2 entries in one night? What'll she do next?

[dunegrass]

Ok, so here's my problem. PC or Mac? My dad has (not so quietly) let me know he votes for a PC. Furthermore, he's only going to pay for a PC, and he's not buying me any Mac software. He thinks that Mac's aren't mainstream enough, and worries about their questionable virus protection. (I know they don't get viruses, but if someone made one, it could

Comments

[raquelll]

Yeah, I had to make that decision too. My dad was the SAME way. I wanted a Mac for a long time, but in the end I realized that if my dad was going to pay for it, I might as well go with what he wanted. Plus, they are WAY cheaper.
In the end, I got a Dell Inspiron E1505, and I really really like it.
It has pretty much the same features of the Mac, and it's nice-looking, plus about half the price. So if you get a PC, look at the Dells.

[dunegrass]

Yah, I'm kinda leaning that way. Although what I meant about paying for a PC was he'll give me as much money as a nice PC costs, and if I get a Mac, I'm making up the difference.

[raquelll]

Yeah, that was kind of our deal too with the paying. Good luck.

[mcog]

See the thing is the new mac laptops can run windows and mac software which makes them compatible with everything. The only problem with them is that they are still semi-new and therefore might have a few issues. I have a mac and I absolutely love it and have had no problem whatsoever with it. If I was buying a new computer this summer I would buy one of the new macs that runs both. But then again if I had to pay for it I would just get whatever my dad was willing to buy me. But talk to him about the fact that it is becoming more mainstream due to the fact that it now can run either.

Oh, and is there anything special besides paperwork that we need to bring tomorrow?

See you tomorrow at 9!

[jennydub]

I'm so glad I'm getting a macbook :-) And honestly, if you're looking at price, the "difference" you'd have to pay totally depends on which PC you're looking at. Because Dells tend to be a ton cheaper (but heavier, bulkier, and tend to break) but Sony's are amazingly good (all the asians at my school have them) and just as expensive as Macs (sometimes more!). Molly's right - macs run Windows now. But that shouldn't stop you from learning MacOS... it's really not that bad *gasp* I can't believe I said that. I can't believe I've been converted and it's only been 3 weeks since I was roaming my school doing a survey of everyone to see who had macs/pcs. (by the way, the answer was about 50-50). So seriously, in the college-student world, no one cares what you have. Plus - the techy guys on your campus who fix computers will LOVE you if you have a mac... because they're easier to fix... because they don't break/virus as often. And i'm sure there's virus software out there if you just look for it. I'm gonna look, too

[milothereporter]

• iBooks start at 1099. I've cracked them open with a friend, and the construction is just plain old superior to anything Windows you'll get for the same price. Magnesium fan housings, motherboards that don't splinter when you look at them, and solidly-cased hard drives. You might sacrifice a little performance, but your iBook is going to destroy any Sony or Dell or IBM/Lenovo in terms of how much abuse it will take before croaking.
  
• Resale value: a 3 year old iBook in good condition (eg, works) can pull 400-500 dollars. Try getting that out of anything Windows.
  
• Built-in camera. Surprising quality, as well.
  
• No viruses. There are open-source virus scanners that I use and trust (and I'm a nerd) that I'll point you to if you want it.
  
• MY GOD IT'S SO EASY TO USE. Just friggin' works.
  
• Really light. Really fast.
  
• If you really need to, you can install Windows (XP, NT, whatever). You can't install OS X on a Windows box, though.
  
• There's really no reason not to, at this point and for how cheap they are. You could buy a faster or better Dell, but it

[bulbmusic5]

I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a Mac, for most of the reasons listed above (not particularly for the style issue). And if Macs can run PC-based games, then the issue is 100% settled. But first, you should check out Carleton's support of PCs and Macs. At home, I use both Macs and PCs, and for all the stuff you listed (music, internet, word processing), the Mac is superior (although slower... but that's just the processor, which has been taken care of). But basically, your dad's a jerk.

[dunegrass]

Oh, Carleton definitely supports both. I think it's probably pretty close to a 50/50 split. I think I might end up getting the Mac, but I do need to check into how I'm going acquire a copy of Microsoft Office (preferably legally), because my dad's always gotten it for me from work, and he said he won't pay for software, which is understandable, since he doesn't personally pay for the PC software either.

[bulbmusic5]

I'm not sure, but I think my sister and I are both getting Macs (we're not quite sure yet). We'd get a copy of Microsoft Office Student Edition for, like, $150, which I believe can be installed on three computers or something. I'll have to look into that more.

[dunegrass]

Well, with the educational discount, it's only $100, but that still seems like quite a bit of money. I wonder what kind of opitons (if any) Carleton offers. I should check that out...