An iBook for a MBA Student

I am starting my MBA next month in Australia. I am from India.

I have always been a Windows guy but now wants to make the "Switch". I have always been fascinated with Apples design etc. Especially now since they on the UNIX platform the OS is much better.

I am ready to fork out any extra $$$ for a Mac. So that is not a problem because I believe it is better in the long run.

I have contacted my school for their computer requirements and the various software that they use so that I can check the Mac versions or similar compatible software.

I wanted to know if anybody had any experiences with a Mac in a MBA school. And if so, what are the pros and cons and any suggestions that they would give me.

I am looking at the iBook G4 12".

Update : I will be taking Marketing as my specialization.

Thanks,
Suhit

 

Well, I'm not an MBA student but know quite a few and while most of them have PC based laptops all I ever see them use are office applications. I suppose if you're in a finance or accounting track in an MBA program you might be limiting the types of stats and finance analysis programs you could use -- but if you're more on the Marketing or Human Resources side of things in an MBA then Excel, Word and Access are all available on the Mac so doesn't really matter.

One thing to consider is that most large corporations and medium sized businesses use PCs and not Macs, not that that should make a change in a buying decision for your personal computer, but just know that you'll never escape the world of Windows if you're a business type!

Good luck in school and with the purchase.

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I finished my MBA at USC 2 years ago. I used specific purpose software for my statistics class, and for a real estate investment class. These were windows only programs. 99% of the students used windows boxes, myself included, but that is close to real world stats anyway. I suspect (but cannot confirm) that both of the applications (JMP Start statistics and ARGUS lease valuation software) would run under a windows emulator. Neither were all that computationally demanding. Some textbooks now include software, and that would likely be windows only, but again, the emulator would likely work fine. My guess is that it would be no problem. I just got a 12" powerbook. I came from a 15" screen, and well, 12" is much smaller. This will be an issue for spreadsheet work, which you will do LOTS of during your MBA studies. That said, it is worth the sacrifice for the smaller maching IMHO. Goodluck with your studies.

 

Actually, screen size will not affect viewability in Excel or any other program. Resolution, however, will. The iBook's xga resolution is pretty standard. Also, remember that the 14" ibook and the 12" ibook have the same screen resolutions, so the smaller screen will look sharper and be a little more difficult to see, while the 14" will be fuzzier and won't afford you any more viewing space than the smaller screen.

For your MBA, I highly doubt you'll need to run a lot of pc-specific material. If you do need to run pc-specific software for a class or two, I'm sure there will be a library or someplace on campus where you can have access to a PC. It's true that many businesses use PCs, but that doesn't mean YOU need to use a PC.

 

Ok Technerd, I basically agree with all you said. That said, stuff sure looks smaller when you cram 1024 x 768 into 12" instead of 15. 'Course I'm suffering greatly from over 45 eyes[ ]. I can't think of anything that one couldn't have done on a mac during my studies. One occasionally needs to expend just a bit more effort to use a mac in a PC dominated world. It is usually worth it, though. I got through engineering undergrad with a mac (old quadra 650) with minimal trouble. I even traded autocad files with PC guys (back when autodesk still supported mac), and ran PC specific programs in a pc emulator program. Interchangeability is much more seemless now than it was then, so you should have minimal difficulty. I've been a PC guy since '99, and just switched back thanks to a good deal on my pb.

 

Hi All (MotoTrojan, teknerd122 and abaxter)

Thanks for all the information.

I guess the 12" is not going to be a issue especially with the good resolution that Apple provides.

The worst case, I can get a MS Office for Mac Student edition so as to solve all MS compatibility issues. I also looking at Open Office, has anybody any experience of Open office on a Mac.

The other issue is statistical software etc. Now tecknerd122 mentioned, I should be able to borrow a PC from somewhere and do that stuff however since a large part of the work will me word processing, excel, browsing, e-mails etc which the Mac will do a great job of I should be ok.

As Mototrojan suggested I am lookking at Virtual PC for running some Windows specific appplications.

The only thing which I need to make a decision is the number of times I would use the other software. If it is less than 10-15% of the entire course then I should be able to but an Apple.

Thanks all for the help, will post again once I get the information from my school.

Suhit