multi-suitable laptop?

insert name

Have a course in Trinity but with recorrections might get Med in Galway-want a laptop which is compatible with both?does Apple (macbook) cut the cheese in NUIG??

Claypigeon

Not sure what you mean, what is it you need the laptop to be able to do and why would where you use it matter?

po0k

They're different coloured hammers these days, unless you got a mickey-mouse system/hardware.
Inter-operable standards make life better.

po0k

Claypigeon wrote: »

Not sure what you mean, what is it you need the laptop to be able to do and why would where you use it matter?

Wireless.

It's what computers breath dontchaknow

insert name

Ha well basicly I heard a few "myths" that programmes weren't compatable on certain computers with varied Window versions or whatever.. So would say, a Mac be suitable for both for example?

leninbenjamin

that's not a myth. Windows programmes wont work on Apple OSX or Linux, and vice versa.

A macbook will do fine, all you need in college is to be able to connect to the network which is an issue of hardware. However, I don't recommend macbooks myself as they are overpriced and the amount of programs available for it is quite limited compared with Windows systems.

it you want us to give more specific info, you need to tell us more about what's intended of the machine, and this is probably the wrong forum for it.

Tom Dunne wrote:

If you are looking to buy a laptop, please include the following information in your post:

Budget: How much you are willing to pay. More is not always better

Intended use: E.g. college work, internet, e-mail, Word processing, programming, games, development, whatever. It makes a big difference.

Mobility: Generally speaking, the smaller a laptop, the more you will pay for it. So if mobility is not important, make sure and state that

Warranty: Is a warranty important? Extended warranties tend to be expensive, do you need the piece of mind? Or would you rather wing it and fix the laptop yourself if something goes wrong? I would.

crótach

You can use any Windows program on a mac. My wife went through 4 years of DCU with a macbook, and the only time she had to use a windows program was for database curriculum, for which she needed Access.

You can run Paralells Desktop, where you just launch windows apps from OSX and switch between them as if they're mac programs. Or you can go a step further and install Windows on a macbook, and whenever you need to switch just reboot the system.

It's all running on intel hardware now, people are doing it the other way around as well, put mac OSX on windows laptops.

leninbenjamin

crótach wrote: »

You can use any Windows program on a mac.

not natively.

and the OP doesn't seem too technically minded (no offence OP) so i'm not sure dual booting is good advice. Secondly, don't you have to buy another OS license?

I know a good few people with macs in college. They always seem to end up booting windows the whole time. Parallel Desktop and the like just execute far too slow, you're adding an additional layer. So what's the point? your paying a ludicrous amount for Apple hardware. For example, I see a 13'' macbook pro for €1500 on the apple store. A similarly specced dell comes in at less than €800.

edit: btw, I'm not a mac hater. OSX is great, their video/music editing software is great, and they can't be beaten for form. But considering the price premium, recommending a macbook to a student is absurd.

crótach

hehe well i was simply answering the question. my wife hasn't had any problems with paralell desktop and didn't even set up dual boot with windows.

on the price side, you're right, but these days students have money to burn, especially when parents are paying for everything. maybe the recession finally kerbed some of the spending, i wouldn't know.

i went with a dell myself, and it's a brick, bought at the same time as the macbook. they will never get close to the build quality, or the "sexyness" of a mac, and the components are all just a tiny bit worse, whereas the mac is that tiny bit better in every regard. is it worth paying double? not to me. but if i had to drag this brick around to college every day i'd definitely be buying something else. quite possibly a mac.

when we're on a subject of recommendations, why not pick a nice cheap netbook? they weigh next to nothing, cost half the price of a decent laptop, battery lasts up to 11 hours, and college work isn't all that demanding on the specs unless you're doing 3d stuff in autocad and 3dsmax.

po0k

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/

po0k

crótach wrote: »

when we're on a subject of recommendations, why not pick a nice cheap netbook? they weigh next to nothing, cost half the price of a decent laptop, battery lasts up to 11 hours, and college work isn't all that demanding on the specs unless you're doing 3d stuff in autocad and 3dsmax.

Because they're sh1t and crippled.

crótach

po0k wrote: »

Because they're sh1t and crippled.

sounds like a retarded gamer's point of view.

they're unbeatable in portability and battery life, and have normal sized keyboards. for writing essays, browsing the internet etc they're perfect.

and there are some with geforce 9300 graphics that will even run 3d apps.

leninbenjamin

crótach wrote: »

hehe well i was simply answering the question. my wife hasn't had any problems with paralell desktop and didn't even set up dual boot with windows.

on the price side, you're right, but these days students have money to burn, especially when parents are paying for everything. maybe the recession finally kerbed some of the spending, i wouldn't know.

Ah now, that's being cynical.

crótach wrote: »

i went with a dell myself, and it's a brick, bought at the same time as the macbook. they will never get close to the build quality, or the "sexyness" of a mac, and the components are all just a tiny bit worse, whereas the mac is that tiny bit better in every regard. is it worth paying double? not to me. but if i had to drag this brick around to college every day i'd definitely be buying something else. quite possibly a mac.

That was once true, up until Apple made a mess of the Macbook air. Nowadays you can get plenty of nice slim windows laptops. Samsung, Dell and Sony in particular have some very nice slim and light 12'' offerings.

po0k wrote: »

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/

Same thing. Why pay extra for the privilege of running an additional layer of logic?

po0k wrote: »

Because they're sh1t and crippled.

Okay. Well at least you were concise.

crótach wrote: »

sounds like a retarded gamer's point of view.

they're unbeatable in portability and battery life, and have normal sized keyboards. for writing essays, browsing the internet etc they're perfect.

and there are some with geforce 9300 graphics that will even run 3d apps.

Pook has a point, despite the limited form of expression. The only thing they have going for them is that they are cheaper. The keyboards are very hard to work with on some of the smaller ones, you're looking at getting a more expensive Samsung to get something comfortable for every days use. And a 10'' screen is just not suitable to use the everyday PC. You're head will implode from screwing up your eyes.

As i said earlier, there are some nice and light 12-13'' offerings from plenty of other companies. My own personal preference is Sony's TT, although it's fairly expensive. There's a nice 12'' Samsung (Q range i think) and also a 12'' Dell Vostro, only marginally more expensive than a netbook, not more than 0.5KG heavier, and you get a more usable screen and the power of a conventional laptop (Core2Duo, 4GB RAM although the option of GFX card is still limited).

insert name

Christ on a bike, look what I started(",)

well with student reductions and a wee border to a foreign land just up the road I can get a 4GB Macbook with 250GB Hard drive which seems pretty high spec all for under 900....

po0k

crótach wrote: »

sounds like a retarded gamer's point of view.

How little you know

they're unbeatable in portability and battery life, and have normal sized keyboards. for writing essays, browsing the internet etc they're perfect.

I respectfully disagree. The Atom has one of the best performance/Watt ratings around and they make for a nice NAS platform, though I personally prefer VIAs. A pleasant desktop experience they are not.

and there are some with geforce 9300 graphics that will even run 3d apps.

Run != usable.
I was able to run Quake3 on a P100@120 with a 4Meg VooDoo1. Doesn't mean it ran well.

They're novelty purse trinkets. Handy for ticker-taping RSS feeds or reading a receipe on the kitchen counter.
A halfway house between a laptop and a MID/Nokia n800, crippled by bloated fullsize OSes.

As for Original post:
Buy the mac across the border, or get it smuggled in from the states. You'll leave yourself without a warranty though (extra-territory).
Before you start using it, find a geeky friend (or DIY and google) and 'Boot Camp' a Windows install onto it.
It will let you choose between the mac 'experience' (urrrgh) and full-speed windows/dell in a nicer case when you power it on. You'll need to partition the hard-drive up into two chunks though. You'll be able to read the windows chunk from OSX, but not vice-versa. No writing between them unless you get funky with NTFS-3g drivers for OSX or format the windows partition in FAT32 (don't, it's crap).

Alternatively, use Virtualization (VMWare Fusion or Parallels) to run a windows Virtual machine ontop of OSX. Don't expect it to be be fast or responsive, and it will stall the OSX desktop when it is being 'booted'.
I bought Fusion for work. Handy if I need some of the windows-only tools (VIClient, Outlook Server-side rules) on the move. It was painful to use so now I have a windows workstation on my desk too.

The CrossOver Mac is an option if you want to run some windows apps on Mac. Performance won't suffer as much as a VM, but compatability isn't explicitly guaranteed.

Best option is to talk to whoever will be supplying the software you will be using and ask them.

the-island-man

crótach wrote: »

when we're on a subject of recommendations, why not pick a nice cheap netbook? they weigh next to nothing, cost half the price of a decent laptop, battery lasts up to 11 hours, and college work isn't all that demanding on the specs unless you're doing 3d stuff in autocad and 3dsmax.

I have to agree with the two other guys, there's is a reason they are called netbooks!
In my opinion all they are good for is surfing the net!
Personally trying to write programs, word documents, presentations or researching information on the internet I would find to be painful using a netbook.
Don't get me wrong i think the specs on netbooks are getting better all the time and the fact that they are so light is brilliant but the screen size makes working on them impractical!

Claypigeon

I got a Netbook 2 weeks ago and the only difference between it and my laptop (from a word processing/internet browsing POV) is the size. I have no problem reading the screen/using the keyboard. 7 hour battery life, too.

leninbenjamin

Claypigeon wrote: »

I got a Netbook 2 weeks ago and the only difference between it and my laptop (from a word processing/internet browsing POV) is the size. I have no problem reading the screen/using the keyboard. 7 hour battery life, too.

you must have tiny hands. I spent a week there using a netbook, and I could never ever use something that small as my main PC. constantly hitting off other keys and squinting to look at a full document.

Claypigeon

leninbenjamin wrote: »

you must have tiny hands. I spent a week there using a netbook, and I could never ever use something that small as my main PC. constantly hitting off other keys and squinting to look at a full document.

No, I actually have quite big hands and my sight isn't exactly awesome either. I have absolutely no problems with mine. Chances are if it's crap to use it's because it's a crap netbook, not because netbooks are crap.

leninbenjamin

Claypigeon wrote: »

No, I actually have quite big hands and my sight isn't exactly awesome either. I have absolutely no problems with mine. Chances are if it's crap to use it's because it's a crap netbook, not because netbooks are crap.

that's true actually. The Samsung's are pretty damn good, I'd have no problem recommending them. I'm just trying to point out however that netbooks do not suit everybody.

Noreen1

Hmmm.....
Assuming cost/ease of use/reliability are factors, take a look at either a Toshiba or an Acer. Look also at Intel rather than AMD in the Dual Core systems, if that's what you intend buying. Last time I checked, Intels Dual core systems were outperforming similar spec AMDs by about 30%.

You will find that when your laptop goes wrong - and sooner or later it will, no matter what you buy, the recovery options suddenly become very important. If you happen to lose/damage your recovery disks, Toshiba are superb in that a recovery disk from a newer machine will boot your Toshiba, so you can install your operating system in a worst case scenario.

I bought my daughter a Dell Inspiron for college, and I've had nothing but trouble with the darn thing. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They're a royal pain if you want to downgrade from Vista to XP. So, I bought a second hand Toshiba, and I'm very happy with it.

Interestingly,the Toshiba 3GHZ Pentium 4 running XP outperforms the Dell 2.2Ghz Intel dual core Dell running Vista on practically every front.

If cost is an issue, look at a single core Pentium 4 system, running XP, unless you need CAD software for engineering or similar. You might want to enquire what kind of graphics you need for medicine, though I don't think it will be an issue unless you going to run software that can read MRI scans etc.

Next, find out how often you will need to carry your laptop to college with you. eg. NUIG Engineering students have to carry their laptops every day, and need high spec machines to run CAD software, law students rarely carry their laptops, and don't need anywhere near the same spec.

If you don't need to carry it on a daily basis, think about a 14 or 15 inch screen, for ease of use. If you have to carry it around a lot, weight becomes a huge issue, so look at something smaller.

Lastly, if you are going to use it a lot when you are out battery life becomes hugely important. And a decent quality keyboard, that you find comfortable to work with is an essential. Do "Try before you buy" - there's nothing more irritating than a laptop you're not comfortable working with.

Hope this is of some help.

Iredon

leninbenjamin

Noreen1 wrote: »

Hmmm.....
Assuming cost/ease of use/reliability are factors, take a look at either a Toshiba or an Acer. Look also at Intel rather than AMD in the Dual Core systems, if that's what you intend buying. Last time I checked, Intels Dual core systems were outperforming similar spec AMDs by about 30%.

tbh, the internals of all brands are the same these days. From my own experience there's very little to be gained from the different brands apart from the robustness of the externals.

Noreen1 wrote: »

You will find that when your laptop goes wrong - and sooner or later it will, no matter what you buy, the recovery options suddenly become very important. If you happen to lose/damage your recovery disks, Toshiba are superb in that a recovery disk from a newer machine will boot your Toshiba, so you can install your operating system in a worst case scenario.

Just to point out though: never, ever, ever rely on system recovery to protect your data. Always back up your data to another machine, external, the web, DVD. The more the merrier.

Noreen1 wrote: »

I bought my daughter a Dell Inspiron for college, and I've had nothing but trouble with the darn thing. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They're a royal pain if you want to downgrade from Vista to XP. So, I bought a second hand Toshiba, and I'm very happy with it.

How do you mean? Trouble getting an XP licence off them? Or was it Driver support? The process of downgrading itself is the same as any other brand.

Noreen1 wrote: »

Interestingly,the Toshiba 3GHZ Pentium 4 running XP outperforms the Dell 2.2Ghz Intel dual core Dell running Vista on practically every front.

No chance. That suggests to me that you don't have Vista properly configured for a laptop. Remove features like Aero, or Tablet PC that consume resources. My father and myself have similarly specced laptops. I run Vista, he runs XP. Apart from the longer boot ups, my laptop is as responsive as his is.

Noreen1 wrote: »

If cost is an issue, look at a single core Pentium 4 system, running XP, unless you need CAD software for engineering or similar. You might want to enquire what kind of graphics you need for medicine, though I don't think it will be an issue unless you going to run software that can read MRI scans etc.

Core2Duo's are cheap as chips these days. There is very little to be saved by going for a P4.

Noreen1 wrote: »

Next, find out how often you will need to carry your laptop to college with you. eg. NUIG Engineering students have to carry their laptops every day, and need high spec machines to run CAD software, law students rarely carry their laptops, and don't need anywhere near the same spec.

If you don't need to carry it on a daily basis, think about a 14 or 15 inch screen, for ease of use. If you have to carry it around a lot, weight becomes a huge issue, so look at something smaller.

Lastly, if you are going to use it a lot when you are out battery life becomes hugely important. And a decent quality keyboard, that you find comfortable to work with is an essential. Do "Try before you buy" - there's nothing more irritating than a laptop you're not comfortable working with.

Hope this is of some help.

Iredon

Solid advice there. Look directly at the weight specifications as opposed to relying on screen size as a guide. Some 13' models can be as heavy as a 15'.

DanSolo

Noreen1 wrote: »

Interestingly,the Toshiba 3GHZ Pentium 4 running XP outperforms the Dell 2.2Ghz Intel dual core Dell running Vista on practically every front.

Pentium 4 is a great chip alright, but it's hotter than the flames of hell so you're guaranteed all sorts of fan noise, battery carnage and melting innards with any serious use in a laptop.

Noreen1

DanSolo wrote: »

Pentium 4 is a great chip alright, but it's hotter than the flames of hell so you're guaranteed all sorts of fan noise, battery carnage and melting innards with any serious use in a laptop.

Agreed, though avoiding the Prescott, with a bit of extra cooling, helps:D

Noreen

helios12

OP,

Google 'Virtualbox'