<p>butterfly1015:
to answer your first question, NU has LaptopER which is where some students/technicians will help students fix their computers. i’m not sure how good they are, but they can help some as well as people in the dorm you live with. or find some comp. eng friends that may be able to help you. In terms of the computer physically breaking, i dont know anything baout that other than if you get the computer under warrantee, and then they typically dont give you a replacement. i think.</p>
<p>your second question, apple is a very viable option, just look into what sorts of stuff you will be doing on the computer. engineers, for instance, if you get an intel based macbook, you have to get windows xp as well to be able to run matlab, your primary programming tool/program. THis is not to say that engineers can’t have macs, but it may be easier for some to just use a pc.</p>