<p>Requirements for systems you already own:</p>
<p>Recommended</a> System Requirements for New UW-Madison Students</p>
<p>Link for information on buying a computer:</p>
<p>Apple</a> vs Dell Comparison</p>
<p>Dell recommended system: Dell</a> Recommended Systems
Apple recommended system: Apple</a> Recommended Systems</p>
<p>Please note that DoIT is very biased towards Apple. They try to make it look like Apple computers cost about the same by cherry picking certain PCs that are more expensive than average or are bad deals, but they really aren’t the same. A good general rule of thumb is that a PC will cost about $300-400 less than a Mac. Now, there are certain advantages that Macs provide (less chance of viruses for people who are careless/unlucky, the Mac OS if you prefer it) that might make this actually a sound investment, but component for component you get less bang for your buck when you buy a Mac.</p>
<p>DoIT’s bias stems from the deals that Apple gives them, as well as people who aren’t Comp Sci or Computer Engineering majors writing and giving advice on what the better platform is. I work at DoIT and it’s a constant irritation of mine, but unfortunately as long as the deals and breaks keep coming so too will the biased information.</p>
<p>If you really want the best deals on computers, buy direct from [url=<a href=“http://www.newegg.com%5DNewegg%5B/url”>http://www.newegg.com]Newegg[/url</a>].</p>
<p>There are other places to buy online than just Newegg. Check the website “Tech Bargains” for many deals on many electronics from all sites as they become available.</p>
<p>Also note that DoIT recommends going with what you know- therefore for most that would be a PC. Also note they do tell you to go with whatever deals you can find. They needed to do a comparison of fairly equivalent computers.</p>
<p>I’ve forever been a PC guy, but by getting them MacBooks during college, all the frantic calls saying ‘MY COMPUTER WON’T WORK!!!’ went away. Seems that for what they do online at their respective schools (which is almost everything), Apple just seems to integrate better. </p>
<p>That in itself is worth the extra $400 to me…:)</p>
<p>MS Office 2010 pack was good deal at DoIT. it cost me around $70 for the whole pack.</p>
<p>Do you guys recommend getting textbooks in the regular book version or as an e-book?</p>
<p>I would go for regular version. You can always sell your used book at Amazon or Ebay and get up to 100% of the price you paid!</p>