<p>is the simple white macbook a good laptop for a business administration major?</p>
<p>also is it worth buying it for a california community college?</p>
<p>also is a warrenty worth it? (im low on cash)</p>
<p>Yea, student discount is nice + free ipod + OSX + free printer
Very good.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if you want to get a Mac for business…there might be software incompatibilities. For example, VBA macros don’t in the Mac version of Office.</p>
<p>hmm bootcamp.~</p>
<p>If you’re low on cash, forget the warranty.
Unless you really have a history of beating up on electronics, or clumsiness.</p>
<p>but then he has to buy a copy of windows too.</p>
<p>Sorry to hijack the thread but can more people outline compatibility problems with Mac? I am also a business major going off to college in fall.</p>
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<p>just use someone else’s CD. or get a cracked copy.</p>
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I doubt the average user wants to deal with a dual boot situation, or a virtual machine.</p>
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Yeah, you’ve already spent all that money on a Mac, which is expensive, and then get to spend more money on a copy of Windows.</p>
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The mods are going to close this thread and ban you if you keep talking about illegal things like that.</p>
<p>srunni I think you’re the only person in this place I respect. </p>
<p>If you are getting a mac, you are already paying more than a windows laptop that can do the same thing for cheaper. If you buy copy of vista or xp you are just adding to the cost. </p>
<p>In addition what would the purpose of getting a mac if you are going to be booting into windows the majority of the time.</p>
<p>Don’t get a mac just because its the trendy thing to do. Get it because you seriously prefer OSX over xp or vista. If not you are wasting money to have that pretty little apple logo.</p>
<p>^ again, a white macbook is not expensive. if you’re looking for something much cheaper than $1000, then sure, get something else. its not until black macbooks and macbook pros that you start paying for the OS and name more than the hardware.</p>
<p>how often would someone be using VBA macros anyway? 'cause if it’s not all that often, then having to run a virtual machine or dual booting isn’t all that much of a problem. also, would anyone happen to know if OpenOffice supports that?</p>
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<p>ok, fine. but in all likelihood he has an old copy of Windows lying around somehwere in his house. i still have a bunch of old cds for 98, NT, ME, and XP Professional. he doesn’t Vista to run MSOffice, even 98 works fine (though maybe not for the latest version, but do you really need that anyway?).</p>
<p>and one more thing, jebus: why do you bring up the whole “cost of a mac” argument here for a $900 mac? yeah, running Windows on a Mac all the time is pointless and a waste of money. but we aren’t talking about that or how “bad a deal” Macs may be in general.</p>
<p>the OP wants a (white) macbook and he’d like to buy one. and just because some Office macros won’t work on it doesn’t mean he’ll be booting to Windows all the time, and even if he has to reboot, it’s not like it’ll take forever.</p>
<p>so yes, a white macbook is fine and worth buying. if you don’t have the money for a warranty, don’t get one and just try not to do anything stupid.</p>
<p>I just want to make sure he is not buyin a macbook for the wrong reasons. Something I am seeing more and more each day.</p>
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<p>I just tested this in Linux today, actually, and OpenOffice will run macros. You just have to change the default macro security setting from “High” to “Medium”. It’s not that big of a deal as long as you’re not downloading sketchy Excel files. >.></p>
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Sure it is. I can get a similarly specced Dell or HP or what have you for a much lower price. The HP I got for $900 would be upwards of 2k if I were going to get it from Apple.</p>
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He’s going to be a business major…that’s where they use Office VBA macros. If he were majoring in basket weaving, VBA macros would not be of any relevance and I wouldn’t have brought it up.</p>
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I was referring to the ‘cracked copy’ you were suggesting he get.</p>
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I don’t think everyone just has legit CDs lying around for old versions of Windows. I for one only have OEM versions of Windows, which are slipstreamed with software that makes them install only on the computer that they came with.</p>
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Do you think that there are Windows 98 compatible drivers for a 2008 computer? And if he wants to run it in Parallels, he’s gotta shell out another $80.</p>
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Yeah, this is a pretty big problem. People don’t really know what they’re getting into, just that it’s all the rage. It’s not just a toy.</p>
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I guess this is OK, as long as you’re willing to teach yourself how to use OpenOffice (well, NeoOffice if you’re using a Mac, at least until OpenOffice 3 comes out and there’s a native version).</p>
<p>Okay, I don’t like windows because of the virus issue, macs are organized and legit…i assume i will only use the laptop for word documents and use the web…i just threw in the business major so you guys might say something about it, i dont plan on going back to using windows… macbooks are also nice and small, i understand pcs are cheaper but when i go to best buy i notice they are actually in the same range (800-1000) and in that case i would rather have something nice and clean for the same price…about the business thing, i dont want to be the only person in my class to have an apple, where everyone else is using something different…any suggestions?</p>
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Viruses and the like are ridiculously overhyped, mostly due to the media’s scare tactics. Not getting viruses is easy, you just don’t download random files. You can never get a virus unless you 1) Download an executable file and 2) Actively run it (i.e. double click on it). The only reason they aren’t common on Macs is that there’s no incentive to target such a small market…but that is rapidly changing. And for the occasional JavaScript exploit in IE, make sure you’re running Firefox. What people usually think of as a virus is just Windows slowing down from all the junk that’s been installed. One of the biggest causes of computer slowdown is actually antivirus/antispyware software.</p>
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I’m not sure what you mean by “organized” or “legit”. Organizing data on a PC is the same as on a Mac, and there’s no lack of legitimacy in a PC.</p>
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Not as small as some of the PC notebooks out there, such as the ASUS Eee PC, HP Mini-Note 2133, or the soon to be released Dell Mini Inspiron. The MacBook Air doesn’t even come close to being as small as them.</p>
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That’s the problem - you’re going to Worst Buy. Worst Buy, Circuit Sh**ty, and the like mark up all their PCs, but Apple is very strict on the pricing for Macs, so those prices are the same everywhere, no matter what. However, if you go online, you can find coupon codes for buying computers directly from the manufacturer’s site, and save a ton of money. I found a coupon code at xpbargains.com that saved me $500 on my laptop.</p>
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You probably won’t be, but don’t expect it to be like a liberal arts major, where 90% of the people in your major classes have a Mac.</p>
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Sounds like your decision’s already made then.</p>
<p>You have to be an idiot to get a virus. Download and use firefox, download and use the free version of AVG, download and use spybot-search and destroy(also free), and don’t be an idiot when visiting web pages. It’s really not that hard.</p>
<p>Organized and legit? I am just as confused as srunni? you mean the way the screen or folders look or something? You can customize windows just as much as you can a mac.</p>
<p>Don’t buy from best buy or circuit city. Computers there cost more and sometimes are lower end models with stripped components. </p>
<p>To the business thing. Once again don’t go with the crowd. Go with what you think is best for you. If you really want to get a mac. Go ahead. Just don’t get one for the wrong reasons.</p>
<p>^Jebus, other than the ‘omg its a mac its soooo pretty and amazing even though i dont know why!’ crowd, what would you consider to be a ‘wrong’ reason for getting a mac?</p>
<p>Actually, I probably will get a mac if I can get just the hardware and no macOS installed (with significantly lower price 
of course), and run linux/windows on top of it since I can get windows for free from campus MSDN alliance and linux for free too. Unfortunately that will never happen…</p>