<p>Hey,
I've been a long time PC user (for as long as I can remember) and I need to get a new laptop for college (Computer Science major). I don't have a problem with Windows at all, in fact I prefer it, nor have I been plagued by the "rampant spyware and viruses" that Mac users love to talk about. However, all the Windows laptops I've seen just look and feel so cheap and plasticky, especially next to these shining, metal Apple beauties. This leads me to look at Apple as a viable option.
As much as I love the pretty and exciting newness of OSX, I don't want to throw out everything that Windows has, especially Winamp. I'm conflicted.
How do you deal with Mac's limited and often unwieldy (cough, iTunes) programs? Help me.</p>
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How do you deal with Mac's limited and often unwieldy (cough, iTunes) programs? Help me.
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You just use what they give you. If you get a Mac, you're not really going to be allowed to make many choices as far as hardware/software go. You take what Apple gives you. If you like it, good for you. If not, too bad. Fortunately for Apple, most people really couldn't care less about choice (which they obviously realize and incorporate into their business strategy).</p>
<p>New Macs come with Boot Camp and you can load and run Windows. You can get it with Microsoft Office. With a PC you can do Windows With a Mac you can do both.</p>
<p>Apple</a> - Mac OS X Leopard - Features - Boot Camp</p>
<p>Macworld</a> | Comparing prices: Mac vs. Windows laptops</p>
<p>honestly, get an asus. they used to make the bodies for apple's laptops before they got into making their own.</p>
<p>they're really top of the line.</p>
<p>Thinkpads are also a good option if you don't like cheap feeling computers. While the outside is plastic it is a high quality one (closest thing to it that you might have felt is a TI calculator which has the same feel to the plastic), but the frame is a beast with the strength of a tank. Personally everyone I've met that uses a Thinkpad is in the CS field (myself included). I'm very happy with mine (though I've only had it about a month). So you should look into them.</p>
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New Macs come with Boot Camp and you can load and run Windows. You can get it with Microsoft Office. With a PC you can do Windows With a Mac you can do both.
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Why does everyone suggest this? Dual booting is a pain. You have to synchronize bookmarks, etc., and if you want to access a files from one of the OSs on the other, you have to shell out another $50 for MacDrive. Not to mention the fact that you're already paying for an OEM copy of Vista (XP will be gone once the current stocks are depleted), which would put you back another</a> $90 for an OEM copy of the most basic version available. Adding $140 on top of an already expensive laptop is not a very good 'solution'. For that reason, buying a Mac to primarily run Windows seems rather pointless.</p>
<p>For a computer science major I'd say go with whatever hardware you like best and put linux on it. Linux shines when it comes to development tools.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a solid computer, I would recommend what I have, the Vostro 1400. It's rather inexpensive and is a very sturdy feeling computer. Plus, it's all metal...not really any plastic for the case. Very solid machine.</p>
<p>EDIT: Srunni: you can probally pick up a legal copy of XP somewhere pretty cheap now. As in, from someone else, fea market, ebay, etc.</p>
<p>EDIT2: Also, with virtualbox (a free virtulization program I use), you can almost seamlessly integreate windows with your current desktop. The only time I really used it was for a programming project I was doing (ironcly) where documentation for linux was scarce and it turned into a pain to set up, so I just set it up under windows out of laziness.</p>
<p>Final year CS student and Mac user here - I'm happy with my Mac, several of my lecturers use them. However it really seems to be more a case of use what you're comfortable with - most people I know have either a Mac, or a PC set up to dualboot XP and Linux (usually Ubuntu, though I know the odd Gentoo fanatic).</p>
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I know the odd Gentoo fanatic).
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One right here :-P I love gentoo.</p>
<p>Right now I'm leaning towards Windows. I think that after getting over the enamor of all the flashy Apple stuff, I'd be stuck with an OS that isn't as flexible or powerful as Windows. And I agree with srunni about how dual booting's a pain in the ass. If I were to go that route, I would use VMWare or Parallel which would just lower the speed/integration of Windows.</p>
<p>On that note, what are some good laptops to look into, in no particular price range? I know Sony had some nice ones (SZ i think), as well as the Dell XPS 1530/1330. What other brands and models should I be looking at? Assuming I had a docking station with an external monitor and keyboard/mouse, what laptop size is ideal for college student?</p>
<p>Well, as I already said, the Vostro 1400 is nice and it is also a good size.</p>
<p>I'd say to stick with a smaller laptop as you are not going to want to lug around some big huge box everywhere you go. I woulden't waste the money on an ultra-lite, but I'd look for a computer that isn't horribly heavy or large.</p>
<p>The 1330 is nice and portable and gets good battery life. </p>
<p>If you have an external monitor and docking station I say get the most portable computer you can get that will still meet your needs</p>
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The 1330 is nice and portable and gets good battery life.
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Are you reffering to that new one on the vostro line? That did look pretty nice and is even smaller than the 1400, but it also costs more :S Though, the vostro line does seem to be a great choice except for the 1000 (I hear its cheaply made and not like the others.)</p>
<p>Also, I heard Asus makes a good laptop. What models are good from them? I checked out their site, and there were like 3000 laptops to choose from. I plan to use Photoshop CS3, as well as some light gaming, (probably the most intensive things I'll ever do on it). What kind of video card/processor/memory would you recommend?
Thanks again for all the help!</p>
<p>cbeley has a good point. And with a mac, you don't even need linux... just open a window directly in unix mode (Terminal utility) and have access to the whole machine.</p>
<p>If you're looking at Asus look at the M50, though it won't get as long battery ife as say the Dell XPS 1530</p>
<p>The 1330 is in the XPS line. I just bought one a few days ago and it came with Vista x64. BTW, Vista x64 is crap. How Microsoft spent so much time on something this bad is beyond me. I was putting off Vista for as long as possible but needed something light for a trip and future Vista x64 development. I'm going to put an XP VM on this thing so that I can run our business stuff - it doesn't run on Vista.</p>
<p>The 1330 is great if you can put up with the small screen. It only weighs 4.4 pounds and is very nicely equipped.</p>
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One right here :-P I love gentoo.
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Same here - moved my desktop/server to Gentoo a week back and it's been great. But my laptop...not so much. Which is rather annoying, seeing as all the hardware gets detected automatically using Ubuntu.</p>