Hi forum! I will be attending college in the fall and I am starting to look at laptops to buy. I have been looking through this site lately and I've noticed a lot of positive and negative reviews. My main question is what laptop you think would be best for me. I am going to be using my computer mostly for music, word processing, spreadsheet, powerpoint. I know that all of this is compatible with the mac. I have been a PC man for all of my time and I have had my dell desktop for 4 years with absolutely no problems. I was drawn to the mac because of their rockin design (blackbook or 15" MBP is what I'm looking at) versus the ugly Dell laptops with the buggy noncompatible Window's Vista. My main question is what should I get? Mac or PC?
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College Student
- Thread starter dcail07
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but will the mac be an easy switch since I've never used anything other than windows? Will the mac be compatible for Microsoft Office? And I love the blackbook but I think the backlight keyboard is a neccesity for those late night papers in the dark dorm room. Correct?
I think that the main advantage of Mac laptops, especially for students, is their design...they are very portable. The MacBook especially, but also the 15" MBP are much thinner, lighter, and more portable than similar PC laptops. The thinness is especially noticeable. I've seen some newish 15" PC laptops that are just beasts; they're a good 2" thick with the screen up. The thinness of Mac laptops makes them very easy to carry around, which is the whole point of a laptop. I don't know how some people lug around their PC monster laptops.
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yes, the Mac version of Office is fully compatible with PC versions of Office..you can go back and forth between systems on documents and they will be fine.
Office will run fine once Office 2007-2008 arrives. But for now Office 2004 still runs fine under Rosetta if you have enough RAM.
Macs are just so easy to use, no viruses, and Keynote knocks seven shades of s**t out of Powerpoint. OSX just gets out of the way and lets you do your thing, and there's plenty of well written software that is really helpful for students. There may be less volume of Mac software, but it all tends to work better together. Another little bonus I discovered is that if you have access to any usb printers virtually anywhere, simply pop in a cable, and hey presto, you can print - no need to find drivers ot anything. That's very useful when you're working on a project that needs to be in an hour ago 
A Macbook would be best for you. it has longer batter life, is more rugged than the MBP (I know, I dented my PowerBook when I had one), smaller and easier to bring about college, and cheaper which leaves more money for booze. Save getting a pro machine until you actually need it.
A Macbook would be best for you. it has longer batter life, is more rugged than the MBP (I know, I dented my PowerBook when I had one), smaller and easier to bring about college, and cheaper which leaves more money for booze. Save getting a pro machine until you actually need it.
No...the dorm living room is a necessity for those late night papers...otherwise your roommate will hate you. Also, if you have to type in the dark (say, taking notes during a presentation when the nights are down), you'll be ok if you know how to type and don't have to use a lot of symbols while you type.
That and the screen usually lights the keyboard well enough to see it. I don't see the backlight as necessary unless you have bad eyes or something. I have a MBP and rarely use the backlit keybaord, even in the dark. I would rather save whatever extra battery life it uses up. Although it does very much impress the people around you...
Hey you could run Parallels with xp until you get use to OSX. You have better battery life than comparable laptops so Mac is definitly a better choice.
This site is also very basis, so yeah get a blackbook
This site is also very basis, so yeah get a blackbook
I am going to college in the fall as well, so first off, where are you going? Just wondering. Anyways I purchased my first Mac about 5 months ago, ad 6 months ago I didn't even know what OS X was. Let me tell you the transition into OS X from Windows is seamless. The way OS X is made it just seems to anticipate your every move. I find it hard now to go to school and have to use the Windows computers. So there really shouldn't be a huge learning curve. I would suggest however you buy the MB a month before you go to school and use it alot so you get used to the OS. Hope this helps your decision.
I think it takes less than a week to get to know Mac OS X from scratch.
Many of the basics you'll know within the first hour. Many more you'll discover in the next few hours just by playing, not by reading manuals. Often the OS will surprise you by doing exactly what you were hoping and thinking. And if you get stuck, rely on this friendly community or simply click Help.
No worries.
Many of the basics you'll know within the first hour. Many more you'll discover in the next few hours just by playing, not by reading manuals. Often the OS will surprise you by doing exactly what you were hoping and thinking. And if you get stuck, rely on this friendly community or simply click Help.
No worries.
Its not a question of the Mac; its more a question which one MacBook or MacBook Pro. But thats another thread.
The lighted keyboard is a help in darkened places; its better than adjusting display to light the keys. You can always turn the keyboard light off, or dim your display if its bothering your roommate. You can wait a bit to see whats coming down the immediate pipeline, in terms of Macs and Office07, but like polevaut139 suggested, definitely get your computer a month or so before you leave so you can max out your knowledge. No one appreciates the Mac more than a former Windozer.
The lighted keyboard is a help in darkened places; its better than adjusting display to light the keys. You can always turn the keyboard light off, or dim your display if its bothering your roommate. You can wait a bit to see whats coming down the immediate pipeline, in terms of Macs and Office07, but like polevaut139 suggested, definitely get your computer a month or so before you leave so you can max out your knowledge. No one appreciates the Mac more than a former Windozer.
MacBooks are thee laptop for college. A great computer at a decent price. OS X is soo easy to use it's ridiculous. And if you need to run windows to do something for school, you can always install XP along side OS X, either in boot camp or as a virtual machine.
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=I guess I'll ask this here since my post isn't generate a lot of responses.
I'm wondering how viruses work. Specifically, can you get viruses using Windows even if you are not using the internet (i.e. Explorer, FireFox, AIM), but are connected to the internet via wireless broadband or ethernet?
Another stupid question, but can you get viruses even if your internet is disconnected? I ask this because I'm wondering if can still get viruses when you look at files and documents from your HDD or flash drive. Is it possible that the files can contain viruses that your Mac won't get infected with, but your PC might?
the MacBook it really thin. I think only 1.1" thick. A few weeks ago I was sitting at a coffee shop with my Aluminum Powerbook, which is rather thin itself. A guy came in from a Apple reseller down the block and started unpacking his Macbook. He asked me to help him out. It was his first Mac and wanted help with the finder, getting online etc. etc. Being a new MacBook I was more then happy to help him. So anyway my Powerbook was sitting right next to his MacBook and I really could not believe how thin that thing was. It was absolutely incredible. Really got me wanting a MacBook.
You still have to do all the normal things if you run xp. But if you screw that side up you always have OS X.
The Macbook Pro is thinner but not noticeable. The Macbook is 1.08" thin while the Pro is 1" thin. I believe there are other laptops that are slimmer but they're not Macs
I'm going to Indiana University which is awesome becuz I can get all the mac software I need like say Microsoft Office for Mac for free through their site. You also get like $200 off on MB and $300 on MBP. I'm definately gonna get the Blackbook but I won't be buying it until like June (or later if news on Leopard and new models are released).
I planned on getting 2 GB of ram and 160 GB hard drive. What about ethernet on Apple? Can it connect to the campus wireless internet without buying anything extra? Should I spend the extra $200 on Applecare Protection Plan (we get it discounted)?
MacBooks have wireless cards built-in. I don't know about your university's wireless network but I can connect to mine without any trouble (and the OS X wireless setup is easier than on PC laptops I've used...it just detects the network)