<p>ok, so a desktop has more memory, power, etc, but a laptop is so much more convenient if you want to do your work somewhere other than your room, so</p>
<p>for the current students/alumni…which do you recommend? which do you have? do you like it? why?</p>
<p>for c/o '09…what are you bringing? why?</p>
<p>I'm either purchasing a 15" or 12" Powerbook to bring to Penn this fall. I'd say portability is the number one issue - working in the library, working outside, working with friends. Or even taking notes in class. Also space-wise I don't want a large desktop clogging up my desk. Plus I don't think you need that much power for the amount of work you do in college (I'm getting 1.5Ghz, 1GB RAM), but then again that depends on what you're going into.</p>
<p>Just get a new, thin monitor. That usually solves the clogged-up-desktop problem.</p>
<p>you will find that laptops are 10 times more convenient when it comes to coming home for breaks and summer</p>
<p>last weekend, i had a ****load of trojan viruses that even using norton antivirus, spybot, and adaware would not come off. thus i wanted to reformat my laptop like i did w/ my desktop a few weeks back(same problem), but i found out that u cant reformat laptops unless u bring it to the company. but my dad's friend works with dell and thus is fixing it right now. i would still go with the laptop cuz its convenient like u said and small and portable and ETC.</p>
<p>nah you can format it yourself i do it all the time</p>
<p>Yeah, you can definitely still format laptops. .just did it a few weekends ago. </p>
<p>And as for what to bring, I 1000% recommend a laptop. There are going to be times when your roomate wants to sleep and you need to do work.. you can go out into the common room. You're going to want to go to the library.. you can just bring your laptop along (especially because there are a lot of assignments/reading that will be online and a pain to print out.) If you and a friend need to work on a project, it's much easier to bring a whole laptop over.. </p>
<p>Space is also a big issue and while you can find smaller cases, a laptop is definitely a mucch better choice.</p>
<p>Indeed, you can still reformat laptops... my CD drive burned out on my drive to Penn last year for move-in, and at our pit-stop at my Uncle and Aunt's house I had to spend 4 hours on the phone with Tech Support before they figured that the only way to fix it was by reformatting it. I was ticked off... I said I'd do that if that's what it takes right at the beginning of the conversation, I had only had the computer for about 3 weeks and there was nothing important on it!!!</p>
<p>Anyway... Laptops certainly are the most convenient for portability and such, but Desktops certainly have their advantages. I found that I really did not use my laptop outside of my room all too often, mainly only when my roommate went to bed early (he was usually in bed by 10 and I usually made it to bed around 4 AM... we had very different work/living styles) and I still had to write a paper. I'd probably get a laptop no matter what, but the decision was easy for me since I have to fly back and forth to Wisconsin a few times a year... and I definitely want my computer with me everytime I go home. If you live just an hour or two away, it's not that big of a deal either way... if you really need the desktop, you can pack it up in the car and take it home for break or whatever (my best friend did that every break with his desktop).</p>
<p>how do u reformat a laptop WITHOUT bringing the old trojan viruses back. i know that u can reformat it, but old applications/viruses always pop back up sort of like a giant cookie.</p>