MacBook

[PCBrandon]

Hi all,

I have enough grad money to purchase a new laptop for college. I currently have the "desktop replacement" laptop that's listed in my signature which is still great for everything I do at the moment. The main problems with it for college however is it is huge and doesn't have an extremely long lasting battery. In other words, I'm not going to want to take it around campus to classes and such, but keep it on my desk in my dorm.

I've also been wanting to experience a new environment and I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and look into getting a MacBook. Since my Dell is still a pretty decent powerhouse I'm not looking for a top-of-the-line notebook but rather something light, clean, and small. The laptop would be used for word processing, web surfing, iTunes, simple things like that. I'm sure I want to go with the MacBook series because they use Intel processors so that if it turns out I hate everything with the the Mac OS I can install Linux or Windows.

I have a few questions: What model do you think is best for me? What Mac OS should I get (I think I've heard of Panther, Tiger, OS X, etc?) I've heard I can get a student discount, is this true (even if I'm now officially no longer in High School, but have paid the tuition deposit for college)? Can I run this MacBook off the same Linksys wireless router that I do my Dell? How's communication between a Mac OS and Windows? Can I share files easily between them?

Thanks all!

[Mac Medic]

The Tiger (10.4) will come pre-installed, you won't have a choice about that. You can get a student discount, the discount is only for college students, not high-school, so you're good there. The linky router will work just the same as any other 802.11x router and communication between Mac and Windows is easy, file sharing is simple.

I would look at the mid-range MacBook. They were upgraded tuesday so now is a good time to buy.

[PCBrandon]

I've got a MacBook in the mail on the way to me. I'll be using it for word processing... what program should I use? I want to be able to transfer the files between my Mac and my Dell and be able to read/write on both without conversions. Office for Mac? OpenOffice? What?

Thanks again!

[Alaron]

Either of those will work fine. OpenOffice is of course free, and it can save files as .Doc, so they will open with any Microsoft Word version.

However, Office for Mac is your best option if you want things to be absolutely like Office for Windows. It is also worth looking into for school since you will need Microsoft compatibility for everything you turn in. Apple has a Student version here: http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=6C04E0F6&nplm=T9188LL/A but I would look into buying it at school. It will be much cheaper.

[PCBrandon]

I'm currently typing from my new 2.16 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, 13 inch black MacBook. =)

Wow is it different. So much to learn. I'll probably have a bunch of questions over the next couple of weeks, just as a heads up. =)

[nightsky]

I'm currently typing from my new 2.16 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, 13 inch black MacBook. =)

Wow is it different. So much to learn. I'll probably have a bunch of questions over the next couple of weeks, just as a heads up. =)
Mac is more of a linux OS setup, getting things done in mac is quite different from Windows. I still don't know that I like OS-X. Its supposed to be more secure and stable, as well as, of higher quality for graphics... As of yet I don't know what all the MAC Cult is about? Think if you are familiar with Linux, you will find mac to be alright. Here is the mac forum: http://forums.macrumors.com/