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! 

 
Most Helpful

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. 

 

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