What type of laptop computer would you recommend for a college student?

Desiree: What type of laptop computer would you recommend for a college student?
This fall I’m majoring in Legal Assisting Technology, which requires the use of most Windows Office programs. One of my classes is an online course, thus I’m considering purchasing a laptop. Mac’s are becoming increasingly popular but I will be using Windows programs. Is it possible to get Windows programs on a Mac? What laptop would you recommend?
Include the cost of the laptop, if possible. Thanks.

Answers and Views:

Answer by dj_lonewolf69
yes you can use windows based programs on a mac with about a $ 200 or more program.acer has some good laptops. but get atleast 2gbs of ram, as much hard drive as possible, once you get it home delete un needed programs it will be loaded with bs programs that will create havok with windows vista. if you special order you can still get xp from what i have heard. also macs are no safer than a windows based pc they are all vulnerable to viruses, trojans and so on. so plan on getting avg free, spybot s&d, and adaware.

Answer by samitg2003
NOT A MAC OR DELL!!!!!!!!!
DO NOT GET A MAC OR DELL!!!!!!!
NEVER GET A MAC OR DELL!!!!!!!

Get a Toshiba, Sony, or Acer.

Answer by Dancer Friendly
apple anything

Answer by Robert B
I too am a paralegal major going for my BS and I am quite happy with the basic DELL model with a version of Office student edition added.

Good Luck. This is a great profession.

P.S. The big bucks are in litigation and federal criminal appeals.

Answer by redsoxer
If you want a Macintosh, you can simply load Windows on to it too, providing you have a copy or are willing to buy a copy. That way you’d have the benefit of both OS X and Windows.
Otherwise, check out the brand new Dell Inspiron laptops that were unveiled last week, they come with magnesium alloy cases (no more plastic), a choice from 8 different colors and your pick of either the 14.1-inch, 15.4-inch or 17-inch screen models. See here:
https://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-laptops?scat=inspnnb&isredir=true

Answer by Leos
I dont know how long you still have in school, so I’ll divide my answer in 2 categories:

1 year of school or less:
If you have 1 year of schooling or less remaining, I recommend a laptop for a workplace over one for a student. In a workplace, u’ll need a wider variety of ports such as paralled ports, serial etc so that u can connect whatever equipment to your laptop. U might also need a floppy drive.
Most laptops nowadays dont come with those anymore, so u’ll need to get them separately. External floppy drives are available as from 30 dollars canadian.
Parallel ports and serial ports can be obtained using docking stations or thru USB converters available in most computer
stores.

If you have more than 1 year of schooling:
I recommend a tablet pc. Although expensive, these are the most practical computers for a student as they allow you to take notes directly on ur laptop. No more need for paper. Profs post their notes online nowadays so u just have to open their notes and add to them during class b4 u print or u can always read on-screen. An alternative to tablet pcs (their configs are really bad compared to a normal laptop) is to buy a normal laptop and to get a USB tablet and stylus. With Vista, this combination immediately makes ur laptop into a tablet pc.

Windows based laptops are cheaper than macs and so far, their configs are also better. More software are available on windows than macs. Since most ppl use windows, u can be sure, IT support anywhere will have someone qualified to help u on windows.

Toshiba is a reliable brand. We had a Toshiba for 4-5 yrs now and we have never had any trouble with it. They are however heavy laptops.

I recently got a Dell. It’s not too bad… but I only just got it. So can’t say much about it. Cross fingers, it will be as good as toshiba.

Whatever you do, get a laptop with 2 GB ram at least. If u will be doing a lot of graphics stuff, get a graphics card with its own memory… not shared ones.

That’s about it.

Hope this post was a little help.

Cheers.

Answer by lueeluee
Yes, now you have to go through a process called boot camp to run windows through Apple. It is suposed to be slower than a pc on windows and not compatible to some software. I would recommend a PC. About 90% of LTs sold are PC.

Answer by ericisroot
You should get a macbook for around $ 1099 and it comes with a iPod nano.