<p>A child is an incoming freshman. Are Apples or HP's recommended. Which one is preferred?</p>
<p>As of a year ago when my daughter was a rising freshman, the technology desk at Muhlenberg was predominantly focused on PCs. My daughter desperately wanted an MacBook so I had some serious conversations with some of the people who work in the IT area.</p>
<p>They admitted they are mostly trained to handle PC problems, but in the upcoming months, some of their staff was going to attend more training on Apples. Their goal was to become more proficient in handling Apple problems for students. Since daughter was so adamant about the MacBook (their music program is heads above any PC programs, and she's a vocal performance major), we decided to go with it, with the understanding if she had any issues that the IT desk couldn't help her with, she'd have to go to the closest Best Buy for service. </p>
<p>The thing is, with the Apple technology, we felt safe she wouldn't need help for viruses, etc. If she needed help, it would be for some sort of defect that would be covered under the extended warranty we bought, so that made us feel better about the purchase. Since D2 bought got her MacBook, D1 (upon college graduation) decided she wanted one, too, so that was her graduation present. Both are thrilled with their Apples.</p>
<p>On registration day they mentioned that they were a certified repair center for HP computers, but would try to repair all computers including Apples at their repair center. They said it was really up to the students to determine what they were most comfortable with.</p>
<p>boneman - agreed. I did get the impression that more and more students were choosing Apples than previous years, so the campus was hoping to increase the staff training for working on Apples.</p>
<p>Maybe because so many of my D's friends are also music oriented majors/minors, they all seem to have Apples, and it may skew my perspective, but I definitely got the impression more and more students were opting for them.</p>