<p>My 6 year old laptop is at the point where it can’t hold a charge and needs to be plugged in at all times. Can I bring an iPad for orientation, or is the registration process something that can’t be done on a tablet?</p>
<p>Oh Ya Ya, make sure what/whenever it is you do decide to buy a laptop to search other places (google search?) for discounts. When I bought my HP laptop I saw that there was a 10% discount through the UT Austin campus store site, but I figured out that it completely nullified a $450 coupon that I had found on a website.
The 10% was no where near that amount.</p>
<p>Thank you. We already figured out that amazon is better place to buy books than co-op. It looks like it is the same for computers.</p>
<p>Ok guys so I have decided that I need to buy a new laptop for next year. Is there any recommendations for specific ones? I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to computers but I know a bit more than the average person. I’m looking at PC’s since I am a business student. Money is not an issue</p>
<p>I would wait until late summer to get a new laptop if you can wait. Intel’s new line of processors (IvyBridge) should be coming out sometime soon, and you’ll either get a better processor for the same price or a discount for the current processors (SandyBridge).</p>
<p>The discounts I’ve seen on the UT site are rather unimpressive. Also, Macs are just overpriced PC’s. If you want to splurge, go ahead and get one… but you’ll get better value if you go for a different brand.</p>
<p>we spoke with a neighbor who works at Intel. He recommended the same thing – Ivy Bridge (3rd gen Intel processors) release early June, but the first wave will be for high-end computers. His recommendation was if spending more money, go Ivy Bridge ultrabook. Otherwise, he suggested sticking with 2nd gen Intel processors once they are discounted further over the summer.</p>
<p>I’m gonna be an EE major. For the more technically inclined on this forum, would you advise that I get Windows, Linux/Ubuntu, or a dual-boot option with both?</p>
<p>Run a native windows OS and then use Linux through VirtualBox ;)</p>
<p>I’m a prospective '16 business freshman and I’m waiting for the Ivybridge release in the summer for Ultrabooks… which I’m planning to get for the portability and the overall improvements of the specific model I’m looking at. Although Ivybridge processors are not an incredible jump in terms of processing power, the the release should bring down prices of current Sandy bridge models as well.
Although I love its aesthetics, I generally avoid Macs for their inability to open .exe files.</p>
<p>tl;dr wait til summer and get a pc plz.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind you can bring in co-op receipts with your UT ID sometime and get 12% back on all purchases! There was a post about it on the UT 2016 Facebook page :p</p>
<p>
Because Apple aggressively campaigned to differentiate Macs from Windows PC’s with their “I’m Mac. I’m a PC” commercials. Simple as that.</p>
<p>By the way, for anyone waiting on IvyBridge, the processors don’t actually give a noticeable boost in performance unless you’re doing heavy video editing or gaming. So unless you’re doing that or every minute of battery time is important for you (since IvyBridge is more efficient) you should just get the older generation for the cheaper price when IvyBridge comes out.</p>
<p>Well more or less it will be a size difference. Intel focuses on speed, size, and then repeats with each generation. This could mean that smaller laptops will be cheaper with IvyBridge. And there will most likely be many more small quad core laptops available this summer compared to last summer. But you do make a good point - for those who it does not matter it is still better to wait to buy a new computer to save the extra money from buying sandy bridge when IvyBridge really becomes popular. Computers are starting to sell in the rest of the world with IvyBridge and are going to be starting in the US soon. It is also important to know that dual core mobile processors (ie, dual core laptop processors) wont start selling before probably the end of quarter 2 of this year because of how many SandyBridge mobile dual core’s are still in stock and have not been sold.</p>