new 11" ultimate for comp sci major?

[pianoman429]

Hi, i'm currently stuck in a debate on which computer i should buy for college. I am majoring in comp sci and I really like the new 11.6" mba utlimate - do you think this will be powerful enough for comp sci? I love the portability factor this computer for walking around campus, and i'm really not too concerned about the screen size since i'll have a 23" monitor in my dorm for when i need it. Also, i'm not worried about the lack of a disk drive, i hardly use my disk drive now since you can just use a flash drive for everything.

i'm just not sure if i can reason the cost (the upgrades bring me to $1549 with edu discount) for the form factor when i can get a stronger mbp for cheaper (13" mbp 2.7Ghz dual-core i7 4GB ram 500GB hdd for $1399 or upgrade to 15" MBP 2.0Ghz quad-core i7 4GB ram 500GB hdd for $1699). I don't think i'm interested in the 13" mba, i'd rather just get the mbp in that case. thanks!

 

[shurcooL]

Go for 128 GB to save money then.

Although personally I'd prefer the bigger 13" screen for coding. 11" is fine for note taking, writing docs. But this is personal preference.

 

[El3ctronics]

I think the 13" would be a much better fit for you. It's still REALLY light and easy to carry around campus, you'll get double the storage space (just in case), and you'll get a much better screen resolution. Just my opinion.

 

[WMuntean]

Depends on what your concentration will be in. Are you going to be doing computational modeling, machine learning or similar? Or just some HTML work?

If it's the former, I personally wouldn't settle on anything less than the 15" due to the quad core. If it's the latter then any Mac will do.

 

[Pogopuschel]

Performance wise both will be way above and beyond what you need for any CS program. That being said, I don't know if I would want to code on a 11" screen...