Apple laptops have traditionally been popular with both students and
faculty at colleges and universities, but evidently the recession and
the netbook phenomenon are taking their toll on Apple's competitiveness
this back-to-school season.
Apple's 13" MacBook Pro
The Current Market
This week, Sunnyvale, California-based Retrevo, a consumer electronics search
engine/portal site, released
results of a survey indicating that 34% of students in the market
for a laptop plan on purchasing a subcompact netbook, while another 49%
intend on getting full-sized PC laptops. A majority of student laptop
shoppers say they will not even consider buying a Mac.*
"While Apple has done well historically in the education market,
2009 marks the dawn of the netbook," commented Retrevo's CEO Vipin
Jain, "Students told us they wanted longer battery life, smaller size,
and a lighter laptop. 58% of them plan on spending less than $750. All
but 18% have a budget over $1,000. Netbooks are affordable; some
costing only $170. In contrast, Apple laptops start at $949. At a time
when many people are experiencing economic hardship, having a new Apple
laptop isn't a necessity."
Macs Are Worth It
Inarguably true, but I would still contend that Apple 'Books
represent the best long-term value for money spent, not to mention user
experience, and that the 13" MacBook Pro offers
something special for a historically very attractive price in the Apple
context - albeit $350 more (education pricing) than that arbitrary $750
threshold. The MacBook
White however, only exceeds that cutoff by $200, and it's
well-worth digging a little deeper for if you can possibly manage.
For students with the good taste, appreciation of quality and
long-term value, and flush enough wallets to buy a Mac laptop, my
friend and former Applelinks colleague The Mac Observer's John
Martellaro this week posted a
timely and helpful guide for students planning to take a new
MacBook to college this fall, with tips and mini-tutorials on
transporting, backups, and security.
Back-to-School User Tips
Protection
John suggests that a good portfolio/messenger bag or purpose-made
computer backpack with a dedicated, well padded or armored soft-lining
pouch for your MacBook (or other laptop) should be considered a
priority.
You can find reviews for various laptop cases and backpacks in
the 'Book Value archives and the
Miscellaneous Ramblings review
archive.
Another protective alternative if you prefer to travel light with
your laptop is a plastic shell that attaches snugly to the MacBook.
They come in various colors or clear plastic. There are several brands
of these available. I recently reviewed
the Uniea Haptique Hard Shell Case on PowerBook Central. It's a good
example of the genre. The Haptique is available for Unibody 13"
MacBooks and MacBook Pros, offers excellent protection from dings and
scratches, and adds very little weight. The Speck SeeThru is another
example of this sort of shell case.
Weight
One point on which I take minor issue with John's commentary is
where he says the 13" MacBook Pro is two pounds heavier than the
MacBook Air. Actually,
Apple's smallest Pro 'Book weighs only 4.5 pounds, as opposed to the
MacBook Air's 3.0 pounds, making the new Pro even lighter than the
legendary 12" PowerBook G4 (4.6 lb.). I
do agree with John that every pound counts when you're lugging a laptop
around all day, so even a 1.5 lb. difference is something to carefully
weigh in your mind, but IMHO the MacBook Pro's vastly greater power,
connectivity, and expandability - all areas of deficiency with the
MacBook Air - not to mention its substantially lower price, make the
Pro the wiser and better value choice, especially if it's going to be
your main or only computer.
Security
Other tips in John's article include purchasing a Kensington lock
that can secure your MacBook to a desk or something solid while you're
away, which I agree is an excellent suggestion, as is his advice to get
a second AC adapter - one for your work desk and another for the
computer case or in the backpack will be a convenience you'll thank
yourself for many times over.
Then there's the crucial importance of file backups, which should be
a priority whether you're a student or not. Loss, theft, fire, damage,
or simple mechanical failure can wipe out your vital collection of
files, contacts, music, photos, and so forth in an instant, and it
could all be gone irretrievably if you don't have a backup and keep it
up to date.
Backup
John's recommendation (and mine) is to back up to an external
FireWire or USB hard drive, which can be had quite reasonably these
days in capacities that would have seemed fantastically astronomical
even a couple of years ago. External 3.5" 500 GB to 1 TB drives
are not all that expensive these days. If you have a Mac, Apple's
Time
Machine feature in OS X 10.5
"Leopard" makes keeping up-to-date backups virtually painless. Keep
your backup drive under lock and key in a place separate from where
your laptop is stored, and potential disasters will be much less
catastrophic. And for belt-and-suspenders security, doing a second
backup to one of the Cloud backup services, as John suggests, is an
excellent idea.**
Data Security
Speaking of security, there are also prying eyes and the potential
for identity theft, which are other sorts of contretemps that can ruin
your day, and John has a number of sensible suggestions for minimizing
that risk, such as using a login password and password protection
and/or encryption for sensitive data and personal information with
proprietary data security software like
FileVault or by creating an encrypted disk image, which can be done
with OS X's bundled tools
This .dmg file will be backed up along with all your other files as
part of the Time Machine backup process. If, for some reason, it ever
becomes corrupted and unreadable, you have the security of being able
to go back in time until you find a good version.
It's probably not a good idea to keep private files - not even
inside an encrypted .dmg - on a flash drive on your (real) keychain
with car keys, etc. The daily wear and tear, exposure to impact,
bending, and possible loss just put the data at more risk, and you may
forget to routinely back it up.
Insurance
John also recommends making sure your MacBook is insured against
theft or loss (this may be possible with a personal articles rider on
your parents' home insurance policy, as it was for my daughter's 'Books
when she was at university).
Finding Bargains
Retrevo has released a new online laptop
catalogue that includes links to the best deals on MacBooks, as
well as other make notebooks, and now includes an exclusive section for
students. "Retailers are working overtime to attract students,"
observes Jain. "The problem this year isn't finding deals; it's finding
the best product for your budget. Retrevo can help." Retrevo has also
introduced a Twitter shopping service giving in-store laptop shoppers a
second opinion.
Low End Mac's Best 13"
MacBook and MacBook Pro Prices, Best 15" MacBook Pro
Prices, and Best
MacBook Air Prices are updated regularly with prices on new, demo,
Apple refurbished, and used notebooks.
Mac laptops are more expensive than the mainstream run of PC laptops
and a lot pricier than even the highest-priced netbooks, but you do
tend to get what you pay for. Over the years, I've met very few Mac
users who wished they'd bought a PC instead.
