If you were anything like me a few months ago, you are struggling with which laptop would work best in the MBA program.  Now that I am almost one semester in, I wanted to share a few nuggets of information that might be helpful in your laptop search.

  • PC or Mac? My current class is almost split in half when it comes to laptop brands.  I would say 45% of our class has a Mac and the rest have a Lenovo or similar.   Either way you go, someone will be able to help you.
  • Office.  This is business school, so we use Excel, Word and Power Point extensively.  All of the teacher’s instructions and assignments give the PC way of working with the specific program.  This is not too say that the Mac people have had a hard time, but some things are not were not the same across the Dont buy a brick. two platforms.
  • Weight.  I live close to campus and walk everywhere so weight of my laptop was something I should have considered more than I did.  Also, we move around in class regularly to form groups and it would be easier to have  a lighter/more portable laptop.   I would highly recommend something under 4lbs.
  • HDMI connection.  The new business school has some pretty fancy breakout rooms for grad students.  You are able to connect your laptop to the huge TV’s by way of the 4 HDMI cords in the room.  Make sure you laptop has that connection or is able to accept it through another cable connector.
  • Solid State Drive (SSD).  Whether it be a Mac or PC, you will be constantly putting your machine in sleep mode to change classes or to participate in discussion.  A machine that will turn back on very fast can be helpful when you are trying to get homework done right before the next class or take down those homework assignments before you forget.
  • Software.  Baylor does a great job of providing access to super affordable software.  You can get Office for almost nothing and Baylor provides Symantec Endpoint protection while you are a student.  So if configuring your machine, save money there and spend the savings on RAM or a SSD.
  • Student Discounts.  You are a student again and that means taking full advantage of this classification while you can.  Always check with the manufacturer to see if they offer a Baylor or student discounts.

I hope this has been insightful.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will get back to you!

Sic’ Em Bears