<p>I am going to be a freshman psychology major next year and was just wondering what would be the best laptop for me. I HATE dells, but other than that I am open to many different laptops as suggestions. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>I have always preferred Macs. The stats software works the same on them as a PC (if you ever need to download a trial for projects), but other than that there’s no real preference for psych majors. Most of the students in my classes had MacBooks, a few had HPs.</p>
<p>Dells suck. I’ve had three and they just…ugh. they’re tech support is also pretty terrible.</p>
<p>I got a Toshiba after my Dell was stolen, and it is much better. Macs are nice, but u could never justify paying so much more for a computer. It’s ridiculous. My friend as a 14 inch MacBook and I was a bit envious of how light hers was, but mine is 15.6 inches, so whatever.</p>
<p>Okay so which PC do you think is the best laptop in general? because I agree macs are outrageously priced</p>
<p>Asus has solid support, so does Toshiba. HP support is just as bad as Dell’s.</p>
<p>If it matters, for the new Dell ultrabook, they’ve decided to be slightly less cheap on their support and give a year of accidental damage coverage. Asus Zenbook has this too.</p>
<p>If you buy a Dell computer you should buy their business class laptops with Next Business day service.</p>
<p>The Precision M6400 is a good one.</p>
<p>Avoid Dell, shoddy customer service and overpriced upgrades. For psych, I’d recommend portability over power. If you’re PC, go for an Ultrabook. The new Ivy Bridge ones will most likely get extremely long battery life. Acer and Asus have some good ones out and on the way. And then there’s the Macbook Air or Pro, which are more powerful but leaps and bounds more expensive.</p>
<p>@ Beanwolf:</p>
<p>Did you know that Dell has a consumer branch and a business branch?</p>
<p>The consumer side is a mess to deal with but the business side is easier to deal with.
Also ALL companies rip you off when it comes to upgrades.
HP wanted like $300 for a 128 GB SSD and I got one for ~$130 and put it in myself.</p>
<p>The Macbook air is more powerful than the ENTRY level ultrabooks but if you compare apples to apples instead , they are essentially the same spec wise.
The new ultrabooks with 1080P IPS panel displays will put the Macbook Air to shame.</p>
<p>Yes, I know that they have a business branch. In fact, I’ve dealt with both their business and consumer branches, and I personally have had poor experiences with both. As for upgrades, the mainstream companies always rip you off, but I find Dell certainly does it more than others. Toshiba and Acer make great products at lower prices and I have had excellent experiences with their products and service.</p>
<p>I would suggest you try to figure out whether your campus is primarily Mac or PC. You may be able to get more assistance/necessary software/compatibility with professors if you have a strong idea of this.</p>
<p>Hi, starting my undergrad with history major. Need advise on which laptop to buy? Like Mac pro but it is very expensive.</p>
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<p>Maybe you can look at the lenovo Thinkpad W530.</p>
<p>Macs are actually extremely cheap compared to most PCs once you start to value your time.</p>
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<p>I think Macs are better for people who don’t know how to fix things themselves.</p>
<p>There is a downside of sending your Mac laptop in for repair to since the Genius Bar can’t fix all the problems and Apple doesn’t offer in home NBD service.</p>
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<p>This may be true, but AppleCare is renowned for outstanding service. Other manufacturers don’t have as good of a track record. I would be also be surprised if Genius Bar has an issue with a Mac Pro. Maybe in the rMBP/MBA lines, but doubtful on the cMBP or Mac Pro. iMac, debatable.</p>
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<p>The warranty that IBM offers for the ThinkPads outclasses what AppleCare offers , especially since you can get accidental damage protection as well.</p>
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<p>I would be surprised to find any IBM warranties, given the 2005 acqusition. If lenovo, then yeah.</p>
<p>This is getting off topic, but I was referring to the fact that Apple is extremely flexible and almost catering, in a sense, when you visit the Genius Bar. Other companies, eh. They may have warranties that are better, but sometimes you have to jump through a few hurdles to get there.</p>
<p>as a senior psychology manjor it really does not matter what brand you buy. get one you like and is dependable.</p>