Mac or PC in college?? Any opinions please...

<p>black. we live in 2007 and in college you need to be PC or else you may get lynched.</p>

<p>I just did research on this...</p>

<p>So, besides the whole Graphics Card dilemma, with an educational discount I was able to upgrade to a MacBook Pro for $365 more than the MacBook -- Which includes the $56 increase in Extended Warranty (AppleCare).</p>

<p>-- Screen Upgrade (13 in. ---> 15.4 in.)
-- LED Backlit Screen (more energy efficient, cleaner look)
-- No glossy screen* (no glare, which is important for me in Miami,FL)
-- Thinner (1.08 in. ---> 1.00 in.)
-- Only slight decrease in battery life (6.0 hrs ---> 5.75 hrs, Apple says)
-- DVI outputs for better quality display on monitors/TVs
-- Better Processor (2.16 Ghz ---> 2.2 Ghz)
-- Only slight weight increase (5.1 lbs ---> 5.4 lbs)</p>

<ul>
<li>- You can choose to have a glossy screen placed on the MacBook Pro, but ALL MacBooks (regular) come with a glossy screen :(</li>
</ul>

<p>Basically after a little hard work, and realizing 15.4 inches is way better for viewing and only slightly less portable.... I have to go with the MacBook Pro.</p>

<p>Edit: 100th Post....Awesome.</p>

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<p><em>refrains from making jokes</em></p>

<p>who else is mildly upset that leopard isnt coming till october? i was hoping i'd have it in summer so i could get a comp before school with it.</p>

<p>I have been using a 17" for a long time to but I just bought the 13" and absolutely love it. </p>

<p>You honestly don't really need dual booting. IMO it defeats the whole purpose of getting a mac because by running windows you are making it vulnerable just as a PC would be.</p>

<p>I LOVE my mac, and I have been a PC user my entire life. It runs much more smoothly...</p>

<p>And office for mac (2004, the next version will be released this october) is compatible with all of the pc office versions and it is only $150 dollars for the student version.</p>

<p>Plus the calendar and outline program make my life 100 times easier. </p>

<p>Just my rec...go with the mac ;)</p>

<p>^I'm upset because they originally said Leopard was supposed to come out February '07, and now we have to wait until October. But judging from WWDC it looks like it should be worth the wait--a lot of the stuff shown wasn't on the Apple website preview last winter. I'm really looking forward to Stacks to clean up my desktop.</p>

<p>I have been a PC user my entire life...just got a 13" macbook and LOVE it.</p>

<p>You honestly don't really need dual booting. IMO it defeats the whole purpose of getting a mac because by running windows you are making it vulnerable just as a PC would be.</p>

<p>And office for mac (2004, the next version will be released this october) is compatible with all of the pc office versions and it is only $150 dollars for the student version. </p>

<p>I would, however, recommend spending an extra $49 to get the Mighty Mouse. I find the built in mouse to be annoyng...and it doesn't have right click which, as a former PC user, I am used to using. The might mouse has first click and works wonderfully.</p>

<p>Plus the calendar and outline program make my life 100x easier. And the ability to put 'sticky notes' on your desktop has really helped me as well...because I tend to be a bit forgetful. Overall, a mac is just easier to use. </p>

<p>Just my rec...go with the mac ;)</p>

<p>Actually, I believe that apple has found that a mac is much harder to hack. They had a hacking competition not too long ago to see who could break into the macs...and only one vulnerability was found which was fixed immediately. So they are supposed to be more secure overall.</p>

<p>Just what I've heard.</p>

<p>I'm going to buy a mac for college. at first I was going to buy a dell, which looks hideous and bulky. mac is much sleeker and compact.</p>

<p>unfortunately I have to wait till october when the leopard comes out. anyone going to buy a mac before that? </p>

<p>Do people usually buy it online or in store, how does that affect the student discount and free ipod?</p>

<p>I think Mac's are better now since they use Intel processors, and aren't so dammn slow.</p>

<p>I bought mine in an official apple store....which meant that I could still get the student discount.</p>

<p>I bought a mac before this October...just got mine last month. Definitely couldn't have lived without a computer from August till October, lol.</p>

<p>Actually, one downside to getting the BTO white one is that Apple BTO used to take FOREVER! It might be faster now, though.</p>

<p>glossy screens don't do much worse under sunlight than the normal screens, btw. you wouldn't think so, but research into it. <a href="http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=202306%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=202306&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>i just don't think 365 dollars is worth a graphics card and a bigger screen. every thing else about the two laptops is pretty much the same. i.e.the processor speed difference is so miniscule, there would be no noticeable difference at all.</p>

<p>Uh I know how to take care of a PC. But I'm stuck at home with 2 other windows PCs, and frankly, it's a pain in the ass. And macs look SO much better. I'd give mac the edge just because it's a pain in the ass to use windows, but for a lot of people, learning OS X is also a pain. But hey, those pains were totally worth it for me. Think about it, trade 2 days of unfamiliarity for 4 years of comfort and peace of mind.</p>

<p>PC PC PC PC PC PC PC PC</p>

<p>no explanation, just trust me on this one. PCs are only bad if you don't know how to use them.</p>

<p>I personally prefer the pro, but that's because my old laptop had a 15" screen and to get a smaller screen seemed like a downgrade to me. Anyways the pro is only like 1" wider and bigger than the macbook. That's really not worth the difference in screen size. Plus I heard the macbook speakers aren't that great.</p>

<p>Macs are not more expensive. Apple just doesn't sell the Wall-mart type models that most PC makers sell.</p>