<p>Hello all knowing college confidential community,
I'm looking at computers right now and after a few hours of research have narrowed it down to the new Dell XPS 15z and the Mac Book Pro. I know the obvious advantages/disadvantages of each (Dell is about $1000 cheaper, but it has Windows, etc.) but what I don't know is whether or not having a Mac puts you at a significant disadvantage technology wise for students in Ross. I see on the Ross website here - My</a> iMpact: DiscoverIT - that they recommend, as almost all colleges do, that students should buy a PC. I'd like to hear from actual students at the university (preferably at Ross) whether or not having a Mac will make life that much more difficult. </p>
<p>My recommendation if you are willing to spend $2000 or so on a computer is instead to go with a windows PC and get an SSD option. Improves battery life over mechanical hard drives,INCREDIBLY faster, etc.</p>
<p>Also, the the business world iirc is dominated by windows. A lot of people always bring up the option of bootcamp but that is jut another expense. If you are already used to windows I’d think the windows pc with an SSD would be much preferable.</p>
<p>Gotta say, go for Mac (for sure). I have a windows right and it’s just beyond horrible. I’ve barely had it for two years and it’s started slowing down considerably. I’ve also gotten a bunch of viruses on it. Sure the price is cheap, but with a mac, you’ll have a laptop that lasts for ages. If you’re just looking for a temp. one, go for windows. But longterm - definitely mac.</p>
<p>Go for a Mac. The Ross website may say anything, but they have full support for Macs at Ross, and a lot of people I know at Ross use Macs (including me). Most of the stuff you do at Ross only requires excel and word, so nothing that Mac doesn’t have. The only thing you might need is a connector cable for the ross study rooms to connect to the plasma screens (that’s what I use). But that’s just a miniport to vga connector and costs about $1 on Amazon.</p>
<p>I had a PC and a Mac this past year, and I must say the Mac is much better. I used the PC for programming purposes (for engr programming classes) till it died, then got a Mac. Not only does a Mac have hardware much better than most PCs, but the software is much more efficient on a Mac. Also, keep in mind that the two companies covered at U M Computer Showcase are Apple and Dell, so that is definitely an advantage.</p>
<p>But PCs are definitely widely used as well, so what I would recommend (and what I do), is put windows on the Mac. I think someone mentioned bootcamp, and that is a perfectly good way to use windows on a Mac (in fact that’s what I’m doing now). Windows 7 Ultimate is only $30 for students at U M computer showcase, and having both is like having the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>All else being equal, get a Mac, it will not at all put you at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>Macs are overpriced and are sold as a fad, like ipods, iphones, ipads, etc. They don’t actually have to be better but people will still buy them.</p>
<p>Of money is really no object get a kick ass desktop and then a laptop or netbook. If money is no object and you really want a Mac so you can have the apple on the front, go ahead. You’ll probably need to get windows on it but atleast you can get it pretty cheap through the school.</p>
<p>If the answer is yes go for a PC. If no, join the masses and enjoy your mac.</p>
<p>But in all seriousness you can get solid computers in both operating systems. Though remember a $1000+ plus laptop from a good manufacturer will last as you as long as any mac. Afterall if you’re talking about laptops, outside of the shell, there are no physical differences between macs and pcs. </p>
<p>They use the same intel procesors, nvidia or radeon graphics cards, and HDDs, all made in the same Taiwanese sweat shop. I think the macbook pros are wonderfully made laptops, but I hate the Mac OS. However, I can guarantee you, the hardware on PCs is usually better (for the same price point).</p>
<p>First of all, im not taking jabs. I’m just providing counterpoints.</p>
<p>miway, clean you’re registry or defrag your drive. Registry errors comes from shoddy registry changes (based more so on 3rd party sides, not windows)
The second,defragging, is huge for performance. Either way, it is imperative to do it on any mechanical hard drive running any OS with a reasonably often schedule. SSDs dont have to worry about that though.</p>
<p>Globalglobe: Benchmarks of programs performing tasks show that the efficiency is usually pretty equal, unless of course you mean load times and such in which case my suggestion to him of a windows laptop with SSD will be like a hare against a turtle.</p>