<p>Harvard Technology Services has the 13-inch MacBook Pro for $1079... Is this a reasonable price, or should I wait till I get to the US and shop around for a cheaper one? Also, is getting a Mac worth the extra money, or should I just get a cheaper laptop?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Mac is worth the money. Buy that sucker.</p>
<p>Our household is completely MAC based. If you asked my husband or son (who are comfortable enough with the Apple products that they could work for the company) about MAC vs Windows computers, they would tell you to go with a MAC. There is series of ads out, in the US, which show shoppers trying to the computer that they want for under a certain price and every time the buyer shun the MAC and purchases a PC. My son goes crazy when he sees this ad because of all the “misinformation” in it. Anyhow I know that many people feel that the Apple is a more expensive product, but, as I understand it, there is much more included for the price. I am sure that you are going to get many responses both ways. One thing to note though, unlike many schools out there, I have gotten the feeling that your choice of laptop will be fully supported at Harvard so the choice can truly be up to you (son actually turned down a number of schools because a PC was required)</p>
<p>As for price, husband purchases D’s computer from the Harvard store. He would not have done that if the price were not on target.</p>
<p>I’m more of a PC guy. And yes, I am biased. 
</p>
<p>However, you really, really, really gotta admit that the components that go in the Mac are over priced. Buying from the Mac website, to your customized specifications is a joke. A 1 or 2 G increase in RAM, a slightly bigger hard drive, drives your Mac’s price up hundreds of dollars, even when the market price for same components are just a few dozen dollars more. All that extra money that you spend goes straight into Apple’s pockets. </p>
<p>PCs and Macs literally use the same components. Intel makes the processors for both companies, the video cards are from NVidea for higher end Macs, and the Hard Drive comes from Japanese or Korean manufacturers. </p>
<p>I guess it comes down to the software then. Mac has great programs and software, and their OS is great. </p>
<p>Vista is a joke but workable, XP is outdated but functional, Windows 7 shows some promise but remains to be seen. </p>
<p>As long as you know something about the basic security of your PC, with a decent virus program, you won’t really have any problems. I’ve used PC’s all my life and have never had one die on me. </p>
<p>If you have the money, and like the Mac, then go for it. However, I’m always on a budget and I like to play high end games, so that’s a PC for me. A 1080 bucks can get me a dedicated high end graphics card laptop, with an advanced dual core CPU, 4G RAM, 320G+ HD, etc.</p>
<p>“Harvard Technology Services has the 13-inch MacBook Pro for $1079”</p>
<p>Yes, it’s a GOOD price … even more so when you consider that it comes with a FREE printer and iPod. (You have to pay for the iPod first, then you do the mail-in rebate.) We just bought one for my daughter!</p>
<p>Full Disclosure: We’ve been a MAC family since 1988. (I can’t touch a PC, nor do I care to increase Bill Gates’ net worth, unless of course he gives a lot more to H.)</p>
<p>Whoa . . . MacBook Pro with printer and iPod for $1079 - pull the trigger!</p>
<p>Plus, Harvard Tech Services is a Mac-happy organization in terms of support. My two Ds were talked into taking MacBooks there and now can stand to be without them.</p>
<p>If you get a Mac you pay more money to get a better OS. That’s essentially the gist of it. I just put XP on my PC and I’m happy.</p>
<p>One of my old high school classmates (and the only person in our class to get into Harvard), is getting this:</p>
<p>[HP</a> Official Store — Buy an HP Pavilion tx2 and tx2z series notebook PC from HP](<a href=“http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Ultra-Portable&series_name=tx2z_series]HP”>http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Ultra-Portable&series_name=tx2z_series)</p>
<p>She considered a Mac herself, but decided to get an HP instead… Good for her.</p>
<p>no, it is complete garbage. If you do get one, make sure you get the applecare protection plan for 3 year tech support, if I didnt have that I’d be done for.</p>
<p>A MacBook pro for $1,079?!? That’s highway robbery for you. My brother bough his for $2,400… I bought my regular MacBook for $1,600…</p>
<p>Normally I wouldn’t vouch for a mac, but the laptop, printer, and ipod combo for just over $1000 is a great deal.</p>
<p>For a Macbook pro that’s amazing. That’s usually the same cost as a regular Macbook. But I agree with getting Applecare. My hard drive broke randomly (didn’t drop it or anything, was just sitting with it on my lap and it crashed) and I lost EVERYTHING. Tried using DiskWarrior. Nothing. Even sent it for data recovery. Nothing. My Macbook hasn’t been the same since.</p>
<p>To be honest, the only reason I’m recommending to buy that one is because it’s so cheap for what it is. If you only want it for general usage, I’d probably say you’re better of getting a regular computer. You can get one for half the price that will function just as well. Unless you do anything with art or music or other software that really benefits being used in conjunction with a Mac processor then I’d say just get a normal Windows laptop.</p>
<p>LOL is this serious? Ubuntu has all of the pros of Apple operating systems without the vendor lock-in and the proprietary hardware. [Ubuntu</a> Home Page | Ubuntu](<a href=“http://www.ubuntu.com/]Ubuntu”>http://www.ubuntu.com/)
If you didn’t already know, Mac and Linux use the same filesystem structure, and Ubuntu is committed to the GNU project. That’s right… all software is free and open source. And there are no viruses.</p>
<p>I was trying to figure out the same thing a few weeks ago, pc vs mac. I had never used a mac before but I bought one and I absolutely LOVE it. Its really easy to use and it has all these cool little features. I still haven’t quite figured out their version of ms word, but so far I haven’t really had the need since its July. I’ve had three pc laptops in 4 years! One of them I spilled water on, so that one breaking was my fault, but the other two had several problems that I had to fix before just getting a new one. I wanted something that would really last. I got the macbook pro, and I know its only been a month, but I feel like its sturdier than my other laptops. Plus its much lighter, which will be nice when I’m carrying it around.</p>
<p>So yea, I vote mac =)</p>
<p>My son purchased a mac last year for his freshman year and he loves it. He wasn’t sure at first, but now he’s very thankful for it. He purchased it through the computer services dept at Harvard.</p>
<p>damn i shouldn’t have bought my regular macbook for 1400</p>