<p>(not sure where this goes but here it is)</p>
<p>So as a senior, me and some close relatives are looking for a laptop to buy.
The Debate is that should I get a Mac or PC? I'm not looking for the more popular one or so-called "Brand loyalty" posts, I want the one better for college next year.
I'm planning to take an Engineering major.
So I ask CCer which laptop should I get and why?</p>
<p>I’ve always found PCs faster and more reliable. People have told me that they find their Macs fast, but that’s never the case with me! I feel that for the price of a Mac, you can get a much better quality PC</p>
<p>I know an engineering student, and he said that there are definitely students with Macs, but some software they need doesn<code>t always run on the Macs or something like that, I</code>m not exactly sure.</p>
<p>Hmm, I do like speed, but doing some research I heard that Mac have fewer viruses. And I don’t know about the new Windows 8. Does anyone know how the Windows 8 is a step up from the previous Windows?</p>
<p>[What?s</a> new in Windows 8? | Digital Trends](<a href=“Digital Trends | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, and How-To's”>What’s new in Windows 8? | Digital Trends)</p>
<p>^^Interesting. Especially when I got to the comments section with people saying it’s crap. Does anyone actually have Windows 8?</p>
<p>My MacBook is from October 2008 and the battery is totally gone and it’s running low on memory and it’s slow so I kind of want to ask for a new one for graduation. I’m hoping by July a new MacBook Air comes out that’s faster and with more memory.</p>
<p>@CSI: Funny, I would looking online and stuffs and it said the battery were made to last a long time (more than 4-5 years). Or does this apply to newer one? Sigh so many questions in this debate.</p>
<p>Well I mean it has been four years since I got it. </p>
<p>Mid life cycle I would use it so much and do a lot of intense stuff (Portal, YouTube erry day, etc) that I’d have to recharge it every day. It’s meant for like 500 recharge cycles and I’m up to 944.</p>
<p>I have to admit, i’m kind of stumped on the same question. Parents said they would fund half of a new laptop.</p>
<p>I want something really lightweight (so I can carry it around and won’t be tempted to be distracted by games), so I was thinking an Air, but my mom told me they were stupid, “don’t run things,” and “cost too much to fix.”</p>
<p>She mentioned she gets a 5% discount on HP stuff…I mean, I like HP stuff (my netbook is HP, 4 years and this thing still works, somehow), but I didn’t see anything on their site that I really liked. I’ll definitely take another look.</p>
<p>If your are planning on engineering I would highly recommend waiting until you have all of your acceptances and commit to a school. Many engineering schools will have very specific guidelines and specs that your computer must meet. Some will not outright tell you not to get a Mac, but in certain areas of engineering due to software compatibility issues they may advise against it. One school I know in particular until this year required students to have tablets. They now will accept a slate with a USB paired with a PC, in addition to the tablet. </p>
<p>Obviously in the end you can buy what you want but it would be a good idea going in to know the required specs at your university. They post updated specs for the incoming class generally in May so what you see posted now is likely to change.</p>
<p>Obviously the Air is very light, but let’s be honest, there are very few laptops that are a burden to carry.</p>
<p>I would argue my 17" MBPro is indeed a pain to carry, but do they even make those anymore? It’s more of a desktop that folds shut, lol. Never again…</p>
<p>I personally would go with a Windows laptop because you can generally get one that’s “better” than a Macbook for the same price. I advise against a Dell, though, cuz they suck.</p>
<p>My 15" Dell Inspiron I bought in '07 was a monster. I swear it weighed like 10 pounds or something. All of that weight, yet the PC was absolute trash. Go figure.</p>
<p>I don’t know why so many people use the virus excuse to put down PCs, or to make Macs seem better. In the end, you shouldn’t be stupid to get any infections on your computer. Even if you do, you should be able to clean it up unless it’s truly that hardcore, in which case you did something really stupid.</p>
<p>Besides that, I would agree with the above poster and tell you to wait. You won’t actually use a computer for engineering probably until your junior year because all you’ll be taking are general eds, physics, and math. If you’re still committed at that point, then you can choose what you want to buy based on the software you’ll be using.</p>
<p>You might not want to get technical with your computer, but you can always make it a mac by formatting it. Otherwise, Windows will always be compatible, or it will always have the equivalent.</p>
<p>This should keep you busy for a while.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-computers/338647-choosing-computer-college-mac-pc.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-computers/338647-choosing-computer-college-mac-pc.html</a></p>
<p>I don’t care about the weight of my laptop. I got a bookbag that will do the carrying anyway. </p>
<p>Sent from my LG-VM696 using CC</p>
<p>I second the suggestion of waiting until you commit to a college to match the school’s specifications. Manufacturers and retailers always have back to school sales in the summer time anyway. However, I would like to defend the quality of Dells because my family has owned a Dell laptop since 2006. That thing has been running beautifully during normal usage, and I still use it on a daily basis. While the laptop cannot handle stuff like newer PC games and other larger programs anymore, it does what I need it to do very well.</p>
<p>rhebar,</p>
<p>The complaints of Dell actually come from their customer service problems, not so much their actual products. I agree that Dell computers are decent machines.</p>
<p>I afraid we can’t wait all year for a new laptop. We’re interested in buying one soon. Like early next year.
But I’m still debating which to get. </p>
<p>Sent from my LG-VM696 using CC</p>