<p>I am told that either a PC or a Mac laptop will work for a Pratt student. But I'd like to get Dr G's opinion as well as opinions from current Pratt students about which is preferable. I am comparing the new Apple MacBook Pro with a high-end PC (like the Dell Latitude 820). The MacBook Pro is a very attractive option (definitely sexier than a PC!) but I don't know if the programs engineering students use run well on the Mac. I've read on Matlab discussion boards, for example, that there are problems running MatLab 7 on the new MacBooks. Am I asking for trouble to go with the Mac instead of the PC? What percentage of Pratt students currently use the Mac? Thanks for any help you can provide.</p>
<p>Dunno the percentages. I can tell you the Dean and at least one Senior Associate Dean use a Mac. For engineering, the programs we require you to use (other than word processing, etc., which are your choice) are on a Linux-based distributed, public system. And you can access that system remotely and graphically using Mac (via X11R6, which is free for Mac users) or Windows (via X-Win, which is free for Duke students) or Linux (which is free for everyone). So, it really and truly doesn't matter for engineering. I'd say go with what you are comfortable with. Matlab 7 will basically be running (for free) on the Linux boxes and displaying on your computer - don't buy the program yourself unless you're planning to be away from the inter-web for long periods of time.</p>
<p>One of the great things about the new Macbook Pro is that it runs on an Intel chip, and therefore x86 architecture. So, you can run both Mac OSX and Windows (as well as any UNIX/Linux derivative - given your able to find the proper driver support ). The apple software that allows you to do this is called Boot Camp. The beta (which is VERY stable) can be found here: <a href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/%5B/url%5D">http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/</a> . Please note that this does require you to own a copy of Windows XP though.</p>
<p>either one works. duke runs easily on both. if you are talking about Pratt, most of your hard assignments will be done in linux computer labs anyway. but any computer with the new intel duo core chip will not be able to run photoshop or matlab any faster than a pentium4 until new versions get released (early 2007). i would personally choose the macbook just because.</p>