iPad, iPhone, Mac for college?

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

While it is true that students are perpetually cash-strapped, a laptop is something that most of them will use daily and will often take with them to the library, classes, trips home, etc., so portability and battery life are often a priority. It is also something that isn't purchased very often (by students at least), so it stands to reason that they would want something that would last through their time at university, and thus they may want something with a bit beefier specs. I personally don't have a problem with spending more than the average laptop costs when purchasing one, seeing as I use it several hours a day.

My personal opinion is that it is better to buy a mid-range laptop now, and change it in 2-3 years, than spend twice now for a top of the range one, which would be obsolete anyway in 2 years. For a student, a mid-range would most certainly do; after all, searching the web and writing on a text editor doesn't need that much horse power. Of course, there will be exceptions for some specific students with subjects that require heavy computing.

[Delotte231]

Originally Posted by JoeD

Just to counter that, I know 3 mac owners who have had their mac books die within 2-3 years of purchase. There was also a fairly big issue with a batch of macbooks with NVidia GPUs, Apple offered to replace any that died within 2 years of purchase which didn't help two of my friends who's laptops both suffered the GPU issue just after 2 years of usage.

As for me, my Mac has been fine and still is, but then again so are my windows laptops too. All devices will have a % failure rate, some of us will just be unlucky enough to be the ones making up that number

I suppose that is true. Then I guess what we are looking at here is that the % rate of a Mac failing is lower than the % rate of a PC failing. Of course, I could be wrong. I am basing this on my experience and the knowledge I have from the people around me with Macs.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've used Dell laptops for years, and have never had a single problem with them. I'd thoroughly recommend them.

My first one lasted 5 years, until the graphics card popped. The second one has been going strong for 5 years now, I use it with Linux for Android development - not the fastest machine, but gets the job done.

[unboggling]

And cars are becoming rolling computer and communications tech. So to the decisions about smartphone, reading device, tablet, and computer (subnotebook, netbook, notebook, laptop, desktop, server)—as well as network connectivity options, software, and accessories—add deciding what kind of car to buy based on the quality of computer and communications tech inside it. After all, it is inconvenient to have to plug the smartphone into the jack in the console or dashboard with a cable, and hands-off computing while driving is of course a necessity….

We'll need a new forum here called "Vehicle-based Reading Devices", with subforums for each vehicle model. Giving the "mobile" in MobileRead added meaning.

("Oh no, my current car is great, it's only a year old, but I want to upgrade to the new tech-thingies in that new model from Apple-AT&T-Ford.")

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've used Dell laptops for years, and have never had a single problem with them. I'd thoroughly recommend them.

what model was yours? my mom's dell laptop broke down just after her warranty ended. so did my friend's dell. i'm using an asus netbook right now. small and sturdy, and pretty light.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

what model was yours? my mom's dell laptop broke down just after her warranty ended. so did my friend's dell. i'm using an asus netbook right now. small and sturdy, and pretty light.

I currently have two Dell laptops. A small 11.6" model, the Inspiron 11Z, which I take away with me on trips, and use in bed (yes, I know that's sad! ), and my main laptop which is again an Inspiron (I forget the model number) with a 15" screen. Both are about 2-3 years old now.

[jocampo]

Dropped my iPad recently :-(

My sweet wife offered me a trade-in, giving the case I frequently watch videos and use the volume button a lot (the only part affected was volume button, got pinched when hit the floor)

I was amazed with how easy was to format the iPad and recover from iCloud backup. Everything, and I literally mean everything, including browsing history, was there after backup. It took 5 min. Even those DRM free books I have on iBooks.

Backup and recovery was paid pain free process.

Now I have former wife's iPad, which is white.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Now I have former wife's iPad, which is white.

former wife's iPad or wife's former iPad?

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

former wife's iPad or wife's former iPad?

The downside of having English as my second language, lol ...

Anyway, you got the message, right? her iPad is now miiiiinneeeee, hahahaha...

Yeah, she is not a former wife, still is my wife, as far as I know, hahahaha...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by jocampo

The downside of having English as my second language, lol ...

Anyway, you got the message, right? her iPad is now miiiiinneeeee, hahahaha...

Yeah, she is not a former wife, still is my wife, as far as I know, hahahaha...

Glad to hear things are good on both iPad and marriage fronts.

[unboggling]

Originally Posted by jocampo

The downside of having English as my second language, lol …[/quick]

Anyway, you got the message, right? her iPad is now miiiiinneeeee, hahahaha...

Yeah, she is not a former wife, still is my wife, as far as I know, hahahaha...

Now if it was cars instead of iPads, that might be a different story…

[unboggling]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I currently have two Dell laptops. A small 11.6" model, the Inspiron 11Z, which I take away with me on trips, and use in bed (yes, I know that's sad! ), and my main laptop which is again an Inspiron (I forget the model number) with a 15" screen. Both are about 2-3 years old now.

My Dad used Dells for years. He had no complaints. Only one of his Dells had an insurmountable problem when a power surge fried it after he neglected to plug it into a surge protector. Which wasn't the crispy Dell's fault.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by unboggling

Now if it was cars instead of iPads, that might be a different story…

Actually, I drive her car weekends, is a roadster, lol ... lot of fun ...

[Love.Forever.]

I'd say Macbook pro. I bought mine for University about 2 years ago mostly for the battery life (7+ hours) since most of my classes are 3 hours long. I guess it just depends on what you think you'll be mostly using it for, and if it's worth it to buy one.

[HarryT]

Don't some Mac laptops have non-replaceable batteries? That may be a consideration if you're thinking of buying a laptop for use for several years.