That sounds like a hard find.

 

gessh everyones making the mac seem like its definately the way to go.

 

That's what I'm thinking of getting.

 

What is the warranty length on the Macbook?

 

After researching notebooks and buying one, I'd recommend the Mac too. Dollar for dollar, they're not much more expensive than a Dell, but are much more robust and come with some fun extras that the Dell won't have (photo/video editing).

Oh, I ended up getting a Dell through the school because it came with Crystal Ball, which is a program that (apparently) will not work on a Mac, even with the Intel processor and running Windows.

 

Well, Mac is no more expensive than a comparably equipped Windows computer, its just that you can get bottom-basement Windows laptops. Remember, you get what you pay for. A Mac you're not paying $50-70 a year for virus subscriptions, or paying tech to get the thing to start after it gets infested with viruses.

The Mac will run as fast as the day it was new 6 months, one year, and to the last day its used. Windows gets slower - its a fact of life that the registry gets bloated and things slow down. To keep Windows running fast and smooth, you need antivirus, antispyware, registry cleaners, etc. Macs are just Macs - they don't even need to be defragged for normal use.

The school your sis goes to may have tech support for free (minus standing in line for an hour or so), but will likely have to wipe her HDD several times - college tech support usually doesn't have time to really pick through what's causing the problem.

Apple standard warranty is 1 yr/90 days support. I'd get the extended warranty if she's at college though, regardless of what computer you buy. Insurance too...

If she can manage Windows, OS X is a lot simpler and more intuitive.

 

Ever seen what people are using on college campuses lately?

Macs aren't just "cool," they are quite useful as well.

 

Oh yeah, Macs don't come preinstalled with all kinds of trial software you have to remove. They come with the OS and real, useful apps (iTunes, iPhoto, Mail). Plus, you get a real system CD and not just a generic reinstall cd and a drivers cd. (Macs generally have all the drivers included in the OS so you don't need to go download them)

[QUOTE]Crystal Ball, which is a program that (apparently) will not work on a Mac, even with the Intel processor and running Windows.

 

Are you kidding me? Mac is THE choice for her.

 

I sent 3 kids to college with computers.

All of them ended up with Macs as they couldn't keep the Windoze variety up and running. They liked the Windoze for games, but PS2 etc. negates the need for that.

They liked the Macs because they always worked and it seemed the Win comps always crapped out at the wrong time and they had to go to the computer labs to complete assignments.

BTW, you don't need to spend the $$ on Word. Appleworks saves and opens up Word docs and takes up much less space and runs faster. There are a few high level formatting things Word will do that Appleworks won't do, but very few.

Works includes a database, a spread sheet and a graphics program and is still smaller and faster than Word. If you every had trouble with odd or newer versions of Word there is MacLinkPlus for about $39 that keeps all the versions opening on Appleworks.

I no longer use Word at my office since I communicate with various kinds of computer users. With Word I always had to have the correct version which cost me a fortune to stay on top of it. Now I use Appleworks and MacLinkPlus and I can open anything anyone throws at me with just a simple double click.