PC vs Apple

Question

I know this could elicit a winded conversatoin. So I ask it only be in the context of business school.

Which computer do I need for business school? What is recommended PC? Is Delll ok? Do I really need to spend more than 1000 dollars on a laptop?

young_gun · Answer

if you're going to cornell, i believe having a pc is everything short of mandatory...
someone correct me if i'm wrong.

nink · Answer

Most schools have laptop they prefer you to own.

For example, riverripper told me that Kellogg encourages you to buy Lenovo thinkpad from the school for extended IT support etc.

I think PC is advantageous over Mac for its abilitity to run more programs. Also, most of other studentsd will own PC. however, Macs now have Windows emulating softwares where you can run Windows in a Mac.

Therefore, I think the question should be - Ultramobile laptop (weight 4 lbs or less) or durable laptop (longer battery?)....?

Ntang · Answer

My MacBook Pro can run anything a PC laptop does, including WindowsXP. And it doesn't crash. Ever.

I'm wrestling with this question too, though. I'm leaning towards keeping my Mac, since I probably won't need to use the school's IT support. And it's cheaper.

nink · Answer

Currently looking at these babies: https://shop.lenovo.com/us/landing_pages ... /2008/X300 https://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/subcatego ... /tt-series Ohhhh dreamy...

Jerz · Answer

I've had a few Thinkpads as my work-issued laptops and liked them a lot. Much better than my current HP POS. With the support offered by Kellogg if you buy the laptop through them, I'll probably just go that route.

nink · Answer

Speaking of Apple vs PC, has anyone seen the new Microsoft PC ad? Total copy of Apple's "I"m a Mac" commercial. https://chandoo.org/wp/2008/09/19/microsoft-i-am-pc-ads/

pm4553 · Answer

Isn't is cheaper to buy the Laptops from the respective schools, provided you're buying a new one? than outside - amazon/dell/sony etc?

Btw, I know that Duke offers them at a cheaper price - atleast some of the Mac products.

nink · Answer

I don't know about "cheaper"

all the retailers are selling laptops in deep discount right now and come january - they will be in liquidation mode.

Toploader · Answer

I've been using my new (Aluminum) MacBook for classes since October. The only real stumbling block that I think you'll find is that Office 2008 for Mac doesn't have Outlook (it has Entourage), and Excel lacks the regression add-in that is required in many statistics classes.

I greatly prefer OS X to Windows for all of my non-school/work uses, but figured that 100% compatibility would be the way to go for classes. I got both by virtualizing Windows Vista using VMWare Fusion. It's really easy to do and IMO gives you the best of both worlds.

sonibubu · Answer

What does school IT support provide that you have to pay extra for? I would think connecting to wireless and other basic stuff should be free. Tuition is over 40k, a few courtesies would be nice.

IHateTheGMAT · Answer

Just get a PC. What are you, some kind of hippie? :-D

Jerz · Answer

I think the IT support relates to fixing/replacing broken laptops rather than connecting to the wireless network.

kryzak · Answer

At Haas, 80% use a Windows Laptop and 20% uses Mac. There's no specific support for Mac but the Mac users got together and formed their own support group.

I would recommend a PC unless you've been using a Mac for a while, since you'll need to run an emulator ("Boot Camp") to run some Windows programs on the MAC. Out of all the laptops, people are most happy with Lenovo Thinkpads (I'm using one and loving it) because of their sturdiness and reliability. There are a lot of Dell users too, but many have been complaining about the quality and service and are switching to Lenovo this semester.

One big thing about Thinkpads is if you can find a IBM or Lenovo employee, you can get up to 35% off the list price, making it as cheap as any Dell out there.

Other options include Netbooks if you're not going to type too much on this laptop (i.e. you have a home desktop PC). Netbooks have a good amount of power for their size, last forever on their batteries, and is great to carry around. The only problems are the keyboard and screen sizes. If you're ok with that, then a Netbook may be good for you.

Here's a long discussion about laptops and different brands in the Knowledge Vault. I highly recommend reading through it.
108-t43003

Good luck!
Kry

kryzak · Answer

oh, one more... the "Great Laptop Discussion Thread" 108-t61513

atlmba2009 · Answer

Do most b-schools provide MS Office software as part of a licensing agreement? When I was working on my Master's I was able to purchase the whole MS Office Suite for like $30, so I didn't include it as part of my purchase when I bought my laptop. Would be good to know in advance this time around as well...

kryzak · Answer

I think many schools will give you a copy of the Office Suite. Haas installs it on your laptop for you, Office 2007.

refurb · Answer

Kryzak,

What do you think about the ultra-light vs. regular laptops?

From what I saw in my visits, you pretty much drag your laptop around with you all day. A 5 lb laptop would be much nicer than a 10 lb in that case.

Do you need to bring your laptop with you to every class? I guess it probably depends on the class....

Let me ask this, how many first year classes could you get away with bringing just a notepad and pen?

RF

ozzie123 · Answer

I say, go with the one you like. Besides, PC vs Apple debate is a moot point now because both can run both OSes (albeit with some hacking for PC to run OSX).

For me, I'm considering Thinkpads for its time tested design and durability. I love black brick-like laptop :lol:

*currently on my T61, the last version that still have the colorful IBM logo)

*currently on my T61, the last version that still have the colorful IBM logo)

egy · Answer

I use macs and pcs (typing this on a macbook air but use a pc for work and have a desktop pc) on a regular basis. They each have their strengths and weaknesses... but two things stick out for me about having a mac in bschool:

- Office 2008 for Mac mostly sucks. Excel in particular. Given the amount of Office work we'll need to be doing, I would not use Office for mac at all. For the occasional spreadsheet or document, fine.. but for anything more significant, nope. Yes you can use bootcamp or parallels, but frankly, it's a pain in the ass. It's either going to be slow, or you're simply going to be booting into XP/Vista all the time... at which point why bother with a mac at all?

- You'll almost certainly be able to get great deals on lenovos, making macs even more expensive compared to pcs.

PC vs Apple

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