Macbook for university - Worth it?

[The Grim Squeaker]

I thought of posting this in the university laptop thread, but didn't want to ressurect it.
I'm still searching for a laptop, and for various reasons didn't get a laptop when I was in the US and now i'm searching for one in Hong Kong or in Israel. I need something capable of gaming with, with a goodly sized keyboard and screen (15 inch) and good technical specs (it's a desktop replacement, although it still needs to be portable and for under 1,500$). I was browsing various crappy laptop offers in the region, and started considering the Macbook for its better build quality and outstanding battery life.
Question is, is it worth it? I keep hearing varying opinions, and it's definitely less bang for buck.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Mac build quality has degraded over the years I think. I had to send mine back for a few repairs over the last 2 years, from screen burning itself out at one corner, to the graphic card dying off on me. Their service has been excellent though and repairs are in general prompt. But I do not know what the situation is like in Israel with respect to service quality etc.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Mac build quality has degraded over the years I think. I had to send mine back for a few repairs over the last 2 years, from screen burning itself out at one corner, to the graphic card dying off on me. Their service has been excellent though and repairs are in general prompt. But I do not know what the situation is like in Israel with respect to service quality etc.

Service warranty for Macs in ISrael is hideous if not nonexistant (getting my ipod repaired was astoundingly horrible, and required an external company in Spain. I ended up buying a new one).

And bang for buck? (I know the battery life is superb, but I haven't been tracking the components and hardware market for some 2 years now).
Where's Durandal when you need him

[Starglider]

Macs are inherently more expensive for what they are (though less so now than in previous years). It would make no sense to buy one unless you already like OS-X and want a machine that can run it.

[Covenant]

I would also say a Mac for gaming is a recipe for frustration. Macs are not my personal computer of choice, but they have some merits, especially in the mobile computing catagory. Gaming on a laptop can be dicey in the best of cases, so if playing games with it is a priority, you're stuck with a PC laptop. But if you really love the few Mac games, you can disregard everything I've said, I just know that getting games on a Mac is hard, and getting games to perform well on a laptop can be hard too--on a budget. Or you could get a less expensive Macbook and a PS3.

[phongn]

Do you like OS X ? Can you easily get the software you will need for school on it? Are you comfortable with dual-booting or using virtual machines?

You mentioned you were going into CS: check to see if your school requires Windows for development.

[Starglider]

Are you comfortable with dual-booting or using virtual machines?

I was assuming that he'd use Boot Camp to install Windows for gaming, but remember that that adds the cost of a retail copy of Windows to the price of the machine.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Are you comfortable with dual-booting or using virtual machines?

I was assuming that he'd use Boot Camp to install Windows for gaming, but remember that that adds the cost of a retail copy of Windows to the price of the machine.

There might be student discount prices for buying a copy of Win OS. I remember getting mine for a mere USD$15.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Are you comfortable with dual-booting or using virtual machines?

I was assuming that he'd use Boot Camp to install Windows for gaming, but remember that that adds the cost of a retail copy of Windows to the price of the machine.

There might be student discount prices for buying a copy of Win OS. I remember getting mine for a mere USD$15.

70$ here. Dual booting doesn't sound hard to me.

[General Zod]

70$ here. Dual booting doesn't sound hard to me.

It's not supposed to be hard. But dual booting can get tedious.

[atg]

70$ here. Dual booting doesn't sound hard to me.

It's not supposed to be hard. But dual booting can get tedious.

I've found it to be not too bad on Macs, also IIRC some of the virtualisation software available for OSX (Parallels? VMWare Fusion? I forget which) can run the Boot Camp Windows install in a virtual machine making dual booting for regular application use much easier, only requiring an actual boot to Windows for more intensive tasks like gaming.

I would have to recommend against the MacBook if you are not specifically interested in OSX due to the extra cost of the Apple laptop for equivilent hardware, and also due to the extra cost of a Windows license if dual booting is desired. Through work I get the opportunity to use many different brands of laptops, and current Asus laptops seem to be about the best to me in terms of price/performance/build quality.

[Melchior]

I use my MacBook Pro (model year 2008). I particularly appreciate the fact that it's extremely silent, so I can leave it switched on while I study or read nearby without annoyance.

[RedImperator]

I don't have much experience with Macbooks, but I've been using an iBook G4 for the last four years, and I can tell you that, 1) in that time, I haven't had a single kernel panic or freeze-up that required a reboot, 2) I haven't had a single virus or piece of spyware, and 3) in four years of heavy use, it's developed exactly one hardware problem (a bad DC board) which cost me $30 for replacement parts and should take all of ten minutes to repair. Yeah, you pay a premium for Macs, but the machines are solid and the OS is rock steady.

[Melchior]

I don't have much experience with Macbooks, but I've been using an iBook G4 for the last four years, and I can tell you that, 1) in that time, I haven't had a single kernel panic or freeze-up that required a reboot, 2) I haven't had a single virus or piece of spyware, and 3) in four years of heavy use, it's developed exactly one hardware problem (a bad DC board) which cost me $30 for replacement parts and should take all of ten minutes to repair. Yeah, you pay a premium for Macs, but the machines are solid and the OS is rock steady.

The build quality declined in recent years, I fear. It's anecdotal, but I recently had to have the entire logic board replaced (luckily it broke down while the warranty was still valid, even if there where only about three days left); something like that never happened with the previous macs that I used (SE, II si, Classic, 5260/120, 7300/200, rev. A iMac, G4 Quicksilver), which had no major hardware problems whatsoever in years of heavy use.