The Laptop Dilemma

My apologies for not posting in a hot second... I've been pretty busy with getting my room re-done, reading & getting the most out of these last couple of weeks as I can. I knew that by the time it came time for me to go back to school I was going to need a new laptop. My school actually prefers if you have a laptop that isn't older than two years old so I also knew from the school requirements that it was something I was going to have to invest in. So what laptop did I pick?

Well all four years of undergrad I had dells.. yes that word was plural. My dad swears by dells and that is what I got when I first started school. My first one was great… until it randomly crashed. I ended up with a new laptop, same model, and that too worked fine until I somehow snapped the hinge on it and one button on the keyboard just refused to get unstuck…. then it crashed over the summer of my junior year. But thankfully I got that all fixed and it was working smoothly….. until the end of spring semester my junior year.. 1 week before finals…. and it decided to completely crash and not let anything turn on… It is safe to say that was my week from hell. I was beyond panicked… I had two major papers to finish up, an online exam and all my notes for the other exams were on my laptop…. I was smart enough to put everything on a flash drive just because I had been having issues the week before where the laptop would randomly freeze or turn off on me so I made sure to back everything up.

Side Note: I highly suggest purchasing a flash drive or two just to keep all important documents, photos, etc in one safe spot and so that it is portable

I don't even know how I did so well at the end of the semester but I made it work. It was at that point that I swore I would never ever ever get another dell because they were not compatible with the amount of work I did and the long hours and research I had to do for all my papers ( I also know that the server my undergrad used for its research data bases gave many many students viruses and issues with their laptops so that didn't help the situation either)

My mind is blanking a bit but I'm pretty sure I ended up with a new laptop my senior year or dell sent a new hard drive and my dad put it in. But christmas time came and my dad surprised my sister and I with dell laptops. Up until now the thing has been great but I haven't been in school for a year and I really don't trust the thing with the amount of work, papers, exams and what not I am going to have to do come the fall, I was in the market for a new laptop and after some research and comparison I finally got my hands on the laptop I've wanted for sometime: the Macbook Pro and it's safe to say that I absolutely LOVE IT.

Yes Mac’s are expensive, but as a student I received a discount (any little bit helps, if you're looking into a mac or any laptop check to see if there are discounts available!)  && Apple is running a promotion right now where if you buy certain products like a laptop (I’m not sure if its all laptops or just specific models) you get a pair of $300 beats for FREE - who doesn't love free stuff?! && let's be honest those bad boys will come in handy at the library, or at home, when I need some extra quite time to study or get work done. So why did I pick a mac book pro and not the air or just a mac book? Honestly it was all based on personal preference. If I was going to invest in a mac I wanted something I would love to have for the next couple of years. I like the size of the pro: its light weight and not bulky like my latest dell. Compared to the air - which only comes in 11" and 13" - the pro has more storage space but cost a bit more than the air. Compared to the just the mac book again the pro has more storage space, additional ports like usb, hdmi & thunderbolts. Long story short, I got more for my money with the Mac Book Pro then I would have with the other two models: BUT any of the models would be a good laptop! 

But here’s a major point I want to make: you don't need to go out and buy a mac, you don't need to go out an buy a dell. ITS ALL PERSONAL PREFERENCE. My experience with dell clearly wasn't a great one but that doesn't mean they don't make good products and they won't be a good fit for you, they do and it could be. But their products and my experience with them just hasn't been the best relationship… so I moved onto something else to try and hopefully the Mac will be a better fit. If not, I’ll try something else next time. Just purchase a laptop you trust, have read good reviews on, will be RELIABLE. COMPATIBLE with your schools system. WORTH YOUR MONEY. Buy whatever you are comfortable with and familiar with. Its going to be YOU who uses it, not anyone else.