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Crappy PC lappyand dual 1.8 G5 -or- Crappy Mac lappy and a 3.2 GHz Pc?

C

crowdaddy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 25, 2004
151
0
East Ontario
Hi,

I know I have posted this sorta stuff before, but I am so close to a decision I can taste it. Anyway, for college, would you:

A) Get a crappy 1.2ghz PC lappy for the convienence of portability (for labs and reports in the library, etc.) AND a G5 DP 1.8 as a desktop with one gig ram, ati 9600 vid card, etc. etc.

OR

B) Get a *basic* ibook with barely anything on it to go with an upgraded desktop PC which would be around 3.0 Ghz.

My question is, which do you think would be better as far as compatibility issues, ease of use, etc. etc. The programs I would be running are Office, gaming, iLife, and of the sort. I am in the sciences so I have no aspiration to use adobe and all that stuff.

Thanks for the help, it helps more than you know!
 
What is wrong with a refurb iBook G4 800 ($800) and a DP 1.8 PowerMac G5 or a new iBook G4 and downgrade to a CRT monitor?

At least sticking with the same platform means only getting a single copy of a program instead of one for each platform.
 
yeah, I kinda agree with Sun Baked. Any reason you have to have both platforms? In fact, if I may ask, why get 2 computers at all? Why not just one powerful laptop? It doesn't sound like you really need the horsepower of either a dual G5 or a high end PC!

But, if you are sticking with your plan, I'd go ibook and PC desktop, reason being that low end PCs are real crap, but with an ibook and a 3 Ghz desktop you get two nice computers. If you do go the G5 route, wait for updates.
 
go for a 1.5 ghz, 12" PB with 128mg video ram. that would more than double up as a main computer and be portable. i use a 12" PB as a main computer and it manages fine. just get yourself an external mouse and a decent set of speakers and you are away. i guess it will be cheaper that way.
 
i dont think they make a 1.5ghz 12"powerbook
but buying a 15" 1.5ghz with 128mb of video ram + 1gb of ram and then an
external monitor (apple, after WWDC of course) a bluetooth mouse and keyboard you could have a nice desktop setup and a very nice portable setup. you could even get a superdrive if you wanted :p

Emerson Lamb
 
I would go for the best 15" PB you can get your hands on. That's my first choice.

My second: iBook and Windows PC combination.


I prefer the Apple-Apple combination because there aren't any combatibility issues that way, but the fact that you want to play games probably means that you need a PC. Buddy, if you're going to be living in residence, you may play a lot of Half-life or Counterstrike. Its cool to have a PC for games, and for productivity as well.
And since PC laptops generally suck, I would get the iBook for that reason.

Also, if you actually considered getting a PC and a Mac, and yet could STILL afford the software for both of them, then you're probably not paying for it and bootlegging it instead. I really don't give two poops about how you get it, but make sure you have a copy of Office on both machines, because its really the standard when attending University. Excel is huuuge for science students. Lots of data analysis and graphing is done using Excel.

If you're going to buy the software but can't really afford it, then go with a Mac-Mac combination, or PC-PC combo.
 
Well the thing is i already have a 1.2ghz dell lattitude kicking around which would handle office just fine. My question is would it be wise to get a G5 to go with that lappy?
 
I say get a really nice iBook and a not so great PC desktop. For college, you are going to want to have a better laptop than a desktop anyway. You'll find yourself using it a lot more than a desktop.

Best wishes,
JOD8FY
 
ok, Im going to sound like im advertising for these people, but go dual 1.8 + averatec 12 inch laptop (www.averatec.com)

Cheaper than the iBook with all the features of it already standard. ;)
 
Why not get a 17 inch powerbook, maxed out (with RAM from www.crucial.com, of course)? Having a desktop in college can be a real pain. That's why you shouldn't.
 
wide said:
Having a desktop in college can be a real pain. That's why you shouldn't.
Click to expand...


Well, it depends on what you're majoring in. In the two colleges I've been to, I've rarely seen laptops in classes. I could see if you're programming, or literature, and maybe social sciences. But as a Mechanical Engineering student, I have seen very, very few. Probably because of the time it would take to find the "Rho" symbol...
 
JOD8FY said:
I say get a really nice iBook and a not so great PC desktop. For college, you are going to want to have a better laptop than a desktop anyway. You'll find yourself using it a lot more than a desktop.

Best wishes,
JOD8FY
Click to expand...

I would say it depends, if you *think* you are going to carry your notebook with you everyday to class and use it for your primary machine.. go with a good Mac notebook. However, if you are like the folks are at my college, most only take their notebooks to the library because our school practically has labs next door to the classroom that we use as far as my advertising, journalism, and print publishing classes (all macs of course). Check around and see what percentage of students use notebooks in class daily at your college. I purchased a 1.5Ghz 15.2" notebook for class because I wanted *one* powerful machine, the fact is there is not enough room on the desks to secure the thing and kinda is a pain to lug around---so I kinda regret my decisions... to do it again I would purchase a nice Dual G5 PowerMac and maybe a cheap iBook.
 
Well I am heading into the Medical Sciences/ Biological Sciences area. Is there anyone out there in a related program that uses a desktop with no yearning for a laptop?
 
Get a powerbook

Okay, here goes my opinion. I am currently a medical student, and the only computer I use is a 12" 1GHz Powerbook. I did a Biology major in college, and I first started off with a PC desktop. I'll admit it's fun to play games in the dorms, but other than that, having a desktop was such a pain. It takes up precious room and it's a pain to pack and send home at the end of every semester/year. So my next year I got a laptop and stuck with it. Now that I'm in medical school, I got me a 12" Powerbook and it does all I need. To be honest, you don't need a computer at all in that field, but having a nice laptop to take notes on and use in the library is great. So overall, having a 1.5 GHz 15" Powerbook as stated above sounds like a good idea to me, because it saves space, it's easy to carry around, and it's powerful enough for everything that'll come your way.
 
:p crappy lappy?

That's good stuff.

For what it's worth, I think anyone who owns a desktop that is inferior to their laptop should be selling the desktop.
 
I would personally get one highly powerful laptop, and I indeed plan to. Over the next year I plan to take a year out, and in the summer get whatever the best 15 inch PowerBook I can afford is (the 17 inch is a little bit too big for my tastes)

Frankly I never use my computer to game, and as a result dont particularly care.

However if you do get a PC laptop definitely. Its just a waste of space owning a desktop in a dorm room, not to mention inconvenient.

Dont get me wrong, I love Macs more than anything, but if you have alternative needs, you have alternative needs and no end of sexy design and industrial strength operating systems is going to change that.
 
what if i already have a 2 year old Dell latitude, 1.2 ghz, 256 mg ram hanging around? It would do all that library stuff quite easily, and runs office fine? However I still want an apple for its intuitive interface and the less problems it causes. I am stuck as my gut tells me to go desktop but you people say go laptop, even though i have this dell poking around.
 
Get a crappy mac laptop and a good PC.

Mac Laptops are smaller, faster, and better for the money.

In my opinion, the only reason to have a PC is to play computer games and for the few programs that aren't Mac compatible. For a PC laptop to be good at playing computer games, it has to be bulky and unsightly, completely defeating the purpose of buying a laptop.

I would suggest a top of the line 12" iBook G4 and the best PC Desktop you can afford after that. Don't get the 14" iBook because the screen resolution is the same, and it ends up being a huge waste of money.

If you're not interested in computer games, or don't need to work with obscure programs not available on the Mac, then don't get a PC. I know it might be hard to leave behind a platform you are used to, but the costs far outweigh the benefits in the end. If you're going to go this route, I'd suggest a 12" iBook G4 in the middle or bottom of the line and a Dual 1.8 G5.
 
You might as well give that Dell latitude to your parents. I was originally going to go with a Mac laptop and a desktop PC, but eventually I went for like 2 months never even turning on the PC and just using my Powerbook while sitting on the couch. I then just gave my mom my desktop and I put my laptop on my computer desk. However, like someone said, if you play HL/CS or want to play HL2 when it comes out get a Mac laptop and a PC desktop. In that situation you can use the PC as a gaming/server rig and do everything else on the Mac-book. I did use the PC as a server on campus for a while (saving stuff on the campus provided servers is never reliable since viruses seem to take it out at the worst times) but the hdd died on that. Luckily I got a 120GB hdd that I stuck in my external enclosure for xmas.

geez I need a job... um sorry just thinking out loud.
 
So, what you all are saying is that ditch the capable Dell lattitude and go with a mac lappy, and thats it? I just think that is sort of a waste as the dell can handle the other stuff (portability situations like library visits, etc.) fine and if I had a DP G5 1.8 I'd have a high power mac to game on and do everything else I want to do on it such as iLife, etc.

Am I missing something or...? Why would it not be wise to just add a G5 DP 1.8 to go with my current laptop??
 
I say neither. Stick with what you have. I made it all the way through my college experience using a Mac Classic. Being that I graduated in 97, the classic was already pretty old by the time I was in college. If you already have a computer that works decently enough, save your money, trust me you are going to need it. :eek:
 
Since you got a laptop (love my TIbook and is my only computer at university), I say max out a DP G5 so you could get a 2.0GHz or wait till WWDC and then get whatever they release there.

I love my mac with xCode for all of my programing in engineering but really didn't need the laptop all that much. Comes in handy with profs that put notes on the web (and saves writing ;) ), but other then that I rarely bring it to class with me.
 
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