<p>I am a freshman and I am going to Cal next year and I'm about to get a new laptop but I don't know which one would be best at Cal. Can someone please let me know which one has the least problems there or which is better over all?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Get a Mac, you won’t regret it.</p>
<p>Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, was a Berkeley graduate.
Gates? Dropped out of Harvard. His monkey-boy, Ballmer? STANFURD GRAD!</p>
<p>Do you really want to indirectly support our rival?
Berkeley is perfect for a Mac person, as it was partly the inspiration for Apple culture.</p>
<p>Since it’s a mac you can surf for porn and not get viruses…well not easily as a PC 
If you do get a PC, however get an HP or If you dont want to spend a lot of money then you can get a dell.</p>
<p>Mac, no doubt. And calbear, there have been NO viruses for my mac or a few of my friends. Even a 900$ mac has good specs, contrary to popular belief.</p>
<p>If you can afford one, go with Mac.
But if you are using one simply for taking notes, writing essays, then get a cheaper one - like a windows.</p>
<p>I need more specifics on what you’re planning to do with the laptop. Whether you’ll play video games, or just use it for essays and the basics.</p>
<p>Ultimately, however, I’d recommend a PC overall. What Macs have are bells and whistles. It looks nice, has a few features (that you pay for anyways, hidden cost is still a cost), and doesn’t get viruses supposedly (news reports have said that the number of viruses for Macs are growing, plus, as long as you don’t download anything dangerous, there’s nothing to fear).</p>
<p>Whether you’re getting barebones, mid-line, ultraportable, powerhouse (would recommend against that), or whatever, Window PC’s offer a cheaper and just as reliable alternative to the Mac.</p>
<p>Peronally, I’m gonna go with this laptop:</p>
<p>[HP</a> - Laptop with Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T4200 - G60-235DX](<a href=“http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9167947&type=product&id=1218041998788&ref=09&loc=01&srccode=cii_5766179&cpncode=20-9041446-2]HP”>http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9167947&type=product&id=1218041998788&ref=09&loc=01&srccode=cii_5766179&cpncode=20-9041446-2)</p>
<p>Hope that helps, and hope nobody decides to start a Mac/PC flame war here.</p>
<p>^^That laptop is a piece of ****. How can anyone even consider a PC? Macs rule!</p>
<p>JK, that laptop is pretty sweet, considering the price. If you guys want to go even cheaper, I recommend an Acer. I got mine for 300 or something dollars. Granted there was nothing already installed, but I know how to get all the necessary software for free, so it wasn’t a problem. Although I’m not bringing it to college because the screen broke when my brother dropped it so I now have it hooked up to an external monitor. </p>
<p>I’ve already had to reboot my system 4 times because of viruses (and I have no intention to curtail my risky downloading), so a mac might be a good option. The last virus was a doozy- it got to the point where I couldn’t get to the login screen and had to remove the hardrive and back up the files and then override the reboot cycle and reinstall the disks (sorry I’m bragging, but I suck at computers, so this was a big accomplishment).</p>
<p>bad idea.</p>
<p>you’d better curtail your risky downloading habits. a mac won’t help when the administrators see that you’re downloading illegal crap.</p>
<p>PC is cheaper and better for games</p>
<p>So colleges monitor individual activity? I thought they just gave you a standard internet jack, not that everyone is in the same network. I guess this proves my lack of computer knowledge.</p>
<p>If that is true, I probably should curtail some downloads. I’ll just let my home laptop do all the dirty work and then transfer files every vacation.</p>
<p>My friend works as staff at UF, and he says that all colleges nowadays check carefully for bad downloads, especially 'dem P2P.</p>
<p>Mostly because they get flack from that, plus, they don’t want to deal with all the complaints of viruses and the likes.</p>
<p>And I’m pretty sure Berkeley is no exception to monitoring suspicious users downloading from limewire and stuff like that.</p>
<p>Read this: [Residential</a> Computing at UC Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.rescomp.berkeley.edu/stayconnected/filesharing/]Residential”>http://www.rescomp.berkeley.edu/stayconnected/filesharing/)</p>
<p>***.</p>
<p>the girl in that pic should be wearing a black turtle neck and burret.</p>
<p>Mac is the way to go. loving it.</p>
<p>I definitely have to recommend the Mac, if you can afford it. A lot of good explanations have been brought up, and I will not add any more…LOL. It’s just my point of view, my brother is a BETA for Microsoft and even he has a Mac…but again, my opinion. I think in the end it really depends what you use it for. I understand that you are an incoming freshmen and it might be a good idea to save up the money, because trust me–you’ll need it! </p>
<p>Good luck!^^</p>
<p>I don’t play computer games. I just want one that will last long and has some bells and whistles. Is it true that Macs don’t get many viruses compared to dells or hps? And though it costs a lot is it worth it. I can afford it so that’s not an issue but is it really worth it?</p>
<p>^
It is true that Macs don’t have many known viruses. It is ALSO true that because of sudden surge of popularity over Macs that new viruses are being created for Macs. (Yes, anyone can make viruses…)</p>
<p>I’m glad you don’t play computer games…lol! </p>
<p>I’ve had my Macbook for six years and it still works great (I don’t use that one as much, I’ve gotten another one). Of course, my older brothers teach me a lot about computers…and I always go for them to fix stuff. That’s another factor, I think personally it takes a while for you to get accustomed to Macs. If you’ve already been accustomed to PCs, it’s going to be different…and might take some time. If you’re looking for something that you can adapt to right away…go for the PC! Unless you’re a quick learner. ;P</p>
<p>I like PCs and I’m going to get one, but what about Vista? I’m not into gaming or downloading or anything like that. I just want a computer that I can take notes with, do assignments on, surf the web, just simple stuff. I know that Vista is supposed to be terrible, but would it be ok for the basic things I mentioned?</p>
<p>It’s fine for the basic things you mention.
Only con for basics is that it has a pretty slow boot up time.</p>
<p>Or I could install XP and wait until windows 7? Or I could try a Mac? Macs seem cool but it might take me a while to figure out how to use them… but at the same time I’ve never used Vista much either.</p>