TV with DVR & Internet: $89.90/mo
Community Newsletter: Q&A: MacBook or PC laptop for college?
- 8/22/08 4:21 PM
Your college decides.
by ananthap - 8/9/08 5:20 PM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi,
I think that different schools have different standards (and clear recommendations). So before you decide how the mac .v. pc debate is going to be settled for you, maybe you should first get a firm admission to a college and then decide.
End
Apple MAC or PC Laptop on a budget
by jtowle2001 - 8/9/08 6:39 PM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
When you graduate, if you plan to go into a US business, I think you'll find that knowing PCs and Microsoft will do more for you than knowing about MACs and their relatively closed Operating System.
The advantage of the MAC is relatively few viruses are around to infect the MAC, but that tells a story in itself. The MACs are not immune to viruses, it's just that the market share of MACs is much smaller than for PCs. in 2008 MAC = 3.3%, PCs, 96.7 % Of that, the largest share of PCs is HP, followed by Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba. This also explains why so few viruses exist for MACs, it's no fun for the virus writers because there are so few MACs in the market compared to Windows machines.
Frankly, I think the MAC is okay for those who don't know how to keep their Windows system virus free. It's easy, don't run EXE files, or mail attachments unless you KNOW who sent it and WHY they sent it, and what it does.
With Virus software, you can avoid viruses. In the past 10 years, I think I've gotten a virus on Windows about 3 times, and in all cases, a virus checker found the virus and eliminated.
You can get a very nice HP or Dell laptop well within your budget.
Jeff
MIND SHARING THE JMICRON EXPRESS CARD DRIVERS?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by brassbug - 6/16/09 6:11 PM In reply to: Apple MAC or PC Laptop on a budget by jtowle2001PLEASE, send me the driver to the iconnect expresscard you got from jmicron, for the 1165 card, I have the jmicron chip and none of their drivers work, you said you got them from them well i cant even log into their site and they dont reply and i cant afford to call. Mind sending me the drivers for xp and vista for this expresscard? You're the only one who has them apparently, so do you mind after 2 years, sharing them????????? PLEASE?!!?!??!!!?? Ugh! send them too brassbottlebuggy at yahoo.com
PC or mac laptop
by mario_echavarria - 8/9/08 7:19 PM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Both are good computers for college. If u dont want to transition all the way to mac laptop, just stick to a pc laptop. sometimes a pc is cheaper than a mac book. for 700.00 u get a decent pc laptop and pretty fast processor and memory and a decent hard drive. But if u want to try something new go for a mac and experience it. with bot u are taking a big risk that something will happend soon or later. Its just all about trying something new or saving mula. PC laptops can work the same as a macbook.
MacBook or PC laptop for college
by Clara - 8/9/08 8:50 PM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Wendee- my son & I just went through this same process- he will be starting college this fall. You really can't go wrong- there are great PC's and the macs are great too. The decision is personal- here are a few factors that my influence you. 1) you will get more for your money with a pc. Dell, especially, has great discounts for college students. Apple has a much smaller discount. Also, Apple warantees are worse and charges for support contracts (Apple Care) are way higher. 2) for graphics intensive applications and for sheer fun, the macbooks are everyone's favorite. 3)If you use only basic applications, either machine will do. But there are still many more applications for pc than for Mac. Some small proprietary software that I use for my business is not available for mac and never will be.
Of course, macs can now run windows OS too, but this is an added expense (for the Windows OS) and complication that most people dont seem to bother with. 4) What ever OS you choose, take some time to consider how large and how heavy you can tolerate. If you plan to take your computer with you to classes, this will be an important consideration. Last-) I'd recommend speaking with the IT people at your school- they will tell you whether there is any advantage to having one machine or the other on your particular campus. Also, if you haven't already, see if your school is offering discounts on computers through its bookstore (many do.) Many schools have preselected a few machines and bundled add-ons such as printers and software. This usually is done at significant disocunt and also affords you the advantage of their expertise. My son ended up with a very nice Dell, including 4 year warrantee and 4year accidental damage protection for $1469. Good luck at school- Clara
It might depend on your major
by bbtroo - 8/9/08 9:27 PM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
You might find out if there is any specialized software you will need for your major. Specialized applications (music composition software, say), may only run on one kind of platform. If you have no special needs, either will work for your basic purposes. I think the Mac is fairly easy to learn so that should not be a consideration, and even the cheapest of them are plenty fast for most people. If you are a game player don't get a Mac, otherwise they are great. Macs are more expensive but you should be careful to compare all features; you shouldn't have to buy any other software unless you really want Word. Look for modest discounts on the hardware at the local student store to help you meet your budget!
Mac vs Pc. The Switch.
by cam man 14 - 8/9/08 10:50 PM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello Wendee,
First off I want to say hi and point something out. I am a 17 year old guy in high school, that and I'm typing all of this up on a macbook. I may be a geek but except for one of my friends I hang out with all non geeks. I got my mac about 3 months ago and so far even though I may be more familiar with computers i have found mac to be the easiest switch I have ever made. For me I have found that even though macs at first glance cost more in the end they will cost a lot less. let me explain.
The mac that I would suggest and the mac that I own costs $1,299
A Dell XPS M1330 (almost the exact windows "equal") costs $1,399
WAIT!? What is this the mac costs less?... and we're not even done.
Macs have protection (like anti-virus and stuff like that) built into the core of the system.
Windows... well we can't exactly call what vista does protection. Its real name is a pain... but we wont get into that now. At any rate this is for college. You need to be protected, take an off the shelf anti-virus (to keep it simple we're average it out to $50 a year) then wait you want to make music for that music class of yours? lets be nice and go on the cheap end and just say $75 for that software. You take a video class and you need to edit HD video... again cheap software $75... OH NO! Your files got erased because your room mate borrowed your laptop with out telling you. $100 for data recovery at a local computer store. let me explain why the mac still only costs $1,299. GarageBand. Just one of the many awesome programs in iLife '08 that comes preloaded in ALL macs. This software literally means that after my 3 year old niece washes her hands she can put Mozart to shame. Then comes iMovie. This HD video software is so simple yet so advance that you can use it for a simple (HD 1080p) home movie or your final movie for that video class of yours. There is also iDVD for making professional looking DVD menus and discs. This software is so simple you can have your movie edited and burned in less than half an hour. Lastly but may be the most important of all of them is Time Machine. This graphics filled back up software is easy to use and after you set it up it does it all by its self. Travel through the past of your computer to find the file you need.
So lets add it all up.
The mac costs $1,299... Still
The Dell for the first year will cost $1,599 (and add $50 for every year afterwards
Well there we go with the costs alone. The mac won there. Now that it might be a yes lets look at this mac.
First thing, you start it up (very fast, 2 to 3 times faster start up time when I've checked) type in your password if you have one (i would suggest it). Now you want to surf the web. Click on the compass. Ok now two things really happened. Safari started to run in the background and a window opened for you to start surfing. When your done you close out of the window but Safari is still running. Some call this bad but in reality its a very good thing. Now when you click on the icon its instant for the window to pop up, and since the computer is already so fast it can handle a few things running. You do have to be careful though that you don't leave to many things running because it may start to slow it down a little until you close out of them. To do that you can right click (on the track pad you can turn on two finger right click) or its control + click to right click on the icon on the dock and close out of the program. Other than that nothing is really that different but you can alway ask a mac-geek at the apple store to help you out. I would like to point out that when ever one of my friends use my laptop even all windows users they never have any problems with it or ever have to ask for any help using it. Just something to keep in mind. Macs are very people friendly. And they are very powerful machines. The Macbook Pro for the longest time was the fastest VISTA running laptop. then they made a pc laptop for like twice as much that was just a little bit faster. Oh ya. macs can run windows too. I currently run XP Pro SP2 on here as well (for games) so that means that you can still use all your old software if for some reason they don't have that exact same tax software you love so much.
I hope that what ever you choose you are happy with your laptop. And rule one, respect any laptop, no eating at it and buy it a good case for it.
Enjoy. I hope I helped a little. If you need anymore help or if anyone has a tech question windows or mac feel free to email me at my work email.
martinstechsolutions@gmail.com
-martin
Mac vs. PC for the average college student
by kellerkyle - 8/9/08 11:30 PM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I must start off to say that I am only in the 10 grade in High School at the moment, not a university, but I have a Dell XPS M1530, and my sister has a MacBook Pro; so I can give a little insight to this decision.
First off, you wont be able to purchase a MacBook Pro with the average price range of $2000, or the XPS M1530 (unless you order it with stripped down features, it cost me $2200 including tax) the PC is generally a more for your money kind of deal - especially in the $1500 range. This also includes the fact that Apple, Inc. doesn't sponsor deals in any of their stores or online on their computers so you're stuck with their retail price and their retail price only.
The entire MacBook line is generally more portable than the PC laptop line, but comes at the price of power - and the Macintosh operating system. By this I'm not saying that Windows is any better, especially considering the current civil war raging in the PC world against XP and Vista; but with the PC you can install Windows XP, Windows Vista, Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, and the whole 9 yards.
With features, the average PC contains an entire reservoir of them while Apple Inc. only gives their Macintosh line hardly a puddle. What I mean by this is quite simply, take a look at the Dell XPS M1330 (the "sister laptop" to my XPS M1530). It contains an entire strip of touch sensitive controls, a greatly sized track-pad with both vertical and horizontal dedicated scrolling bars built in, Dell Media Direct which can be booted into to view presentations, DVD's, videos, pictures, y muy mas (and much more) so that you don't have to boot into Windows which can be very battery consuming. The MacBook and MacBook Pro are as generic as laptops get with these types of features. Dell also includes an S-Video out and HDMI out for high definition TV hook-ups. With the MacBook, you are also stuck to a 160GB hard drive, where you can get up to 360GB easily and cheaply with a PC.
Now for software. As far as Windows vs. Mac OS X, here is where the battle gets a little interesting. Mac OS X has no viruses, however spyware can still be a threat. Network set-up in Mac is a Pain especially if you are trying to set one up between Mac and PC. Considering Mac holds less than 8% of the market, you better hope that if you need to set one up, the other computer is a Mac. Remote Desktop (from what I understand is for some reason a necessity in college) doesn't properly work between PC and Mac - so, once again, unless all of your friends and professors have a Mac, and you buy one, don't expect to have this feature up and running any time soon.
Apple does indeed have the benefit of installing Windows OS onto it (32-bit versions anyway) under VMware server or workstation; or of course Leopard's new feature BootCamp. A PC can run Mac OS X (illegally, though) through Iatkos or Kallyway.
Oh and by the way, don't listen to Apple's whole 300+ new features BS. If you are listening to that, it shouldn't change any debate between the PC and Mac. You see, the main new features include Spaces, Time Machine, and BootCamp. First of all, BootCamp is immune to this argument since it is a feature for the Microsoft Windows OS. Next we have Time Machine. Wait a minute. Does Windows not have a backup and restore system? Oh wait - yes, and it's even better than Mac's as it can back and restore your entire operating system unlike Time Machine. Lastly, we have Spaces. Has no one heard of the Vista Desktop Manager? Anybody? Are you kidding.
As seen above, those 300- - - features only apply to previous versions of Macintosh, which were so un-advanced they hadn't included these simple features yet. Unlike the PC, which had all of these features in Vista, XP, and 2000. "Apple" give me a break. Period.
So all in all, the PC looks like it wins this prestigious battle. If you were considering Mac because of Vista's flaws, don't. Vista may contain a few errors, but unless you want a broken window from throwing your mac out through it, save the pain and suffering, and stick with PC.
By: Kyle Keller (win2go.blogspot.com)
MacBook or PC laptop for college -May be neither . . .
by papgas - 8/10/08 3:06 AM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
FACTS:
- Ready to start college in a couple of months.
- MacBook versus PC laptop it's an age-old question.
- It is not a fight over Mac versus PC and how one is better than another.
-Both laptops will do pretty much the same, music download, word processing, spreadsheets, digital photos, Internet and e-mailing.
- Own a PC desktop at home.
- They do offer great incentive on campus to buy an Apple MacBook.
-Have a limit of $1,500 and no more than that.
QUESTIONS:
- What will be best for me while I'm in school?
- Is there a huge learning curve switching from a PC to Mac?
- Pros and cons for each (PC laptop – MacBook)?
- What makes them different?
- Does Mac work out better for college--because maybe more students use them?
MY ANSWERS – SUGGESTIONS:
Best will be what will serve you better. Judging from my two sons that are now studding at the university, only the elder needed a new powerful PC for running his operational research and analysis algorithms and SW. Just find out what will be your work and needs for your college period.
Based on your needs at college check if your desktop PC can do the job and also, if a usb stick is enough to transfer files from other students' laptops. If your college has a computer room for students you can do your “home-work” there.
If that is the case, buy a usb stick and save your money for other needs.
No, there is no huge learning curve switching from a PC to Mac. Learning is always fast and easy for youngsters.
Pros and cons (pro et contra) for each (PC laptop – MacBook) and what makes them different, is out of the scope of your query.
Coming to your last question, it is impossible to provide you with an answer-suggestion on whatever is best. It is a matter of an in-depth analysis in its whole entity of the college community's profile you are going to study with.
As for the money issue, my suggestion is to stick to the cheapest solution that works for you and avoid any prothesis to “show-off”. After all, a new Laptop will be obsolete by the time you finish with your college.
My apologies for been generic but such queries have to be examined as per case so as specific answers – suggestions to be made.
Mac vs. PC - The eternal Struggle
by mrledbet - 8/10/08 5:14 AM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Let me start off by saying you have a tought dilemma here. As a user of Mac and PC, a recent College Grad and someone who doesn't have a horse in the fight between the two, I've thought about the same issue you are now.
Here are some simple decision-making points to help you decide
1) with your cost point, you will get a pretty barebones Mac, with a good warranty. with any new laptop, you want to get ms much warranty as you can afford. I've dropped my HP down the steps, and with the completecare warranty, they came an replaced my screen, no sweat.
2) in reference to number 1, you can get a PC a lot cheaper, but there are a lot of options available on a PC that aren't on a mac, so they can be made cheaper. if you build a PC with similar hardware as a mac, you'll see a 10-20% savings on the hardware.
3) what degree program are you going into? many schools have software relevant to the degree program you are entering. many of these only run on a PC or a MAC, and you'll want to take that into account. some of the software packages i needed ran only in UNIX, and i had to use computer labs on campus.
4) in reference to number 3, all modern macbooks can be made to run windows, using a bootloader software. the added cost of buying a copy of windows would have to be taken into account if you went this route, but you've got the best of both worlds.
5) what are you using this laptop for? with the ultra portable revolution, you can get a great laptop for internet, doc processing amd music playing for 500 or less. the MSI wind and the much talked about eePC are both options for simple day-to-day computer uses, and are less then 500 bucks. if you want an all purpose computer, you can get an HP or a Dell for about 1000, plus the warranty cost, and be able to do most day to day computer needs, and a mac will cost you 1100 for their most basic offering (macbook with 13" screen)
All in all, its a personal decision, and what you want is what you want. I personally like the HP laptops, and have been using one for work for over a year. it runs all my software, including the Adobe Suite, Office and all my industry specific programs. i'd prefer an extra GB of RAM, but its a corporate laptop, and you get what they pay for. extra RAM is always cheap, and my config would still be under 1200 bucks.
I hope this helps, and only starts the decision-makign process for buying a new computer. the only concern i have is you make sure you buy a warranty, exp if you are clumsy like me. the cost a new screen nearly equals a new laptop, and repair costs for laptops are considerably more than desktops.
Matthew L.
Go Mac
by mholly600 - 8/10/08 5:27 AM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Wendee,
I have been a pc consultant for over 15 years. I have seen PC's go from simple DOS, single program at a time machines to the now horrible over rated multi user, multi program multi problem anchors. If you were to find a older XP machine I would recommend it based on usability and price but this new vista machines are so problematic I would suggest if you can afford it buy a MAC. I actually suggest it to all my clients who know nothing about computers because they are simply more reliable. This is kind of shooting myself in the foot but Microsoft really dropped the ball on this version.
MacBook or PC Laptop for college
by richlove--2008 - 8/10/08 6:41 AM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
1. If I get a MacBook now, is there a huge learning curve switching from a PC to Mac?
It's not a huge learning curve. You will find the Mac interface very intuitive and pleasant to use.
Apple has helpful tutorials for people who are switching from PC to Mac. http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/switcher/
2. What makes them different? Pros and cons for each?
This is really a difficult question to answer. I have been using Macs and PC's for 22 years.
The first thing that I would say is that the Mac is much less frustrating to use. Most things work as you would expect them to work. Viruses and spyware are not a problem on the Mac. Music, Video and Photography enthusiasts will appreciate the great applications that are on the Mac. Safari is a very good, fast web browser. The Mail application is a very good IMAP and Pop mail program.
It is possible that you may need to run a program that will only work with Microsoft Windows. Some web sites only work correctly with Internet Explorer on a PC (don't get me started on that one). In that case, you would use a program like Parallels which allows you to run PC programs on a Mac. This gives you a window on your Mac that looks like a PC with the Start Menu you are familiar with.
When you see how stable, intuitive and pleasant the Mac interface is to use, you will want to run everything using Mac OS X and only run programs under Microsoft Windows when you must.
3. Does Mac work out better for college--because maybe more students use them?
That depends on the college you are attending. Some colleges use PC's more than Macs and vice versa.
The fact that you can run Microsoft Windows programs on a Mac really makes the question irrelevant.
If you want to use a Mac, that is your choice (and a wise choice, I must say).
Rich
Get both - the MacBook can run Windows too
by technewsjunkie - 8/10/08 9:12 AM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you buy an inexpensive program called Parallels ( http://www.parallels.com/en ) , you can run the full Windows Operating system, simultaneously with the Mac!. You can even run Windows programs without even being on Windows desktop!
You get two for one. You can keep any Windows apps you have already (protect your investment) and run them whenever you need them. If your college supports Macs (most do) then you will be supported on both sides as well.
Macbook vs PC laptop
by foxxy787 - 8/10/08 9:13 AM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
In my opinion, and I have both a PC laptop and desktop at home, I think it may be a good idea to go with the MAC. The learning curve isn't horrible, plus there are programs you can use that would allow you to transfer stuff from your pc to the mac if needed. The reason I would suggest the MAC is that it's better to tackle that learning curve now, when you aren't working. And it's always nice to be that one person at your job that knows how to use a MAC and a PC. It will give you an edge over others. Another way to decide what you should get is what you want to major in. If you are majoring in art or marketing or design, a mac would be more conducive that. Most marketing or advertising agencies are primarily MAC.
Hope this helps!
Like My Collegiate Son and Daughter Always Say - It Depends
by HomelessClarence - 8/10/08 9:37 AM In reply to: MacBook or PC laptop for college? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
OK Wendee, as a parent of 2 (yes, 2), college students, I've seen your (and my) plight of the choice of Laptop.
Here we go;
My son is a 4th year Engineering student in SoCal. His computing needs are quite heavy... BUT NOT AT HIS APARTMENT! Believe it or not, the resident programs he uses outside of school are not very exotic and run on both Mac and PC (Office applications, iTunes, various 3D modeling, of course Skype (to his mom), Twitter, various photo modeling, etc). BUT the fact that he uses UNIX and Linux at various times (as well as XP Professional and yes, OSX for some presentation software called AVID HD) has us using a MacBook so he can multi-boot to Unix, Windows XP Pro or OSX (or even run these in emulation all at the same time). He runs Linux from CD. So you see, for our son, it's the choice of the OS that he needs to run that had us choose the Mac and not necessarily the Application (in one way or another, All or Most of the popular Apps will run on Windows XP...not to fret if you choose a Windows machine). THE REAL GNARLY ENGINEERING COMPUTING PROGRAMS THAT COST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND REQUIRE THE EXOTIC AND EXPENSIVE LICENSES ARE RUN ON UNIVERSITY DESKTOPS AND MAINFRAMES (thank goodness). BTW, he or his friends can fix ANYTHING on their computers.
My daughter is a 2nd year Business student in SoCal. Obviously, she runs most of the Social Applications that college students use (Twitter, Skype (again, to Mom), etc), BUT the modern business office environment is heavily dependent on IBM, Java, and Microsoft Applications. I preface our choice here by saying, she and her friends can fix ANYTHING on their computers as well...I guess college students do that). We chose a Mac but could have easily chose a Win laptop. She runs Linux from a CD, she runs Unix under OSX (but she used to run it in emulation on Windows XP Pro) BUT SHE USES MICROSOFT OFFICE LIKE A SECOND LANGUAGE! So we chose a Mac because it's "SO COOL" (and you get a 16G iPod Touch and a cheap Printer to use as a backup if you buy it through the University). So like they always tell me, it depends...
Tell Dad not to freak out, ANYTHING will work at first. After 1 or 2 years, you WILL TELL DAD WHAT YOU NEED AND WANT (unless he's one of your Instructors at the University, or if he's Stephen Jobs speaking at one of my daughter's classes at USC).
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
