<p>im getting a laptop and a docking station. compromise ;)</p>
<p>I am typing this on a brand new Mac Mini and I love it…I got the base model…40GB, 512 ram, 1.33 Ghz…no airport or bluetooth. I just got this thing to play with it and I have fallen in love with OSX…when I graduate I will treat myself to a powerbook, and I wil not hold back on anything with that bad boy.</p>
<p>Anyway, laptops are great…especially if you are traveling. I plan to return to Europe a couple times and my laptop will be with me.</p>
<p>rufio055 - thanks for the Virtual PC info. I didn’t know Mac was coming out with an Intel line…I am so out of sync it’s a shame…anyway…can’t wait! I know it’ll be great!</p>
<p>i’d say for the humanities and social sciences its good but for the sciences/math - useless</p>
<p>Toshiba’s are somewhere up there with really good Satellite laptops.
I’ve had my satellite with 512ram 60gb and 2.8ghz P4 for 18 months without any problems.</p>
<p>Im a lil concerned about room space lol. When I go to college I will be carrying like 2 desktops and 2 laptops with me. 1 desktop I plan on using for school work. 1 laptop for notes. The other two are my old ones that Im using to do database work for my job.</p>
<p>lix, get a kvm switch, stick the other database desktop in the closet, and run a cable to it. you’ll be able to both with only one set of peripherals, and one pc will be out of the way.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>I was to lazy to go through every single post so i’m just going to give you my take on laptops.
First off as far as battery life goes stay away from Pentium 4 and AMD processors. If you can go with a Centrino processor, you’ll be happy you did. My college has wireless internet throughout the whole campus I had a Toshiba Satellite pentium 4 last semester and the battery lasted less than an hour just typing Psych notes. I now have a Toshiba Satellite M55-S3292 and I have to say that its the best laptop i’ve ever used. The battery lasted exactly 3 hours when i was listening to music, instant messaging, typing a paper, and browsing the internet. The Centrino 1.60 processor is surprisingly fast. I’m a CIS major and this computer suits me just fine. I have a Vaio desktop with HD TV tuner, 300gb harddrive, 2.9pentium 4, $300 video card but I never use it because its not really practical. I dont’ know how i would have survived my freshman year without a laptop and the prices have gone down considerably. As far as Apple vs Windows its really your choice. I’ve never been a fan of Macs but then again i’m a CIS major</p>
<p>i have a laptop and don’t know what i would’ve done if i had to search for a campus computer or sit in my room with a desktop everytime i wanted to use the internet.</p>
<p>i got my laptop, an all-in-one printer, a digital camera, 200 sheets of that glossy photo paper, headphones, and some other crap for $1600 from hp’s APP (academic purchase program) online. all you need is a college email and ID#. and make sure to check online deals EVERYDAY b/c they change very quickly.</p>
<p>karthikkito, thats a good idea lol. Most likely Ill do that. But the desk will still be crowded since I will have an 18in LCD and a 19in. THought about using 1 monitor for both but it just couldnt work out because when Im doing DB work I dont want to keep switching signals. Oh well guess one cant have everything in life.</p>
<p>One thing about macs…
I’m considering getting one for college (or senior year, as my current ACER laptop is nearing the end of its useful life) and they have two lines for laptops. Is it worth getting a powerbook and spending like $600ish more over an ibook?
I’m considering the 14inch ibook or the 15inch powerbook. My mom works for the gov’t so I get a discount. And if I buy between the time I get into college and she quits working for the gov’t, do I get a double discount, or can you use only one?</p>
<p>Oh, BTW, since I had a laptop, I’ve been a complete laptop fan. I hate desktops.</p>
<p>No double discount…they have an “educational store” and a “government store”, so you’ll be able to deal in only one.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Get the MacBook, not the Powerbook…</p>
<p>Wait for the fall to come around. By then Apple will have the Intel-based replacement for the iBook.</p>
<p>Because no, a PowerBook–err, MacBook Pro isn’t worth the premium over iBooks for students.</p>
<p>Nevertheless I am waiting for my MacBook to arrive right now because I love hypocrisy and I need a new computer yesterday as my current PowerBook is falling apart and about to die after 4 years of abuse (8 broken components and counting)</p>
<p>Get a convertible tablet, all the advantage of hand-written, with keyboard etc.</p>
<p>Gateway has a nice one for 1200, about as much as an Ibook</p>
<p>The keyboard is not expensive, really, you can order 1 online for less than 10 bucks with a rebate, mouses less than 5 (optical here) with rebate.</p>
<p>Docking station + monitor puts you back about $300, add another $100 for a 19", 150 for 20"</p>
<p>Bluetooth will soon make docking stations easier to use.</p>
<p>i’d definitely check to see if your campus has wireless internet too</p>
<p>I first purchased a laptop before realizing my campus didnt have wireless…in which case, my laptop served as a very small desktop for the first 2 years</p>
<p>upon finally getting wireless, a laptop was much more useful</p>
<p>I have been looking into getting a tablet and was wondering if it is really all it is made out to be and if it would be more ideal than a regular notebook in the classroom scene. They are starting to come out with some nice tablets with duo core and …goood memory…good storage… just no graphics support</p>
<p>Normally I’d say you’re better off without the graphics support to tempt you into wasting time on games, but apparently Vista will actually be requiring serious graphics power…</p>
<p>Oh yeah thats right VISTA…Can’t wait for that… I imagine it’s going to be great</p>
<p>Yeah, it’ll be able to do things Mac OS X has been able to do for…quite some time.</p>
<p>Apple was right when they marketed 10.4 Tiger with the slogan “Introducing Longhorn”</p>