<p>anyone else looking at the Macbook Pro to bring in the fall?</p>
<p>too lazy to look at the prices right now but the advantages the mbp holds over the mb are few and far between. really the only real thing is the bigger monitor size which is nice to watch movies on but i have a mb and a 21" flat screen to do that with and it works nicely....</p>
<p>if you really want the pro go for it but the extra processing power/dedicated video card aren't really necessities</p>
<p>I'm just gonna stick with an Asus laptop.</p>
<p>"too lazy to look at the prices right now but the advantages the mbp holds over the mb are few and far between. really the only real thing is the bigger monitor size which is nice to watch movies on but i have a mb and a 21" flat screen to do that with and it works nicely...."</p>
<p>true..how's the tv -- assuming the 21" isn't an external monitor -- in your dorm room working out? Too much of a distraction?</p>
<p>its an external monitor, i opted to not bring a tv. i know a bunch of people that do have them and their grades are just fine. i think its a personal thing if the tv would be a distraction</p>
<p>I think computer sales don't happen when back to school time comes around. You might get better deals now.</p>
<p>aren't the computer discounts offered by Columbia the same irrespective of what time of year it is?</p>
<p>I'm not sure but you should look into it.</p>
<p>last year mac had good deals from june to september or something like that. free ipod(after rebates) free printer(rebate), 50$ office for mac, etc...</p>
<p>just wait until summer</p>
<p>i was also looking at a macbook to begin college, no matter where i end up going, but apple has discounts for all students of almost all colleges and universities.... and i do agree that the only advantage the macbook pro has over the regular macbook is the screen size, and i've thought about this a lot.</p>
<p>And the videocard, to play games :P.</p>
<p>the Mac discount is a standard education discount from apple. same all during the year. you can even walk into the store and get the discount if you display your ID. I got 50 bucks off an ipod that way.</p>
<p>As per the dell's, two things. 1) buy a latitude, not an inspiron. the lat's are business models and typically much better built. 2) get a full ass warranty. laptops will just die on you. Dells have a habit of doing it too.</p>
<p>Dell has different specials at different times of the year so keep checking.</p>
<p>Also, keep an eye on bensbargains.net and dealcatcher.net for regular dell (and other manufacturer) offers and sales that might be better than the direct price.</p>
<p>the discount is the same all year but there are always specials that start in the summer. like i said, last summer it was a free (after rebates) printer and ipod and half off office for mac.</p>
<p>also, i really have to say ALL dells are ****ty. if you really want a windows based pc, pay the extra 500$ or so and get a lenovo, they are MUCH better built.</p>