Community Newsletter: Q&A forum: MacBook or PC laptop for college?

Your decision is ultimately situational, as there may be requirements specific to your particular school or course of study. Barring that, or the opportunity to get a super deal on a Mac through your school, I'd go with the PC. Most of the arguments in favor of a Mac are holdovers from the bad old days of Windows OS and the good old days of Mac hardware. They have little to no relevance to the current environment. There are some things I like about the Mac OS. It really is an elegant and simple interface. It is better protected from damage by user error (although recent changes to Windows make this less true). It requires less maintenance (although maintenance of Windows has become much easier due to packaged and available utilities, many of which are free). But a properly maintained Windows system on reasonably good hardware should be at least as trouble free as a Mac at significantly less cost. And you should figure the cost of AppleCare into the basic cost of owning a Mac, since without it you will have only 90 days of free technical support (1 year for a PC from a major manufacturer). There is also a much higher rate of satisfaction among AppleCare customers than among those relying on Apple's basic one year warranty. It reflects the company's priorities.

Some of the myths in favor of Macs have been faithfully recited in this forum:

"Macs are better quality"
Maybe true 10 years ago, but definitely not today. Apple used to use a lot of custom ordered parts made to high quality control specifications. Not true anymore. Now it's basically the same stuff you'll find in any PC with the exception of the logic board (mother board). There is nothing special about the Mac logic boards, in fact, if you check the Mac forums you will find a lot of discussion about logic board related problems. And replacing the logic board on a Mac is much more expensive than replacing the mother board on a PC. According to Consumer's Union, there is about a 23% chance in 5 years of a failure requiring major repair on a Mac notebook, which is (marginally) higher than the rates for PC notebooks from Lenovo, Compaq, Sony, Toshiba, and such. And the costs of repairs are usually higher for Macs.

"Macs are more stable, they crash less."
Another dated argument. To be sure, Microsoft has in the past put out some horrifically unstable OSs, but that has nothing to do with any Windows system you would get today. Windows can become unstable and slow if basic maintenance is neglected or if incompatible software or drivers are installed. Those situations are easily avoidable with prudent care. I've been running Windows XP without a single system crash since 2003. I've experienced more than a few system freezes and shutdowns using Mac OS X.

"Macs are more secure.You'll have to spend $100 a year on security software with a PC."
For starters, many people have been reporting good results (zero virus/spyware penetrations) with free antivirus and antispyware programs such as Avast and AVG, and free firewall software. I believe my last encounter with malware was in 2004. There is nothing inherently more secure about the Mac OS, in fact it has been shown to be relatively easy to crack - IF someone chooses to target it. Application software is now the preferred target of malware writers. Three of the least secure softwares on a PC are -guess what!- iTunes, Safari, and Quicktime (Apple products). But whatever system you're using, the most important element to your security is your own awareness as a user.

"Vista sucks. It's slow."
Nonsense from people who don't use Vista but find it fashionable to bash it anyway. It's a very stable system with excellent onboard help, the easiest version of Windows to maintain, very good built-in security, and some nice improvements over the XP interface. It's as fast as any OS out there if the minimum system requirements are met. In the early days of Vista, it was installed on some inadequate hardware and some of the upgrade installs were poorly implemented, which gave people headaches. These days, you can get a notebook computer with more than enough power to run Vista for well under $1000. Vista has worked justs about flawlessly for me for well over a year now.

"Macs are the only choice for graphics and video."
Until recently, I would have agreed with this one. XP and previous versions of Windows had a relatively primitive graphics rendering engine and lower color fidelity. That situation has changed with the advent of Vista. Vista includes vastly improved tools for managing photographs. Apple's iLife media software really isn't that different than what is bundled with Windows. If you're serious you'll want to invest in some other media software in either case. And with the money you saved buying a PC instead of a Mac and AppleCare you could do it and stay within your budget.

I think you should get a MacBook.
I myself have a MacBook and I am an entering freshmen in college this fall (a few days).

This MacBook is the first Apple anything I have ever had (not even an iPod), and after years of Windows use and insane problems with it, including crashes, incompatibilities and worst of all viruses (the worst being Virtumonde!), I just got sick of it and my friend introduced me to his iMac and I fell in love with it.

The first thing that makes the MacBook better than the Windows based laptops is that you don't need to spend much time or money on software. The only thing you have to buy as a student would be iWork, the "equivalent" to MS Office. I used quotes because iWork is A LOT better software-wise and cost-wise. iWork is $79 and MS Office is $110. iWork is so much easier to use and will NEVER (99.9% of the time) give you compatibility problems when going cross platform. For instance Pages (vs. MS Word) uses the filetype .pages and can also be saved EASILY as .doc, .docx, and .pdf and of course .txt and .rtf, but the thing is it can also OPEN .doc and .docx which are MS Word files and edit them.
I wonder why Pages can open Word files but Word can't open Pages files...
Same thing with Numbers (vs Excel) and Keynote (vs Powerpoint)
Easier to use and very flexible compatibility.

Also, I have had my MacBook for about 5 months and I have never installed any antivirus or security software and I have never had a single problem, and I have been surfing the net, downloading, etc. With Windows it is like a MUST to have some sort of software that protects you and you are never at peace of mind because it will always be detecting something and getting rid of it and you keep haveing to update it and what not. BLAH! Just a mess.

Which brings me to my next point, updating. Updating with a Mac is SO easy. If not once a week, twice a month, I'm prompted to update, simple one or two clicks and the updater runs in the background, nothing to worry about, and only on major updates will it ask you to restart, but I'm always excited when my MacBook updates i noticed once it opened certain programs faster, added more features to iTunes and things like that.

When it comes to things like backing up your data, Apple wins HANDS DOWN. With Time Machine, all you need is an external hardrive or partition your internal hardrive, which on Apple is an easy as π! Partitioning on Windows can be a nightmare, Apple makes it literally as simple as dragging a slider with your mouse, but I digress. Time machine automatically makes backups for your files every hour for 24 hours, then daily backups for a month and then weekly backups until the drive is full and it automatically "pushes off" the old data, which still hasnt happened to me yet, I partitioned a 250GB external HD (SO EASILY) to have 100GB for the backup and it is about half way full after 5 months because it only makes backups to files that were changed, AMAZING! Time Machine is the ULTIMATE backup solution.

There is just so much about the MacBook that you need to experience for yourself, widgets, spotlight, spaces, all the built-in Apple software like iPhoto, iTunes and iMovie, the dock, stacks, EVERYTHING to make your computing easier and even FUN!

The cost for a MacBook is about $1200 with the iWork software, but as a student you get a $50 discount or a free printer or iPod with mail in rebate. It is a very good investment, I have never had a single crash and only a couple errors which were absolutely no big deal.

Learning to use a MacBook is very easy, only a few tricky things like screenshots (shift+command+3) and right clicking (two-finger tap EASY, but a mouse clears that up anyway all Macs come with built-in bluetooth)

I would suggest you visit an Apple store and ask to play around with a MacBook and you will see how much you'll love it!

Hope I helped!

-Eric

First, what will you do? If it's term papers, a few spreadsheets, and a Powerpoint or two, then a rock-bottom (but name brand) PC will probably be fine. If it's visual/graphic arts, then you're going to have to get a Mac. If it's engineering or maths or business, then you need to do some legwork. If all else is even, and a lot of music or video and conferencing/messaging with family and friends is important, the Apple really outshines PCs.

First, don't let anybody tell you one is more expensive than the other. It all depends on what you need. Sometimes a PC is more, sometimes the Mac is. When I went back to grad school, the first thing I did was ask what type of software I would need for my curriculum. Then I asked the publisher what specifications they recommend (not minimum, but recommended) for their program. Based on that, plus a few personal requirements/desires, I priced out notebooks, and bought what I thought was the best value.

My course was higher maths, statistics, and business, so of course I bought... a Mac? Yes, a PowerBook. It ran all the software I needed locally, and with the free remote desktop client, I actually ran server-based Windows software faster(!) than the best workstations in the library. It really shined when I used simulation software and databases. FileMaker showed Access is a toy, not a real database manager. A 40 minute sort on Access took 15 seconds in FileMaker - that's not a typo: 40 minutes vs. 15 seconds. When my analysis topped 100,000 records I knew that the Mac had paid for itself in time saved. It was also faster than the network SQL server.

Another consideration is expected useful life. If you're going to run it into the ground, look to see expected life cycles. A machine that's dead in 3 years or less will actually cost you double. If you expect to upgrade in two years look at ebay resale values. It blows my mind to see my nearly 5 year old PowerBook is worth $700 today. A first gen MacBook starts at 600 bucks, so if you bought that two years ago it would have cost a net $400! That's even cheaper than a bargain basement PC that'll be lucky to last 2 years. So if upgrading is part of your plan, you won't do better than a Mac.

To boil it down, figure out what you're going to do. Find out how you'll need to do it (i.e. software). Ask the publisher what you need. Put it all together and come up with the formula. Build and compare. Don't kill yourself if you don't like your decision - you can probably afford to replace it in two years - and may need to after you change your major. As many of us do.

I ran a PC network for more than 10 years, and I've never regretted getting my Mac.

Hello Wendee,

I have read quit a few of the posts here, and they all seem pretty spot on. I just wanted to clear up a few points from rickdeet's post:

1) This tab key function is easily fixed. There is a check box in System Preferences that lets you set that function as the default.

2) This is true, but that's what Leopard's Spaces is for.

4) On Apple wireless keyboards and laptop keyboards, holding Command and hitting either the right or left arrow key serves the same function as home and end. If you hold Option instead, the cursor will jump to the beginning or end of each word.

I point these things out because they are common misconceptions about Macs and Mac OS X, along with the "no software" myth and "right-clicking". The fact is that I have more FREE software running on my Mac than I ever had in Windows, and it is all of higher quality. Don't let people fool you. I am an IT student. I have never had any problems with compatibility or software. I run Windows with Parallels, but I only open up my Windows virtual machine two or three times a month. MS Office for Mac is cheap (student edition), or you could go with NeoOffice, which is FREE.

As far a price, keep in mind that you get what you pay for. When you see that price tag on the MacBook, remember that a comparable PC will be just as much, if not more. Macs are high-end machines, and Mac OS X is a superior operating system.

One last note about switching: My 58 year old dad just switched to Mac (at my insistence). He used PCs for nearly 30 years. He bought Parallels so he could run Windows on his Mac. His idea was, he just wanted a reliable machine, he didn't really want to switch to Mac OS X. Less than a month later he told me he didn't like having to use Windows, Mac OS X is just so much easier.

With the Apple Education Discount, you can get a good MacBook for under $1500. Do it.

Hi Wendee-
My 'background' before giving advice...I'm a senior at the U of A and also worked 3 years for the largest Community College District in the country. I've taken classes in 3 counties and 2 State schools. I currently do web and graphic design and double as a PA (personal assistant) while in school. My work station is a MacPro with dual 30" cinema displays. I use my boss' MacBook and Imac on a regular basis. I own 2 quadcore PC desktops, a 17" Sony Vaio, and Gateway PC Tablet.

Your first 2 years in college, unless you're attending a vocational or specialty school, will have little to do with your major or career. Most of your classes/focus will be about the same anywhere you go- English, Math, History, Humanities, Science, Social Sciences, etc... All of these classes require note taking, tests, and the dreaded '20 page final papers'. By your Junior and Senior years, you'll probably upgrade to a newer laptop at which time you'll have a reference point to define your needs/wants in a computer.

If I could take all of the computer experience and go back to my Freshman year, I'd still pick a PC Tablet.

1. You can write or type your notes directly on the computer. With Microsoft OneNote, you can highlight, color, and draw diagrams with a single pen, take snapshots of your instructor's PowerPoint slides, search your notes...-- Imagine studying for a test and rather than flipping through 50 pages of notes, you only have to type in a keyword and everything you've written/typed on that subject is automatically pulled up.

2. It really is a PC world. Several of the classes I've taken required PC-access. The software for our Business Math classes is only compatible with PC. (even Mac Office 08 users ran into snags). Virtual PC and Bootcamp are not that great. Your professors will most likely post their lectures and study guides in PowerPoint and Word. The lines to use the computer labs in most schools are ridiculously long- especially around midterm and finals week. (Envision 40,000 of your closest friends needing to write papers or study for an exam...and 30,000 only have the school computer labs to rely on)

3. I really really wanted a Mac, because they looked so cool and the OS seemed way better.... but now I can honestly say that I dislike Mac. I would much rather use Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign on a PC. Microsoft Office for Mac is a nightmare...and really a horrendous attempt at bringing Office to Mac users. I don't notice any less crashes or hangs on the Mac...I always run into formatting and font issues when I start a document on a PC and continue it on a Mac in the same program (and vice versa). By the time you load your Mac with all the software you need for school (even with a student discount)- you could've bought both a PC and Mac for the same amount of money. There's no compelling reason to get a Mac for college. The only thing, in my opinion, that Mac beats PC in, is its ability to use 32GB of Ram for film editing...but even then- if you can afford to dish out $8,000 for a setup like that, then you can afford to own both PC and Mac.

3. As much as Gateway sucks in quality, their tablets are the absolute best on the market for the money. The screens are made by Waacom, the leaders in the touchscreen industry. They offer a 14" tablet screen which is 2" bigger than any other brand. They start as low as $750- and most likely your school has a contract with Gateway so that you can service your computer for free on campus and are covered in the event of damage or theft. If you get a tablet, you won't regret it. (forgot to mention that the screen swivels 360 degrees so you can show your study mates your screen without passing around the computer).

4. Some college 'must haves', for either PC or Mac, that you'll really really want to consider for the sake of your eyesight (and sanity):
a. an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Working on a tiny computer is fine in class, on the go, or for group work...but there are going to be nights where you are on the computer for 8 hours at a shot-- and you don't want to spend 8 hours hunched over a laptop while you squint to see the screen and strain your wrist using a touchpad mouse. An ideal screen would be 22" and up, but 19" is a modest size that works too.-- You can also use your LCD monitor as a DVD player/tv which saves space and justifies the extra cost. If you're a fast typist, then you might notice a lag in wireless keyboards and mice. A good wired option would be a backlit keyboard- If you have a roomate, they'll appreciate you being able to work with the lights out.

b. Microsoft Student 2008. For citing papers, a lot of professors don't permit Wikipedia as a source-- so Encarta is a great alternative that has pictures, interactive maps, and video clips. The graphing calculator is awesome and way better than using the TI-84 with it's outdate black and grey screen. There's a translator for English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German (will help you on your foreign language classes)

c. Microsoft OneNote. It's a great way to save your notes from every class. I used to use Word for note taking, and found myself with 5,000 documents a semester. OneNote keeps it all organized, indexed, and automatically saves as you go- so you'll never lose your info. You can record the lectures as you go, and each recording is filed with the date and time you took it.

d. an extended battery. Most classrooms have electrical outlets available to students, but it's comforting to know that your computer has 6 hours of batter power vs. 2-3 hrs in a regular battery.

e. good pair of headphones. Just throw your iTunes library on the new laptop, and you can tune out your surroundings while you work.

f. a B&W laser printer ($70) and high quality laser paper. A lot of teachers will require your papers, reports, and presentations to be submitted in Laser quality. I've even known professors to knock off points for Inkjet or thin copy paper. If you run into this requirement, having the ability to print your work at home is way better than standing in line at Kinkos or the school computer labs at 3am.

g. an external hard drive. You'll have a stroke if your computer crashes and all of your files aren't backed up. Best to make life easy and backup your files once a week or so.

Getting a Tablet PC and the above-mentioned items will keep you within your $1,500 budget. One last piece of advice, regardless of the computer you pick-- do NOT go for the cheapest thing you find. Get a Core 2 Duo, and at least 2GB of RAM. While you're at it, you might as well get a built-in mic, webcam, and dvd burner. If you go with something cheap like a Celeron with 1gb of RAM- you'll waste a lot of precious time waiting for your computer to catch up to you and the machine will be worthless when you try to sell it later on.

For cheap and good hardware, get the Ubuntu version of the Dell XPS M1330.

It is a very secure and beautiful OS loaded with great software, like Open Office, which is just like MS Office, but you pay nothing for it (it's open source).

For $999, you get the following:

Intel Core 2 Duo T5850
4GB ram
320GB hdd
13.3" screen w/webcam
choice of Intel graphics (Intel GMA 3100) or Nvidia graphics (8400M GS for an extra $100) cards
High Def audio
DVD/CD Burner
Ubuntu 8.04 with Open Office, Firefox Web Browser, disc burning utilities, etc.

And if you have an iPod, get Amarok, it can transfer songs to and from the iPod of your choice, plus it looks and works great (I use it withmy iPod touch).

You can't get a MacBook with those specs at that price.

If $999 is too much, check into getting the Ubuntu version of the Inspiron 1525N at $549 or the Studio 15 at $719.

All of these use Ubuntu (see http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs to configure yours how you want it). They are generally cheaper than the Windows based ones, since Ubuntu provides a free software library of over 25,000 programs, plus it is more secure than Windows (no need for antivirus or antispyware programs). I even play my Windows games within Linux as well. Try it, you won't be disappointed (in fact, you can go to www.ubuntu.com, download it, burn it and try it out on your computer with no need to install it on your hard drive, it can run straight from the disk so you can see if you like it or not. And since it is open source, downloading it is perfectly legal.

Let us know if you have any further questions.

Much of the discussion has been about personal preference and ease of use -- clearly Macs have the edge here. But consider where that's going to get you 4 years from now.

Think about the world-class athlete who trains in high elevations, extreme temps, etc. When she competes against other athletes who only trained in very comfortable conditions, who is more likely to come out ahead?

When you enter the job market, unless it's a fairly specialized field, chances are you'll be working on a Windows box. If you can demonstrate that you know your way around Windows (and MS Office) frontwards and backwards, your chances of getting a good job, and advancing quickly once you get it, will increase exponentially. And to have a solid handle on the hardware side doesn't hurt either.

As a small business owner, I've hired maybe a dozen new or recent grads over the last few years, for positions ranging from finance to marketing to sales to design. It's been fairly alarming how low the PC competence level is for many business majors. The ones who can type, spell, write a concise, quality email, and move data around effectively are a rare find. And the thing is, if you work in an office, you need to be able to do all of this. No matter what field your in.

Develop your "inner geek", combined with creative "outside the box" thinking, wrapped up in a great positive attitude, and you'll be writing your own ticket.

As far as a computer goes, if Macs can run Windows, then either will work. They're both just tools. Leave the emotional attachment (ie, falling for marketing hype) to others.

Suggestions:

1. Should be no need to spend more than $800 on a very good laptop. A 1.8g dual-core is plenty. And 2gb of ram.

2. Don't go bigger than a 14.1" screen. Try to keep it to close to 5 lbs or less. Anything more will become too big and bulky. A sub-notebook may be interesting, but only if you can feel comfortable with the screen and keyboard.

3. Spend some of the remaining on a 21-22" monitor (<$300), a nice keyboard, mouse & webcam (<$100), an external hard drive that you will religiously use for backing up EVERYTHING, for when your laptop gets stolen (<$100), and possibly a laser printer (<$100). You'll have a lot more productive setup than you'd get from blowing the entire budget on the laptop itself.

Good Luck!

<<they still throw you that One-Button mouse thing>>

What decade are you living in?

Have you even looked at a Mac lately?

If you are going to provide info, at least provide something accurate.

There is none anymore. If you want a good computer you can choose one with one of these CPUs: SPARC, UltraSPARC, ARM9, ARM10, StrongARM, Coldfire, POWER, PPC, Cell.
If you want a good system, you can choose: FreeBSD, NetBSD, OPenBSD, Plan9, Linux/GNU, RISC OS, Minix3.
Since Apple changed the base CPU, the OS won't be as fast. RISC is different.
Windows: good- lot's of people use it.
Bad: Doesn't recognize partitions but does a horrible job of making a BSD type slice. Non-journaled. SMP support poor. IE still tied into the system. No user control.
Apple: good- open source base.
Bad- no more PPC. Old FreeBSD base is still used. Too much tied up in firmware when the BSD community has most of the drivers.

Unless you yourself are the poster or can read minds, you do not know what he or she understands.

It will always remain a matter of taste, however, many of the arguments used are showing a lack of insight in the issue:

- choosing Mac does not isolate you, neither in terms of applications, nor in terms of data. Apple's own iWork suits suports the familiar Microsoft file formats and a mature version of MS Office is available for the Mac with attractive 'college pricing'. Only for very specific applications, there are advantages to either of the two platforms

- if you compare like wit like, Macs are not more expensive. In several shot outs by computable magazine, the MacBook Pro eve beat all th great name PCs running Windows

- depreciation of a Mac is less than of a PC (check on eBay and other on line sales sites)

- the valid arguments remain 1. the matter of taste and 2. your campus/university IT policies

From my personal perspective you should get a MAC or a PC if you think you fall in any of these six categories:

1. Business - Get a PC (software compatibility issues, better customer support)
2. Wannabe artists/real artists (visual arts/music) - get a Mac (Damned universities, Windows has excellent software)
3. Non-art professions (Most Sciences/Engineering/Architecture) - Get a powerful PC (If you are an Apple fan then get both, if not enough money then stick to PC.)
4. Power users/Technology junkies/Geeks - Get a PC (Linux + huge range of hardware + Next category)
5. Gamers - Get a PC (If you pay for all your games and you don't exactly know what I mean by this then get a PC and a MAC, if not enough money then stick to PC, boot camp is a no-no for gaming.)
6. Average computer user who wants to listen to music, browse the web, play flash games, and send emails - Get a Mac (you may eventually regret it for some reason, possibly software compatibility issues or getting into gaming, the majority will conform though or will simply run boot camp to run common software.)

In my opinion when Macs run most games and popular (top notch) software almost everyone will be able to make the shift, if that ever happens that means Microsoft died and Linux went back to the Dark Ages, or something crazy like Google bought Apple happened.

Conclusion: Both Microsoft (vulnerabilities) and Apple (software/hardware limitations) still have a long way to go, I would say Linux is in a similar position as Apple (software-wise speaking of course, see categories 1,2,3, and 5 LOL.) Computers are not toys and learning how to use them properly can save you a lot of money and time. Just because TV and movies show that is easy to use them doesn't mean it is, this means that you shouldn't go around clicking on every banner that offers you free stuff or being open to what strangers from the Internet may offer you (see malware, trojans, rootkits, and perhaps shock sites haha.) People shouldn't learn how to use computers by trial and error, get educated (In a way, Apple takes advantage of the computer illiterate and they rip 'em off gooood.)

The moral of this article is: Popularity trends should not affect someone's decision when buying a computer and learning how to use computers is g00d.

Happy buying.

Hey Wendee,
Congratulations. I think you'll be surprised to know how many people are wondering the very same question. And so was I. I had almost the same budget. I'm almost half way done in my college. But needed a laptop. All this hypes about mac and different kinds of laptops made me so confused. My major is New Media Technology. So you can tell I'm into designing and love to work with graphics and video. So the first word my friends and others would have for me is Mac. And don't get me wrong, I love Apple products. I own an iPhone and an iPod for a very long time. Yet, I've been a Windows user my entire life. And a pretty advanced one. It was way out-of-the-box thinking for me to go for a Mac. Since I already know everything about PC I did some research about Mac. Went to their "Getting Started" workshops, visited there website every single day, looked for the alternatives for all kinds of software that I use every single day. A lot of my friends own MacBooks. And I didn't find one that wasn't excited about Mac when I asked them to compare Mac with Windows. And that's when Apple started giving away iPod touch and printer with every Mac (and of course a $100 student discount) when you use your student discount to buy a Mac. I felt like I was meant to get it. LOL. But anyway, after a lot of thinking, research, and questions I finally made up my
mind to buy a MacBook. I bought the Black MacBook and very satisfied and happy with my decision. Of course there are pros and cons and it does take a little while to get use to it. But it's fun learning Mac. Trust me. There may be people who loves there hp, lenovo even compaq laptops. But I'll say this, no other laptop could satisfy you more than a MacBook. And you're hearing this from somebody who works, studys, eats (even sometime sleeps) with his computer and has been a PC user forever. And has never used a Macintosh in his lifetime.

Good luck, for your laptop and for your education. College IS hard work.

When over 90% of the world is using PC, why would you want a MAC. Mac's are better, maybe, but so was the 'Beta' version of tape, need I say more.

first off, it's convenient and specious that you'd compare Mac to BMW.

secondly, you pit BMW against the whole world's car industry, as if it's a specialized kind of vehicle and that Windows encompasses Ford, Toyota, Nissan, GM... BMW is a car just like all other cars brands. It might be above averagely made, but its "operating system" is the same.