<p>Hi All,
I have a Mac and was wondering whether it's compatable with everything at USC. Has anyone encountered any issues?
Also, I'm from out of state, and not sure if it's a good idea to bring my own printer.
Many thanks!</p>
<p>Rapunzle my daughter has a Mac and had no problems at all last year. We are also from out of state and she brought her own printer. If you have your own you have the convenience of printing whenever you want, especially if it is late at night. You don’t have to worry about going to the library or another hall where you also have to pay per page. Good luck</p>
<p>I read somewhere that both MACs and PCs are compatible with the school server. And my son will be bringing his printer with him also.</p>
<p>if you stay in Bates house and many of the other dorms there is a printer in the computer lab that is free all you need is your own paper</p>
<p>If buying a Mac laptop, can anyone comment on which of the word processing type software will be the better choice? Also, any comments on which Mac laptop might be a good choice? All positive and negative comments (on both the laptop and software) would be great! Thanks.</p>
<p>My D just emailed her advisor and asked which computer would be better for her major. (HRTM) Her advisor recommended a PC. If you want you can E-mail your advisor for some Laptop advice. I know certain majors require certain programs and memory.</p>
<p>the only problems you may encounter with macs is that theyre not compatible with online homework. some STAT classes and math classes will have online homework submission and my roomate had a mac and couldnt do hers on her laptop so i just let her use mine. other than that the campus has them set up to work just the same!</p>
<p>Go MAC. </p>
<p>Then use Boot Camp (Part of the MAC OS) to load Windows XP or Vista. It will be able to load Windows 7. Then you have the best of both worlds in a single computer. And from my experience, the MAC runs the Windows software better than a PC does. You can use a program called Parallels to do the same thing, but it is an additional expense. </p>
<p>Purchase iWork and it gives you all productivity software and it is very much cheaper than Office. If you want Office, buy from an academic source and it’s less than the retail version. And, the files with either option are completely transferrable from MAC to PC, so you can share office files with PC students or faculty. </p>
<p>If you elect the use the BOOT CAMP/Windows option, you will have to acquire software for the PC system including Office, even if you have it on the MAC side. But, the university usually has discounted versions of the PC software to service the students. I use the BOOT CAMP/WindowsXP (has to be service pack 2) option because some of the software used in some courses and by the university’s IT is proprietary for the PC. And I have had no problems except that the IT people do not understand the advantage of MACs. But, running them side by side, I cannot appreciate why anyone would perceive the Windows system as superior.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you, but find out the facts of the systems to make your decision rather than trust to the biased knowledge of most IT departments.</p>
<p>USCTexan: Interesting. At orientation, my daughter, who will be a math major, asked and was told it didn’t matter. She seemed to sense (maybe what she wanted to hear) that they were steering her towards a Mac.</p>
<p>She also had met with some professors at the Moore school and noticed all of them had Mac’s.</p>
<p>proudpop- i’m not sure if they’ve fixed the problem but as of last year most macs were not compatible with the non-usc affiliated math websites that we used for our homework…perhaps because of some plug-in that had to be installed that the campus didnt allow…i’m not exactly sure i just know that 2 of my roomates had to use my computer for their homework. this may have been resolved since the new addition of the Apple/Mac hub on campus but I’m just going off of what I remember. Other than that though Macs seem to be fine!</p>
<p>Thanks, Texan. Hopefully my D can find a “PCer” to help her out!</p>
<p>There are computer labs available to students in many locations around campus - dorms, etc. That might be an option if a student had a Mac and needed to do something on a PC.</p>