Observations after switching from a PC to a Mac

Because many of us rely heavily on our computers for so much of our work, the decision to keep an old one or splurge on a new one can be difficult to make. Sarayu Pai shares her observations from not only getting a new laptop, but from making the jump from PC to Mac, as well. (Photo: LINDA A. CICERO / Stanford News Service)
Because many of us rely heavily on our computers for so much of our work, the decision to keep an old one or splurge on a new one can be difficult to make. Sarayu Pai shares her observations from not only getting a new laptop, but from making the jump from PC to Mac, as well. (Photo: LINDA A. CICERO / Stanford News Service)
By Sarayu Pai
Jan. 22, 2020, 7:27 p.m.

I’ve had my trusty Lenovo IdeaPad since my junior year AP U.S. History class, where the wicked fast speed at which the teacher read out his notes necessitated laptops for quick note-taking.

Over the past few years, the laptop has understandably experienced great lapses in battery life and mounting trackpad sensitivity issues. During Thanksgiving Break, I made the egregious error of letting the laptop fall, giving it three cracks spidering across the glass touchscreen.

Although I had been planning on getting a new laptop after starting at Stanford, I had a lot of uncertainty as to which make and model would be the most ideal purchase.

“This university is one of the bona fide Apple capitals in the world,” I thought. “Would it be wise to switch to a Mac? But wouldn’t a PC better for the CAD-ing required in engineering?

MacBooks seemed appealing to me for reasons including their ability to craft music efficiently, edit photos and videos with consummate flair, display an immaculately clean yet powerful design and maintain compatibility with the iPhone and iPad.

What would be the one hindrance to acquiring one, however? As it is with many highly-coveted items, it came down to the price. With a hefty price tag, much research has to be done into these laptops to see if they are really worth the investment.

At last, during winter break this past year, I decided to get the 16” MacBook Pro, which has a revamped keyboard, reduced bezel size and better heat sinks. While fiddling around with other MacBook Pro models at the store, I felt that the 13” model was exceedingly warm, with heat radiating through every key on the keyboard. The Air model’s screen was too small, and with the work I’m interested in (tending towards the side of graphics, music and animation), a more powerful system was needed.  

A couple of my favorite aspects of the laptop are its speakers that boom and reverberate with the strongest bass sounds and the large screen size which enables users to become more immersed in whatever work they’re doing. Although the lack of USB ports is annoying, I think the keyboard is super cool because the key travel (basically the amount of depth to which the keys sink upon pressing them) is satisfying. Since this laptop was such a great investment, I also became more conscious of its safety and immediately popped into Amazon to get a little case and sleeve, determined not to let any harm come to a device that should last for the rest of my time here at Stanny.

My Lenovo is going to stay with me since it contains a bevy of old documents and will be useful for SolidWorks, but I am now pretty accustomed to the Mac OSX and “touchbar” (whose efficacy currently remains dubious at best).  Overall, I’ve enjoyed making the switch and am excited for future projects.

Contact Sarayu Pai at smpai918 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Contact Sarayu at smpai918 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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