u/DingDongMichaelHere

Hello everyone

I am a Nuclear Engineering student. I have a very specific question and was wondering if anyone here might be able to help. I currently have a Windows Mobile Workstation, more specifically an HP Zbook G10 Power 15". However, this laptop is just overkill for me and all I currently have to use it for is Word and Excel. However, next school year I have to be able to run Serpent, which is a program for running Reactor physics Monte Carlo simulations. Now, on the website it says that Windows isn't actually supported, yet everyone here has a Windows laptop, so clearly it works on Windows. However, if I plan to buy a Macbook, Google Gemini told me I could compile the source code my self to run it natively on MacOS. Is it true, that if that wouldn't work, I can run Windows x86 (!!!!) apps on newer Apple Silicon Macs using Crossover or Parallels? (albeit slower, but I'm fine with that). I just want the excellent battery life of the macs, the amazing screen and honestly I'm just bored with Windows. I have never used MacOS ever in my life, and I'm bit of a tech nerd too. I was eyeing a second hand Macbook Pro 14" M1 Pro with 16 gb of RAM and 512 gb ssd. I have google drive and onedrive unlimited through my university, so no issue. Gemini recommended me to pay extra for an older Pro macbook since it has active cooling which would come in clutch compared to an Air or the Neo when I have to run these Monte Carlo simulations. Also the screen is better and the I/O.

Any recommendations? Advice?

Hello everyone, now if my post doesnt really follow the subreddit rules, feel free to take it down

I’m an engineering student, they told me I would have to have a laptop that could run “heavy” programs so I had to buy an HP Zbook G10 Power 15,6 inch, which has a 13th gen I7-13700H (I believe), NVIDIA RTX A1000 6GB, 32GB of DDR5 memory, a 1 TB SSD.

problem being, I only really need to use it for Microsoft Office and Webbrowser to access my school system: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Zen Browser. With Word for writing papers and Excel for data analysis being the main ones as a Nuclear Engineering student.

The laptop originally cost (my parents then) €1700 WITH student discount of around 50%, I believe the MSRP price without student discount was around €3200.

I just find it such a waste of money for my parents, I just underutulize this laptop so much. The screen is only 60hz, 250 nits, and 1080p, which for a 2023 laptop with an MSRP of €3200 is scandulous. Speakers suck too, battery is very weak and the thing is just build like a brick, in a bad way. It’s just so heavy and having to take the power brick everywhere is just not it for me.
Now with the recent Macbook Neo launch I’ve been quite jealoud actually, and I really wanted one and I’m sure it would fit perfectly for my Microsoft Officr Use Case. But I dont have the money.

Now, I was thinking about (first discussing this with my parents of course since they paid for the laptop) selling this HP laptop and using the money to buy a Macbook? Ive never tried a Macbook or Macos in general before, only brief interactions on a friends macbook, but Ive never used it in depth really. I’m a tech nerd too so I would love to try different software so this isnt really an issue. I’m just more inclined towards the macbook for battery life, speakers, the screen and the performance, as well as being able to get charged using a simple 35W charger instead of a 150W brick.
Now is this a good idea to go through with? I was looking at the following machines, which are about the same in price give or take:
Macbook Neo 512Gb (worried about the 8 Gigs of RAM tho)
Macbook Air M3 or M4 with 16 gb of ram, either 512gb or 1 Tb
an older Macbook Pro 14 inch, like the M2 generation or maybe M3. I’m just drawn towards the miniled screen, but the pro would be heavier again and would defeat the purpose of getting rid of my current laptop.

I’m looking at a price range of 800-1000 euros, preferably not above that. Older machines are completely fine with me, just preferably not preowned by a shady guy or something. Either refurbished from a trusted org or new. Also not M1 era. At the very least, M2 Macbook pro’s but not airs. Airs m3 and above.

Is this a good idea, and if so, what should I get, and are my macbook suggestions wrong or ?