<p>So I'm thinking about getting a new laptop for college and i'm not sure whether or not its worth it to take the leap from PC's to Macs. Obviously, for college i'm going to need to use my laptop for assignments, research, music, surfing the web, etc. so which one is more efficient? better apps?</p>
<p>I've heard that college students generally prefer Macs. So i'm wondering, what is ur preference and why?</p>
<p>PC, for the following reasons:</p>
<p>-I’m not getting ripped off. Macs are more expensive without the extra hardware to show for it. In all honesty, you’re paying double the price of a similar PC for OS X and the brand name.</p>
<p>-Finer control: Sure Macs are more user friendly, but I prefer to have more control over my programs and operating system. I don’t like Mac OS X for the same reason I hated Vista’s User Account Control: It dumbs the user interface down too much. This may or may not be a factor for you.</p>
<p>-Innovation: Apple likes to make it sound like it’s on the cutting edge, but in reality it’s marketing tech it secretly recycled. PCs came up with a thinner notebook than the Air even before the Air debuted; PCs were the first to use LED screens; PCs were the first to pull 10 hours battery life on a Core 2 Duo.</p>
<p>-Programs: Most programs out there are written for PCs. If you can’t afford a program, chances are there’s an open source version you can use for free (legally). </p>
<p>-Affordability: Not only are the laptops themselves cheaper, but so are the accessories. Want to put video out onto your external monitor? Grab an HDMI cord. Want to back up your files? Buy any of ten brand name externals. With Macs, on the other hand, Apple almost has a monopoly on items. They use proprietary connectors and hardware to eliminate third party accessories, giving Apple a monopoly on all accessories related to Macs, and Apple loves to abuse this monopoly. Anything relating to a Mac is much more expensive than its PC counterpart.</p>
<p>And before people put in claims that Macs are more portable and have longer battery lives, that’s completely not true. The Sony Vaio Z and Asus UL30A/UL50A beat the MacBooks in those categories, all without becoming netbooks and all while using Core 2 Duo chips just like the Mac.</p>
<p>Honestly, college is expensive enough as it is. Why pay more for a laptop when all you’re really getting for the premium is the brand name?</p>
<p>I much prefer Macintosh computers, and both of my college-going kids have had great success using Mac iBooks or Powerbooks through the latter part of their high school years and their college years. I am of the opinion that the operating system is more elegant, straightforward, and easy to use. The hardware is more tightly integrated with the software, so moving between programs and tasks often feels seamless. The hardware lasts a long time too, both in terms of quality, and the ability of the hardware to continue to run newer versions of the operating system. For example, we gave our son an iMac on this 13th birthday, in the year 2000. We gave it away a couple of years ago, but it is still going strong, and running the next-to-the-latest version of the Mac OSX operating system (Leopard). </p>
<p>We bought our son a MacBook when he entered college in 2006, and it too still runs great, even though it went through several blinding dust storms when he spent a semester in Western Africa. It has been dropped several times and has a badly-dented corner, but it runs the latest OSX (Snow Leopard) without a hiccup. The latest laptops have very sharp and bright contrasty screens that alone would sell me on a Mac.</p>
<p>I have been using Macintosh computers since they came out in 1984, and since the modern OSX was introduced in 2001, I have never experienced a single virus, Trojan horse, worm etc, problem. Neither have my kids, who spend a lot more time on the Internet, doing inadvisable college-student sort of stuff.</p>
<p>A good Windows 7 laptop can be had for 50%-70% of the cost of a Mac laptop with similar specifications. It will do the job for you just fine, but hold it up next to a MacBook or MacBook Pro and compare the screen quality, then compare the overall build quality and feel the responsiveness of the keys and trackpad. I think that it will be evident to you that there is a measurable difference in each of these areas. </p>
<p>Cookiesncreme, I fear that you may have come to the wrong place for advice. It seems that this topic usually just becomes a pejorative name-calling calling contest on College Confidential. You will hear advocates of Mac computers being called Fan-Boys, and the computers themselves being dismissed as nothing more than expensive niche toys for rich kids who want to look stylish. I won’t resort to name-calling - all I know is that I have had long experience with Macs and they work better for me and the rest of my family. When I go our kids’ campus, I see Mac laptops everywhere, outnumbering Windows laptops by at least an order of magnitude. Sure, Macs cost more initially, but I think that you will find that over time the total cost of ownership will be substantially less as the hardware will last longer, you will have less troubleshooting expense and time, and you will purchase less additional software to get your work done.</p>
<p>Finally, a Mac can run Windows 7, in addition to OSX. So, even if you had some application that requires Windows, you can still run it too.</p>
<p>The situation is actually a bit more complicated.</p>
<p>My personal preference goes like this:
*NIX PC > Mac > Windows PC</p>
<p>It all comes down to how easily they will let you just do your stuff. Because Mac is based on UNIX, it inherits the time-proven security model which makes it extremely difficult to write functional viruses or adware for Mac. Meanwhile, while Windows has UAC and dialog boxes for permissions, in practice, this allows you to accidentally poke several holes in terms of security and end up with an infected system.</p>
<p>If you consider the amount of hours necessary to upkeep Windows and see how much money you could have been making in that time if you had a part-time job, the pain you save with a Mac can justify the costs. In fact, from personal experience, on average, the Mac would have paid for itself in a Windows PC’s tech-support costs within 5yr lifetime, if you aren’t that technical.</p>
<p>With that being said, I actually prefer a *NIX PC because it offers the stability / predictability of a Mac in combination with the cheap price of a PC. Not only that, you get additional flexibility. It’s not without cost though – there’s a huge learning curve as nothing’s integrated; it’s a largely DIY world where you’re on your own in terms of support for even the most basic things. However, if you put effort at it, you will be able to learn it, and you will gain the benefits of stability / good, free apps / security without the price tag of the Mac.</p>
<p>I’ve always preferred PC’s, even though I’ve often had to use Macs at school. With Windows, I feel like I have more control over what’s going on. I like to have a lot of things open at the same time, so that I can switch between them. I’ve found that if something goes wrong, it’s a lot easier to fix with Windows. End process works like a charm; force quit … does nothing. When I get the spinning beach ball of death, the only reaction is “****.” My 5 year old HP(!) computer at home still works fine, though I like to do more than just word processing, web browsing and listening to music on it.</p>
<p>I’ve never had a virus, and I download an idiotic amount of freeware.</p>
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<p>That’s a pretty deft ad hominem.</p>
<p>Why don’t you just try compare both yourself? If nowhere else, you can check out both operating systems at the Apple store and Best Buy.</p>
<p>Whatever your personal preference it!</p>
<p>Listen to SingDanceRunLife. Honestly, it makes no difference. Pick the one you are most comfortable with. I use a Mac. My girlfriend uses a Mac. Some of my friends use PCs, others use Mac. We are all generally happy with our computers and have had little to no compatibility problems. If one of my classes requires PC work, I run bootcamp. If a class requires the user-friendly creative software of a Mac, my friends either borrow my Mac or go to the Mac computer lab on campus. Our choice in computers has not adversely affected out grades whatsoever. After a year of using a Mac, PCs can be a little strange to me, but I know the same holds true for my PC friends who try to use Macs. Honestly, go with the format you are most comfortable with and don’t worry about PC/Mac fanboys.</p>
<p>It really makes no difference. If you truly think about it, they both do the same things well: web browsing, email, documents, music, video, etc.</p>
<p>If you want something intensive like video/photo editing, 3d modeling, etc. then it makes a difference.</p>
<p>For a typical college student, I would say save the money and go with a PC.</p>
<p>Listen to ALF. Macs do tend to be higher quality overall. Yes, you pay a little more for it (the uni body enclosure, high quality screen, huge touch pad which had multitouch that actually works, ect). You are also getting more. Don’t compare PCs to Macs spec to spec. Yes PCs tend to have higher specs at the same price point, but OSX does not require an 8 core processor to run great. There is more to a computer than just specs (such as battery life). Rule of thumb, the higher the specs, the lower the battery life. Apple gives you the best of both worlds. Besides great hardware, the OS is awesome too. I highly recommend a Mac! Please know that Apple is know the 3rd largest company in the world! It’s revenue is a hair less than Microsoft’s. I know businesses will continue to use PCs because of their cheaper cost, but it will be interesting to see which computer consumers purchase for their home use. I have a feeling that Macs are only going to continue to increase in ubiquity.</p>
<p>“Yes PCs tend to have higher specs at the same price point, but OSX does not require an 8 core processor to run great.”</p>
<p>Last time I checked, my laptop runs Windows 7 just fine with a low-voltage Core 2 Duo clocked at 1.2 GHz.</p>
<p>“There is more to a computer than just specs (such as battery life).”</p>
<p>I get 10 hours actual on my laptop with very similar specs to a Core 2 MacBook versus the 8 hours advertised of the MacBooks. </p>
<p>“Rule of thumb, the higher the specs, the lower the battery life. Apple gives you the best of both worlds.”
See above. PCs can offer better battery life with similar or even better specs thanks to low voltage CPUs and hybrid graphics solutions.</p>
<p>"Besides great hardware, the OS is awesome too. "</p>
<p>Subjective.</p>
<p>“Please know that Apple is know the 3rd largest company in the world!”
Because they monopolize their market with ridiculously high licensing fees and great marketing to appeal to the brainless masses.</p>
<p>Ok which mac would you buy?</p>
<p>I always liked PCs because I use mainly Ubuntu and occasionally Windows, but that’s just me. People, especially fanboys, give extremely biased opinions, but these people have NO IDEA what they’re talking about because they do NOT know your personal preferences and needs. Simply stick with the one YOU, not others, like the most. :)</p>
<p>@GCMom I would get the macbook, mainly because it’s the cheapest (again my choice, I dont like spending alot of money on computers) and almost no student will be required to have a high spec laptop unless the student wants to do gaming, etc.
Atleast for my school, which offers high specification level computers in the comp lab for autoCAD, engineering software, video editting, etc.</p>
<p>I too would get the MacBook. As a matter of fact, I will be getting one for my daughter for the next school year. I’m waiting for the Summer back-to-school deal that Apple always seems to run - usually it includes a free iPod.</p>
<p>With an academic discount, the MacBook currently costs $900, which is about $200 less than the cheapest MacBook Pro, and I don’t see that the extra $200 is well-spent. To be sure, I really like the aluminum case, but not for $200.</p>
<p>“Please know that Apple is know the 3rd largest company in the world!”</p>
<p>With the iPod, iPhone, and now the iPad, this is hardly surprising. Apple mainly derives their profits from the sale of these portable devices and the iTunes store which has all but made CDs obsolete.</p>
<p>Here’s a few reasons why I use a PC and plan to get a PC laptop:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>This is the most important reason and should also be the most influential factor in your decision: I’ve always used a PC. I have never once owned or even used a Mac for more than thirty minutes, and I would be an idiot to spend my entire first semester gaining the same mastery over Mac as I already have over the PC. Unless you are equally adept at both systems, you should definitely choose the one that you are most familiar with.</p></li>
<li><p>Cheaper. Plain and simple. Tech support? Please, I haven’t used tech support in years. Viruses? For $30 a year, Norton Antivirus has me completely covered, and I have the sense not to run questionable .exe files or download random e-mail attachments. So what if Mac has better materials when held in comparison? If you compared a $500 PC and a $1000 Mac that had the same specs, the Mac better be made of some superb materials! In other words, I’d bet that a $1000 PC is just as sturdily built as a $1000 Mac.</p></li>
<li><p>Compatibility. More software on PC than Mac, though this is an admittedly moot point since most if not all if the college-necessary sofware is readily available on both systems.</p></li>
<li><p>Accessibility. You won’t have as much power over the stuff behind the scenes with a Mac as you will with a PC. If you know your way around, you can do some pretty cool stuff.</p></li>
<li><p>Power. It’s been said before: the PC has way more processing strength than the Mac.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I tell this to everyone that COMMON SENSE is the best weapon against viruses or any form of malware. I haven’t gotten a single virus on my Windows system for over 5 years, and the only time when I got a virus was when I was very young and downloaded hacks for games.</p>