Apple for college?

Hi I am going to be a college freshman and am looking for a laptop. Well my family has used macs since the performa 3600 (in 1990 or so) and have had 2 older imacs plus 1 new one. We also have one dell pc that I use mostly. I like both of them as they each have positives and negatives. So I bought a dell 8600 and got it today. Disappointed, the screens resolution is too high that when set lower it looks bad. Also the screen has weird lines when moving and the trackpad stinks. I do think that on the windows we have webpages load a tad faster than they do on my moms new imac which has a gig of ram. The powerbook and ibook are gorgeous and have fewer problems. For instance with the dell i just got, i tried to go online wirelessly and it doesn't work. Whereas my moms imac was immediately up and running. Spyware isnt an issue on the mac (well using mozilla firefox its less of one on windows). Some websites don't work on mac such as http://launch.yahoo.com which is to view music videos. It says you need netscape 4.X to work?? Some other sites dont work also.

All in all my computer will be used for word, internet, AIM, music (itunes/ipod), excel and powerpoint, the occasional dvd, etc. I am willing to get used to macOSX. Which do you recommend? I am going to send back the dell i just got and really don't think that there is another dell for me and don't really want to go with another PC brand.
Thanks sooo much in advance!

 

Im not sure I understand your question. You are unhappy with the dell and want to get rid of it and you dont want another dell or any kind of pc laptop. That leaves you with apple and the powerbook and ibook. So is your question which apple laptop should you get. I am not an apple expert, but just wanted to clarify your question for others that will read your topic.

P.S. Welcome to the forums.

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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well, mistake #1 for you was getting a hi-res screen on the 8600, I can't stand the UXGA either...text is too small and hard to read. I agree the trackpad is tough to use, but there's no trackpad that exists that I can claim as "easy" to use. I much prefer the IBM trackpoint stick and navigation keys...maybe you should look at IBM machines before totally ditching the Windows laptop market. Their build quality is equal to that of Macs, and priced so I might add. Fujitsu also has good build-quality. The Dell Inspiron 700m has been getting rave reviews and has been dubbed as an "iBook killer".

I'm not sure why the 8600 wireless wouldn't work right out of the box, instead of just saying "it doesn't work" I'd make a call to Dell or play around with settings for a few minutes to see what might be wrong and what you can fix...with any computer you just have to develop some level of technical ability and competence so you can help yourself when a problem invariably arises.

Anyway, for your uses you state either an Apple or PC based notebook will work so if you find the Apple brand to be more reliable and you have more confidence in that manufacturer, then you'd be fine going with them (and just not using certain websites that don't work, it's just those sites have chosen not to support all browsers I guess).

 

I agree with the two replies above that you should not say NO to PC just because one failed DELL (you did have one good DELL before, right?). On the other hand, if you are comfortable with Apple already -- both in its functionality and price -- , I don't see why you have to switch to PC. Computer is a tool, and there is no better one than the one that fits your needs and habits.

You should, however, call your school to determine if Apple will run all the softwares that are required by your major (Apple has no problem handling the basic needs you listed). You should also ask if the school has an educational discount on Apple computers.

 

If you're going to be a heavy user, I'd go for the iBook...it's reputedly a tough little notebook. That said, you may want to consider a Panasonic toughbook! I've been carrying my 500mhz TiBook to class every day since it was released and it's still going strong. IBMs of those days, however, are less than suitable for modern tasks, which is something to consider. However, and here is where we get into conjecture, if Apple is optimizing Tiger for the 64-bit G5 processor, it may be worth holding off on a G4 purchase. In the PC camp, Microcrap's Longhorn os isn't due for quite a few years, so the ol' P4s and Dothans should be good for a while. Anyone else with opinions is encouraged to share!

I would consider: IBM T42 (14" screen, with at LEAST the radeon 9600), 12" iBook, 15" PowerBook(get the radeon 9700), Toughbook w2, or a Fujitsu s7000. That's just me, though...