Flar0n

You can get a decent one from HP or Alienware, but try to stay away from Mac, trust me, bad experiences.

EWC88

I'll tell you what, I just came back from Best Buy to check out some laptops and the one thing I don't like at all about the Mac was the screen size..13.3"! I don't like how small the screen was at all..

But the fact that you can run windows and mac was nice and how they don't get viruses but I don't know if thats enough for me to say Mac cause the screen is gonna make me blind cause I'll have to be litearlly glued to it

Sir Travis D

only ignorant people would get a mac "because it doesn't get viruses". Unless you're viewing -well dirty things- or you download random email files from random people, and you don't have a virus program for like $50, you will not get viruses. Windows was made for a pc. Mac's feeble attempt at gaining market share by running competitor's programs is sick and childish.


PC + no dirty things/random email file downloading + virus scanner = no viruses

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EWC88

That was going to be my next question if I get the PC type laptop whats the BEST virus scan to get?

I don't view dirty crap or download anything from emails..Just to let people klnow lol

Vizy93

Go ahead and watch porn if you want to, lol.

anyways

AVG Antivirus is the best free thingy out there. AVG free is the correct name. i believe they recently came out with verison 8.0.

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tlarkin

If your absolute price limit is 1500 and you can't leap to the 1999 price of a Macbook pro and that is a need for you, then you are stuck getting a PC. Mind you Apple does offer college students package deals and educational discounts.

You are correct that there are no known wild viruses for the Mac platform. There also likely will not ever be one, considering Unix by design is far superior to windows from a security stand point. Everything you listed for your uses a Mac would do just fine out of the box and you would not have any problems doing it. Tons of universities have switched over to Mac networks, and I am also a network admin by trade and I run a Mac network.

Unfortunately, this forum is filled with PC users who don't know a single thing about the Mac platform to begin with. I wouldn't really trust anything they really say or post, it is most likely biased opinions.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both platforms of windows and OS X. Ultimately it will be up to you to decide what is best for you. In my experience iTunes sucks in general and sucks a lot more on windows. If that is a huge factor for you then you may want to consider a mac. Remember it is all about what you want, so you make your own decision on the matter.

To give you some advantages of how OS X is better in some aspects I will list a few:

Unix POSIX compliant
No viruses
better security
command line application for everything (probably won't apply to you)
great built in software features
great built in hardware features
fast and reliable
way less of a resource hog
Unix memory management
less software bloat
can run windows if you absolutely need it
full EFI support
tons of free open source applications available

Now, some cons of the Mac (which may or may not apply to you)

Can't hardware profile anything out in the OS or firmware (n/a to you prob)
domain level configurations with windows domains can be tricky
lack of some video game support
lacks some third party support (however there is always a mac version of everything, you just get less choices sometime)
The Apple way (sometimes it just doesn't make sense why they do things a certain way)


Most of this can be applied to windows and linux a like. You will have way less of a hassle with a Mac because of the way lower chances of your machine being compromised. A virus or trojan would need your administrator password to install itself, which is untrue on windows via windows kernel hooks it allows apps, drivers, plug ins, etc access to the kernel.

Ultimately it comes down to choices and preferences. If you prefer to use OS X then buy a Mac, and if you prefer to run windows run windows.

daisymtc

So what you need is a small laptop with big hdd within budget?

$1400 ASUS F8 Series F8Sn-C1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T9300(2.50GHz) 14.1" Wide XGA+ 3GB Memory 320GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS - Retail

$1000 ASUS F8 Series F8Sp-X1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T5750(2.00GHz) 14" Wide XGA 3GB Memory DDR2 667 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 - Retail

$600 lenovo 3000 Y Series Y410(59012585) NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T5450(1.66GHz) 14.1" Wide XGA 2GB Memory 250GB HDD 5400rpm Dual layer DVD Burner Intel GMA X3100 - Retail

EWC88

Not a small laptop, I really don't perfer having a small screen..

I just want a laptop thats fast, is great for everything I will be using it for ( listed on 2page )

EWC88

Can anyone give me any good ideas on what to get? I've been asking many people about this and I get mixed information. I know HP are great computers but I hear that there laptops aren't as great..is this true?

Sir Travis D

Acer laptops are bad. They have a bad build quality - don't get an acer even if they are cheap.

Some people complain about the customer service of alienware or dell. If that is a problem to you, you should read up on them, but I have only had good experiences.

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