<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I was wondering when we would get our laptops if we order it from apple and use the Columbia discount? And my second questions is how much of a discount do we really get, I know that the mac book pro runs around $1999-2500, so would that mean that we get a discounted price of ~$1500-2000?</p>
<p>The three macbook pro models are $1799, 2299 and 2599 respectively with the educational discount. </p>
<p>I don't think you need a macbook pro in college. I would suggest getting a regular macbook and a desktop. The macbooks run from $999-1399. Also if you wait until June-July apple usually throws in a $200 ipod and a $100 printer for free with the educational discount.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info Shraf, yeah I'll definitely go with the macbook but why would one need a desktop if one has a laptop? And btw, it says we need our UNI to access the educational discount, where do we get out UNIs?</p>
<p>i'd suggest getting a PC. everything else on campus will work with it. businesses use them. macs cost a lot more. you can get a pretty decent Lenovo Thinkpad or HP laptop for $800, and spend the $1200 you save on hookers and blow, or whatever the hell else you want.</p>
<p>you get your UNIs over the summer, usually July-ish.</p>
<p>So what really is the difference between the macbook and pc?</p>
<p>mac:
- better advertising campaigns
- won't have Windows Vista on it
- used by more artists / designers (Though the same apps are available on both platforms)
- slight edge in system stability</p>
<p>pc:
- much cheaper
- windows XP still available - get this if you can, Vista sucks horse cawk
- more applications more widely available - some stuff simply isn't available for mac
- the near-universal standard in business. basically every type of company everywhere uses pcs exclusively.</p>
<p>lol @ denzera's bias :P</p>
<p>your main argument:</p>
<p>
[quote]
i'd suggest getting a PC. everything else on campus will work with it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>simply isn't true....</p>
<p>you can install windows on your mac and have the best of both worlds....you can either use vmware fusion (my preference) or bootcamp and run windows as if you were working on a PC. That way you get the best of both worlds. </p>
<p>I think macs are hands down better for laptops! Here's why:</p>
<ul>
<li>MUCH longer battery life....and it's as much about software as it is about hardware...when i run windows on my mac the battery life is cut in half...macbook running mac OS can get ~4hrs. I've heard that macbook pro isn't as good with battery life...probably because of the bigger screen. </li>
<li>MUCH faster startup! at least twice as fast as windows. Also if you use vmware for windows on your mac you can suspend windows so you don't have to shut it down and start it up if you need it.
-lighter & thinner</li>
</ul>
<p>Macs have really come a long way ...I used to be very anti mac until i began researching laptops last summer and found that macbooks really are the best value. </p>
<p>
[quote]
why would one need a desktop if one has a laptop?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>my suggestion really depends on your computer needs....desktops are just much more powerful which you need for some applications and digital multitasking. For engineers this will come in handy....even doing statistics on my laptop (using SAS) takes much longer than doing it on my desktop. If you aren't planning on doing anything thats computer intensive in college the laptop will probably suffice...you might want to think of getting a 20+ inch monitor for your room to hook your laptop up to when you are there and a comfortable keyboard and mouse.</p>
<p>Macs are ridiculously expensive. i probably wont be doing much more than typng and surfing, anyways so ill probably just get an HP.</p>