<p>I'm curious how many people are bringing a mac to columbia in the fall as opposed to a pc. I imagine it will be a good year for the new macbooks with a SEVEN hour battery life... </p>
<p>i just traded in my old mb for a new 15inch mbp. </p>
<p>On a side note, after conditioning my battery i am getting a stable 7 and a half hours of battery with the brightness halfway and just using the internet.</p>
<p>i’m waiting for mobile i7s to come out</p>
<p>I’d say the current split of laptops at Columbia is 3:1 in favor of macs.</p>
<p>Getting one for college was perhaps the best decision I made tech-wise. Before that I wouldn’t touch a mac with a 3-foot pole.</p>
<p>To get the best price, should one buy a Mac through Columbia or directly from Apple?</p>
<p>you can’t buy through columbia, you buy directly from apple but get the educational discount for being a columbia student</p>
<p>it is best to WAIT until later in the summer when apple has usually had great educational deals where you can get a free ipod touch and printer with your purchase of a macbook</p>
<p>@Shraf</p>
<p>You already can. Students get a printer rebate of $100 (just google apple educational printer rebate) and another rebate for an itouch (apple educational itouch). They’re two separate pages, though, and you basically just have to buy the computer, itouch, and printer at the same time.</p>
<p>oh ok cool, i haven’t been paying attention to the sale since i’m not in the market for a new computer but it is definitely an awesome deal </p>
<p>enjoy your new mac!</p>
<p>Is there need for a personal printer at Columbia? My older son attends an LAC where the free printing on campus eliminates the need for a personal printer.</p>
<p>My tour guide said that she never used her personal printer. Columbia gives you about 200 free pages to print per semester which she said was more than enough. She said not to bother with getting a personal printer, but she did use her scanner.</p>
<p>I’m getting a Mac through Columbia.
They give discounts of $100+
You can check out the Columbia Apple Store here: <a href=“http://store.apple.com/us_edu_21516[/url]”>http://store.apple.com/us_edu_21516</a></p>
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<p>there isn’t …but looking back i would’ve liked to have one as a backup because printing on the columbia printers was sometimes a pain in the ass if they were out of toner/paper or were jammed up (though the system and most of the printers have been upgraded since)</p>
<p>a scanner though was VERY useful! it’s probably a good idea to get an all in one with flatbed scanner as your free printer with your mac purchase. </p>
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<p>thats quite off …undergrads get 100 pages per week! + an additional 100 page reserve per semester …it is very rare that you will ever run out of printing pages</p>
<p>the “free” printers have pretty bad reviews. ALso, one noted “printer was free, but paying for it in ink costs.” Might be worth getting bucks back on a slightly upgraded allinone.</p>
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<p>that applies to basically EVERY inkjet printer! </p>
<p>my advice would be to get a free multifunction printer for the scanner and as a backup just in case the columbia printers are giving u a hard time</p>
<p>^from what I understand, the ink can dry pretty fast</p>
<p>Thanks, Shraf! I must have misheard my tour guide or I just didn’t remember correctly because it was a few months ago.</p>
<p>Either way, she said that she never used the printer she bought before school started, so there is no need for a personal printer.</p>
<p>Getting a PC. I know how to use them and play around with them. I program to waste time and I don’t know how to program in any Mac languages so obviously I’m getting a PC.</p>
<p>^^^
Ever heard of bootcamp? 
what brand of pc?</p>
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<p>You mean exotic, esoteric “Mac languages” like Java, Objective-C, Python, Ruby-on-Rails, Perl…yeah pretty niche. ;)</p>
<p>As for printers, the problem is not multifunction or no but inkjet or laser. Inkjets are cheap but go through ink before you’ve even closed the lid, whereas laser printers are more expensive up front but those toner cartridges last forever…</p>
<p>Yeah but laser printers are huge. The extra hassle of getting a printer and buying ink don’t beat the hassle of going to the nearest computer lab.</p>
<p>I think the conclusion is to get the free printer from apple, and only use it as a back up, or for scanning.</p>