<p>What’s the usual or recommended general features for laptops at BU, particularly for a COM student?</p>
<p>I was getting amped up for a 17’ screen for movies and gaming, but I guess reality just sunk in. Are laptops used in classes often, are the desks big enough, etc? Should I just get a regular 14-15’ screen for portability?</p>
<p>What kind of gaming? high end gaming? like quake 4, half life 2, battlefield 2142 etc...? or lower end games? I say, bring a desktop for gaming and a regular, light, and portable laptop.</p>
<p>What games do the kids there play? I was looking at laptops for some sweet high-end games that are coming soon in Q4 (CRYSIS), but I don't want to have to keep a 17' monitor laptop on a 20' desk.</p>
<p>Also, there's gonna be huge upgrades to laptops in 2008, like the cpu and upgrades to Vista. So me and all of you should hold back on the laptop and purchase one that isn't too costly just yet.</p>
<p>It will be cheaper and give you more flexibility to get a smaller laptop, one you can carry and use more easily, while attaching an external monitor, keyboard and mouse on your desk. The odds are you won't be using your laptop much in class and the libraries, etc. have computers you can use. If you have a document, for example, putting it on a flash drive is easier than carrying the whole computer.</p>
<p>is there a preference between a mac or a pc for studies in COM journalism or the core curriculum? I'm seriously considering a mac...</p>
<p>i was wondering about COM also, i have a pc right now but lately i've been hearing COM students are better off w/ a mac... anyone know what would be best for BU?</p>
<p>As far as I know, unless you will be dealing a lot with graphics and such (in which case you'd probably want a mac) it really doesn't matter which kind you get.</p>
<p>I know plenty of people with pcs and plenty with macs (I'm one of them) and both work just fine. BU tech services is fully prepared to help you with any problems you might have for either computer. </p>
<p>And know that any program you might need for your classes will be available in BU computer labs. That includes things from Microsoft Access for database management, to Dreamweaver for website building, to film editing software for COM students. The school won't make you upgrade your own computer or install software. Whether or not you want to for the convenience of using the programs in your own room is up to you.</p>
<p>i'm gonna be entering COM as a frosh this fall so i bought a mac a couple months ago. i really love it, but make sure you buy microsoft office because because anytipe of word processing is limited on mac programs, especially things like spreadsheets. unfortunately office 2008 doesnt come out for mac until october tho</p>
<p>You have to buy Office for a Windows computer too. Most profs accept documents in .doc format and many other programs will save to that but Word is still (unfortunately) the standard. Academic pricing for either Word or all of Office is cheap.</p>
<p>Yeah I'm not sure if people know that. You can buy software programs and computers (Macs AND PCs) and get a super educational discount. Check out University computers when you're on campus or even go directly to the company website and look for the education section.</p>
<p>About Microsoft Office for Macs, Office 2008 will be released soon in Q2 of this year. How quickly will BU update to this version? Should I not jump on board right away?</p>
<p>If BU will update it soon after its release, then would anyone plan on using NeoOffice (openoffice for macs) until Office 2008 instead of purchasing Office 2004?</p>
<p>a laptop to play crysis!?lol.get ready to spend a good 4000 bucks</p>
<p>I recommend that you to purchase a featherweight laptop with middle ground specifications in addition to a powerhouse desktop for gaming. You don't want to be the kid with the 18 pound XPS growling through lecture. No, I'm not</a> kidding.</p>
<p>BU won't "update" to a specific version of office but as long as you can save in the version your professor wants, you'll be fine.</p>
<p>I refuse to use Microsoft Office, if only on principle. Open Office, a Free alternative, worked just fine for me. I'd usually save in DOC format. For complex documents, I submitted PDF. No problem.</p>
<p>Note that I am not a COM major. This is just my personal WR/CS/PS/BI (CAS) experience.</p>
<p>Anything that saves in .doc format is going to work. </p>
<p>I actually prefer Apple's Pages because it's so easy to work with, but I have to take an extra step of saving a document and then exporting it to .doc format.</p>