posted
Hi all. So, I'm a student in need of a new computer. Now, as a student, the choice between laptop and stationary is pretty clear. When asking around about laptops though, I of course ran into the question about PC vs Mac. So I thought I should get some more opinions. First, being a student I can't afford the most expensive machines. Second, I'm a gamer, but mostly I stick to xbox for that so my demands in that area is not that great. So I would like to ask for your opinions about what kind of laptop to buy. I'm not trying to start a war between mac and pc users, but some advice would be great Thank you!
Posts: 25 | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
I'll post more later, but you need to consider that buying a Mac also increases your smarminess factor by several orders of magnitude.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Check and see what kind of support for different machines your university might have. Mine was much heavier on Mac support, so after two or so years there I switched to a Mac. Nobody I've met who's bought one, especially for school, has regretted it. Still the compatibility thing is less of an issue these days because most schools support macs, and anyway it's not very hard to run windows on a mac either, so you're pretty much covered either way.
Some people will say the extra cost of the Mac is a fashion statement, which it kind of is. However, I find the Mac OS to be very comfortable and easy to use, and the hardware is of very high quality in my opinion.
Also this depends on what you're planning to study. Obviously if you're going to do computer science or something, you might want to stick with a PC to play it safe. However for virtually all other academic uses, a Mac will do you very nicely. Virtually any machine you buy these days will have a capacity very much above what you will actually use. Also remember that Apple generally offers a fairly reasonable academic discount and has some very nice deals in certain seasons for rebates on printers or ipods if you buy them and the computer together. I ended up recouping about $500 dollars from the purchase of my last mac with a printer/scanner and ipod. Many PC manufacturers have similar deals as well.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I'm a big fan of Mac, but you really need to consider what types of programs and plug-ins you're going to need to use for your classes. Are you an art student? If so a mac may be your best option due to the programs available to various artistic pursuits. If you're a math or statistics major, the most recent version of office for mac doesn't have the statistics plug-ins, so it's probably not your best option.
Also, check on your school's recommendation. Most schools these days have a preference based on your major, but some schools support only PC and leave it up to you to get a mac working if you buy one.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: Also remember that Apple generally offers a fairly reasonable academic discount and has some very nice deals in certain seasons for rebates on printers or ipods if you buy them and the computer together.
True, but the selection of printers that falls under this deal is very limited and mostly include photo printers which most students don't really need to print their term papers. If you're on a tight budget, you'd be better served by seeing if the school computer lab allows you to print papers. Most charge about ten or fifteen cents per sheet, but a few allow you to print for free.
Posts: 339 | Registered: Apr 2008
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If you already think you're better than everyone else, definitely go with a Mac. Otherwise the culture shock could be unfortunate.
Seriously, though, there are way more apps for a PC. Like andi said, if you're an art student, that's a reasonable excuse to go Mac. Otherwise stick with a PC.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: Also remember that Apple generally offers a fairly reasonable academic discount and has some very nice deals in certain seasons for rebates on printers or ipods if you buy them and the computer together.
True, but the selection of printers that falls under this deal is very limited and mostly include photo printers which most students don't really need to print their term papers. If you're on a tight budget, you'd be better served by seeing if the school computer lab allows you to print papers. Most charge about ten or fifteen cents per sheet, but a few allow you to print for free.
Well it really doesn't matter about the type of printer if the printer is free with the rebate... right? Are we talking about the print cartridges? Because I think the prices just for blacks was comparable across brands when I bought my printer.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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<--Is trying to start a war between Mac users and Windows users.
Rake, nobody has enough information to make a good recommendation. What are you doing with the computer?
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Lisa: If you already think you're better than everyone else, definitely go with a Mac. Otherwise the culture shock could be unfortunate.
:yawn:
quote: Otherwise stick with a PC.
Out of curiosity, I would like to know how you have become of the opinion that owning a mac requires excuses or specific reasons outside the norm? Keeping in mind that not everyone, nor most people, in fact, need or even want to deal with the range of programs available for *either* platform, why then is the PC a forgone conclusion? Are we talking purely price points? Cultural bias and class consciousness (which you clearly have in spades)? Functionality? What? What do you actually know about Macs that leads you to believe they fall short in areas of practical, every day use. And again, not for you, but for the average prospective buyer and student. Because I've owned both types, and in terms of functionality, Mac has always won. In fact, Mac wins for me in every category, including availability of good programs- and though I am not most people, I am not exceptional in my needs.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
If you do go the PC route, do NOT get a Dell laptop. I learned that the hard way (as did my roommate and several of my dorm mates.)
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: Well it really doesn't matter about the type of printer if the printer is free with the rebate... right? Are we talking about the print cartridges? Because I think the prices just for blacks was comparable across brands when I bought my printer.
I suppose, but a mac with a free printer is still more expensive than a netbook with or without a printer.
Consider that a MacBook costs $999, $949 for students. The promotion allows you to buy a printer and mail in a rebate for $100. (I did not see a promotion for a free iPod on the Apple Store.)
Now compare that with a netbook that might cost anywhere from $400-$600.
Posts: 339 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
Thank you all for your opinions:) Scifi, for the most part I'm only gonna use it for writing, music, surfing and the like, but I want it to handle running some games, not the newest and most demanding, but still. And I would prefer the battery to hold for the better part of a schoolday, atleast.
Posts: 25 | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Shanna: If you do go the PC route, do NOT get a Dell laptop. I learned that the hard way (as did my roommate and several of my dorm mates.)
Weird, I've only had good experiences with Dell laptops.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Then my advice is to get a model that runs windows, and maximize battery life and your other hardware preferences within your budget. You can probably get all the word processing, music, and browsing software you will need for free instead of buying it, so the cost of buying software equivalent to a Mac's standard inclusions isn't an issue (or you could buy some of it, such as MS Office, for less than the difference in initial cost).
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Then my advice is to get a model that runs windows, and maximize battery life and your other hardware preferences within your budget. You can probably get all the word processing, music, and browsing software you will need for free instead of buying it, so the cost of buying software equivalent to a Mac's standard inclusions isn't an issue (or you could buy some of it, such as MS Office, for less than the difference in initial cost).
Open Office is free to download for both Windows and OS X.
Posts: 339 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
I'd agree with scifi. If you're looking budget offerings, I think you're probably better off going with a PC, unless your college is full on Mac with support, which would be pretty odd.
You can get a good PC for much less than you can get a Mac. That part of those ridiculously obvious that they are paid actors commercials is correct. If you do go PC, I'd recommend making sure you don't get stuck with Vista though. Windows XP or (hopefully) Windows 7 are less burdened with suckitude.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Then my advice is to get a model that runs windows, and maximize battery life and your other hardware preferences within your budget. You can probably get all the word processing, music, and browsing software you will need for free instead of buying it, so the cost of buying software equivalent to a Mac's standard inclusions isn't an issue (or you could buy some of it, such as MS Office, for less than the difference in initial cost).
Open Office is free to download for both Windows and OS X.
Yep, and I'd probably use that instead of MS Office unless I needed to extensively collaborate or interface with a Microsoft-based environment.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I'd note that the extra cost of the Mac is actually because they come with a lot more (and mostly higher quality) programs than PCs come with. Periodically they do price-point comparisons and Mac actually comes out ahead because you save money on the bundled software and hardware. The question is whether you actually need those things.
When in doubt, though, if price isn't much of an object one way or another though, with a Mac you can always get Windows to run on it, which doesn't work the other way.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: When in doubt, though, if price isn't much of an object one way or another though, with a Mac you can always get Windows to run on it, which doesn't work the other way.
Technically, you can. It's just not as easy. I believe they call it "Hackintoshing".
Posts: 339 | Registered: Apr 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Rake: Thank you all for your opinions:) Scifi, for the most part I'm only gonna use it for writing, music, surfing and the like, but I want it to handle running some games, not the newest and most demanding, but still. And I would prefer the battery to hold for the better part of a schoolday, atleast.
You will almost certainly find better deals on PC's The only possible reason for a Mac is if your going to be a visual artist. Macs are seriously over priced. They are basically just the computer equivalent of a designer label. Plus do you really want to be a Mac user?
Posts: 305 | Registered: Jan 2008
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quote:Weird, I've only had good experiences with Dell laptops.
Same here. I've had nothing but Dell laptops for the past decade or so and they have been very reliable. I currently have three of them that I use daily. Dell is the standard issue at the company I work for and they have thousands of them. If they had any sort of systemic problems I doubt the company would invest so heavily in them.
I also have one MacBook Pro and the battery life is miserable compared to my Dells.
Posts: 3275 | Registered: May 2007
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I also have a Dell, and it was a workhorse for the first three years, then suffered some big problems. My warranty covered all of them, and it's back to working like a champ, but I'd never say a bad thing about them.
I went with an HP this time for budget reasons, but I won't have it until the end of the month.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I prefer Mac for reasons others have already stated. The quality of the programs are better, the OS is more stable, and they require FAR less maintenance than PCs do. I've spent countless hours troubleshooting PCs over the years (and still do, for my friends who bought cheaper laptops that were "just as good"). I've had this macbook for 2 years and the number of problems I've had is staggeringly low. I also don't have to spend hours reading manuals and learning how it works. I turn it on, download programs, and everything works--quickly and efficiently. I also got a deal with an ipod/printer when I bought it.
It's more than just looks. They're great products. My macbook is my most satisfying purchase to date (followed closely by my iPhone). Although I've never had to use it, I've heard Apple tech support online and in person at the Apple Store is fantastic.
There's my plug. I could have gotten a similar deal with a PC for about $400 less--but with the amount of time I've saved NOT dealing with problems on my computer and the quality of the experience with Mac, it was definitely worth it.
Posts: 1314 | Registered: Jan 2006
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i second that recommendation, especially if youre a student. theyre practical and relatively inexpensive but offer the internet, word processing, music, long battery life, and a small, lightweight design. newegg is a good place to cross-examine machines, spec-check and read customer reviews.
being a student myself, if i had $400, id buy an asus netbook..
Posts: 570 | Registered: Sep 2009
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It's incredibly hard for us to tell you unless you say what you want to use it for. That said, odds are you'll want to get a PC. Be careful if you get a Dell -- their AC adapters have had issues in the past. I recommend the Thinkpad T-series. Good luck.
quote:Originally posted by manji:
quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: When in doubt, though, if price isn't much of an object one way or another though, with a Mac you can always get Windows to run on it, which doesn't work the other way.
Technically, you can. It's just not as easy. I believe they call it "Hackintoshing".
Yep, you can -- seems to me that the the fact that you have to jump through hoops to get OSX to run on a PC is an issue with Apple, not PCs.
posted
Making something work on the diverse hardware options out there is rather a lot of work. It makes sense to focus on a few combinations.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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"Jump through hoops" being defined as... installing the Windows Operating system? I'm not sure what you mean. I haven't had any issues with windows on my Mac. (I've had issues trying to get things like Parallels to run, but that's a complication beyond just getting an OS to run as normal).
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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I bought a macbook a little under a year ago. Until then I had always used PC.
I have been very happy with my purchase so far. It has a lot less hassles than PC. There is also a ton of low cost software for the mac that in many cases works better than what you will get for more money on the PC.
And windows works very well on the mac. Either through bootcamp (which comes with mac, but requires a reboot) or with parallels which you must buy, but can run seamlessly along with the mac os.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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I got the parallels trial just after Snow Leopard came out, and it didn't seem to work much at all (everything I did was painfully slow). Is that how parallels normally is or does anyone know if it's a problem unique to Snow Leopard and Parallels 4?
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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It's a Macbook Pro from about two years ago. (About This Mac says "MacBookPro,3,1."). It can run Crazy Bump (a fairly simple program that converts black and white images to 3d maps), but really chugs on even simple games (Maybe Parallels just isn't meant to handle games, but I'm talking games of "Braid" quality or simpler)
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: I got the parallels trial just after Snow Leopard came out, and it didn't seem to work much at all (everything I did was painfully slow). Is that how parallels normally is or does anyone know if it's a problem unique to Snow Leopard and Parallels 4?
I have not upgraded to snow leopard yet, so I'm not completely sure if it is playing nicely with parallels yet. Some programs need minor upgrades to work perfectly. I have used parallels for a couple of games (similar to braid) and they worked fine, though mostly I used it for windows apps and such before I found replacements for them that are made for the mac.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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posted
Do you need your computer to work? If you do, pretty much get a Mac. If all you're doing is gaming, websurfing, and printing out the occasional term paper, you will be happy with a PC, although that's no promise (the occasional weird, annoying issue can crop up).
In your case, I'd say this is close to a 50-50. You're not going to be demanding anything unusual from the machine, so a PC will often get the job done. However, having said that, PCs are much more prone to crazy weird issues, from viruses and compatibility problems to other, manufacturer-specific issues.
Be ready for headaches with the PC. They may not happen, but you really want to be ready for them.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
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Out of curiosity, I would like to know how you have become of the opinion that owning a mac requires excuses or specific reasons outside the norm? Keeping in mind that not everyone, nor most people, in fact, need or even want to deal with the range of programs available for *either* platform, why then is the PC a forgone conclusion? Are we talking purely price points? Cultural bias and class consciousness (which you clearly have in spades)?
"Class consciousness"? You're funny. Also, you're a good example of the "thinking you're better than everyone" thing.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Do you need your computer to work? If you do, pretty much get a Mac.
Oh come on. Most of the people getting anything done with a computer are doing it on a PC. The Mac is a fine machine, but to suggest that life with a PC will be one of misery and pain is just silly.
The best advice, if your computer literacy level is such that you need help deciding between a Mac and a PC, is that you get the type of machine that is owned by whomever you are most likely to be asking for computer help from in the future.
quote:Oh come on. Most of the people getting anything done with a computer are doing it on a PC. The Mac is a fine machine, but to suggest that life with a PC will be one of misery and pain is just silly.
Second.
PCs get a raw deal. I've heard people wax poetic about their Macs, and I have zero reason to doubt their claims. Indeed, they sound like rather excellent, extremely expensive pieces of machinery, and I'd like to have one some day when I can afford it. Until then, I've used PCs all my life, and except for the occasional minor annoyance, and once every couple years, one big headache, they're absolutely solid, and I see no obvious reason why I should switch, especially give the price difference.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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On the other hand, my macbook (not even pro) is so much faster, more reliable and generally more fun to work with than our desktop PC. But that is running Vista.
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:On the other hand, my macbook (not even pro) is so much faster, more reliable and generally more fun to work with than our desktop PC.
That said, I guarantee you that my desktop PC is faster, more reliable, and more fun than your Macbook. Unless you're throwing your Macbook like a frisbee, which is something my desktop doesn't support in its native mode. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Lisa: "Class consciousness"? You're funny. Also, you're a good example of the "thinking you're better than everyone" thing.
Mmm, not really. I'm a good example of the "thinking my computer is better than yours" thing though. Of course, that's just subjective and varies between individuals. You were the one that came out swinging against Macs, and mac users, with unjustified snark (along with your usual lack of substance and follow through).
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Do you need your computer to work? If you do, pretty much get a Mac.
Oh come on. Most of the people getting anything done with a computer are doing it on a PC.
I'm sorry, that's rather weak. Are you talking about programming? Are you talking about specific types of work like using a computer at a cash register or a call center or data entry? It is not Apple's mission to provide products for those industries which can be better served by cheap and disposable computers, and Apple provides a *much* smaller range of products than are available in the PC market. That said, its a well known fact that Apple has strong quality control and reliability track records, and ships machines with hardware that is of good quality. That's something I think most of us can agree on, regardless of our opinions of the products themselves, or other products. Why does this fact have to be in dispute? There are many companies with good quality control and reliability reputations, and that's fine. The PC market *has* companies in it without these bona fides, and that creates problems for some users. Still on solid ground?
I mean really, it's like saying the majority of driving is done in Fords and Toyotas, and that's a reason why they're better than Aston Martins. The statement has some validity, ie: it's easier to buy a Toyota and get it serviced, but these are not necessarily the things people are thinking of when they talk about which product is better suited to an individual, or even which product is actually superior, if it even matters.
Face it, Macs and PCs shouldn't even be in the same boat for us to fight over them. Apple has a niche market so they can focus on a vertical product delivery system, and that works for them, really, really well. There will never be a computer that is all things to all people, so perhaps we should all just grow up and look after ourselves in this regard.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote: mean really, it's like saying the majority of driving is done in Fords and Toyotas, and that's a reason why they're better than Aston Martins.
...seems to indicate you missed the point. MattP wasn't making an equivalent claim. He was saying that buying a Windows PC is not very likely to lead to significant headaches, that's all.
quote:The PC market *has* companies in it without these bona fides, and that creates problems for some users. Still on solid ground?
Well, now you're talking about vendors, not platform. I'm sure you can find (used, tweaked, otherwise nonstandard) Macs from shaky vendors too.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I'm talking about manufacturers. Apple has authorized dealers or their own stores, and anything else can't be brought into the same discussion on their own quality control.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Unless you're a power user like TomDavidson--which means you know how to take care of your computer with regular maintenance and oversight--my experience is that PCs will INEVITABLY cause headaches within 2 years of purchase. I ran my PC for 4 years with no huge issues because I spent lots of time taking care of the computer. I gave it to my little brother and within 6 months I had to come home to format the hard drive and reload windows, and within a few weeks it became sluggish and problematic again--it wasn't being taken care of.
In summary, my claim is that in order to have a headache-free experience with PCs, you have to be a competent user. Macs require *less* competence to have a headache-free experience, because they give the user a little less access to "mess things up" in the system. TomD, on the other hand, has access to every aspect of his OS, allowing him to maximize system performance, but he's invested hours of his life into learning about computers and how to take care of them--while most people haven't.
Posts: 1314 | Registered: Jan 2006
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