<p>I know we've all seen the commercials...so current Stanford students: is it better to go with the hip and trendy mac or old, accepted, and somewhat reliable PC in preparing for next year?</p>
<p>ps: I know it's a bit early, but I just want to start looking and get an idea of what I need.</p>
<p>Macs are definitely the way to go. I myself have a PC and regret it terribly. I would say about half of the professors have macs and more than half the students have macs. There is also an Apple store in downtown palo alto, so repairs can be made easily.</p>
<p>I personally prefer a pc. Many of my friends have macs (my roomate just bought one!) but I just like the whole style of a pc. Either way you'll find a lot of people who have the same system.</p>
<p>I've always used PCs, but Macs seem to be the way to go? I'm really confused on the whole topic as well. :(</p>
<p>Go with a mac. you'll never regret it. you can always run windows if you absolutely need to.</p>
<p>for college, get a macbook. i'll probably be buying a macbook for college use, but keeping my PC for gaming</p>
<p>I use a PC and plenty of others do too. I feel like you'll be fine with either.</p>
<p>Yup. I don't think one is better for Stanford than the other... I've always used a PC and don't want to change. I'm just comfortable with a PC. Others prefer a Mac, and that's cool too. So as for "what you need", that's totally up to you. I don't have any Mac vs. PC advice specifically - I say go with what you're comfortable with.</p>
<p>You know they did a study and Macs run Windows better than they run OSX =)</p>
<p>If you're thinking about CS, I'd say it's a little easier with a PC, but my CS professor uses a Mac, so... All in all, it's just easier to debug with a PC.</p>
<p>I'm a PC user, and I say get a Mac.</p>
<p>Mac. also.. wait for summer cause there's always an ipod promo/rebate and printer rebate when you use your student discount.</p>
<p>Hmm...I'm thinking of getting an small-to-medium-sized HP laptop b/c that's what my computer is, and I've had it since the beginning of 8th grade. The only trouble I've had with it is because of my own mistakes, so I trust it. And my dad can get employee discount. Can I still get a student discount? I mean, if it's more than the employee discount, then I'll use that. I'm also planning on getting a huge external hard drive. My music takes up crazy amounts of space. :) Good back-up too.</p>
<p>So I kinda went on a tangent there, but I think I'm going to stay away from a Mac because I have been using PCs my whole life. :D</p>
<p>if you're going to get a small laptop, make sure it'll run vista in full aero (premium ready). for minimum requirements, see:
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/capable.mspx</a></p>
<p>Double all of the numbers microsoft suggests and you may have a workable pc.</p>
<p>i find that most people are afraid to switch to Mac because they've used PC they're entire life. Really though, it's not a huge leap. it's a lot more similar than people think. People also have the conception of OS 9 or less as the operating system on mac (like in middle school on those color imacs). it's not anything like that, and it's so much better. especially the UI. Macs just seem to make more sense than PCs. (I've used a PC up until this year).</p>
<p>Uggh...is vista going to be on everything again?</p>
<p>Can I get an attachable double click w/ scroll mouse for Macs? That's one of my biggest complaints, really. And if I can run Windows, I don't see why not, but there are some compatability problems with some programs, right?</p>
<p>ummm, i don't know what compatibility issues you're talking about. whether you run windows on a pc or a mac, you'll have the same experience. you can plug in any mouse you want into a mac (os x of course) and it'll work without the need for any drivers.</p>
<p>It doesn't really matter--both work fine, and the computer staff in your dorm will know how to troubleshoot either. The campus bookstore has student discount deals for both Dell PC's and Macs, too, so it's really just about what you prefer.</p>