<p>What's an add-on card?</p>
<p>I think it's something like the dazzle.</p>
<p>It just plugs into the USB port, and you stick the compact flash/memory card in the holder.</p>
<p>I love the glossy screen...colors look so much better and there is so much less glare, it makes it much more easy on the eyes in bright light or florescent light - kind of the opposite of what you might expect. </p>
<p>However, on the glossy screen, every little smudge, bit of dust, dirt, or whatever shows up blatantly. Just looking at the screen now it seems so filthy even though I cleaned it a few days ago. I can see how someone who might be obsessive about keeping a clean screen would get really annoyed.</p>
<p>dont get a thumbprint reader...just have a good password. What if someone cut off your finger just to get on your computer...lol</p>
<p>I'm kind of torn between getting the MacBook Pro and the MacBook for college. I basically use my current 17" PowerBook for Safari, Microsoft Office, iTunes, iPhoto, and occasionally iMovie and iDVD. I know I should really be getting the MacBook then, but I just like the design and screen size of the 15" MacBook Pro so much more. </p>
<p>As for security, I just have FileVault on at all times on my PB.</p>
<p>"You know those camera cards. Well do the mac laptops have a place where you can just stick the card in and load the pictures like my pc laptop does?"</p>
<p>Macs don't have this, but good luck finding a pc laptop that's one inch thick that does</p>
<p>macbook pro 15" vs 17"...any advantages in choosing one over the other?. </p>
<p>i have a macbook 13" right now and i'm kind of irritated by the small screen size..major multitasker.. i have an external monitor hooked up to it.</p>
<p>fuzzylogic,</p>
<p>The 15" is lighter and smaller. The 17" is a bit beefier screen wise and has some nice extras that the 15" doesn't. </p>
<p>What do you want? Beefy or portable?</p>
<p>tablet PCs are nice and easy when taking notes..</p>
<p>I already had a 19" widescreen LCD monitor that I love, so for me getting a 14" laptop screen over a 17" was a no brainer. Whenm Im at home I have the comfort of the 19" ws. When im on the go, I have the portability of the 14".</p>
<p>I picked the 17" PB for high school because that was my desktop replacement (got the iCurve + Apple BT keyboard + Apple BT mouse). But for college, I'm thinking the 15" MBP will be the best (no, I'm not going to bring along my ridiculous existing setup); alas, the MB's 13" screen size is a bit small for me.</p>
<p>um as for the matte vs. glossy debate, I'd say glossy>>>>matte. The glossy screens are georgeous.</p>
<p>There's only one excellent choice for college kids.</p>
<p>The original Apple iBook.</p>
<p>Yes, the colorful clamshell model. It's durable, can use wireless internet, can get 4.5 hours per battery (sometimes more), and if you find a later model has FireWire. And for people who love OS 9 like me, it will run it! Plus you can pick them up pretty cheap on eBay now.</p>
<p>I have one that I got as an eighth grader in 2000. Still works, use it almost every day.</p>
<p>aren't those things like 9 pounds?</p>
<p>Yeah, the clamshell ibooks are pretty hefty.</p>
<p>I don't quite get what you don't like about Mac OS X. Compared to OS X, OS 9 is slow, unstable, and doesn't afford you nearly the kind of control you have over the system (thanks to OS X's unix core). The chief complaint I've heard of OS X (from longtime mac users) is that the Finder is not quite as good anymore as OS 9 - however, in OS X, you don't use the Finder very much for anything complicated, there are other ways to do things more simply.</p>
<p>The finder kinda sucks in Mac OS X; I just use Spotlight to search/open my documents, files, etc. </p>
<p>I'm hoping the upcomming Leopard 10.5 has a better finder, maybe some of the "still secret" features Jobs didn't talk about...</p>
<p>If you're using OS X and haven't heard about Quicksilver, you should really check it out. It's made by Blacktree software, I think. It's infinitely faster than Spotlight at launching applications and has a number of plugins that do different things. Like you can compose an email without using an email client or play/pause stuff in itunes from the keyboard with a couple keystrokes. It's kinda hard to describe, but definitely check it out. It's changed my OS X experience. :D</p>
<p>I hardly use the finder at all. Best of all, Quicksilver's free.</p>
<p>Fuzzylogic:</p>
<p>I hope you realize that there is actually a type of logic called "fuzzy logic," though you might already know this.</p>
<p>If you MUST get a laptop I would go with a Mac. Once you Mac you never go back.
A late 2006 ibook new can be had at $700. Apple was selling core duo macbooks with the superdrive for $899 (I think that was the price) in the refurb section but I don't see it anymore. It wasn't really refurbed just overstock. If you join ADC you can get a core 2 duo macbook $989 along with an advanced copy of Leopard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you join ADC you can get a core 2 duo macbook $989 along with an advanced copy of Leopard.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Are you counting the 99$ ADC membership? I hope you are.</p>
<p>Also, I'm unsure if Apple is including Leopard with the Student ADC memberships. They've hinted to me that they won't.</p>