<p>My son just received the fat May mailing. We looked at the computer requirement right away. MIT is very specific in the make and models they they recommend - much more so than the school my older son goes to.</p>
<p>My older son uses a 'home made' desktop and has been very happy with it. Will my MIT-bound son have problems with a homebuilt?</p>
<p>Thanks...</p>
<p>no, probably. if he knows enough to put together his own desktop, he'll be just fine. the recs are mostly for people who don't really know what's out there and what's the minimum they'll need to get by comfortably. as long as his machine is comparable, it doesn't matter.</p>
<p>that said, i think my laptop is one of those recommended models (from my year, at least) plus a memory upgrade, and i'm quite happy with it, in the limited use that i put a computer to. so either way, it'll probably work out. and for everything else, there's athena!</p>
<p>get a Mac -- I have a 12 in' iBook I'll be using. OS X is *nix so that has advantages (not to mention quality of OS, lack of virii/spyware, etc.)</p>
<p>omg I just got the powerbook. it is beautiful. Quoted from my livejournal: "my new 12" Powerbook is nothing more but an iBook on steroids with a G4 in it."</p>
<p>Is it better to wait until the fall to order a computer (to see if something better comes out), or is there not likely to be much of a difference?
And, well...do you guys suggest a 12'' iBook (upgraded to 512mb ram and 60 gb hard drive, ~$1200) or a 12'' powerbook (~$1500)? I don't really do that much hard-core stuff (mainly surfing, IM, e-mail, some gaming), so I've been thinking about the iBook, but...What really is the difference? I'm not much of a computer person, but it seems like the main differences are that the powerbook is faster (not like I'll notice) and better for games (which I might notice).</p>
<p>Thanks, all.</p>
<p>Rosen Rosen, I am a computer nerd who does do hardcore stuff. I got the 12 in ibook and haven't regretted it (in fact it was more than sufficient to play World of Warcraft--a new game with demanding system specs). Go with the iBook (don't bother with the RAM--you can buy it cheaper from smalldog.com--don't bother with the harddrive unless you plan on downloading a lot). I would highly suggest you get a refurb since they're the same thing but cheaper (you can find them here: <a href="http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/70108/wo/e55o0O4UOsfX2fZEwaG1ZtC5vfa/0.0.11.1.0.6.63.0.0.0.0.0.0.3.1.1.0?52,69)%5B/url%5D">http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/70108/wo/e55o0O4UOsfX2fZEwaG1ZtC5vfa/0.0.11.1.0.6.63.0.0.0.0.0.0.3.1.1.0?52,69)</a>. They have iBooks on there for $800.00. (NOTE: get the 1.2 ghz iBook--it comes with built in Airport--wireless... Check specifically to make sure that it has Airport (I wouldn't suggest the combo drive either--in my opinion the dvd burner is a waste of money).</p>
<p>statics,
an iBook is a G4 also. The only difference between the two is that, well, like you said, the Powerbook is an iBook on steroids--it has more input slots, a better video card, more hard drive room, slightly faster CPU. I chose the iBook simply because of the price. Either way, they're both great computers :)</p>