[CrAckErKorEan]

My wife and I both are returning to school. I will be getting a BS in Computer Science. My wife is going to tech school for network admin unix/linux. And no I cannot afford the 17" model

I was looking at the 14" iBook and the base model Power Book.

What are the pros and cons of each? Im new to mac but I am making the change.


Thanks for the help.

 

[Ridemonkey]

Off the top of my head -

Powerbook has a larger screen (15), higher maximum Ram (2GB), and larger HD (60 GB).

The 15 inch screen really is a nice upgrade. The 14 inch Ibook is a nice computer for the price though.

There are other little differences and I just read an article on them but I can't seem to find it now....

 

[CrAckErKorEan]

Sorry I was looking at the 12" model power book. I know there is a little more growth memory wise and it has the option of the super drive.

Is the mac the way to go? I want to get away from windows and linux just isnt quite there yet.

 

[Bonk]

Originally posted by CrAckErKorEan
Is the mac the way to go? I want to get away from windows and linux just isnt quite there yet.

OS X is Linux.

 

[Ridemonkey]

Originally posted by CrAckErKorEan
Sorry I was looking at the 12" model power book. I know there is a little more growth memory wise and it has the option of the super drive.

Is the mac the way to go? I want to get away from windows and linux just isnt quite there yet.

I've used PCs and Linux pretty extensively. I recently got a Mac Laptop and I love it. Definately my favorite. For programming and development it is great - you'll appreciate the Unix command line option.

 

[CrAckErKorEan]

OS X is actually closer to FreeBSD from what I understand.

I use linux pretty much exclusivly in home. But to get it to work the way I wanted it took some tinkering after the install. Setting up sound and windows shares and vice versa takes a little bit of work. I want something that i just turn it on and it works and wont freeze on me.

Hence looking at the MAC. And going into CS its mostly programming major so I woulnd need someting to develop on.

Showing my programming ignorence ( im a network admin) is there any other M$ specific program language other that .NET? ( am i thinking right on .NET even?)

 

[Toshi]

i would go with the 12" powerbook and an external display. having the dvi out on the pb is key. (incidentally i also was cs, and rocked project building [now called xcode] for some of my later assignments.)

 

[CrAckErKorEan]

I was thinking about one of the flat panel displays to go along with the laptop but I cannot go into that much debt with my student loans. That 23" HD display shure does look nice though.

I am starting from square 1 ( the year i did spend in school was making up for stuff i didnt take in high school) so I dont think I will be needing the flat panel right off. This is mostly going to be for papers and what ever little assignment will be given to me in my beginning CS classes.

 

[Ridemonkey]

Originally posted by CrAckErKorEan

Showing my programming ignorence ( im a network admin) is there any other M$ specific program language other that .NET? ( am i thinking right on .NET even?)

I don't think .Net is a programming language. If your CS program is anything like the one I was in - you won't be studying technology related to any one company like MS. In fact - I think that is one of the reasons that CS departments use Macs so often - they don't want an industry bias in their programs and so much of Microsofts technology is proprietary.

 

[Toshi]

Originally posted by Ridemonkey
I don't think .Net is a programming language. If your CS program is anything like the one I was in - you won't be studying technology related to any one company like MS. In fact - I think that is one of the reasons that CS departments use Macs so often - they don't want an industry bias in their programs and so much of Microsofts technology is proprietary.

yeah, but C# is a programming language. don't get hung up on any language -- they're all the same if they're turing complete after all

 

[CrAckErKorEan]

Another question. How does turning in assignemts in a programming class work? And isnt the code ( c C+ C++)for mac, linux, and windows different?

I know JAVA works the same on all platforms.

 

[Toshi]

Originally posted by CrAckErKorEan
Another question. How does turning in assignemts in a programming class work? And isnt the code ( c C+ C++)for mac, linux, and windows different?

I know JAVA works the same on all platforms.

for my program the deal was that your assignments must be submitted with the unix submit system (this might have been a custom app on our servers), and _must compile and run on their unix/linux servers_. sometimes this differed by class -- for theory classes where the result mattered, not the program, then all was fair game, whatever language or tools you wanted to use as long as you documented your doings.

in reality the only thing that i had to change on my c/c++ code was the paths to libraries and includes, not a big deal by any means. i did run into a floating point issue between the platforms while on a math intensive graphics asst, but changing all floats to doubles cured that one too, plus it was obscure.

 

[TCoop924]

In my CS class I took at the Univ. of Washington, we turned in our assignments via a web-upload service (so that the TAs could test the code). Nice and easy. We also turned in a printed out copy so the TAs could make comments and corrections.

We used C++ for the class. Personally, it makes a lot of sense to me, but then again, I use a lot of other software that uses the same language "style" as C++. Heard good things about Java thought too (which is what the CS dept. uses for all their programming classes...they switched the quarter after I took the class).

 

[Tenchiro]

Of the two the 14" iBook seems like a good deal. If all you're going to be doing is writing code and doing assignments, you don't need a powerhouse machine but a bigger screen will definately be easier on the eyes.

I would also invest in a dock (Can you dock an iBook?), full size monitor keyboard and mouse for when you are at home. Laptop keyboards and trackpads will cripple you after long periods of use, I find that they are just too constrained to use 24/7, and I always use an external mouse when I work on a laptop no matter if I am docked or not.

 

[CrAckErKorEan]

Well it sounds like the assignments are not that dependent on OS and that its easy to change. ( the only thing i can really do is make a java program say hello world )

I think the wife has decided on the 14" ibook for her. Im still torn though. I would like this computer to last me all of school. I was actually thinking about bumping up to the 15" with the super drive. That way the screen is big enough for everyday use. I use a laptop exclusivly for work and the keyboard doesnt bother me but having an external mouse is a must. Later down the road i think i will get another monitor and use the DVI to make a bigger desktop.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

[MikeOK]

That 12" ibook is just about what I was looking for in the thread I started, but my problem is that I have boxes full of win apps and years worth of windows files in .xls, .doc, etc. Is there any way to import my excel files into an ibook? Does it come with a similar spreadsheet app?

Dumb questions maybe but I've never used apple products.

 

[Tenchiro]

Originally posted by MikeOK
That 12" ibook is just about what I was looking for in the thread I started, but my problem is that I have boxes full of win apps and years worth of windows files in .xls, .doc, etc. Is there any way to import my excel files into an ibook? Does it come with a similar spreadsheet app?

Dumb questions maybe but I've never used apple products.

You can get MS Office for Mac and they can read MS formatted discs. (or at least you used to be able to)

 

[Toshi]

Originally posted by Tenchiro
You can get MS Office for Mac and they can read MS formatted discs. (or at least you used to be able to)

no one uses floppy disks, but yes, macs can read pc formatted floppies. CDs and DVDs are absolutely no problem either, or you could hook both of the computers up to a hub, turn on "Windows File Sharing" on the mac and transfer away directly.

 

[MikeOK]

That's good, I think maybe I've found my next machine. I wanted something small that was more portable than most of the windows machines that I've seen on the market.

The only drawback I can see is none of the software I have will work that I have downloaded over the years (I have a huge box of discs).

Anybody have the 12" who can give a report?

 

[CrAckErKorEan]

I know www.openoffice.org has a version for mac, if you dont want to spring for the MS version.

 

[Ridemonkey]

Originally posted by CrAckErKorEan
I know www.openoffice.org has a version for mac, if you dont want to spring for the MS version.

Unfortunately this isn't quite true. They have an X-windows version for Mac - meaning its made for Unix X-windows environment and isn't a full Mac-supported product. It would work - but be a big pain in the butt.

The true Mac version isn't coming until 2006.

Apple Works will work with .xls and .doc files - and its only 79 bucks. It's not nearly as nice as office, but gets the job done.

 

[MikeOK]

Looks pretty good, except I looked at a few of the windows apps and some of the ones I use the most area not available for the ibook. Mainly PSP and a conersions program I use all the time, but I bet I can get around this somehow.

By the way, here is the link to the Apple Works app the Ridemonkey mentioned, it looks pretty good.

Another question that some of you guru's may be able to answer. I've been told by my IT guys that there are lots of Linux apps out there for free. How hard would it be to use some of these Linux apps on an apple machine?

Oh yeah, one more thing, when is the ridemonkey gonna get rid of the santa hat he's sitting in??

 

[Toshi]

for those pesky windows only apps just use virtual pc. what linux apps in particular are you talking about? chances are it's available through fink

 

[MikeOK]

Originally posted by Toshi
for those pesky windows only apps just use virtual pc. what linux apps in particular are you talking about? chances are it's available through fink

It's a long list, I use convert often, PSP (which could be replaced with photoshop for a few jillion $), plus I have mp3 players, a couple digi cams, etc and it will be quite a task to make sure I can use all these gadgets on an iBook. I'm not even sure all these gadgets' software includes mac support.

Change is good though, I'm at work now surrounded by windows machines and it'll be refreshing to have something new to learn...