Undergrad Laptop Financial Modeling
Hey everyone!
Currently a freshman in college using a MacBook Air.
Wanna learn how to properly use Excel and build up financial modeling skills in the next year. Heard MacBooks are not suitable for that.
Any laptop recommendations?
What do high finance analysts use?
Thank You!
Dell XPS 15 or Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
For the Lenovo x1 carbon, which gen do you recommend? I'm seeing gen 11 and 12 on their website. Also, what are the standard specs (i5 vs i7, IR vs FHD camera, etc) that ppl recommend on the computer?
Depends, do you want to switch laptops completely or keep the Mac and purchase a second laptop?
Overall, agree with the above two recommendations. Would definitely NOT recommend buying one new, they are incredibly expensive for what they are. If you are remotely computer savvy, with a little marketplace scrolling you can find pretty good deals on older ThinkPads and XPS'.
I personally opted to sell my Macbook Pro and purchased a slightly older, used X1 Carbon Gen 8 (10th gen i7, 16gb RAM, 1Tb SSD) and it has been powerful enough to do everything school + finance related. If you sell your current laptop you can opt for a newer model with better specs, just depends on your budget. Would definitely recommend minimum 16gb RAM and no processor older than 10th gen.
If you want it to become your daily computer would recommend going with an X1 Carbon. Super light to carry around to classes but still sturdy (don't feel bad throwing it around a little) and with the right specs, still powerful enough to do everything a Mac does and more. However, also know friends with XPS' and they like their laptop, don't think you can go wrong with either, just depends on what you can find used for the best deal.
Would T or L series work as a secondary laptop or is X1 much better?
I’m not too knowledgeable on the major differences between each Lenovo model, however across the board I believe the T and L series are substantially heavier than the X1. If you don’t mind that (and the individual specs of any given T or L series are sufficient for your needs) then I don’t see why not, main daily difference would likely be the portability. I love my X1 because it’s super light for me yo carry to classes but also powerful to do
everything I nee.
ThinkPad
At the risk of showing my age and looking like an absolute grandpa here, do colleges not have computer labs anymore?
I rocked a macbook all through college, because if and when I needed a PC I could always go to the lab and use one there.
I'm 40, just rebuilt my gaming desktop and am also like "WTF, Excel on a Mac is now about OK, and without security software hogging resources you should be fine."
I honestly think that they might have done away with most of the computer labs though. We're old.
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