I am the Apple Campus Rep at Penn. Ask me any questions about getting a Mac here

<p>Right now I'm only considering a Mac because it's going to be a few hundred cheaper than a Lenovo (the one I'm customizing on the site). How much is XP from the computer store? Also, can I hook my Mac up to most projectors and other stuff like that for classes (you know, for presentations)?</p>

<p>Well, whatever works to get you here. Once you start playing with the Mac you will surely mancrush on it. A German guy came in and said he bought a MacBook Pro just for Windows because it looked cool. But he played with the Mac side and ended up liking it a whole lot.</p>

<p>What are you going to be doing with the Windows side? let me know, as Parallels might be better for you and that obviates the need to buy a new copy of Windows.</p>

<p>Oh and at this point, your best bet for a Windows disc is eBay (unless you wanna plunk down $200-$300 for Windows XP). Do a search for "Windows XP OEM."</p>

<p>A cursory glance reveals a full XP Pro SP2 (make sure it's SP2!!!) for a buy-it-now price of $140</p>

<p>I really don't know what I'll be doing with the Windows side, but god knows what may happen these next 4 years and I may need to (god forbid) do some stuff on windows.</p>

<p>God forbid indeed!</p>

<p>Are you looking at a MacBook Pro or MacBook</p>

<p>the $1300 macbook on campusexpress.</p>

<p>and how do i get the free ipod? I want one to travel with me and one to sit in my iHome :)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.apple.com/backtoschool%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.apple.com/backtoschool&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>basically it's
1. buy macbook + ipod
2. fill out rebate form
3. get $250 back from Apple, thus making ipod free</p>

<p>but i'm buying it from campus express...</p>

<p>never mind, i see the light now.</p>

<p>whew...I've been trying to better understand all this stuff over the last few days. The dual capability of the Mac does not seem as nice and neat as originally thought. For instance, for architecture majors, you can ONLY run many of the programs in Windows (autocad for sure, and I'm assuming Revit and Form z, but have no experience with them). Adobe Creative Suite, on the other hand supposedly runs better on a Mac. Problem is that you can't do both at the same time. You literally have to reboot. So, if an archi. student wants to save an AutoCad drawing as a pdf, and manipulate it in photoshop, illustrator, or other, it can't be done without copying to a disk, turning off and rebooting the machine, then copying from the disk once in Apple OS. You would not be able to run a dual monitor as originally planned, with AutoCad on one, and the other available for ITunes, or websurfing through the Mac, etc. What a pain, not to mention needless time wasted. To avoid that problem, you can purchase Creative Suite for Windows, or run whatever combination of programs only in Windows but that king of negates having a Mac, no?</p>

<p>More complications: I was told by an Apple rep at the Apple store that Parallels allows you to run the two simultaneously, but later learned that Parallels is really a "simulator" program. It does not truly run Windows in the native format as does Bootcamp, but rather pretends, and make it feel like Windows, and as a result will slow AutoCad and other graphic intensive Window programs to a significant degree. True? The archi. dept. does not recommend or support Parallels. It ONLY recommends Bootcamp for AutoCad and similar Windows programs.</p>

<p>The Apple store rep explained that AutoCad does not use the graphics card memory. What? Never heard that before. I thought all graphic programs use the graphic card memory. In fact, it was recently explained that renderings in 3d programs are extremely time intensive even with great graphics cards. To get a 256 graphics card, the MacPro cost an extra $500, now placing the cost far above similar Dell's (which come w/ a 512 graphics card). </p>

<p>Now I've learned you have to guess as to how much of the hard-drive you want to assign to Windows when it is first installed w/ Bootcamp, and it cannot be changed (easily). Given that the archi. programs need a lot, I assume more than 50% will be needed, but won't know until it is used for awhile. Again, negates having a Mac. to some degree.</p>

<p>45%er, the Apple store rep agreed with you on the larger monitor. In fact, they even (quietly) suggested we look at third party vendors for the second monitor, and perhaps use the savings for the 256 upgraded Apple graphics card instead.</p>

<p>So what were the reasons again that a Mac is better? I'm not saying this as a criticism. I'm truly trying to determine the best scenario for archi. students. Problem is that she may not stay in architecture, so she needs to consider the most flexible system for the future as well. She may change to graphic design, and that department only wants Macs used. She has also been interested in business, and that department only wants PC's (in the form of Dell) used. While I'm learning a lot, the decision just becomes more muddy in the process.</p>

<p>Welcome to the world of IT! It seems to only get muddier as time goes on.</p>

<p>Like the Macbook keyboard, 13 inch portability. But will it be enough? Pro seems to offer much more in terms of storage and performance. If you are not gaming or making movies, yet still running office, and any packages that bio, math depts dish out, can the Macbook handle that? Have you heard students eventually complain about the 13 inch screen (too small) wishing they had picked up a 15 inch screen? On esthetics i d prefer the Macbook. What you think? (note most colleges seem to offer Macbook Pro or PC "equivalent" when posting IT options for students. Do you know of Wharton students who can handle work/internships...with simply the Macbook? Thanks.</p>

<p>a Mac is still a good idea even if work requires you to be using the PC part, as you can consider one half for "work" and the other half for "play" for when you simply want easy, virus-free computing.</p>

<p>As for highway9, all the Wharton students I know who have the MacBook haven't had any problems. The MacBook is definitely powerful enough to handle all the stuff you would be doing, and the screen is definitely sufficient. Nobody has ever told me "I wish i got the macbook pro instead"</p>

<p>Conversely, nobody with a macbook pro has ever told me "I wish i got the macbook instead" ;)</p>

<p>I got a Lenovo Johnny. I'm sorry, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.</p>

<p>^Yeah, same here.. sorry, dude. I was really sold on the idea of getting mac book pro, but I ended up loving the lenovo T61.</p>

<p>For what its worth, chances are that I'll only have this computer for a ocuple of years, so my next purchase will most likely be along the apple lines.</p>

<p>I hope it's OK for a non Penn person to post here, but I found the thread while searching for info on the Mac. </p>

<p>Another thread has opened up talking about laptop locks for the MacBook & MacBook Pro. The Kensington lock sold on the Apple site got horrible reviews.</p>

<p>Do Targus Defcon locks work in the Mac? What do you suggest for a laptop lock?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>Hey guys, don't apologize to me--I'm not the one who has to use Microsoft Windows for the next 4 years ;)</p>

<p>Oh and yeah those locks should work. I can't make much in the way of a recommendation as i've never used a lock myself, though.</p>

<p>Colorful computers are SO 1999...</p>

<p>That kinda makes me curious, actually...I wonder if we can get someone from the Computer Connection to give us a breakdown of how many kids bought Apple, Lenovo, and Dell...would be interesting</p>

<p>I'm just wondering, but does a pre-med student REALLY need to get MS Office for Mac? Can we just use the word processor available in the Mac? And does it compare to MS Word?</p>

<p>I just want to know if it makes a huge difference to get a fancy computer. What do college students use their computer for besides writing papers and doing internet research? I'm curious because I don't know at all...</p>

<p>By the way, I'm thinking of getting a Macbook.
Thanks!</p>