<p>We've always had PCs ... the kids say Macs are better - though more expensive. Apparently a lot of colleges recommend Macs now. Their schools both support both - though one is said to be an "Apple school." Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I would get whatever the college requests. Macs aren't better, but they do have programs available that some of the colleges prefer.</p>
<p>No requests from either school here.</p>
<p>Macs in my opinion are overpriced. You are definitely paying a premium for a "cool factor". I will always be a PC man myself.</p>
<p>Mac--easier to use in general, much better protected from viruses, some very useful programs that PCs don't have. Also, much prettier. The tech department at your sons' school may have advice on how to buy Macs cheaply--my school is an Apple school, and the techs sent out a counseling e-mail to all the seniors on how to buy computers for college.</p>
<p>Can you elaborate on the useful programs that PCs don't have? Thanks.</p>
<p>Also, what size screen for a laptop is best ... i.e. easy on the eye but not too heavy to carry around campus?</p>
<p>Macs in my opinion are overpriced. You are definitely paying a premium for a "cool factor". I will always be a PC man myself.</p>
<p>We bought S a nice Dell, which he loves. I use a nice iBook G4 (Mac) at work and home. Love it and absolutely no viruses even without running Norton or any virus protection. We'll go with a Mac for D in two years because she is less tech savy than S in terms of running Norton, etc... and because she likes the "cool factor."</p>
<p>IMO, you aren't paying for a cool factor (though they are cooler), you're paying for a better machine.</p>
<p>I'm a fan of the 15 inch laptops, though slightly smaller would be ok. I like 15 because I can fit 2 writing documents (Word or Appleworks) side by side and they fit completely on the screen. 12 seems a little small to me, and 17 seems pretty big.</p>
<p>I use a 15" G4 Powerbook</p>
<p>If the schools support both, I would go with the mac. I need more than 2 hands to count the number of PC users at college I know personally who lost their whole harddrive. One of my roommates right now is "waiting for my[his] computer to die so I[he] can buy a mac." His HD did die during the last week of classes, luckily IT saved his "my documents" folder, dunno if he got his pictures back.</p>
<p>There are a few threads in the college life board about Macs v. PCs.</p>
<p>I would buy a mac over a pc anyday. All the creative programs are well integrated for my liking. I will be purchasing the new intel mac laptop this summer.</p>
<p>first off i have a mac myself so take that into consideration, it always strikes me as hilarious how people talk about how macs are so much more protected from viruses or whatever. While this maybe the case right now because apple has what three to five percent of the pc market so there not a particularly ineresting target for hackers and such but as soon as macs become more mainstream they will have the same "problems" as the traditional "PC"</p>
<p>I may be wrong, but I thought that Macs had better virus protection because you have to enter your password to download a program, so it is much more difficult for viruses to be downloaded onto your computer without your knowledge or permission. Of course, there are simply fewer viruses written for Macs, so I'm sure that also plays a significant role.</p>
<p>Personally, I grew up using PCs and didn't switch to Mac until I went to college - definitely don't regret the decision one bit. But most colleges will support either system.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>easy on the eye but not too heavy to carry around campus<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>We bought D a laptop because we thought she would be carrying it around campus. It rarely leaves her room. The good thing about the laptop is that it is easy to carry back and forth from home to school at the beginning and end of the school year.</p>
<p>macs....they do windows so ull have the best(and worst) of both worlds</p>
<p>Since our D will be across the country from us, and dad won't be able to help her with computer problems, we are selecting based on what the school offers the best technical support for. In her case, it's HP and we can buy it through the bookstore.
Look at the school bookstore, and see what they sell. And check the technical support offered on campus. It differs from school to school.</p>
<p>This from the latest issue of Apple eNews:
Reporting for Computer Shopper, Simon Aughton quotes from the blog of technology consultant Jack Campbell: Just over one-year ago, my company, DVForge, announced a $25,000 prize for the first virus developer who could infect two Power Mac G5 computers located in our office, Well, more than a year has passed. And, surprisingly (or not, to some of us), there is still not one self-replicating virus in the wild that attacks the Mac OS X operating system. Thats right, folks... not one.</p>
<p>anothermom-w-q</p>
<p>D is also not technologically savvy so we purchased laptop through the school becasue they have an authorized Dell and Mac sevice center on campus , and the computer came out of the box configured to the school's system.</p>
<p>She has a G4 12inch pwerbook loves it, is joined at the hip to it would be lost with out it. She slips it in her bag, takes it to class and takes notes. Since campus is wireless, she has a lot of freedom . I have noticed that she has become a really fast typist:)</p>
<p>I do not have a Mac but my sister does - she does alot of graphics photos and publishing stuff and she said she much much prefers the Mac. </p>
<p>She also has something on her computer that lets her do windows OS - but since I am not a big computer person I am not really sure. </p>
<p>When I was buying my last computer I was aksed what I was going to mainly use it for - for me - I use it for internet, writing papers, and making power point presentations. I do store photos and other stuff but I am not using my computer to run programs - like engineers, artists, etc. Because of this I did not get a Mac - even though I think they are really nice looking!</p>
<p>We got our daughter a Dell notebook for the fall, because her school's network does not fully support Macs. She wants a Mac as she gets into her broadcasting major (better for video editing), but since she'll have a double major, she won't get into her broadcasting classes until her sophomore year. We told her we'd help her with the expense of a Mac, but she has to pay for at least 1/2 of it.</p>