laptop?

[.Jen.]

macs are only worth it if you wanna do graphic design or run music programs like cuebase,

....Or if you want a proper, well designed computer that actually works

They're more expensive... but you get what you pay for...

I got mine in November after years of using PC's - wont ever ever ever ever go back to using a PC.

Thaya... program wise you'll have no worries. Mac have programs that handle any type of Microsoft document (Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc...).

I'll do ya some grabs of Mac screens... then you'll see just how gorgeous and user friendly they are.

[thaya]

i'm still confused about what to get... i've seen a really nice white mac that's tiny and cost £750 but i think i'd have to buy microsoft office on top... that's another £100 or something... and i didn't want to spend more than a few hundred. Should I:
1) just get it anyway, put it on a credit card and forget about any holiday plans
2) keep looking and buy something within my price range even though it doesn't look great ( but i really LOVE that one i saw... nothing else compares)
3) forget buying a laptop and keep on begging my school to give me one?
(which i've been doing for 3 years, and it hasn't worked)

i don't know. maybe i'll have another browse round this weekend. I hate shopping, but i don't like searching for one on the net cuz i wanna actually see the thing before i buy it.

[drowningbitbybit]

i've seen a really nice white mac that's tiny and cost £750 but i think i'd have to buy microsoft office on top... that's another £100 or something...

Thats what Ive got (and Ive got the G4 powerbook at work).

And, yes, you'd need to buy office..... unless you could "liberate" a copy from somewhere

Hint - The mac version of office is fine. You can swap between PC and mac, you dont need to run the PC version on the mac, although you can (pointless though).
And then (okay, lets think about this and phrase it correctly) once you have obtained a copy of office, and backed it up on CD, should you find that you lose the original CD and it gets wiped off your mac, you can 'replace' a copy (*cough cough*) the office folder straight into applications and it'll work fine.

[SDCali]

Microsoft has a Student and teachers version of Office that is considerably cheaper than the regular version and has many of the same features. The version I have allows for legal installation in 3 computers at a time.
As for Mac vs. PC, check with your school, what do they use, as you may want to be able to work with whatever system your school has. The school I am at is all Mac's so my PC laptop cannot hook into thier network so I have to do all the network type stuff and grades on the classroom comp, which means I can't do that stuff at home .

[thaya]

what about memory sticks? do they work between pc's and mac's? work uses pcs so i need to be able to transfer stuff easily. i have no idea about these technological things!

[drowningbitbybit]

Yes, memory sticks are interchangeable.

The only thing that makes a difference is the file type. Older PCs dont deal with mac files very well, even if they're both Office

Modern pooters can bounce them back and forth between mac and pc without any problems.

[GowerCharger]

really i would recommend a PC not a mac, unless your really into computers and like spending ages messing with them your better off sticking to what you know. Macs look neat but you want a useful tool not an ornament. I knwo its trendy to bash microsoft but the whole crashing thing doesnt apply to windows xp, its way more stable than anything theyve made before, and as stable as any other platform ive ever used (shame they cant do the same for windows mobile ).
You can get dirt cheap PCs from places like dell, or if you know someone who knows a bit about pcs you could ask them to build you one (cheaper, you can getr the exact specification youre after, and it wont have the crap some manufacturers pre-install on their machines), maybe smile sweetly at some of the IT teachers?

as for buying office for £100, buy it? you got an internet connection so you never need pay for software again
In fact, if your using it for work then you may find your covered by your schools license if they have it on their machines so you could potentially use it legally on your machine without having to buy your own copy/license.

[gdude335]

i personnaly find mac is better for work.
mac comes witha prograram similar to word that can read and save files like that it works with word.
no viruses on macs.
it does not crash (rarely)
hey, its even great for video editing! (imovie) come swith it and its easy to use to make your own surf videos.
IPhoto, one of those great picture organizers.
Itunes is on mac and pc but is originaly by mac.
anyways now on macs you can run windows and mac. So you can get a mac and it would work like a pc!
and its purty.
pc is cheaper though.
mac>pc for work

ps: the program that can be used as word is appleworks.

[.Jen.]

really i would recommend a PC not a mac, unless your really into computers and like spending ages messing with them your better off sticking to what you know. Macs look neat but you want a useful tool not an ornament.

Not every Mac owner is into computers in a big way. I primarily bought it for photography and design, and was going to keep my PC until i realised that this does everything the PC did and more. Its never once crashed (which my PC did on a daily basis), I've never had programs freeze (which my PC did on a daily basis) and I've had no hacker threats, virus threats or anything which would make me consider switching back to a PC. I've had no problem getting Mac compatible programs and games and everything works on it. Before you go saying that there was obviously something wrong with my old PC - it wasnt just my old one, but the one before that and the one before that. It didnt get any better when I got XP.

As for looks... ok it looks nice, but thats not what made me buy it. Couldnt care less if it was twice the size of my old PC and had a brown & flourescent pink paintjob, id still choose it over a PC.