Hi, I'm looking to get a laptop for uni and cant decide on whether to get a mac or a PC?

Question

Ive got my eye on a dell vostro with the following spec -
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor (2.0GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache)
Genuine Windows Vista®
3 Year Business Hardware Support - Next Business Day
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
Matte Jet Black with 2.0 mega pixel camera
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr)
or a MacBook with the spec
13.3-inch (viewable) glossy widescreen
1280 x 800 pixels
1GB 667 DDR2 - 2x512MB SO-DIMMs
80GB Serial ATA drive (5400rpm)
Keyboard (English) & Mac OS (English)
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4MB shared L2 cache
24x Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth
Power Adapter
Battery
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory

Has anyone got any suggestions on which is better?

Im doing mechanical engineering at uni. The dell is around £600 and the mac is £699

link for dell http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/4x_vostro_1500?c=uk&cs=ukbsdt1&l=en&s=bsd

Link for mac
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=2F15A1DE&node=home/macbook/macbook

Answer 1

unless you have some existing microsoft software, you want to keep using, mac is the better choice.

Answer 2

I myself have a MAC and it is great i never had any problems with it and you can do so much. The MAC was designed by people who absolutely hate to waste time, the software and hardware work together great. It comes with tons of stuff, ILife, a suite of software that changes photos, music and more. MAC is the only computer in the world that can run all the major operating systems including Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Vista. With software like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion you can even run them side by side. Intel Core 2 Duo processors are fast. Just about everything works with Mac — even the stuff you used with your old PC. All you have to do is plug it in. A Mac has USB drivers for printers, external drives, digital cameras, input devices, iPod, and more. It can see Bluetooth cell phones and headsets, as well as FireWire cameras. No rebooting, no hassles. Other computers include software, it’s true. But once you start using that software, you find that you’re hobbled in some way or another. Software included with the Mac, on the other hand, is critically acclaimed as best in class.

I think a MAC is the better choice. i hope the information on the MAC will help you decide on what to get.

Answer 3

Depends on what your doing. Macs a great for design orientated work. PCs are great as an all rounder but with vista there are extreme compatibility problems, you cannot run Adobe programs like Photoshop on vista and there is no plans to do so in the near future. Also you have to find printers and other hardware compatible with vista. Macs are seen as hard to use, but having used both quite a lot at uni, i say the opposite- the way macs are made and the actual experience using them makes me think that they are more user friendly. With Windows there is always something that goes wrong, always something that pops up on screen which you know nothing about. With Macs that just doesnt happen. I only bought my laptop a few months ago, it has 2gb ram but for some things it is slow which makes me wonder if it is because of vista? Buy the mac i say

Answer 4

It depends what it is you are doing at uni. If it is just work, then Microsoft Office is likely to be much more widely accepted in file format if you are asked for any reason to submit your work electronically. It is a request made increasingly frequently now. Office works far more efficiently on windows than mac. Games are also more able on windows platforms. On mac however you will get much more efficiency than you will on windows. It is something ordinary work will not pick up, but any graphical work or design will be much better suited to a mac. All good design software is perfectly compatible on mac and will run smoother. Office is also compatible, but being a microsoft creation is a pig to work with. They try to make things difficult.

There are other options for working other than office such as openoffice. Whilst good, the file format is defaulted to be different and also has a steeper learning curve. It all really boils down to preference. Linux is also a possibility. Fastest but least compatible of the lot. Dell has recently begun a linux drive in some countries, so if you ask politely, they may be willing to offer this alternative.

Answer 5

without reading - it all depends on the software you are running
if your software is windows only ( say games) get windows
sure a mac will run a windows emulator but an emulator is always slower than the real thing ( it has to emulate on the computer)
If you are going to buy very expensive software fof the mac when you have them for windows - think first of the pc
- if you are doing run of the mill stuff that is already built in the computer software - browsing the internet , word processing , messenger etc it really does not matter
Nobody ever was unhappy in buying a mac simple as that
The computer above is beyond overkill for a nube like yourself
Best advice in buying such high end components is to learn to type first . Your typing not the computer will be the limiting factor.
People buy computers to run software not to run operating systems be they mac or windows
- they went to the moon on 8 k
( a megabyte is 1000 k)

Answer 6

For games a PC would be better.

If you aren't interested in gaming a lot then the Mac is more secure.

That said, if you want REAL security go with a Dell with Ubuntu already installed. Linux is even MORE secure than Mac and it is starting to get more and more of it's own games, too!

OR you could go with the PC just for gaming and Dual Boot it with Linux for everything else so you can have the best of BOTH worlds!!!!!

However, your University may want your computer set up a certain way. You should check with them about any "Requirements" they may have. AND they may be able to answer this question for you a bit better, too!

Answer 7

i would stay away from windows vista. there are HUGE compatibility issues with software, antivirus, etc. It's a mess. If possible get xp, or linux would be even better.

Mac is a great way to go too. The os is based on the unix os and is very stable and secure. you won't have spyware/virus/adware issues like you do on windows.

Answer 8

Check out the software, the University is using odds on its going to be windows, and Microsoft Office. I found software compatibility was more important than anything else.
You don't want to be wasting time altering essays etc, because the two systems aren't compatible.
Make life as simple as possible for yourself.

Answer 9

Depending on what subject you are studying, I would recommend a PC. As a science student we use computer packages to run statistical analyses which we do on uni computers in lectures and then transfer to our own PCs. The alternative is to contact your uni department and see what they recommend. All the best and have a great time at uni.

Answer 10

I've never bought a Mac because I can't use them, and I don't want to fork out the money if I can't get the hang of it! They have them at my uni, and I've tried a couple of times but there's no tuition and I couldn't get the hang of it without knowing where to start.

I love Mac's though, they're so pretty!

Answer 11

I'm a Macintosh person, so for me it'd be the Mac hands-down. What are you majoring in? Macs are good for creative things graphic design, drafting, cinematography, music, etc. PCs are good for business majors.