<p>I have had my heart set out on getting an iBook, but I’m afraid that Berkeley may not be supportable of my iBook.</p>
<p>The iBook will have Microsoft Office so I can do such things as presenting on powerpoint and what not, but is a PC preferable on campus and in the dorms?</p>
<p>Any Mac users at Cal who is willing to answer?</p>
<p>no, macs are equal here</p>
<p>all of the computing centers have macs as well, and the unit1 CC just got 8 new imacs</p>
<p>iBook Cal Bear right here. I'm loving it.</p>
<p>If you ever walk into one of the library cafes you will see a sea of ibooks and powerbooks on practically every table.</p>
<p>I havent used a PC in years (thank God) so i dont really if they can do the same, but everywhere ive gone with my PB that has a wireless node, ive automatically connected to without my telling it to do so. No authentication, no passwords, effortless networking. Word definitely works on the Macs, though ill be moving to Pages as soon as possible to free myself from that POS called Microsoft. I cant really think of a scenario where youd have problems using a Mac as opposed to a PC. Also my brother uses a PB and had no issues with it at UCSC. I'm certainly gonna use one when i go to Cal and im not too worried bout incompatibility.</p>
<p>Getting a 15" PB this month. I'm not too good at networking though, what else do I need for wireless networking?</p>
<p>Well all the new PB's come with Airport Extreme Cards (802.11g) which should allow you to hook up to any wireless node. Usually any nodes in cafes or libraries are pretty much automatic hookups so long as your airport on your PB is turned on (trust me not hard Apple is way good about making things simple and easy to set up). Though i might be worried about it growing legs and walking off, if i were you id also get yourself a Airport Express. Its a box around the size of one of those old huge 2nd gen iPods like mine :) It plugs into the wall and the ethernet plugs into it and it'll let you chill with your PB anywhere in your dorm room without a fat white cable sticking out the side and across your floor. Again, very easy to set up. Definitely go to a Apple Store near you and talk to one of the people there they tend to be quite knowledgeable and are mac users themselves and should be able answer just about anything you can throw at them. On a lesser note: buying a PB is never a bad decision, though i would wait until the summer at least. They typically ship quickly (less than a business week) and they typically upgrade products quarterly and midquarterly. The WWDC in June is when they release big stuff and up alot of others and though they just upgraded PB's they might see another revamping, with or without the G5...</p>
<p>Air Port is also on an iBook I believe.</p>
<p>Most definitely, i just mentioned the PB's cause thats what Lyrical mentioned but yes all new iBooks come with Airport Express standard as well. And in the long run there are few times when one would require the additional computing power of a PB over an iBook. Ive used Photoshop CS quite easily on a G3 700mhz white Ibook. dont expect to be doing any 50 pixel gaussian blurs on 500meg jpegs... but they really are a good computer, just as easy to use as any other Mac and just as reliable.</p>
<p>The fact that I don't understand "50 pixel gaussian blurs..." means that I probably don't know how to do it and the iBook will be okay :)</p>
<p>Hmmm...yeah exactly. :) You'll be more than happy with an iBook.</p>