Help me pick a laptop.

MADDECENT

MADDECENT

Active member
So I'm going to college in ten days, need to find a laptop. I have found a number of Macbook pro's on craigslist that seem good, the issue is that I don't know enough about computers to decide what is the best.

So you know, I plan to be editing very large projects on this laptop, and am looking for whatever can handle huge amounts of footage the most easily.

I have chosen these based mostly on processor speed, and I'm sure there are plenty of other factors that I dont understand that you guys can help me out with (i5 vs i7 processor, etc.)

This one seems the best to me (2.8 GHz processor, 8GB Ram. but again I dont know enough about the different processors to decide)

http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/3193275633.html

These are the others I have picked out. They all seem pretty similar, but the 15 inch i7 processor one is significantly more expensive, although the stats I was using for my criteria dont seem any more impressive than the others, leading me to believe that the i7 processor is much better for reasons I dont understand.

http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/3165125556.html

http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/3164848883.html

15 Inch: http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/3107992658.html

Thanks for your help, +K to all responses
 
Avoid the duo cores, the i5/i7 is what you want. 900-1000 for a duo core computer is horse shit
 
I would go with the first one; you're going to love the 8 gigs of ram. Good luck with college!
 
Well two responses perfectly describe my inner debate. Can somebody shed some light on the difference between duo and i5/7?
 
i5/i7's come in both duo and quad core. you should look for a mbp with a i7 quad core, 15 inch is a really good size imo. the 13 inches all have duo core as far as i know so unless your budget won't allow for the 15, skip the 13.
 
You will definitely want:

-quad core processor

-Big enough screen

-8 gb or more of RAM

-Possibly a video card depending on what you are working on

- enough space to store your stuff on
 
Sorry fot eh dub post, but I take it you are only looking at macbooks? or are you looking at pcs as well? also whats your budget?
 
lol possibility a video card? every computer comes with a video card, it just depends on whether the video card shares memory with the ram or has its own vram. dummy
 
Buying a mac for a grand and buying a pc for a grand is a big difference, decide first then we'll help. Do you use fcp or adobe? if you want a mac for editing, get that i7 15". You can also check out refurb mbps on apples website, lots of good deals.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro

the thing is, you're gonna have to bump your budjet up a little if you wanna buy refurb from apple (which is alot better than used IMO) but you'll save alot buying used.
 
hit up an lenovo laptop.. better bang for the buck and windows 7 is really nice and stable. dont be just another fanboy of apple because apple.. real companies who know a thing or two about stable laptops choose lenovo, ibm, etc...
 
im in the same situation as OP. my laptop has been wonky since i got it (2-3 y/o at this point) and it recently developed a problem that my "computer guy", or so i call him, had never seen before. comforting, right?

its a dell with windows 7 and decent specs but if things keep going the way they have been, im going to need a new laptop.

so any links to good laptops (mac or pc, i dont care) would be helpful. also any craigslist finds should preferably be from the connecticut area. thanks!
 
craigslist finds? we're not going to go on fucking connecticut craigslist and find a good deal for you, find one yourself. apparently asus makes a good computer, although the only 2 people i know well that have them hate them and say they're really trouble prone. stay away from hp and dell laptops. if you want a mac, be prepared to spend more, look for a late 2011 macbook pro 15, imo it's the best compromise between speed and size
 
ok so the craigslist part was a little unreasonable, but you didnt have to be a huge asshole about it, christ. as for the rest of your post, i appriciate the heads up about asus, and im obviously going to have to spend more on a mac.
 
As has been said before the main things you will want to look for are a decent quad 17 processor, minimum 8GB of ram, with room to expand if you want to keep this a while. Dedicated graphics card, perferbaly a Nvidia if you want to use Adobe. Good cooling (hard to find in a laptop) and a fast hard drive.

Now you can find all this in a mac but its going to cost alot. A windows laptop will definatly be cheaper. But the main question to ask yourself is do you really need a laptop. If your going to colledge chances are they will have computers at the school, so you will not need to take yours so you may be better off getting a desktop. Desktops will be way cheaper and alot more powerfull. That is the descion I would make.

Personaly if you really need a laptopn, I would spend about $800 on a desktop (it will still be more powerfull then a top end MBP) then just get a basic cheap laptop with the last $200.
 
I'd be careful about getting an HP laptop they overheat very easily and have bad customer service, their super high-end stuff is soo nice though
 
Right, I had an MSI before that could overheat in like 30 seconds if you left it under a blanket so I'm always really careful about that stuff haha
 
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