<p>Best Buy, Office Depot, and I’m sure couple other places have $400 laptops on sale this weekend. When I was at UM for the Spring Welcome Day, they told us not to bring a laptop to school because the school offers discounts on Dell, IBM, and Apple computers. I looked the “UM Computer Showcase” site, all of their laptops are over $1000. My questions are:</p>
<li><p>Does the UM Computer Showcase store really have better deals on laptops or are they just trying to sell us computers to make $$$?</p></li>
<li><p>Do most UM students get their computers from the UM Computer Showcase store like the school tells them to?</p></li>
<li><p>What kinda heavy duty programs do you guys run on your laptops? In other words, are Celeron M processors powerful enough for what we do on our laptops?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I wanted a high-end computer so I did not go for one of the <$1000 laptops. I did use a school discount which saved a few hundred dollars. I think most people have laptops on their own -- I wouldn't say "most" students get their computers from Computer Showcase, although some of their software deals are pretty good (i.e. Office is 95% off, available for $20).
As for what programs you'll use, it'll depend on what you're majoring in. As an engineer, I use programs like Maple, but I usually just use remote desktop to connect to a CAEN computer for Matlab and such. I also prefer to play a lot of computer games on my machine too.</p>
<p>They are just trying to get you to buy stuff through the university. You can get Apples 200$ discount for college students through their online store. I think it works the same with IBM.</p>
<p>Personally i do a lot of graphics, audio and video editing so i am gonna get a macbook pro, but i would suggest if you like having your own computer to do everything on get a nice laptop cause you are gonna have it for 4 years.</p>
<p>That's what I thought too, kinda like the TCF Bank deal. I did get a bargain laptop this weekend, only $400, heck if I dont like it, I can ebay it. BTW, how often are laptops stolen at UM?</p>