<p>Berkeley supports using just about anything, which is more freedom than I can live with. We need specifics. I figure a Mac of some sort equipped for wireless usage–but then there are STILL a lot of choices that neither of us understands. Is anyone out there an actual student currently using a combination of goodies that is quick and idiot-proof to buy, install, and use? (Please, no editorializing on Mac vs. Windows or general comments: product name and version numbers of things that are supported at Berkeley and ridiculously easy to use are what we need.)</p>
<p>HP NC6000. My mom has that laptop. Now we all know laptops all laptops, regardless of Dell, HP, Gateway are all OEMed. I have the similar Dell Inspiron 600m and my uncle has an IBM T41.</p>
<p>I have evaluaed all 3 because they are essentially the same laptops:</p>
<p>14.1" Screen
Centrino based
5.5 lbs loaded (HP is slightly heavier, closer to 6)</p>
<p>I conclude the HP is the best. It has a solid build unlike my Dell which is plasticky and hollow. That's probably why the Dell is the lightest among the 3 and the HP is the heaviest. It's also black and sleek. Finally, it has a Radeon 9600 which blows my Radeon 9000 away meaning I should be able to play CS:Source on my mom's laptop. I regret buying a Dell and when this laptop expires, I'll be glad to drop it on the ground.</p>
<p>14.1" is AS SMALL as I would go. I like how the IBM T42 goes to 15", but I think that would be too heavy. If you buy those 8 lb laptops, that's stupid. You might as well buy one of those Antec LANboys and carry ur desktop on your backpack. I think that would be better =P</p>
<p>Apples are easier to pick up for n00bs.</p>
<p>/\
Why? I know people who've worked with PC's all their lives and switched to Mac's because OS X is way better than XP. I wouldn't call them noobs.</p>
<p>^ i'm the same way.</p>
<p>im saying if youre new to computers, apples are easier than pc's to use.</p>
<p>i would get an ibm. they almost never break down. i have a dell and i need to get it repaired like every two months. in fact i need to get a new motherboard cuz my battery wont work or charge (two of my friends have the same problem) dells also wear down a lot. hp is good too.</p>
<p>LOl such a novel concept of new to computers? c'mon i think everyone here have used AIM, Words, email, and play games..</p>
<p>for longer battery life, definitely go for Pentium M (Centrino technology...) despite the wrong impression u get from processor speed, Centrino outperforms the power-jugging Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz+ laptops.</p>
<p>i have ahp zt3000, a discontinued model. i would recomend windows if you have been using it for a year or two. If you are not used to windows, go with whatever OS you want. Beleive me if you have any problems with your computer there will be plenty of people who will be able to help you.</p>
<p>I recomend using editors rateings on cnet.com. i have found their rateings to be pretty accurate. I usually dont recomend coustomer rateings because more people will generally give a review if they have a problem.</p>
<p>from talking to random people:</p>
<p>IBM's are farkin' expensive and a bit ugly, but they're built to last. almost never die on people.</p>
<p>dell's are really cheap but they try to throw products out on the market before everybody else and at a lower price. consequently, a lot of their laptops seem to have problems because they simply haven't been through enough testing yet... but a lot of non-tech people use them... and they don't really notice.</p>
<p>sony's are nice and sleek and silver and small. more expensive than dell. my friends aren't really having problems with them. one had a harddrive failure, i think.</p>
<p>i got a toshiba, and loved it until the harddrive died on me. sent it in and they were really nice, apologized, replaced the harddrive. it died again a few months ago, they replaced it again. and, i think it's starting to die again. when i checked ratings before buying, though, people said toshiba's were usually pretty solid, so maybe i'm just unlucky.</p>
<p>fujitsu's... decent price range, but weird configuration. not sure if that's really bad or not. don't know too much about it.</p>
<p>don't know anything about HP.</p>
<p>samsung's are so pretty! but they don't sell them in the US. dell bought their Q3 and renamed it to... X or something. they're supposed to be really nice though, haha.</p>
<p>as for what goes inside... centrino lightens the laptop quite a bit and have built in wireless which you'll definitely want. (and my hardcore friends are saying that there's simply no reason to get P4's because they're being phased out or something, i dunno.) 40gig HD should be more than enough for the average person (keep in mind that you -will- end up dl'ing stuff... most likely). 512mb ram seems pretty standard. if you plan on taking your laptop to campus a lot, definitely go for smaller laptops (i really regret my 15").</p>
<p>first thing you do when you get here, go to software.berkeley.edu and dl symantec antivirus and firewall!!</p>
<p>oh, and people love macs. but i don't know anything about them.</p>
<p>oh, and centrino... i think 1.5ghz is equivalent to a P4 2.4ghz. something like that. so don't let those numbers fool you. i'm sure you can find tons of info if you google it.</p>
<p>macs are a little overrated right now unless your doing graphics stuff. as far as pratical features for the price a pc laptop is the way to go. oh yeah and get a centrino system with no less then 512 ram. the main component that is necessary to get the best laptop, is the knoledge of what you are gonna use it for. if you tell me what you want to do with a laptop i can recomend a good one for you.</p>
<p>Would EECS majors have special reasons to buy a PC over Mac?</p>
<p>i beleive eecs majors people use auto cad, which from what I have heard is better on PC.</p>
<p>what's auto cad?</p>
<p>yeah, you'll want a PC for labview, etc... autocad, solidworks, pro-e are cad (computer aided design) programs. labview (used a little in ee40, i think) lets you program visually... and matlab. lots and lots of matlab everywhere, it seems. (matrix laboratory... programming language type thing based on matrices.)</p>
<p>its a computer aided drafting program</p>
<p>I see, thanks!</p>
<p>I appreciate all these enthusiastic opinions--boy, are you guys enthusiastic-- but it isn't helping. </p>
<p>I'm going to buy a Macintosh. Apple. See original post. And I'm looking for someone who is a current Berkeley student who can tell me what model and what options--hardware and software--will be most useful for maximum wireless portability to class, to library, etc. Ease of use is a goal, since my daughter is neither computer-expert nor interested in becoming so. Getting lots of fun game-playing software is a non-goal. Price is less important than simplicity of use. </p>
<p>So I don't care about Dell vs IBM vs Toshiba, because (see OP) we're buying a Mac. </p>
<p>So--any of you budding engineers or business majors who hope to run his/her own company someday, let's see what ya got in terms of simple, clear, straightforward product description of features and benefits. </p>
<p>If you're NOT a current Berkeley student, and NOT already using a Macintosh laptop at Berkeley, please remain silent, and see if anyone who meets these requirements responds, okay?</p>
<p>sorry susu, I just had to ask that one question because I'm deciding between Mac and PC.</p>
<p>"yeah, you'll want a PC for labview, etc... autocad, solidworks, pro-e are cad (computer aided design) programs. labview (used a little in ee40, i think) lets you program visually... and matlab. lots and lots of matlab everywhere, it seems. (matrix laboratory... programming language type thing based on matrices.)"</p>
<p>So can i just run virtual pc on my laptop? :)</p>
<p>persons above me: maximum portablity would be with either of the 12in notebooks, the iBook and the PowerBook. The Powerbook is 1500 with edu discount after taxes and the iBook is around 1100. If you are going to be editing any sort of multimedia, i'd gegt the powerbook. But if your just using it for papers, internet, etc, get the iBook.</p>