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Originally Posted by youngWilliam14
one more thing to keep in mind: macbooks last longer than windows laptops.
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{citation needed}
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every dell and hp i've worked with has gotten to be much slower by the end of one year of using it, not because of the software i'm running, but because they use cheap parts that wear out fast. i've never seen that problem on a mac
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As squirrel said, hardware does not slow down over time. Hard drives can become fragmented making an OS take longer to boot up, etc. but the hardware itself won't change. A completely fresh install on a computer should be as fast as the day it was purchased. However, what tends to happen is that people's perception of what is "fast" shifts over time as they're exposed to newer and faster machines elsewhere.
As for durability, you can't simply do a Windows versus Mac comparison. Consumer-grade Dells are somewhat flimsy in my experience (I owned one for years), while my Lenovo ThinkPad I bought last year is extremely solid (which is why I got it). If you watch for sales you can get the more rugged types of laptops (Lenovo or the business-grade HPs and Dells) for around the same price as the consumer-grade ones. Also, if you really need durability, I think a Windows machine wins hands-down with options like the
Motorola ML900 or the Toughbook. As far as I know there is no Mac equivalent to these.
As many other people have pointed out in this thread, the choice of computer is should be based on your needs. I now own a Mac Mini in addition to my Windows machines. I really like the fact that Mac is Unix under-the-hood, and the GUI really is well done. However, there are a lot of programs that I use that simply don't run on a Mac, making a full-time switch to Mac impossible for me (many of these are software development, engineering, and programs I use at work). Also, Macs are more expensive for my needs. My high-end 15" Lenovo that I bought a year ago, which had everything I needed, was under $900 and included an upgraded screen resolution (1680x1050), which is an absolute requirement for me. A quick glance at the Apple website and the only laptop I could find with a resolution equal to or higher than that was the 17" MBP for $2500. There's probably an option for it on one of the less expensive laptops, but given that the lowest price laptop starts at $999, it's obvious that I could not find a Mac that was equal to the cost of my Lenovo.
For a new college student I recommend looking into what software programs you will be using in the next 4 years, and which platforms they run on. In fact, the more I think about it, my recommendation for an incoming freshman might be to buy a cheap machine (low-end or used laptop, or netbook, something less than $3-400) since in your first year or two you're likely to only need Internet and some word processing and other generic tools that will run on any machine. Save the big $$$ you'd spend on a new Mac or Windows laptop and buy that towards the end of your sophomore year, when you have a better understanding of what software tools you'll be using (and when the machines have gotten more powerful for the same cost).