Laptops at Miami?

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neurofan

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Does anyone have any advice about purchasing a new laptop? I will be attending University of Miami in the fall.
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12 inch or 14 inch ibook with video ipod and recorder for it. user-friendly/virus-free/stable/pretty/sturdy/affordable and it's not a Dull.
 
I'll probably be at Miami in the fall as well, and I think, as long as you have a decent processor, and a good amount of memory (for all of those taped lectures...), you should be ok. I, myself, am a mac user, and have decided to splurge, if I go to UM, on the 30" studio display, so I can occasionally enjoy class from my bed.
 
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unfrozencaveman said:
I'll probably be at Miami in the fall as well, and I think, as long as you have a decent processor, and a good amount of memory (for all of those taped lectures...), you should be ok. I, myself, am a mac user, and have decided to splurge, if I go to UM, on the 30" studio display, so I can occasionally enjoy class from my bed.
Click to expand...

holy sheit!!

that beech costs 2500 bucks!
 
Stop raining on my parade.

The one beautiful thing about having your birthday on December 25th. Santa has to think big.
 
unfrozencaveman said:
Stop raining on my parade.

The one beautiful thing about having your birthday on December 25th. Santa has to think big.
Click to expand...

well... damn.


youd better mount that beast on your wall or something.

[not trying to be a party pooper, just envious thats all]
 
unfrozencaveman said:
I'll probably be at Miami in the fall as well, and I think, as long as you have a decent processor, and a good amount of memory (for all of those taped lectures...), you should be ok. I, myself, am a mac user, and have decided to splurge, if I go to UM, on the 30" studio display, so I can occasionally enjoy class from my bed.
Click to expand...
My belief in our destiny to be roommates is now stronger than ever. But why limit yourself to only if you go to UM? Splurging should not have such limits.

OP, thanks for the topic. It's nice to be able to read something besides pointless affirmative action threads.
 
Burnsy, Pitt is killing me here.

Did you get a big envelope or a little one?
 
unfrozencaveman said:
Burnsy, Pitt is killing me here.

Did you get a big envelope or a little one?
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Big envelope. Have you called the office to see if a decision was mailed to you? Not everyone has been hearing with the rest of their interview group, so you might want to check. And you should probably get it over the weekend, if so. I'm sorry it's so stressful :/...believe me, I know. But don't sweat it, everything will work out okay. Especially with a 30" studio display.
 
Hermit MMood said:
12 inch or 14 inch ibook with video ipod and recorder for it. user-friendly/virus-free/stable/pretty/sturdy/affordable and it's not a Dull.
Click to expand...

Do you think you would be able to download the video lectures onto a video ipod? If so, that would be unbelievably awesome.

Or are they more streaming video, where you don't really download them.

(ummm technical lingo is eluding me here, hopefully someone gets what I mean)
 
Alienware is traditionally expensive, But their 12' sentia laptop, configured well, would provide excellent portability for lectures.

Dont worry about the processor so much as memory: It comes with 256mb Ram, which I would STRONGLY recommend at least 512mb. Also, Depending on how you manage harddrive space, 40gb is rather small- consider 60gb...more never hurts, anything but your wallet that is

also grab the wireless 802.11 a/b/g card

http://www.alienware.com/product_de...SKU-PERFORMANCE

With my suggested configuration it should run you about $1200- very reasonable in my opinion.

I hate the graphics, an integrated Intel "extreme" graphics II. Dont be fooled- if you expect to play any sort of game/ 3d intensive application this will not be enough.

anyother questions let me know, im a geek like that. IF you want something more powerful I'll throw down some more sites for you.

*edit* unless you are fluent in compatibility issues I would strongly advise against a Mac. I despise them, and slick looks do not justify their high price, poor performance, lack of features and compatibility issues...ect. something like 90% of the market is windows.
 
unfrozencaveman said:
Do you think you would be able to download the video lectures onto a video ipod? If so, that would be unbelievably awesome.

Or are they more streaming video, where you don't really download them.

(ummm technical lingo is eluding me here, hopefully someone gets what I mean)
Click to expand...

When I interviewed at Miami they told us that they have just started video podcasting so the answer is yes, you can download videa lectures and watch them on your video ipod. That is pretty awesome.
 
That IS pretty awesome. I hope santa is feeling generous this year.
 
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get an Apple Powerbook if you want a machine for work that will work every time, if you want games get a PC. I love my 12in Powerbook. I have halo and world of warcraft on it, so there are some games for Apples, but not as many as PC. I also have powerpoint, excel, and word on mine which eliminates compatibility issues with PC's.
 
If you had any thoughts of buying a Mac and could wait, rumor has it that sometime next spring, Apple will release some new laptops that will use new Intel processors, maybe with dual-core processors, and would potentially be able to dual-boot both Mac OS X (an easy to use, secure, non-virus/non-spyware-ridden operating system) and Windows (for that time when you absolutely have to run a program that isn't available on the mac platform). It would be like owning one computer that was a Mac and a PC!

Pismo
 
Pismo said:
If you had any thoughts of buying a Mac and could wait, rumor has it that sometime next spring, Apple will release some new laptops that will use new Intel processors, maybe with dual-core processors, and would potentially be able to dual-boot both Mac OS X (an easy to use, secure, non-virus/non-spyware-ridden operating system) and Windows (for that time when you absolutely have to run a program that isn't available on the mac platform). It would be like owning one computer that was a Mac and a PC!

Pismo
Click to expand...

listen to him. The new intel mac's are going to blow my G4 away.
 
alienware and gaming = no no in med. school and ridiculously overpriced for a laptop of that type

you don't need a powerbook (i have an ibook) unless you are obsessed with aesthetics (ibook looks just as fine). Only benefit with a powerbook is that it can burn dvds, has a metal keyboard, aluminum shiny case, and that's it. The cons with it is that the casing has many problems with overheating, the case warping due to excess heat, dents easily, uses the same screen as the ibook 12 inch, and is 300 dollars more.

if you wanted to, you could get the new intel macs that will come this upcoming spring . Rumor is that they will look completely new (hence the lack of updates for the ibook and powerbook design for 4 years!), and they will definitely have pentium processors, so this means they can run windows and os x.

Video ipods are brand new i wouldn't expect anything significant happening to an ipod for a while.
 
id stay away from alienware, i and many others i know of have had very bad experiences with them (multiple class action lawsuits in the works)... but they probably have the best resale value of any manufacturer. by far.

but really, aside from the mac/pc debate (which is really just personal preference, both are good, i prefer pc), there is only one serious thing to consider:

MAKE SURE ITS SMALL! 15in+ and youll rarely if ever move the thing from your desk, sony makes great small and/or light models, mac too.

and get the longest warranty available! laptops arent as easy to change a part here or a part there, and unless your experienced, youll not likely feel comfortable cracking the thing apart and fixing it yourself.
 
Does anyone have advice on whether to go with a laptop or a desktop?
 
I'd go laptop. Miami has an impressive wireless network, and even if you hardly use the portability, it's pretty annoying when you don't have it and want it.
 
I have a great desktop left over from college so plan on getting a small laptop to augment it. I can't believe I got this in 2002 and it still does so well. I think that in personal use applications hardware has seriously outpaced software (ok, so I don't do any serious gaming and that prob helps too . . .).
 
shop goodwill for a laptop
 
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