<p>I have been accepted to U of M for next fall and will likely be attending. I have heard there is a place on campus that sells computers at a better price than normal stores, is this true? And if so, what is the name? Also, I am leaning towards buying a Mac, any specific reasons to buy a PC over a Mac?</p>
<p>PC since thats what you’ll most likely sitting in front of at the office after college. My point is, a PC is pretty much universal so theres no hassle for any compatibility issues. </p>
<p>A lot of the labs at U of M have been overhauled with macs though, the reason why I have no idea so I guess you could get a mac. </p>
<p>Personally, I see the mac as just overpriced and apple just gets people buying it from its cute looks with that glossy white covering, makes it look high tech and fashionable. not to mention the apple bandwagon going on.</p>
<p>but apple or PC they are really both similar, leave the arguing to the fanboys and get the laptop or desktop that suits you. Honestly, a college student doesn’t need to worry about whether his/her computer has quad core or dual core, etc.</p>
<p>Get a PC for sure. You can get a PC with much better specs than a mac for half the price.</p>
<p>Why are you leaning towards a mac? Your question should be “any specific reasons to buy a MAC over a PC?”, and I honestly can’t think of any…</p>
<p>The place you may have heard of is the Computer Showcase.</p>
<p>[U-M</a> Computer Showcase](<a href=“http://showcase.itcs.umich.edu/]U-M”>http://showcase.itcs.umich.edu/)</p>
<p>SBDad- Thank you. That was exactly the place I had heard about. I just could not remember the name at all.</p>
<p>I personally prefer Macs because I think they’re more well-designed and enjoyable to use than PC’s, and there’s no worries of viruses or spyware. Apple always has a Back to School sale in June where you can get a free iPod touch on top of the student discount they already offer.</p>
<p>mdlot - - I’m biased as I’ve had a legitimate 2-decade need and use for mac (worked in media, then multimedia and design). That said, if you want to watch your budget, you’d do as well with a pc for most things. But if you’re in Art & Design, Film or Music, you’d be better off with a mac because its operating system does a much better job at handling the pro version of software popular to those industries.
And it is true that I’ve typically never had to waste time mucking about with viruses. I also have historically gotten far more years of fix-free service from my macs than the pcs we keep at our shop to test web platforms. That said, with the price coming down so much in consumer level macs, and the fact that I typically purchase pro, I have no way to judge if the value/longevity ratio is still true.
One other reason I suspect mac folks get a little hooked once they’ve “used,” – the display screen/output on a mac has a higher lumens rating, making everything pop just a little brighter, cleaner, happier…If you’re in front of a screen all day, that boost makes a difference in how you feel about what you’re looking at. I’ve personally become so used to it I feel “dreary” when I look at a pc screen. Just a theory, but that’s my hunch. If you’re not used to it, it’s not a feature you’d miss.</p>
<p>One final consideration. People love stealing macs, especially from college campuses. Especially highend probooks. All notebooks need security and guarding on a campus, but the macs are truly targeted. Fortunately, there is an anti-theft tracking system our family uses to make like miserable for anyone who dare lay their hands on our macs ;)</p>
<p>We were also concerned about theft of my son’s Macbook Pro.</p>
<p>In order to get some peace of mind, we purchased an insurance policy made just for college students. It was pretty cheap, about $100, and covers all property. In fact, we made a claim on an costly North Face coat and had no problem getting reimbursed.</p>
<p>Here is the link:</p>
<p>[CSI</a> College Student Insurance Home](<a href=“http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/]CSI”>http://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/)</p>