Need Advice with Computer and College

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Well I'll be going off to college soon and am right now thinking over which computer I'll take with me. I am planning, and the keyword here is "planning," to double major, or "double concentrate" rather, hopefully this'll actually work out, in mathematics and computer science.



The situation as of now is as follows: I'll definitely take my good ol' G3 Firewire Powerbook, but after that well . . . I can either take a 3.0GHz HT P4 system, which I built myself recently and for which I have Office XP and Maple 9, or I can take a new dual G5, once they ship that is, for which I have many Adobe apps, MS Office, the iApps, and Mathematica 4.2.

Thus, what should I choose? What would be most appropriate for a computer science major?

What is also nice about the PC is of course that it will be able to replace my xbox, while not at home, thus I can play Half Life 2, Deus Ex; the Invisible War, etc. . .

Also, if anyone has any general tips regarding college life, and experience with those aforementioned majors I am all ears.



Thank you for your help.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    I'd say the Windows box is most appropriate. It will ensure compatibility with any CS work you have to do.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by LoCash

    I'd say the Windows box is most appropriate. It will ensure compatibility with any CS work you have to do.



    the PC probably would be more appropriate to fit in





    ...the dualie g5 would rip up when doing some complex stuff with mathematica
  • Reply 3 of 11
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    While I don't do CS personally, I do know that all the CS classes at my university seem to be platform independent as they compile their code remotely and such.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    It all depends on what kinda shape your PB is in.



    Is the screen still good and are the batteries up to snuff? No drive weirdness (either optical or HDD) ???



    If so take the PB. I don't see how you could already have a G5 on you. So if you must have a desktop aswell, take the PC too. What will you get from leaving it behind?



    As for computer purchases untill the start of college. WAIT!!!



    wait and wait some more...



    If you happen to have ordered a G5, CANCEL NOW!



    Most decent colleges offer some sort of edu discount, and if you're lucky, they can often do better than Apple's edu discount on selected models. Do not buy anything untill you get your but on campus for a few months. Your computing needs are covered already, at least for the first two years.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Matsu

    Most decent colleges offer some sort of edu discount, and if you're lucky, they can often do better than Apple's edu discount on selected models. Do not buy anything untill you get your but on campus for a few months. Your computing needs are covered already, at least for the first two years.



    Yeah, my school is consistently $50-100 below Apple's Edu price, and they often include AppleCare for free. So wait, definitely.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by maxcom29

    Well I'll be going off to college soon and am right now thinking over which computer I'll take with me. I am planning, and the keyword here is "planning," to double major, or "double concentrate" rather, hopefully this'll actually work out, in mathematics and computer science.



    what school are you going to? I know Boston has a LOT of colleges, but this is worth a shot

    Doesn't happen to be BC does it?



    if so a bunch of the CS stuff has some tie-ins with proprietary MS stuff... but that doesn't mean you have to get a PC... the computer lab (where I work) has any and all applications you need for CS... also there is a separate CS-major only lab that is open 24 hrs...



    really you should take whatever you feel most comfortable with... whether its the dual 500 you list in your profile or the new PC you just built...

    also a lot of colleges have a bunch of machines that they sell greatly reduced... at BC they have some really nice IBM thinkpads and some macs (with 4 year applecare....) pretty good deal-but if you are A CS major you should consider getting a Student developer account with apple... you could save around 30% on that dual G5 for a small $100year fee that also includes some great dev software from apple...
  • Reply 7 of 11
    Bring the Powerbook and consider the following before you bring either the PeeCee or the G5: most CS departments support all platforms for their schoolwork. Berkeley does everything on Sun Sparcs running Solaris, so having a unix box (a.k.a. Mac OS X) has really made CS stuff easy to get up and running here.

    Also, consider whether you REALLY want to spend a lot of time playing games at college, because (friendly warning ahead) it can seriously cripple your grades if it gets out of hand. Three people I know got kicked out of Berkeley for low grades that they know (and have admitted) are directly attributed to their inability to stop playing games (one guy is a Starcraft junkie, another one played Diablo II...Blizzard is a blessing and a curse!). With this in mind, it might be best to not bring the PeeCee and instead bring the G5 because there are simply less games for the Mac (and believe me, once on campus you'll find a LOT of games to play and people to play them with).





    Blueflame
  • Reply 8 of 11
    Well thank you for all your help.

    I shall sadly be going to . . . BU.



    I did make a direct Apple Edu. order. I think you are correct that I should wait and cancel the current one. Especially since I will not even be home when the dual would arrive sometime, hopefully, in September. So I think I will wait until I can make a direct BU Edu. purchase, and I definitely would not mind saving another fifty or hundred especially with the thousands I already poured into the P4.



    I think the gaming won't go too much out of control for me, unless Half Life II is the best game ever. I was able to handle Halo back in November 2001, without any decline in grades .
  • Reply 9 of 11
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by maxcom29

    Well thank you for all your help.

    I shall sadly be going to . . . BU.




    heheheh.... maybe I'll see you around at some hockey games



    Quote:

    I did make a direct Apple Edu. order. I think you are correct that I should wait and cancel the current one. Especially since I will not even be home when the dual would arrive sometime, hopefully, in September. So I think I will wait until I can make a direct BU Edu. purchase, and I definitely would not mind saving another fifty or hundred especially with the thousands I already poured into the P4.



    if you are willing to do that you really should look into getting a student ADC membership... the amount of $ you can save is really significant--especially if you are going to go top of the line, they like to goad developers into getting the high-end machines with their discounts...



    LoCash (aka M3d Jack) lives near BU also...
  • Reply 10 of 11
    I would take both, or instead of a PowerMac G5 wait until the Powerbook G5 comes out.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    ibrowseibrowse Posts: 1,749member
    Take that the entire English language!
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