Need for a laptop
hey guys, i need to buy a laptop because my last one started acting out. i'm confused between a thinkpad and a mac. im a junior doing a finance major hoping to break into banking/investments. although thinkpad is better for modelling, ive gotten reviews that all thinkpads start acting out after a while and although mac is better in functionality, the excel shortcuts are difficult to follow. my peers said i can go for a mac since i would get a thinkpad anyways from the employer but im still kind of confused. if i plan to buy a thinkpad, which one should i go for? would appreciate any advice.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's what you need to know:
ThinkPad vs. Mac for Finance Majors:
Employer-Provided Laptops:
ThinkPad Recommendations:
Budget Considerations:
In summary, if your primary focus is financial modeling and Excel, a ThinkPad is the better choice. If you’re leaning towards a Mac for personal preference, ensure you’re comfortable with the Excel limitations or plan to adapt. For ThinkPads, prioritize models with strong specs like the Lenovo X1 Carbon or similar.
Sources: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/new-laptop-recommendations?customgpt=1, Best Personal Labtop for Banking, Best Laptop for Undergraduate Finance Major, Dual major in Finance and Computer Science?, Girl Investment Bankers - Any tips?
A thinkpad will survive the actual apocalypse. A mac will barely survive 7 tabs being open. Thinkpad all the way.
A $999 base MBA M4 destroys any similarly priced Lenovo out there, in terms of performance, battery life, build quality, resale value, etc
We use quite beefy ThinkPad X1s at work & it’s crazy to see how far behind they are - sounds like they’re about to take off when they don’t randomly crash.
Genuinely braindead comment
In 2013 maybe
I recently bought a backup laptop just if my main breaks. $429 40GB Ram.
Amazon.com: Lenovo V15 Business Laptop | Intel Pentium N6000 4-core Processor | 15.6 FHD (1920 x 1080) | 40GB RAM | 1TB PCIe SSD | WiFi-6 | Ethernet RJ-45 | Military Durability | Anti-Glare | Windows 11 Pro : Electronics
If you can still return that, I'd recommend doing so and buying a used higher-end ThinkPad for around the same price. That Intel Pentium processor will be pretty bad. You can get a good condition used one for under $600 with an i7 from eBay.
Or here's one with an i5 refurbished from Lenovo's outlet site: https://www.lenovo.com/us/outletus/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadl/thin…
Damn ok thanks. Yeah I have a $2200 Lenovo Legion gaming laptop as my main, did not know this model was so crappy. It seems to work ok, could work in a bind.
Just posted this in a different thread so will paste below:
I have a Macbook Pro and a Lenovo ThinkPad, both for personal use. I prefer the ThinkPad just because it has a 16 inch 4k OLED screen and is more customizable, but honestly it does have more issues than my Macbook, which just works seamlessly. Apple's computers are just in a league of their own ever since they stopped using Intel processors. No other laptop comes close in ease of use, stability, and battery life.
I'm admittedly somewhat of a laptop nerd, though for most people, I'd say the Macbook Pro is unquestionably the best general purpose computer on the market today. I'd only recommend a Windows computer if you want gaming or need it for Windows specific ISV-tier software.
If you ever need to use Excel, the shortcuts you're used to on Windows won't work on Excel for Mac OS, but you can download a software called Parallels which will allow you to run Windows 11 on your Mac, which you can then use to run Excel with an external Windows keyboard, indistinguishable from if you were just using a Windows computer, for anything that isn't intense modeling.
I hated parallels when I had to use it. My experience was a poor mix between Mac Excel and Windows Excel.
Go with mac
I’m surprised people are recommending Macs at all. I don’t know how I would do my job (IB) with a Mac. It would make life a million times harder because of all the interrelated functionality of MSFT office applications.
The lack of shortcuts is a complete dealbreaker. I have never encountered a banker that would choose a Mac over Windows (however shitty) on the job. It may suffice in school, but absolutely not on the job. Those few seconds saved on shortcuts add up to tens of hours throughout the week.
Does Outlook, FactSet, etc. even work correctly on Macs? I’ve never tried…
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