<p>Which do most students prefer? I have a netbook (pretty much a mini-laptop) but I don't think that it will be enough for college..</p>
<p>Everyone seems to brag about Macs… So I guess it’s the best for college students… But it sure is expensive.</p>
<p>Get what WORKS for you, not what everyone else has. I’m sure everyone else is running around on campus with the latest apple crap, but if that doesn’t work for you, don’t plop down the money for it.</p>
<p>Personally, I am a PC person. I grew up on PCs and can build a PC. I could care less what everyone on campus has, seeing as you can run Microsoft Word on a calculator.</p>
<p>if you want a low maintenance, very reliable laptop, i’d splurge for a mac. i’ve had both; i went through 2 pcs within 3 year and i’ve had my mac for almost 4 years now, no problem. they never ever get viruses and are so durable (i put mine through hell on a daily basis).</p>
<p>That’s why I like ‘em too. Just get one expensive mac rather than just paying to repair a PC or buying a new PC. My sister learned from her mistake :’)</p>
<p>My mac is amazing! as someone who converted over from a PC, it’s very easy to learn, and I like it a lot better!</p>
<p>Well if I get a new laptop I’ll probably get a Mac. But would it be reasonable to bring my desktop to the dorm and just use my netbook for class or the library? The only drawbacks to my netbook is that I can’t print stuff (I usually just e-mail myself word documents and print them on my computer) and it doesn’t have a CD/DVD player. Are the dorms big enough to comfortably fit a desktop?</p>
<p>Do we really need a laptop? I’m gonna bring over my gaming laptop (or rather, my mobile desktop) that I definitely won’t be lugging around campus and I intend to get a netbook for class. That should be sufficient, right? Otherwise, I might start to regret rejecting my uncle’s offer for a macbook.</p>
<p>laptops in class are overrated and tend to reduce productivity.</p>
<p>if you must bring your laptop to class, TURN OFF THE WIRELESS AND PAY ATTENTION TO LECTURE. </p>
<p>my ideal setup would have been having a desktop in my dorm room with a netbook to carry to class. unfortunately you can’t exactly bring a desktop computer with you on a plane.</p>
<p>also, macbooks are overpriced… but if you have no clue about computers it’s probably easier to just go with a mac. personally i’m a PC guy… have never gotten a virus either.</p>
<p>In short I agree with sydneyral.</p>
<p>My standard Mac/PC speech: Generally speaking when you compare what you get for the money Macs are usually more expensive (the so-called Apple Tax). Furthermore, peripherals for Macs tend to cost more because there are fewer approved providers. For this added expense you get a very stable, easy to use platform and a pretty much virus free environment; though the user experience has improved dramatically on PCs.</p>
<p>Secondarily, you don’t state your major, but you should check with your school/department. At some schools, usually engineering or the Math/Statistics departments, there may be a bias toward PC. This is primarily because there are still a very few scientific/engineering programs that are specifically written for PC that don’t have a Mac equivalent. While Mac’s PC emulators have improved over the years they can still be “kludgy” and slow when trying to run a calculation intensive primarily PC program - it still happens that every once in a while I run into a glitch using MS Office for Mac, though thankfully those problems have also dropped dramatically in frequency. </p>
<p>Finally, remember that while Macs are very popular on college campuses, with the exception of a few graphics intensive industries, PCs still rule the desktops out in the work place (by something like 85% PC/ 15% Mac). So it’s entirely likely that you’re going to have to get used to a PC based environment when you get out of school, but that’s hardly a huge problem.</p>
<p>Both will work on campus, get want you want/are comfortable using/can afford.</p>
<p>P.S. FWIW, I personally think the way to go for most people will be an iPad/Android tablet with a docking station at home/work. The big problem now is that docking stations are rare for these products, but it’s only a matter of time.</p>
<p>Get a mac if you’re incompetent, get a PC if you’re not.</p>
<p>I agree with Pinata. Macs are idiot proof. But if you know anything about computers, go with a PC. Much cheaper for the same performance.</p>
<p>~75% of people with Macs at USC pay $1500 for a laptop to go on Facebook, listen to music on iTunes, and write a paper on Word. I can do all the above on a $200 netbook, lol.</p>
<p>Unless you’re going to be taking any sort of computing intensive classes, your netbook will do just fine - the majority of users do no more than the rudimentary word processing, emailing, and web surfing on their laptops; that’s what it sounds like you’ll be doing, and for those purposes, a netbook is perfectly fine.</p>
<p>Question: is it the rare person who uses a laptop to take notes in class, or is it the rare person who writes notes by hand? </p>
<p>I only ask because I’m speedy on my laptop and I am NOT the kind to pay USC tuition prices just to surf facebook. At the same time, I took a college class a while back and hand-wrote all of my notes, which worked out just fine. What is “standard” procedure?</p>
<p>Doesn’t really matter anyone, no one really cares, everyone just does what’s convenient for them, although, honestly, I’d say kids who use their laptops just to take notes are rare, they’re generally on Facebook.</p>
<p>I personally take notes by hand most of the time because it makes it easier for me to remember things, and then I type stuff up later on the computer to make a study guide to study for the exam. Plus, if you hand write, it’s easier to copy down diagrams and pictures and stuff. I’d say the only downside of handwritten notes is the inability to send notes to your friend who missed class for whatever reason.</p>
<p>^Good points. Honestly, I think I’ll probably be best off if I hand-write notes. Carrying a computer around is a hassle; carrying some spiral notebooks around is pretty easy. </p>
<p>As for giving notes to a friend, I guess there’s photocopying?</p>
<p>victoria, I wouldn’t limit yourself to only hand-writing notes. It depends on the class that you’re taking. In discussions/language courses, I usually use a notebook. But in most of my lectures, the teacher talks way too fast for me to hand write all of the points I want to get down. And some upload their powerpoints online that I like to have on my screen to follow along/add notes (much more environmentally friendly than printing them out lol)</p>
<p>It probably also depends on your major. I would guess that math/engineering majors benefit more from writing down equations and whatnot. My major (Public Relations) is all talk though lol.</p>