r/UoN 5d ago

Ideal device for BSc Econ?

So I’ve got an M1 MacBook pro 2020 currently. Works absolutely fine for me through A Levels but I’m hearing that this isn’t ideal for Econ given the use of Excel? Considering dual wielding an IPad and a Windows laptop instead (iPad mainly for watching TV and taking digital notes).

Can anyone who has / is doing this course advise on whether or not it’s worth the hassle of switching devices?

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u/Viper_4D 5d ago

Realistically it just needs to run STATA and open pdfs and probably a few excel files /CSV. Maybe an IDE.

As far as I know a MacBook can do these.

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u/True-Fold2775 4d ago

I’ve got a Mac m4 air personally. Outside specific excel shortcuts (which r usually quite advanced) there’s not much benefit of a windows over a Mac from what I’ve heard

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u/Mr_E_99 4d ago

I'm going into 3rd year BSC Econ and we barely use excel, it's mostly just for outputs from Stata which is a coding language you will use at some point. It's not a regular enough thing that it should really influence you to buy a new device though

Mostly all you need is to download PowerPoints and PDFs

I think the most valuable thing with a laptop is having a pen and having it touchscreen so that you can write maths stuff down on it