i need a laptop for university in september.
i'm sure there are ppl on here with experience in the area:


dell inspirion
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/prod...pecstab#tabtop

OR

iBook g4 (12")
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....1.1.0.0.0.1.0

OR

(your suggestions here)



PS, i dont have much experience with a mac, always been on windows XP.


thanks in advance.

 

Comparing the two, I would go with the Mac, as its more powerful, and a better platform.

I would suggest getting an IBM, ive been using one myself for the past 3 years, and its still running perfectly. Get something with a decent warranty just in case.

Check out tigerdirect.ca for deals on laptops.

 

I'd say go mac all the way.. more stable OS, and I think they look better, but its probably more expensive.. I should have bought one when I was in school for graphic design last year but I didnt have the cash at the time.. my next computer will be a mac for sure..

 

If your not afraid of switching to a new (NOT BETTER or WORST[each has its pro and con]) system, then I would go for the ibook.

If your mainly using windows based program for your school/work, try looking at the dell i6000, IBM is also a good choice but you have to spend some more but IMHO its worth it. Its really durable(they have those ads/promo/gimmic where an IBM laptop was burned, left outside all winter, thrown from a second floor and got wet, etc...)

mac osx is easy to jump into, stable system (based on *nix os) and you will encounter very little virus and spywares(vs windows). But the whole thing depends on what programs your going to be using (for your course).

 

oh ya, im doing commerce.

i know mac is great for graphic design, and/or even video...media etc.

im not afraid of OS X. i can handle the change as long as i wont be dissapointed.

it will be for internet research, presentations, assignments, typing.... pretty basic applications reallly.

both are around the same price

 

man just stay Windows based.

why go through all the trouble of getting extra software on the Mac to run Windows based applications.
example, word files, you need Mac Office and the miriad of office applications you'll need for your word documents presentations spreadsheets and so forth.
my suggestion, if you want to stay mobile look up the DV series from HP very small whilst giving you exceptional battery life, and power.
stay with centrino for mobility
celeron if you are a cheap FOB
pentium 4 if you want power which isnt required TOO often nowadays.
amd64 if you want latest and greatest, especially in a notebook, new from AMD is Turion64.

 

Contrary to what most people believe BOTH are great for "graphic design, and/or even video...media etc.". Its just that mac os used to excel at that field and the artist got used to using it so the mythos live on with that. Both are equal (since both use the same (pro) software, like photoshop).

for your needs I would definitely recommend mac os, its a really good. You wont be dissapointed with OS X (just dont hunt and kill me if you ended up not liking OS X ). All I can say is, its a work of art, really stable, easy to get in to (Im repeating my self here lol).

 

i ahte mac my friend had the g4 laptop... i couldn't stand it

 

how would a mac compliment his needs?
he is NOT in any form of visual design program, as he stated commerce.

lay down the mac is l33t opinions because it's so "sought after". and decide what the guy needs for his choice of program. he doesn't need to spend over 1600 bucks for a notebook that he wont take full advantage of.

 

ye i'm looking 1300 max.
(before taxes and/or upgrades addons etc.)

i want a realively fast machine, one that can hold and handle a decent media library.

and my XP has been raped and bombarded with spyware and virus since 2003...

 

You should've read the first part better: I said that BOTH windows and mac are equal in terms of "visual design".

I said "Contrary to what most people believe BOTH are great for "graphic design, and/or even video...media etc."." Becuase most people think that if you are a visual designer, you should get a mac, which is not true.

I said "for your needs I would definitely recommend mac os" I recommended mac becuase IMHO it is a powerful OS.

It doesnt matter if he is in commerce or engineering or medicine, he said he's mainly using it for "it will be for internet research, presentations, assignments, typing.... pretty basic applications reallly." Which a mac AND windows can do.

and if you check the site you can get the ibook for $1,199.00 (this includes the education discount).

"lay down the mac is l33t opinions because it's so "sought after". and decide what the guy needs for his choice of program. "

I am currently using a dell inspiron 9300 since I need windows to run the program I need (for school).

If I am a mac fanboy I wouldnt suggest "try looking at the dell i6000, IBM is also a good choice but you have to spend some more but IMHO its worth it."

And to finish it off... He is asking for suggestion. I am giving my opinion.

 

damian, don't get me wrong. mac's make AMAZING products.

but to switch over, might not necessarily be worth it.
the canadian apple.ca has AS BASIC AS POSSIBLE ibook @999, you get ****ty specs though.

spyware and viruses? depends on the software you use, i've never recieved a single virus or spyware/trojan since i've gotten my rogers about 2 years ago.

my suggestion still is DV series from HP.
great little notebooks.

 

The cheapest is can$1,199, the us$999 is the US price. I checked the site. and I agree the specs are not that good, but a ram upgrade would suffice.

 

yo man, i bought a noname laptop from FS for 1,600... for that price i got the features of a 2,300 Dell laptop... i pitched in a few extra bucks for the FS extended warranty (that covers everything) and i haven't had one problem...

I wouldn't bother getting a Mac, while they might be nice to use, you're going into commerce which is a PC based society, i know tons of people taking commerce courses that had problems with stuff in courses cuz of how prof's saved files, etc, sending stuff to profs they can't open it...

if you want dell then go for dell, they're just big and heavy as a brick for the affordable ones..

get a custom built one or go 'no name' at the end of the day they use the same parts as a dell computer, you just end up paying extra for the name...

 

pc and mac very different and used for different purposes...
mac is best but not nec best for what you need.
it is a big transition to mac as well from pc.

people say ****ty specs bout macs but performance is not reated like a regular pc is so keep that in mind

but overall mac is best, out performs pc in power, reliability, and just overal.

 

Once you go Mac you'll never go back. hehehe

Have you thought about a toshiba laptop? My wife has one which is going onto 3 yrs old and it still runs like a champ.

Also I would get something with 15" screen or larger.

Comparing a MAC to an IBM is like comparing apples to oranges.

 

I grabbed a laptop from best buy last month, came to 1600 and change after taxes, but I saved a tax due to buying it through work.

Compaq R4025
15.4 widescreen lcd
2gighz amd athlon 64
1gig of ram
80gig hard drive (5400rpm )
dual layer dvd burner
wireless G
128mb video card

and some other cool features...

laptops have really gone down in price, its a good time to buy one. But I'd never shell out over $1600 on a DELL, ALIENWARE, TOSHIBA, etc.... when you can get an equalivant piece of hardware. I priced out building a laptop byself, part by part, and it was more expensive to do it that way belive it or not.

 

for pcs toshiba is prob one of the best makes you can get, having wroked and have had family work for them they are great.
international warranties, great craftsmanship, and goood designs. only drawback is software, but umm download *cough
and now working for office depot the best thing i've noticed is just wait it out, computers have such short shelf life in no time they will go on clearance and youu han save hundreds of dollars, i;ve sold clearance laptops for half price b4 closed box... going to a less busy store like office depot will also increase you chances as we don't sell as high volujme as futureshop and thus have more clearance computers - and when the time comes we HAVE to get rid of them to make way for the newer models that we already have

 

as for working for a retail store and not ****ty FS and BB, i can tell you which ones come back the most.
compaq tops the list, dead pixels, bad cd-roms.

toshiba has to be the number 1 laptop manufacturer. they are my favourite specifically the tecra series. but the satellite series has VERY NICE models.

 

yup for sure toshiba is the best...
hp owns compaq, for those that don't know...
they are both the most returned, and no thats not cause they are sold more as i sell equal toshibas, and other brands... e machines has also stopped being sold buy office depot as they are ****, bad customer serve/warranty service, and of huge amount of returns