Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

i asked this question in response to another thread, but i did not receive any answers. I would like to know if you guys are planning on buying your computers now to familiarize youself with how to use them, or if you are going to wait till the last possible minute to buy it?

By Zephyrmaster (Zephyrmaster) on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 11:45 pm: Edit

Probably a little before, I need to make sure it works, but I mean, most computers are pretty darn similar fairly straightfoward devices on which you don't have to "practice".

By Gabushida (Gabushida) on Wednesday, April 28, 2004 - 11:55 pm: Edit

Well, I bought the parts at the beginning of last summer, and put it together at the end (was away for 6 weeks). I have since reformatted (twice...-_-), made hardware tweaks, and changed some stuff software-wise. I am considering upgrading some parts over the summer, though (such as the processor and/or MoBo).

By Derbisblue (Derbisblue) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 12:10 am: Edit

It's best to buy computer a week or two before your school acutally starts. I made the mistake of buying it in the beginning of summer and towards the end of summer the price fell a lot.

By Anontrojan2008 (Anontrojan2008) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 12:11 am: Edit

well actually, i'm a pc user now, but i'm planning on getting an apple powerbook for college. so i think that i will need time to learn all the different programs for macs. is there any reason that i should wait till later to buy my computer?

By Rono_G (Rono_G) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 08:28 am: Edit

i don't know... i'm planning to get my computer a bit before i get to uni... as i'm an international student - i really don't want to buy my computer here in indonesia, and then have to take it half way around the world... they talk about international guarantees and all of that stuff - but its much easier said than done... my bloody sony cybershot digital camera was bought in singapore and they refused to fix it in indonesia because apparently it wasn't bought here... so yeah, i'm going to buy my laptop in north america, a week or two before uni starts...

where you guys going to school? i was chosing between University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
UC Davis, and University of British Columbia in Vancouver Canada... finally decided to go to UBC in Canada

By Charmedxgal408 (Charmedxgal408) on Friday, April 30, 2004 - 09:46 pm: Edit

why are you getting an apple powerbook?? i'm asking cuz i'm interested. are they better? they certainly look cuter =]

By Anontrojan2008 (Anontrojan2008) on Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 08:01 am: Edit

apples are better, believe me i've done my research:
1) looks--both inside and out! everyone knows that the silver aluminum powerbook is the prettiest computer out there. but also the operating system looks and functions way better than windows. and even the mac version of office is cuter and has more features.
2) i'm getting a great discount so the price will be equal to or better than the price of an equivalent pc laptop.
3) i used to use apple computers, but i have not in the last four years...i miss apples.
4) if you use windows you are like 99% guarenteed to catch spy-ware, ad-ware, or viruses. i know that i have caught some on my current pc. and i cannot figure out how to get rid of all my ad-ware. however, apples are known for NEVER EVER catching viruses. and i believe the same goes for spy-ware and ad-ware also.

By Pipettewolf (Pipettewolf) on Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 12:40 pm: Edit

anontrojan2008

1) looks, apples are unique in style. Pc has a much greater selection of looks. I'm sure that more people will be able to find a pc that they think looks very good whereas the apple is a hit or miss.

2) In terms of hardware, pc's are much cheaper than apples. If you can get a discount great. The reason pc's are cheaper are that apple have no competitor while pc manufacturers are constantly competing with other pc manufacturers.

3) you bring up a good point that you are biased towards an apple because of your personal attachment.

4) I don't know about the 99% guarantee, but the only way that you can catch spyware or viruses are if you visit illigitamate websites or download and install free software. I do however find the spyware quite irritating, but was computer savvy enough to eliminate the problem.


Okay, so you're deciding between an apple and a pc. For laptops, I believe that the differences between an apple and pc are very insignificant. Go with the one that you like better. The apples tend to be more expensive but have unique styling and well...aren't microsoft. Pc's are a little cheaper with a bigger selection of styles but...is microsoft.

Also, in the past, microsoft has been the dominant force as an overwhelming majority of software had been geared towards windows only. Now there are programs out there that will act as a pc emulator on a apple so that you can run windows software on your apple!

Also, before you buy that 64 bit processor or dual processor machine, keep in mind that most software today cannot take advantage of those technological advances. Basically, it's a waste of money for the general population.

If all you want to use are AIM and a word processor, ANY pc or apple can do that. Even my 233 Mhz computer from a bijillion years ago can do that.

Okay, now we go into the desktop battle. From a personal standpoint, I believe that a pc desktop is just a better buy than an apple computer. PC's are cheaper with faster parts. With so many companies competing, prices are constantly falling and techonology is always on the rise. There are hundreds of cases to choose from with an infinite array of desktop configurations to meet the different requirements of every single person in the world. Apple desktops- The only company manufacturing apple desktops is apple. This lack of competition serves to only slow the progression of the company. They are more expensive. While they claim to be faster, if you read the fine print in their "tests" and you are somewhat computer literate, you will find that a 1ghz celeron with the computer configuration that the apple G5 processor was given would have out scored the 3.0 ghz hyperthreading cpu with the computer configuration that it was given.

first, the hyperthreading feature on the pc was turned off. It was given 128 mb of ram and a 64 mb video card.

Those are the normal speed indicators. There were more things but I will just use those for example.

The apple g5 was given 512 mb of ram, with a 256 mb video card.

Okay, so now they run a graphics intensive bench mark test. Which one do you think is going to be
"faster?"

Apple's claim: the new G5 is the fastest in the world, even faster than the new 3.0 ghz hyperthreading cpu made by intel.

For that, I had lost much respect for the company. I used to like it because it was the underdog in the business. After that, there is now a reason why it was once the monopoly and became the underdog and why it will always remain the underdog.

By Zephyrmaster (Zephyrmaster) on Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 03:08 pm: Edit

PC > Mac if... you need to spend less money, you are computer savvy, you want to upgrade, you want to play games, or you want to be compatible with most computer software, items, and features.

Mac > PC if... you like simplicity or don't understand computers well, or you only need a computer for simple tasks (not gaming, etc...) and you have some extra money to burn.

That's my "objective," analysis ;-).

By Mike (Mike) on Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 03:18 pm: Edit

Lots of colleges have discounts at computer companies. Puget Sound as ones with Apple and Dell, about 200 less then I can get elsewhere. Check your admitted college website before buying