<p>Are there any reqirements as to which laptop to buy? What do you guys personally reccomend?</p>
<p>There is no official requirement to have a laptop, but have one. Just have one. Your life will be much, much easier.</p>
<p>I personally recommend an Apple PowerBook/MacBook Pro (I have the G4 17"). If you're one of those people who doesn't want a Mac for whatever reason...blah, ask someone else, I know nothing.</p>
<p>and the new macbook pros run windows! heh.</p>
<p>Is there a large apple base in the students on campus? I was looking into somthing based around amd's dual core Turion (cual core, 64bit) for next year, but maybe a 13inch macBook pro (if it ever arrives) would serve better.</p>
<p>I will be in the architecture dept though, soo yeah.</p>
<p>edit:</p>
<p>I will also be bringing my current desktop in a smallish case with a 24inch lcd (1920x1200), to serve as my media server (it is fast and has way too much storage space). Possibly a kvm switch for the laptop.</p>
<p>laptop or desktop??
that's my dilemma right now</p>
<p>laptop = you can take it anywhere and CMU is wireless i believe
desktop = cheaper and bigger monitor (i have bad eyes)</p>
<p>What I'm doing is taking my current desktop and a ultralight laptop (Sharp MM20). That way, I have a desktop for all the desktoppy powerful purposes (and big, comfortable monitor) and a laptop that won't break my back to carry around (the MM20 weighs 2 pounds).</p>
<p>The proportion of Mac users on campus is much, much higher than Apple's market share would foretell. Business people gravitate towards Windows, but a lot of people in CFA and HSS have Macs. CS seems to be about evenly split, with Windows having a slight edge. There are also a bunch of computer labs full of Macs.</p>
<p>As for laptop vs. desktop: laptop. Nothing more to it.</p>
<p>I take it nobody has time to play computer games due to the intense course load.</p>
<p>I do, occasionally. Not as much as I did last semester (for me, this is spring of freshman year as a CS major, which is reputedly the most difficult), but I still do.</p>
<p>Big 17" laptop for watching movies and playing games or a nice portable laptop with long battery life. Can't decide which is more important</p>
<p>I have a 17" laptop with a 3.5-hour battery life, on a good day. If it's really a concern to you, buy an extra battery.</p>
<p>which laptop do you guys suggest for engineering students? do CMU students get any discounts from a certain company?</p>
<p>I have a Sony Vaio FS-660 and it kicks @ss:)
Oh I think we get student discounts for Macs that they sell in the student computer store.</p>
<p>yeah i am thinking of buying a MacBook Pro as well....the student discount is like $200 on it....i hope the new LeopardOS gets launched before i buy it...</p>
<p>what is the eta on Leapord. I will probably end up with a horribly small <2lb thing, as I have a desktop and a smartphone anyway, but it'd be nice to know.</p>
<p>You know, so i could run the three worthwhile OSes (Linux counts as one, everyone uses KDE as a UI anyway)</p>
<p>Unless Apples next trick is to release an open version of osX for x86.</p>