For At The Moment)
Downloading Movies and Music
iTunes
CS3 (Works Surprisingly Well On My MacBook)
Flex
Aperture 2
VisualHub (For Basic Video Converting)
And A Few Other Things

Northy124

 

[yoppie]

Law Student

- Documents (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Keynote)
- Web Browsing (Safari, Camino)
- E-Mail (Mail)
- Appointment Calendar (iCal)
- Instant Messenger (Adium)
- Photos (iPhoto)
- Entertainment (iTunes, DVD Player)
- Boot Camp (ExamSoft - law school exam software)

 

[jdmlight]

High School

-Surfing the internet (Safari)
-Skype (Talking to friends while gaming )
-MSN (Self-Explanatory)
-Garageband (For School Radio Programs)
-iMovie
-iTunes
-Photoshop
-Word and Powerpoint
-Paralells (For my Linux Fix)
-Programming occasionally (Windows)

-Gaming on Bootcamp
--------CSS
--------WoW
--------Source Mods
--------HL2
--------Portal
--------TF2

Sounds like what I use my iBook for in high school! (minus those games b/c they're too recent for this 500MHz G3 - but it does play StarCraft really well!) (And yes, I do try to run Photoshop on it, it's not...the end of the world...put it this way, it's nice to come home to my 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme iMac )

 

[iBookfan]

I'm using my newest Blackbook (2.4, 4 gb ram) for:

- Word (for taking notes in class)
- MSN
- Surfing the net
- Logic 8
- Sibelius 5 (sheet-paper program)
- Reason 4
- Ableton Live


That is mainly my "Most-used" programs. I'm making music, which you might have noticed due to my programs (electronica, by the way )

 

[lapetitefurie]

My thought on the tiny paper-back-book-sized PC's is this...I really, passionately do not want to find myself hunkered down over them while working. As it is, I've just purchased a 22" LCD screen to go with my 13.3" Macbook because quite frankly, I was tired of scrunching down over the machine while typing. Admittedly, I'm apparently getting old, but before going with the midget-PC, I'd seriously think about how much time you'll actually spend in front of your computer. Eventually, the smaller keyboard will cause cramps, and you'll go blind from squinting at the screen. You say the tiny screen won't bother you now, but several hours into your engineering projects, you'll start kicking yourself for not having gone with something a little more full-sized. This, at least, has been my experience.

I do appreciate your comments on the weight of the machine. Believe me, my Macbook starts to get heavy as I wander throughout my own larger campus (the library is a mile and a half from my individual college). However, I'm on my computer from 0800 in the morning (or earlier) until late in the evening. The larger screen is worth it just for the hours I spend in the library and taking notes in class. However, if you anticipate being able to go back home to do most of your drafting, then grab your cheap PC but understand that you'll be replacing it in two years because by then it will be out of date. I only replaced my PB because I wanted something that could upgrade to more RAM and that had a longer battery life (in addition to the fact that most of the Mac applications aren't as friendly to my G4 processor as they used to be).

As for your iBook--wow. I thought my beloved aluminum G4 powerbook was behind the times...however, I can guarantee that I get between four and five hours on my Macbook's battery. It's made all the difference in the world in my life, particularly in light of the fact that my 5 y/o PB has a battery that lasts maybe 20 minutes.

I'm similarly sensitive to your comments regarding an optical drive to a point. I don't use my optical drive all that often until installing software, which I've done often enough to justify the inclusion of the drive on my machine. I'm thinking here, incidentally, of games I've purchased for my machine.

One point in favor of the Asus is that my Powerbook didn't seem to pick up WiFi signals as readily as some of the PC counterparts. I can also say that I've had some minor connectivity issues with my Macbook, though only on the crappy university system. At home, it all works with my router like a charm.

Bottom line--I hear you on the weight issue, but in the long run, I think you don't want the pared-down smaller machine if the laptop will be your primary (and only) computer. It's a better idea to go with something more midrange in size if you're planning on spending a lot of time in front of it without the benefit of a large, pretty LCD screen.

Good luck.

 

[AnonymousOne]

Im starting a Media course in September involving alot of Film editing and stuff so I plan to use mine for that.

 

[jdmlight]

My thought on the tiny paper-back-book-sized PC's is this...I really, passionately do not want to find myself hunkered down over them while working. As it is, I've just purchased a 22" LCD screen to go with my 13.3" Macbook because quite frankly, I was tired of scrunching down over the machine while typing. Admittedly, I'm apparently getting old, but before going with the midget-PC, I'd seriously think about how much time you'll actually spend in front of your computer. Eventually, the smaller keyboard will cause cramps, and you'll go blind from squinting at the screen. You say the tiny screen won't bother you now, but several hours into your engineering projects, you'll start kicking yourself for not having gone with something a little more full-sized. This, at least, has been my experience.

I do appreciate your comments on the weight of the machine. Believe me, my Macbook starts to get heavy as I wander throughout my own larger campus (the library is a mile and a half from my individual college). However, I'm on my computer from 0800 in the morning (or earlier) until late in the evening. The larger screen is worth it just for the hours I spend in the library and taking notes in class. However, if you anticipate being able to go back home to do most of your drafting, then grab your cheap PC but understand that you'll be replacing it in two years because by then it will be out of date. I only replaced my PB because I wanted something that could upgrade to more RAM and that had a longer battery life (in addition to the fact that most of the Mac applications aren't as friendly to my G4 processor as they used to be).

As for your iBook--wow. I thought my beloved aluminum G4 powerbook was behind the times...however, I can guarantee that I get between four and five hours on my Macbook's battery. It's made all the difference in the world in my life, particularly in light of the fact that my 5 y/o PB has a battery that lasts maybe 20 minutes.

I'm similarly sensitive to your comments regarding an optical drive to a point. I don't use my optical drive all that often until installing software, which I've done often enough to justify the inclusion of the drive on my machine. I'm thinking here, incidentally, of games I've purchased for my machine.

One point in favor of the Asus is that my Powerbook didn't seem to pick up WiFi signals as readily as some of the PC counterparts. I can also say that I've had some minor connectivity issues with my Macbook, though only on the crappy university system. At home, it all works with my router like a charm.

Bottom line--I hear you on the weight issue, but in the long run, I think you don't want the pared-down smaller machine if the laptop will be your primary (and only) computer. It's a better idea to go with something more midrange in size if you're planning on spending a lot of time in front of it without the benefit of a large, pretty LCD screen.

Good luck.

Yes, I decided against the EeePC - if I ever wanted to do anything other than take notes or browse the internet, I wouldn't be able to.

Linky to topic: MacBook or ThinkPad X61