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Laptop for Uni?!
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And if google was able to eliminate repetition ...Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »A google search for "applications not compatible with mac" returns 150,000,000 results, removing the 'not' reduces it to just 21,000,000 :P Granted this isn't exactly a clear cut representation of compatibility but it kind of paints the picture. I'll acknowledge that yes, more applications are becoming mac compatible, but not very quickly.
Seriously, I agree that there still is stuff produced which is not Mac-compatible (often deliberately) but that includes feck all of the normal day to day stuff a student might need.
Not being smart with you, Matt, but my own experience has been the polar opposite. If I had a tenner for every time I've had a PC die or become unusable for me just when I needed it most ... :rolleyes:Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »Macs, in my experience, are slow when running applications that need a lot of memory and especially so when multitasking, and get slower with time, much more so than PCs.
The current (work - Dell) laptop has had two HDs die in it, and it's less than 3 years old. The graphics card has had to be replaced due to an overheating problem, and I strongly suspect the current one is going the same way, given that the last place I would place it at the moment is on my lap!! :rolleyes:
Can't say I've ever used that, but they are particularly good for any graphics applications.Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »IMO the only thing good about macs is some of the programs for OS X are pretty good, for example garageband.
Oh, I agree, whatever about the beer / cider.Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »The price alone of a mac should completely put students off though; if you spend an extra 4/500 quid so you have a laptop which "looks nice" you'll probably sorely regret it later down the line in college. That's around 100 pints of beer/cider, for example :pac:
I wouldn't actually recommend a Mac to a student unless some kind fairy godmother was offering to buy them the laptop of their choice ... or unless they were a budding graphic artist or photographer or something like that.
Far more sensible to get a good basic laptop ... and a good quality EHD to back it up onto so that when it dies just as you finish your last essay for the year, you haven't lost the lot!
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Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »Fixed
Tut tut tut, don't you realise macs are the best. Once you Mac you will never go back. Trust me.
And they also have an offer for us (students!), buy a macbook and get an iTouch FREE!
Yes its is a pity they are so expensive, but think of it as an investment, its not gonna slow down (ever), its not gonna get any viruses, it can do everything a PC can do (including running Microsoft Office) and it looks soo good
Clearly, I'm one of the converted!0 -
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randylonghorn wrote: »Actually, neither would be my highest priority! :pac:
Oh thank god, You've restored a little bit of faith that not all men are idiots!
haha.
Those guys who go for looks are actually going for "fakeness" half the time, that's the annoying thing!!0 -
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"Need"....really depends on the student. Generally, what happens is, all lecture notes etc will be put up on college/student accessible space - eg, moodle, blackboard, etc. You can access these from anywhere using your student ID and login. If you don't have a laptop, you can just as easily spend time in the library accessing them there. Having a laptop makes things much more easy though, you can take it everywhere, work from anywhere, and in general, just get a lot of general use out of a laptop.. Also, if you have to submit reports or anything similar, having your own laptop to work in your own time can be very handy.Pineapple123 wrote: »Howdy!
I know it's probably a bit premature of me to be thinking of this, but does a first year student require a laptop/netbook?! Hopefully, I'll be doing medicine in September, but I could end up doing radiography, physio, or science...it all depends on the points I get! I'd just like to know so I can keep a look out during the summer for something cheap and cheerful! All thoughts appreciated!
Entirely up to the lecturer. Generally, it depends on the course also... take first year science for example. A lecturer is not going to waste time making notes out and photocopying them for 300+ people. As said above, for the most part, all notes are put on a student accessible website.Ha do any courses give out handouts??
Ya wha?Eire-Dearg wrote: »Most courses need a laptop, but you may end up buying the wrong one with the wrong software needed.
Yeah, Right! Probably the best thing to buy, despite being somewhat overpriced.Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »Well, unless it's a mac... :P
Yes and no, what tends to happen if you play the waiting game with computers is - something new comes out, so you decide to wait longer, something new comes out again, so on, so forth. No matter what you buy, 6 months later, there WILL be something cheaper and better on the market.The key to buying computers is waiting.
Or, if you wanted to be smart, you could create podcasts or recordings to help you study...noooo it won't... you'll just fail your exams because you spent too long listening to the ipod rather than studyin :pac::pac:
Did you actually turn it on in those 2 years, or just, yno, look at it?Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »I owned one for 2 years.
NEVER AGAIN
There's millions more ways of attacking a windows based system.Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »There ARE ways of attacking a mac
Obviously. Bit of cop on never does any harm - AVG for one is an excellent prog.As well as that, there are plenty of anti virus programs that aren't horrendously overpriced like the ones you'd buy in a PC shop, and they're usually better too.
Who said the only reason they'd ever buy a mac is for the lack of viruses? It's a bonus, of course, but not the ONLY reason.On top of that, when is the last time you paid 400 quid for your anti-virus?
There's ways around that these days - BootCamp for one - Allowing you to use windows/windows apps on your mac. Google it for more info. Also, there's not really a whole lot of course specific software I can think of. Heck, even Microsoft are making apps for mac now - Office etc are all available on mac. What does that say?Also, what are you going to do if the software for your course isn't mac compatible? When the OS turns out to be utter crap?
I think you're confused as to which is which, tbh.If you were buying a car, would you buy one that looks nice but goes really slowly and can only go on certain roads, or a less pretty, absolute powerhouse of a yoke that you can take anywhere?
I'm using a macbook right now, can't fault it at all. I've got PS CS5 open, plus about 10+ other apps, and there's no issues with speed at all. It has NEVER let me down, never crashed.. I dunno. Also, alienware are run by dell, and are about 5 times more overpriced than macs are. Well done on buying the most expensive dell ever. :cool:chaoticmess wrote: »"really slowly" = my friends mac. haha. He's getting rid of it for an alienware.
And then I'm going to steal it from him. :rolleyes:
I wont argue there - You can get more power for less cost if you don't get a mac. Even more so if you build the PC yourself - I know, I've built I dont know how many PC's by now, and have a macbook aswell.Aviana Quaint Ink wrote: »Very overpriced, when I said "really slowly" I meant that for the same money you'd spend on a powerful PC you would probably either get a low-spec mac or the guy in the apple store telling you you need more money altogether.
HAHAHAHHAHHAAHAHAHAHAH!! That's the worst thing I've heard yet.The OS is crap because it's completely un-customisable, as in you can't really do much with it when compared to a PC. Macs, in my experience, are slow when running applications that need a lot of memory and especially so when multitasking, and get slower with time, much more so than PCs. Why just a few months ago I was at my now ex-girlfriend's place and her dad was going mental over the state their macs (note: plural) had gotten into and how long they were taking to do the simplest of things like open up safari.
Have you even tried to customize it? Also, I've found the worst memory leach I've ever used is firefox for windows, at times it's gotten up to 2gb of ram used. Obviously, if things aren't looked after, like anything, they will become slow and fairly useless. It happens to windows a hell of a lot faster than macs though! I know people who have to reinstall windows every few months to get it to run properly. It's actually recommended too!
OS X is based on unix, it's a hell of a lot more stable and secure than windows ever was, and probably ever will be. You should really get your facts straight before starting an arguement in which you know nothing.
Or, you know, if you're sensible and avail of the student discounts available, you'll probably end up saving that 4/500 quid, so it's a lot more reasonable than you think.. I got a mac because I needed something for college that was small, and suited all my needs. I'm a photographer aswell so it really suits for that too... Macs aren't just a pretty case.The price alone of a mac should completely put students off though; if you spend an extra 4/500 quid so you have a laptop which "looks nice" you'll probably sorely regret it later down the line in college. That's around 100 pints of beer/cider, for example :pac:
Maybe, maybe not, depends on your needs, and preferences. I got everything I wanted and more from my macbook - I'd say it's well worth the money tbh.Making It Bad wrote: »+1 on mac boycott, paying anything over €500 for a laptop is a complete waste of money! I'm thinking of buying one for around €250 with a decent processor and just upgrading the RAM on it myself, more than enough for what I'll be using it for (I plan on doing computer science by the way).
Well....that's if you actually need anything. Generally, unless it's course specific, the college will tell you sweet f'allgaeilgegrinds1 wrote: »Hold off one on, you will be told what you'll need.
Seriously, if you're going to unnecessarily put down macs, atleast get your facts straight before doing it.:p0 -
Lol, there are none more adamant than the converted!challengemaster wrote: »Seriously, if you're going to unnecessarily put down macs, atleast get your facts straight before doing it.:p
All right, if we must have the great Mac / PC (master)debate, keep it civilised, please ... otherwise this thread will be locked.0 -
starry nights wrote: »sorry but what's pre med??
is it a plc course?
im looking to do medicine too...
Its things like this that make me really want there to be a personal statement/interview for Medicine. It would soon sort out who actually knows what is involved in studying medicine, who has actually done the research and who really knows they are going to stick with Medicine! :rolleyes:
If you don't know what pre-med is then you obviously haven't done the research, have you asked yourself why you want to do medicine?
[/Off topic rant!] 0 -
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Ok, I'm not going to continue with the big windows V mac debate, it's time consuming and kinda pointless, macfans are as good as lost forever.
However, I sincerely hope this:challengemaster wrote: »AVG for one is an excellent prog.
was sarcasm, because AVG is most definitely NOT an excellent program. If you're going to get an anti-virus, do it right and get avast!. On this computer I first used spybot and a program that came with the pc called something like bulldog. It was going fairly well for about a year but after copious amounts of downloading from shady sites, my system began to become a little unstable, but I didn't expect much more from those 2.
I decided to try out AVG. A sweep with it sorted out my pc and I was good to go. Within 3 months the same thing happened, a little instability was creeping in, AVG couldn't find anything wrong.
Downloaded avast! and it rooted out tons of stuff. Haven't looked back and I've had it for almost 3 years now.
The only positive thing I can say about AVG is that I've never once had to use my windows CD for a system restore or a re-installation, that's including the time I had AVG. So while it might spot the majorly obvious and destructive stuff, it was absolutely useless for everything else, which is the stuff you're more likely to be affected by.0 -
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I'm sure you are well aware that many people are lacking in common sense This will probably sound like advertising (no I don't work for them either) but you wouldn't even need it with avast!, IMO.
And also, as most students are pretty damn poor, I don't think they'll be forking out on movies and music all the time, if you see where I'm going?0 -
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Pineapple123 wrote: »Howdy!
I know it's probably a bit premature of me to be thinking of this, but does a first year student require a laptop/netbook?! Hopefully, I'll be doing medicine in September, but I could end up doing radiography, physio, or science...it all depends on the points I get! I'd just like to know so I can keep a look out during the summer for something cheap and cheerful! All thoughts appreciated!
Like Sillymoo said, if you go to RCSI you'll be given a decent laptop when you start. I couldn't imagine doing first year without mine. That said, I found it so much easier to print off notes and write down additional information from books onto the lecture notes, I got very distracted by Facebook when I brought my laptop to lectures in semester 1. I mainly use it for reading journal articles or looking up things I don't understand from Dr. Wikipedia.You really cannot go to uni without a laptop FACT.
Well now lads, he said fact, in caps, so it must be true 0 -
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