Laptop for Uni

[Felix]

In the next week I will have to buy myself a laptop for my computing degree. Now it's not going to be playing any games ( maybe WOW ) but I want something that is well built , stylish and can run all the various software I need ( office 07 ).

Now the thing is I am tempted to buy an Mac Book as I love Apple's style and feel. I've not used a Mac since 1996 so not sure how much they are like a IBM setup. Will a Macbook be able to work with my home desktop pc ok? I am running Vista Ultimate 64bit would I be able to get office to run on a macos?

One other key area is I need it to last at least 3 years , do Mac's last longer than pc systems or are mac's like pc's now and they go out of date before you even unpacked them from box.

Finally what type of battery is best to go for? My classes run from 1pm till 8pm , is 6-7 hours on a battery asking too much?

Thanks in advance

[KungPaoChicken]

what's your price tag

[Felix]

up to £1100 but would prefer to buy around the £400 to £700 bracket

[ResserGD]

I got mine a few months ago, using a dell studio. 2.2ghz 4mb ram 17inch screen 250gb HD 2mb L2.

cost me £549 when i got it, but it was on offer so i don't know how much it is now. I like it, runs well, can play games if i want to though i don't really. Should easily be able to handle WOW. can handle COD4 on lowish settings which isnt bad for a laptop.

Its quick, vista isn't as bad as people say it is - i quite like it actually. Ide take it over a mac because macs run different word processors etc and my mate at uni has a mac and it annoys him because the word u get on mac is different and it makes things complicated when u get stuff off the uni website.

[Felix]

I run a Dell XPS for my desk top. I got it clocked to run at 3.2ghz atm.

The Dell laptops seem to be very pricey compaired to other brands atm.

[ResserGD]

yeah like i said i dont know current prices.

to be honest mate, i used a desktop for half of my 1st year and this laptop for the other half, and unless ur gonna take it with u to classes, which i might add really isnt necassary, it really doesnt matter if u use a desktop or a laptop.

[evilwevel]

just use openoffice for office files, works on any OS and has all the functions (just doesn't look as catchy as the new 2007 office).

i'm using a netbook for school, didn't cost me a lot + i can get 7 hours on battery it's absolutely not suited for playing games (other then flash games) but it handles all other things like a pro. i use it to run visual basic 2008 + sql server express 2005 during C# and i haven't had any problems with it.

[Felix]

Going to check out PC world today as they got a massive sale going on in the Oxford branch and I can get Dell and Apple machinces there which is what I want.

Due to the nature of the course and the fact I am going to be using multipul sites for my work it's a must have tool for me. Obviously I will have machines I will be using in class but ultimatley I will prefer to use my own equipment for minimising any risk of losing my work.

[wawh]

A pen and paper is all you need tbh

typing shit during classes will only make you less focused on the subject...

Just write the stuff and then typ it ^^

(well.. besides if you really need it, such as programming..)

[ResserGD]

wawh is right.

unless you literally need it to participate in the lecture, the best u can do for urself is to pay attention and use a pen and paper. After a year i can gurantee you sitting and listening to the whole lecture without writing a thing is 100x more beneficial than hardly paying attention and writing down everything/copying the lecture slides. Its better to pay attention take down the main points and do ur own work on the topic in ur own time.

[Felix]

Because it's a COMPUTING degree it's a vital tool for me to have in and outside the labs.

I've got a really nice Dell Laptop in bright red ( my favorate colour ) and got a good price and all the software I need on it for free too. Also set up a network and a network drive which I can back stuff up wirerless on my laptop!