College Laptop?

[mix]

dont get a mac, unless you like the whole mac thing. I dont like the dells personally, but i am on one, they are just so cheap. But you get what you pay for and they are just slapped together, some are good and some are really bad. JUST MAKE SURE U GET THAT WARRANTY! The HPs are bad either. But if you do get the dell you can get your XPS and all that good stuff for around 1300 but you just got to do your research and find those specials and discounts on dells.

My friend just got his xps for 1300 and order directly from dell to pay no tax unless u live in texas

[zumzumzoom]

No matter what you decide make sure you buy an external hard drive or big enough thumb drive to store all your college documents. Back them up regularly. Nothing sucks more than working on a paper for hours, days, weeks and losing it.

[nayilsi]

Originally Posted by wing_gundam

Don't get a mac book ..... gross

get a cheap dell... you basically need the bare minimum of what it comes with (prob more powerful than most computers of 2 yrs ago)

a mac will lead to software incompatibilities if you need to install certain progs for class etc or hook up to this or that or send files back and forth.

macs over heat

dell batteries can last 4 hrs - my gf's does that regularly




get a cheap dell - if i didnt get a free new sony after my old one, i would have purchased a $500 dell laptop

and mac is a fashion.......

and fashion don't last.

[firmhonda]

The thing that you need to consider is what you're going to school for and what programs you more likely will be required to use. If you're going in for graphic arts of any kind, mac is the only way to go. If you're going for IT pc is the only way to go.

I'm on a Dell Latitude d530 right now and I love it. It may not be uber trendy, but it gets the job done very well. I have loaded photoshop, access, and word all at the same time on this computer and saw very little lag (intel core2 duo).

I also say that you get a nice dell and call it a day. If you're into gaming then get an xps. The xps line is just a rebadged alienware, which was originally made for gaming.

BTW, you can partition out hdd's on microsoft OS and dual (or more) boot os' if you wish. The HDD I use at school at one point in time had Fedora, xp, and server 2003 on it. :shrugs: The only problem that I ever ran into was with server 2003, but that was because one class required the use of SQL server while the other required use of active directory, and those two just don't get along very well.

Originally Posted by wetwily555

MAC> all thats all there is to it, much easier, a lot less problems, no virus's period....

/end thred

I seriously beg to differ, but I won't get into that rant right now.

[nayilsi]

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[nayilsi]

Originally Posted by firmhonda

I seriously beg to differ, but I won't get into that rant right now.

not worth our time

[FunkPnut]

Maybe this will influence your decision:

[FunkPnut]

You'll be able to run a Mac at your school, but get a copy of XP as well to run in VMWare or Bootcamp. Buy your RAM 3rd party and get a hard shell case. Also remember their student discount incentive and that a newly designed macbook revision will be released this year.

If you feel more comfortable with a PC, for simplicity's sake, just get one. They'll do the same thing and there's no surprises.

You should consider getting the support from Apple or your PC manufacturer because one incident will cost as much if not more than the warranty itself. You'll probably beat your computer up over the years, obviously not on purpose.

If you want a mac, but don't know if it'll work out in your school environment, just ask them and see what they recommend. They may be very Mac friendly have lots of support.

As for software, check with your school store first. They get special educational volume licensing, so you should be able get Office, XP, or Vista for dirt cheap. I got a copy of Office 2003 back in the day for less than $10.

GL

[darna]

Originally Posted by babaki

macbooks are nice, but you will spend all of the 1500 on one. You can do just as good, with better hardware for less money with a Dell. Also, if this is for school, you dont need an XPS. check out the inspiron line and customize it to what you like. you wont be disappointed. use the money you save for other things.

mac is actually cheaper if you know where to find it. a friend of mine who's intern at UCLA got her macbook for $700 with the student discount promo.

[Izzy]

Dell's XPS line, particularly the m1330 discussed here isn't for out and out gaming. But it is stylish...which costs money. And it is fairly small...which costs even more money.

[nayilsi]

Originally Posted by FunkPnut

Maybe this will influence your decision:

must be some psych class

[wetwily555]

Originally Posted by FunkPnut

Maybe this will influence your decision:

the one kid in the bottom right corner, looks like hes out of place, and he knows it!

[nayilsi]

Originally Posted by wetwily555

the one kid in the bottom right corner, looks like hes out of place, and he knows it!

and hes glad abt it

[wetwily555]

Originally Posted by nayilsi

and hes glad abt it

thats how you look when your glad? looks more like an ashamed head turn, wishing he got a mac...

[babaki]

Originally Posted by zumzumzoom

No matter what you decide make sure you buy an external hard drive or big enough thumb drive to store all your college documents. Back them up regularly. Nothing sucks more than working on a paper for hours, days, weeks and losing it.

dvd burner works good too to back up papers. DVDs dont get hardware failures

[Spud387]

Originally Posted by wetwily555

thats how you look when your glad? looks more like an ashamed head turn, wishing he got a mac...

Ok, enough with the fanboyism . Try to be constructive here and tell him WHY you feel the mac is a good choice. So far I have yet to see useful advice with reasons to back your choice.

MAC> all thats all there is to it, much easier, a lot less problems, no virus's period....

/end thred

Easier... how so and to who? I am sure I can dance through a PC much more easily than on a Mac.
Less problems... again, this is subjective to the user. I don't have issues with my PCs. Yet I have friends who have had issues with their Macs.
Virus'... yes PCs CAN get more, but Macs aren't immune anymore, they are just less likely.

Lets try to HELP this person, not just throw biases at him.

[Yodums]

Although you're more prone to viruses on a PC, I'd have to say that 9 out of 10 times someone gets a virus, it's their own fault. I've never had any problems in Windows or OS X. I just think things are a lot more accessible on a PC than they are on a Mac. That's just personal preference though.

[wetwily555]

Originally Posted by Spud387

Ok, enough with the fanboyism . Try to be constructive here and tell him WHY you feel the mac is a good choice. So far I have yet to see useful advice with reasons to back your choice.



Easier... how so and to who? I am sure I can dance through a PC much more easily than on a Mac.
Less problems... again, this is subjective to the user. I don't have issues with my PCs. Yet I have friends who have had issues with their Macs.
Virus'... yes PCs CAN get more, but Macs aren't immune anymore, they are just less likely.

Lets try to HELP this person, not just throw biases at him.

actually, let me elaborate, once you learn to use a mac, it is much more user friendly then a pc, macs are completly immune to virus's unless the dumbass user puts in his password and accepts a virus to install itself on their computer, it has only happened and been documented less then once, because it was easily removed. Macs can also be a PC essentially because they can run windows as well, if not better then a pc, so you get the best of both worlds. Macs if going into the visual arts type field are a much better computer because of the application support from adobe goes hand in hand with mac, my dad has the most expensive dell there is right now from his work, not sure which one it is but he just got it, i just got my macbook pro, and he continueously compliments how much clearer my display is. overall now in DEPTH its mac for the WIN

[firmhonda]

Originally Posted by wetwily555

actually, let me elaborate, once you learn to use a mac, it is much more user friendly then a pc, macs are completly immune to virus's unless the dumbass user puts in his password and accepts a virus to install itself on their computer, it has only happened and been documented less then once, because it was easily removed. Macs can also be a PC essentially because they can run windows as well, if not better then a pc, so you get the best of both worlds. Macs if going into the visual arts type field are a much better computer because of the application support from adobe goes hand in hand with mac, my dad has the most expensive dell there is right now from his work, not sure which one it is but he just got it, i just got my macbook pro, and he continueously compliments how much clearer my display is. overall now in DEPTH its mac for the WIN

I'm sorry, but you are simply wrong with this post.

First off, Macs are far from being immune to Viruses. In reality Apple hasn't even approached the idea of protecting against different kinds of viruses in the manner that Microsoft has, which means that Microsoft, at face value, is much more secure because of the measures that have been taken. The only reason that you don't hear about more viruses attacking Apple machines is simple, why write a virus that attacks 1 machine when you can write one that attacks 100 machines? Even this argument is becoming outdated because of the fact that "hackers" are realizing that Macs are, in fact, more vulnerable which means that with the rise of identity theft they can more easily steal personal information off of an Mac OS machine than they can a Windows OS machine. If you'd like to read more about that please reference the 2007 Sophos Security Threat Report.

As for your digital arts reference, you are exactly right.. Which is why I said that if you're going into digital arts the only way to go is Mac, but otherwise you're probably better off with a PC.

I suggest that all people that are considering buying one or the other actually educate themselves instead of buying in to the pure b/s that spews from Steve Jobs mouth, as well as apple/pc fanboys (not directed at you). Macs are great machines if you plan on doing graphics, or if you simply prefer a mac os over a windows/linux os. But don't make it seem as if Macs are superior in every way because the only thing that makes them seem superior to pc's are the low numbers that they are sold in, which prevents your common script kiddie or hacker from attacking them in favor of attacking a windows machine.

[wetwily555]

Originally Posted by firmhonda

I'm sorry, but you are simply wrong with this post.

First off, Macs are far from being immune to Viruses. In reality Apple hasn't even approached the idea of protecting against different kinds of viruses in the manner that Microsoft has, which means that Microsoft, at face value, is much more secure because of the measures that have been taken. The only reason that you don't hear about more viruses attacking Apple machines is simple, why write a virus that attacks 1 machine when you can write one that attacks 100 machines? Even this argument is becoming outdated because of the fact that "hackers" are realizing that Macs are, in fact, more vulnerable which means that with the rise of identity theft they can more easily steal personal information off of an Mac OS machine than they can a Windows OS machine. If you'd like to read more about that please reference the 2007 Sophos Security Threat Report.

As for your digital arts reference, you are exactly right.. Which is why I said that if you're going into digital arts the only way to go is Mac, but otherwise you're probably better off with a PC.

I suggest that all people that are considering buying one or the other actually educate themselves instead of buying in to the pure b/s that spews from Steve Jobs mouth, as well as apple/pc fanboys (not directed at you). Macs are great machines if you plan on doing graphics, or if you simply prefer a mac os over a windows/linux os. But don't make it seem as if Macs are superior in every way because the only thing that makes them seem superior to pc's are the low numbers that they are sold in, which prevents your common script kiddie or hacker from attacking them in favor of attacking a windows machine.

eh what can i say i love my mac, and im a graphic designer, guess it fits the part