| LIFE Mac or PC

[XXL TideFan]

I seek your learned opinions on a laptop for my daughter starting college.

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

What is she going to school for? Mac is best for the "creative" majors like theater, arts, music, etc. For everything else PC is a better option. If price is a consideration at all then you can get twice the PC for the same price as a Mac also.

 

[planomateo]

Windows or Linux, not a Mac fan.

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[Brandon Van de Graaff]

I'm far from an expert on the subject, but I'll offer this... My MacBook Pro is 10 years old and still works great (other than the poor battery life). My wife got a Surface Pro two years ago. It has been buggy as hell from day 1 and I hate it.

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

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Many colleges provide it for free to students (and often those with active edu emails like alumni).

 

[XXL TideFan]

BSRN program. Starting her AS work at Jeff State while applying for dual admission at UAB. Can have her BS in 5 semesters but it would be hard.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Read an article or two on the AMD mobile processor that gives a Mac Pro a run on speed. It will probably be a windows PC, I would like it to last her 4 years.

 

[doemasters]

Would buy a Mac if it was me, I have both but depends on what she will be using it for

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

Be mindful of when you buy if you go mac. They are changing processors and os this year and that means a lot of software will not work properly. Going from x86 to ARM means problems street coming.

 

[planomateo]

Just bought my oldest a new 13" Mac with an M1 chip. Was iffy on the M1, but didn't want to spend similar money on a year old intel Mac.

I'm just not a Mac fan myself. Owned 3-4 over the years. My laptop must have a touchscreen at this point. Last two have and I really prefer it.

Youngest has a surface pro. Not sure if I would use this as my primary.

 

[Bamabww]

I have my second MacBook Pro laptop going on 8 years and very happy with it. The first one lasted 12 years. My wife and daughter have had three or four Dell laptops EACH during that same time frame. They have constant problems but I know part of it is from user error.

 

[rick4bama]

I can't help you with the Mac! Never own anytype. Only PC's. I will tell you if you get a PC, just make sure to get the anti-virus protecting and keep it updated. Any program that she will need she may get a discount thought the school.

 

[sk33tr]

Go into somewhere like Best Buy and let her try both out. She'll be able to play around with both OSes and see which one she likes better.

Windows is (obviously) more familiar with most people. But Mac OS isn't that hard to learn.

And as @rick4bama said, get a good antivirus program. Windows Defender is decent (if she goes with Windows). But at a school, there is too much going on and going through their internet that I wouldn't trust JUST Defender to protect my computer. Macs usually don't have to worry about antivirus, but there have been times where it was necessary.

 

[footballer]

I was advised early on before I bought my first computer, that Mac is more user friendly than pc's. Also, as sk33tr commented, Mac's generally are not prone to virus, whereas pc's are easily attacked, as I understand it, but I don't have any personal experience with pc's. I own 3 older Mac laptops which are outdated, but still perform well. I am now on my third IMac which I bought used, refurbished, and it works very well. I prefer the larger screen of a desk top, better for aging eyes.

 

[TerryP]

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I know someone in CS and if I recall correctly they were directed to Open Office.

@XXL TideFan I thought you had experience with Linux based systems or do I have you confused with someone else.

I'm on my second Lenovo (ThinkPad) and I'm about buy again.

 

[XXL TideFan]

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I am a bit of a Linux enthusiast but would never expect my daughter to go through college on a Linux laptop. We eliminated .

The Lenovo with the Ryzen processors are performers. Plenty of memory and she should be good to go. Yearly MS Office subscription is affordable for students.

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

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LibreOffice is the way to go. LibreOffice started life as a branch by the original OpenOffice devs but has become way better than OpenOffice now. LibreOffice is way more compatible with recent MS formats for sure as OpenOffice can not save in DOCX for example, only open them. Libre is one of the first things I install on most machines. Only reason I keep Office365 is because I flat need 100% compatibility while working for my Masters.