jborgetti918 Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 I need to get a desktop and a laptop but I am not sure if it would be best to get them both Apple or Windows. Or if it would be better to get one of them with Windows and the other a Mac. Please give me any of your opinions for help. by the way these are for going to be used for college. Thanks and please give me all the help you can give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InternalStorm Posted December 17, 2005 Share Posted December 17, 2005 Both Windows... for college work and for the best value I would definately go both with Windows. More compatibility, cheaper cost, more power and flexibility, and (at least in my opinion) a cleaner and more usable operating system. Macs really don't appeal to me. They are bit of a novelty item but offer real no advantages to PC's other than their tiresome white color scheme and visual style that gets old really fast and isn't as great for power users. If you are getting a laptop and a desktop you shoudl get both of the same though... just to have better and easier networking and program compatibility. Up to you, I'm sure others will have some other (opposite) views on the matter ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syphonic Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I own a Windows desktop and a mac laptop. However the mac desktop is coming soon and the only reason I have the Windows machine is for playing games. I see no other advantage to Windows. a cleaner and more usable operating system In what way? I'd hardly call Windows 'clean' or 'usable'. That's a totally subjective point. white color scheme and visual style that gets old really fast and isn't as great for power users. I don't complain about the 'visual style' and neither does anyone else I know who uses OS X. If you dislike the white why you own a white iPod nano? Also, you can customise the gui just like you can on windows, stop by the 'Your mac desktop' thread in the Mac section sometime. Also for your future reference: The 'power' line of Apple computers are not white. The Powermac and the Powerbook come in aluminium. More compatibility With what exactly? Windows users tend to rattle this argument off and it's usually meaningless. Depending on what he wants to do at college this could be a total non-issue. cheaper cost Depends on what he's buying. Apple's educational discounts and student deals or alternatively the refurb store mean you can pick up some excellent deals. more power and flexibility Well I presume your power argument is meant to go with your cost one as a sort of 'bang for the buck' comment. In my experience with Windows laptops the more bang for your buck the less quality and the more you are sending the laptop back for repairs. As for flexibility...flexibility of what exactly? In the end it comes down to what the person buying needs. All the arguments you've mentioned are non-issues for me unless you count the 'compatibility' one for my gaming. For jborgetti918 it will be different and it comes down to what you are doing at college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detroit Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I currently have a desktop pc and a ibook for laptop and I don't regret my laptop besides the fact I really wanted a pb lol But I do wish I had started with a mac first because I just find myself to be much more efficient when working in os x :) Btw, typing this on my ibook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jborgetti918 Posted December 18, 2005 Author Share Posted December 18, 2005 Hey Syphonic I will be studying chemical engineering in college so will it still be a good idea to go for the macs since, from what I hear are good for design/graphics only? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[bear] Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 you will get way way better battery life/management with a mac. Also, I personally haven't used the powermac line since the dual G4 series but it was still a great feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AltecXP Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 With what exactly? Windows users tend to rattle this argument off and it's usually meaningless. Depending on what he wants to do at college this could be a total non-issue. software and hardware it can run MANY more games, development/educational programs then Mac and it can also be easily upgraded w/ basicly any piece of harware on teh market since most major companies deisign for ONLY Windows or Both, making Windwos the more versatile OS in terms of what you can do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HouD Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 For standard college uses? Mac. Easily. Just my opinion, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detroit Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Oh ya, macs and batteries really go hand and hand Either way My ibook gets around 5-6 hours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syphonic Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Hey Syphonic I will be studying chemical engineering in college so will it still be a good idea to go for the macs since, from what I hear are good for design/graphics only? Well what you want to find out is what sort of applications you will need to be running. Your college may require you to use apps which only run on Windows in which case the choice is made for you. Only thing I can think of would be TeX for writing reports etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuarterSwede Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 I own a PowerBook and would say that it really does depend on the requirements of the school. Some make it very hard for Mac users to get online (VPN) for instance or professors may want you to use programs that are only on Windows. Then again, you can always use the computer lab for any essential x86 work. I had to use the Apple Lab for projects that required OS X when I didn't have a PowerBook so it really shouldn't matter if your school is setup properly (I went to a major university). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt T Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 When do you start college? My recommendation would be to buy the most powerful Intel PowerBook you can afford and then dual-boot Windows and OS X. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canbeli Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 I have two windows (desktop; laptop), but plan to get a Mac Powerbook sometime. And keep my windows desktop, but upgrade it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesmallelder Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 More compatibility, cheaper cost, more power and flexibility, and (at least in my opinion) a cleaner and more usable operating system. If you are getting a laptop and a desktop you shoudl get both of the same though... just to have better and easier networking and program compatibility. I don't see where you get any of this stuff. Macs are just as compatible as PC are with just about anything, if not more compatible. You don't get more power and flexibility with windows. My 1.9ghz iMac G5 completely owns my 3.0ghz P4 in movie rendering and compatibilty with devices. ;) And windows IS NOT a cleaner OS. :p Organization of system files is terrible. Networking was much easier for me between my iMac and the rest of the network, then it was between my Windows laptop and the rest of the network. The iMac saw computers on the network instantly, no config at all; a much different story on the Windows side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sendmarksmail Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Ok this is how I see it. If you're not a gamer, get an iMac as your desktop because those are beautiful and I'm a Windows User. Then get a 14" widescreen laptop from HP or Compaq. Those are really nice for school. Get a 12 cell battery though so it can last more than 4 hours. If you're a gamer, I would get a custom built PC and a Windows Notebook as well. I don't see the reason in getting a MAC if you're a gamer. The iMac would be nice if you don't have a TV or DVD player as it's a widescreen and you can rip DVDs you just "purchased" and watch it on that nice screen. But go windows. I'll be waiting for Vista before I get a Laptop though or the x86 Intel MAC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detroit Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Whatever happens, make sure you have a nice big monitor to read or watch something on because the more real estate you have, the more productive you can be :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyClaw Veteran Posted December 20, 2005 Veteran Share Posted December 20, 2005 software and hardware it can run MANY more games, development/educational programs then Mac and it can also be easily upgraded w/ basicly any piece of harware on teh market since most major companies deisign for ONLY Windows or Both, making Windwos the more versatile OS in terms of what you can do with it. Yea there are much more games for windows, but in terms of development/educational programs, the playing field is pretty much equal. For programs on windows that aren't on mac, there is a parallel that will do the work of 3 programs on windows usually. As for hardware, I really don't see where people get this from. A mac can use the same ram, hdd, cd/dvd drives, graphics cards, etc as a PC. You can even upgrade processors and motherboards providing they are mac processors and motherboards. You just do not see them on Newegg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigapixels Veteran Posted December 20, 2005 Veteran Share Posted December 20, 2005 Well what you want to find out is what sort of applications you will need to be running. Your college may require you to use apps which only run on Windows in which case the choice is made for you. Only thing I can think of would be TeX for writing reports etc. Are you saying that TeX is something that can only run on Windows? I've been using TeX on my iBook for ages... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detroit Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 I run TeX on my Ibook as well and it is simply an amazing app to make nice looking documents - I'm in the sciences and it saves me so many time :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigapixels Veteran Posted December 20, 2005 Veteran Share Posted December 20, 2005 I run TeX on my Ibook as well and it is simply an amazing app to make nice looking documents - I'm in the sciences and it saves me so many time :) I actually used it mostly for math work. It was a heck of a lot more organized than my chicken scratchings, and my professor certainly appreciated it ;) I love how LaTeX has full Services integration, so it will take any highlighted TeX code in Pages and replace it with the true result. Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detroit Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Who, you can use it with Pages?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BajiRav Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 If you're ever going to use any engineering apps, just forget macs...at least PPC ones...or wait till intel macs come out. iBook is good but is seriously underpowered except for most general use. Also personally I find it difficult to read for a long time on my iBook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detroit Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Medical apps on the other hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iOsiris Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 My desktop is Windows/Linux. My laptop is MAC. These iBooks/Powerbooks gets way more batterylife than any PC based equivalent for the same price. Once the intel ones come things will be looking even better :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellah Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 im a freshman at michigan state studying computer science... i have a windows laptop. i do admire macs and would love to get one someday, but i decided against it for now. each operating system has its niches, as you know many people say macs are better for multimedia. its also one of those facts that windows is a better development environment. and that is obviously the reason i chose windows. we also do stuff on unix machines too, which is why i would like to have a mac. its been my personal experience that if you know how to use a windows pc properly it is extremely stable and responsive. ive also seen macs be exteremely sluggish. some people dont like how the file system is set up on PCs and complicated they are while others think macs are too simple and dont give you enough options. someone made these points earlier, but with macs you cannot typically do a user upgrade on anything more than memory. PCs you can upgrade all day long. another point is the bang-for-your buck. if youre an average user taking price into consideration id say take windows all day long. i wont sit here and say one OS is better than the other because they are clearly better than one another in their own ways, but my personal opinion is windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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