<p>So my dad is heavily pressuring me into getting a Mac, but I'm just not that interested. I'd rather stick with a PC (but I suppose I'm not entirely against getting a Mac).</p>
<p>I'm undeclared right now, but I'm thinking of going into International Affairs, so I shouldn't really need anything special for that. </p>
<p>Primarily, I'm concerned about disk space. Both the desktop and laptop that I have had my iTunes library on have subsequently had severe disk space problems. My music is 30+ GB, but I have about a dozen movies that I plan on putting on to my new laptop, and I hope to get an iTouch whenever they release a 64 GB one, so I'll need room for apps and whatnot as well. Also, I might be installing Sims 3, so long as it isn't going to totally ruin anything.</p>
<p>Of course, battery life would be nice... I'd also like something that won't overheat (although I suppose that has more to do with maintenance). </p>
<p>I'm going to Northeastern, and they are certified to fix problems with Macs and Dells, so I thought it might be best to look primarly at Dells. I've heard from a few people that HPs are the best PCs, but my mom said someone at Northeastern highly advised against them. </p>
<p>I don't really have a price range; I'd rather invest some money into something that I know will fit my needs and last. </p>
<p>Btw, am I totally stupid for not wanting a Mac? Vista's certainly not the best, but I'm used to it, and it doesn't really bother me all that much. </p>
<p>Well, for your needs, a Mac would be fine. Even with a standard configuration, there should be more than enough disk space, and the battery life is immaculate.</p>
<p>Applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch are relatively small. Some games will be large, but most general use applications are only a few megabytes, if even.</p>
<p>What exactly is it that you don’t like about the Mac? Or is it just unfamiliarity?</p>
<p>Mostly unfamiliarity. Forgive my ignorance And I was just thinking I’d save my parents some $$ but my dad seems much more willing to pay for a Mac than a PC (this is my graduation gift). </p>
<p>And I want Microsoft Word, but I guess I can indeed get that on a Mac.</p>
<p>I’m really liking the Dell Studio 17. I’m just worried about portability, which it obviously lacks. I’ve lugged around an excessive amount of books throughout high school, so I’m not too concerned with how much it weighs, but I guess that is a negative.</p>
I’ve lugged around an excessive amount of books throughout high school, so I’m not too concerned with how much it weighs
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I thought the <em>exact</em> same thing going into college last year and bought a 17" laptop, but I was completely wrong. You walk around a lot more in college than you do in high school, so you definitely don’t want to take a 17" laptop unless you’re going to be leaving it in your room most of the time.</p>
<p>Over winter break I replaced my 17" HP laptop (which also had quite a few hardware issues) with a Lenovo ThinkPad T400 (14.1"), and things have been great ever since. I would strongly urge you to take a look at the ThinkPads, as they offer some of the best build quality for very affordable prices (the T and R series laptops in particular are great). They are of much higher quality than any Dell offerings and definitely better than your average consumer laptop. Make sure you don’t get an IdeaPad though; those are Lenovo’s consumer laptops and aren’t very good.</p>
<p>I know several people who bought consumer laptops who have run into hardware problems after just a year or two. OTOH, a ThinkPad will last you for 4 years (and probably more) without any hardware problems.</p>
<p>If you do that, you might want to just get a desktop instead of the large laptop. Netbook + desktop is actually a pretty popular combination these days.</p>
<p>Because there is no government control of the PC market.</p>
<p>There is no “need” to buy a MAC over a Dell. They will both meet your need. If you did not know Vista and Microsoft Office, I would recommend following your Dad’s desire and get the Mac. However, if you have already learned Vista and Microsoft Office, there is a lot to be said for not having to learn something new (plus the Dell is cheaper - feature to feature).</p>
<p>Dell Studio 15 (15.6" display) is a good choice. Display is very nice–great for watching DVD’s. Configure it with an 8600 processor and it runs smooth and fast. It runs much cooler than my MacBook. The backlit keyboard option is great.</p>
<p>^
If you don’t want to configure your own version of the Dell Studio 15 (15.6" display), Best Buy has a nice
pre-configured one without the backlit keyboard and a T6500 processor. The price is reasonable.</p>
<p>Thanks again everyone! I really, REALLY appreciate all of the input!</p>
<p>The Dell Studio 15 is probably going to be the best option for me. I’ll have to give up my dreams of having a laptop with a built-in number pad But I guess my back will thank me for that :)</p>
<p>^maybe you could purchase something like the cordless number pad in the above link. You probably won’t need it but if you really want a number pad, this might be a good compromise.</p>
<p>^I just might do exactly that, because I’m silly like that. But $36? I really do want it though! hahaha.</p>
<p>The only other complaint I have about the Studios is the interior color scheme (if that makes sense…). I like how the HPs I’ve seen are all black when you open 'em… the Dells, though, have the black keyboard with the gray border area. But I think there are more important things to consider when investing this much $$ :)</p>
<p>I do have another question… should I be upgrading to a 6GB memory? I just really do not want to have any memory/disk space issues and would rather spend the extra $100 or whatever to avoid that. Mostly concerned about iTunes and potentially Sims 3. I don’t really know exactly what memory is as opposed to hard drive size. Which does the size of my iTunes library impact?</p>
<p>^I never think of practicality like that, haha. So thank you! </p>
<p>And it looks like it comes with a 320 GB hard drive, so will that be sufficient? I don’t really know what I’m supposed to factor into that. I’m thinking 50ish GB for my iTunes library, but after that, I really don’t know what else I need that for.</p>
<p>If you plan on playing games, you may want to configure your own laptop on the Dell website. This way, you can upgrade the graphics card. You can also add the backlit keyboard (nice feature but not a necessity) and a better wireless card (Intel N wireless instead of the Dell G wireless which is on the Best Buy version). </p>
<p>Son has one with 8600 processor, Radeon video card, 320 HD, Intel N wireless, Macaffee anti-virus, backlit keyboard, and complete care coverage with in home repair. </p>
<p>It comes down to money. Get what you can afford.</p>
<p>If you’re looking at battery life, I’m currently on a Studio 14z that gets about 4.5 hours with the 8-cell battery (it doesn’t stick out). It’s lighter than a 13" macbook (slightly mroe than the macbook pro), the wireless N about doubles your range, and it’s got nvidia integrated graphics (meaning not a battery drain, but good enough to play Half-Life 2 at medium-high specs. If you’re going to game at all, do NOT get an integrated intel graphics card), and 3 gigs of RAM is plenty to run Vista 64-bit. Backlit keyboard is very nice, 900p screen give you plenty of viewing space, and the 8600 is FAST and great at multitasking (even running games, aim, multiple viewing windows, and windows media, the only thing that slows my computer down is how many people are on my network, and that only affects internet, not actual computer performance).</p>
<p>The only warning with the 14 is you need to get an external optical drive, because to save weight/keep it cool (it’s yet to get hot on me), they did away with the DVD drive. But it’s nto liek you’re gonna put anything in there while you’re in class…</p>
<p>You’re all so nice taking all this time to answer my questions! :)</p>
<p>I’m not much of a gamer, there’s just a possibility that I might get Sims 3 (although that might not be the best idea for an incoming frosh to get hooked on right now ;))</p>
<p>I definitely want the backlit keyboard, so I’ll do that on the Dell website. The one problem with the Dell website (well, I’m doing the Northeastern Dell website, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same as the Dell site) is that it’s telling me it will ship to me on August 31st (my birthday… but I’d rather get this gift early!). It says it has a 9 day build time even when I haven’t upgraded anything. So does anyone know if it should really take that long? I was thinking I’d order today since a few deals were supposed to expire tomorrow, but now I don’t see them on the website! (Free HD upgrade and free battery upgrade… I think free shipping is still being offered.) Ugh, I probably missed out :(</p>
<p>But since I am customizing it in order to get the backlit keyboard, is there anything else worth upgrading?</p>
And I was just thinking I’d save my parents some $$ but my dad seems much more willing to pay for a Mac than a PC (this is my graduation gift). </p>
But I guess my back will thank me for that :)</p>
I really do want it though! hahaha.</p>