<p>Anyone have any advice on where to get laptop recommendations? My daughter is pre-physical therapy.</p>
<p>I contacted our recruiter, and he referred me to the UA Superstore. Their Apple guy is going to get back to me, but we’ve never had Apple products – just Windows based.</p>
<p>I got my son a laptop last summer for med school. He wanted one with a touchscreen, and he loves it!</p>
<p>We have always had Windows based products as well. We bought D a Mac at The Supe during BamaBound. They had a package deal during Bama Bound. Might ask them when they call back if the deal they are giving now is better than the ones during BB. D loves her Mac. She also has an Ipad Mini. They are compatable. That is nice. If they have things like Knowtes downloaded they can use their ipad in class for notes and transfer to their Mac easily. I found the Zagg keyboard for the ipad to be less at the Best Buy in Tuscaloosa than the ones here at home.</p>
<p>Purchased a Dell laptop 15 inch (not a touchscreen) for Civil Eng son. He likes it and has found it very easy with Engineering studies and CBHP work. He did say he wishes we had gone smaller for even easier transport.</p>
<p>My engineering son has a Lenovo W530 with a docking station for schoolwork. He rarely brought his machine to class freshman year, but apparently brings totes it around much more this year. The docking station is not necessary but is very convenient; just drop the machine in and it’s connected to an external monitor, storage drive, printer etc when needed.</p>
<p>I have owned many computers in my lifetime and now am using a Lenovo Thinkpad x230i. It’s large enough that I can use if for my primary machine yet small and light enough to easily transport.</p>
<p>Last 2 laptops we bought were Lenovo. One was a touch screen for D business major and the other was a suped up one for Engineering S. Got them on Lenovo online for great prices. Watch for their deals.</p>
<p>PoetMom…if you decide to go with a Mac it will be hard to beat the prices you can get at the UA Superstore with the education discount. One place to also check is the Apple website. If you you to the Apple website and then to the Store you can scroll all the way to the bottom and find refurbished & clearance. You can find some good deals there sometimes but the deal change a lot.</p>
<p>If you ask Mac vs PC then you can start a religious war. They both have their advantages & disadvantages. A lot depends on your budget and intended major. Being in physical therapy I do not think it will matter which platform you buy. A lot of engineers prefer PC based machines since they tend to have more s/w available in that arena and the creative folks tend to like Macs better.</p>
<p>A lot of people will say you pay more for a Mac, but if you do a true comparison on CPU, RAM, disk, display, size, weight, & battery life…A similar PC will cost within 10% or so of a similar Mac. The big difference is you can get a lower end machine in PCs and save some money.</p>
<p>I use and have both. I tried to get my son to go the Mac route when I bought him a laptop, but he felt more comfortable with the PC. </p>
<p>As TxNewCollegeMom pointed out, if your daughter has any iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) then they do integrate a little bit better with a Mac & iCloud, but you can also get some integration with PCs as well through other means.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is size. I set my son up with a docking station using a full size keyboard, mouse & external monitor. that way when he is in the room it is more comfortable (and this goes for any laptop) to use and he can easily unplug and take his laptop with him.</p>
<p>One last reminder is BACKUPS!!! Toooo many people over look this and when you kid’s machine dies, or is stolen, or is dropped, or is fallen on by someone in the library (yes I have heard all of these events from friends with kids in school) they will loose all of their work and might end up missing assignments. Get them an external backup drive that they use (preferably something running automatically) that stays in their room.</p>
<p>Good Luck!!!</p>
<p>Oh, since we are on the subject of laptops. One common complaint of UA students is the UA wifi. It stinks! It is mentioned many times on the UA probs twitter.</p>
<p>I think the wifi issue is only in the dorms (ResNet) when everyone is using it at the same time. However, when kids use an ethernet cable the problem goes away.</p>
<p>Isn’t Bama changing from ResNet to something else for the dorms?</p>
<p>PoetMom - Just a second vote for twomutts advice.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you may want to reach out to someone in Phy-Therapy just to see if they have any recommendations. I would expect that you will be able to go Apple or Windows, but, when we purchased one for DS a few years ago we went windows as in engineering there were some tools that were really windows only. (recommended by an engineer not UA). On the other hand some areas such as graphics an apple has better tools.</p>
<p>As I said you are probably good with either in your area, but it doesn’t hurt to ask just to be sure.</p>
<p>Whatever equipment you buy:
<p>My S uses an ipad for note-taking during classes, then downloads back at his room (he finds the laptop too big/heavy to lug around). Other threads/posts have noted that not all professors like electronics being used in the classroom. Students should check w/ each professor beforehand regarding the policy for using electronics in each class.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the feedback – really appreciate it!</p>
<p>Apparently there’s no set guidelines/recommendations for her field of study, so we’re going to have her test drive different ones to see what she’s comfortable with. She’s also polling all her friends currently in college to see what they like best.</p>
<p>I really like the idea of backing up. She’s not in the habit of doing that at home, and we all know what it’s like to lose computer data. </p>
<p>The WiFi problem is too bad – it makes so many things easier. Hopefully they will find a better solution.</p>
<p>Would never mention the Mac vs Windows issue – it is akin to starting a religious war. :-)</p>
<p>Welcome, fellow poet. CC needs more poets!</p>
<p>I love this topic every time it comes up. </p>
<p>At BamaBound you’ll receive a SupeStore Apple bundle deal that is decent. External hard drive, software, t-shirt, etc. Don’t expect to find half-priced MacBooks, but it’s a conveniently packaged bunch of stuff for a fair price. </p>
<p>Funny thing, for all our fretting, all the students seem to find their way with whatever we force upon them (for religious reasons), or they pick for themselves. </p>
<p>DS is a non-engineering freshman. We bought the mid-level MacBook Pro bundle. He thought he was a PC kind of guy, but he is rarely found without his Mac now.</p>
<p>I have always valued no-fuss “full service” in my laptops, which is why I like the MacBook Pro. But I respect those who value weight (MacBook Air or various tablets) or horsepower (PCs with quad-giga-core-tera-thingies).</p>
<p>Well, it’s great to see another poet on board! I’m sure we can greatly annoy the general population by posting in iambic pentameter or free verse!</p>
<p>We are hoping to make a purchase soon. That way she can get comfortable working with it and get in the habit of backing up (I think 8 months might be enough to get into the habit.)</p>
<p>And I couldn’t agree more – they sure do find their own way, despite our fretting. I remember buying a Brother Word Processor for myself in college – it was really a glorified typewriter that saved your files. Technology changed rapidly over the next few years, but I made do with whatever I had & upgraded when I could. I’m sure our kids will too.</p>
<p>Hello, PoetMom! I know nothing about computers that would be worth passing along to you, but I do have a story worth sharing. For our son, we bought the MAC laptop bundle deal offered by the SUPE store during our BB visit. A year and half later, my son had major problems with his laptop. He simply took it to the SUPE store and 45 minutes later it was fixed…for free. I have no idea what was wrong with it and have no idea if they would have helped with any computer brought in… It might be a good idea to investigate that service a bit. Having his computer issue solved so quickly sure was convenient! :)</p>
<p>As a computer engineer, I have been working with computers since I was a kid and my dad brought home an apple IIe eons ago. </p>
<p>We have always used windows based computers/laptops at home and my biggest complaint is all the problems with software updates, failed discs, viruses, you name it, I’ve dealt with it. </p>
<p>My son got a MacBook pro 3 years ago. He has never had problems with it. Nor have I been required to fix or update anything on it. We’ve never even needed to go to the genius bar at our local apple store.</p>
<p>Bought daughter a MacBook Air last summer for her freshman year at Bama (she’s a Bio major). She loves it and brings it with her everywhere. I it’s incredibly light and portable. You pay more for an apple, but that’s because their stuff is way better than anything out there priced lower.</p>
<p>You can also get the student discount at any apple store, I think you just need to provide crimson.edu email.</p>