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Buying a Computer From a Store VS Buying From School (My Problem)

edited May 2008 in Technology
I am going to college in the fall and I need a computer, I had decided to get a Mac due to my declared major of illustration and I had decided on getting this model. My school offers a program in which if you buy the computer from them you get on campus support for the computer along with the Apple Care (which you still have to pay for) and they will lend you a computer while they fix your own. My problem is that they do not offer the model that I had been looking at and wanting for the past year they offer only these models.The only thing that might have gotten me to buy from them is the promised discount that they worked out with the companies that supply the computers, unfortunately the discounts are only on the Lenovo computers they offer. What do you guys think I should do?

Comments

  • I had decided to get a Mac due to my declared major of illustration and I had decided on gettingthis model.
    Why a mac for illustration? I can't think of any major programs that aren't also available for Windows.
  • The only difference between the one you want, and the second on the school offers is a slightly larger hard drive and the color. If the school is offering a significant discount, that's a hell of a lot of extra money you would be paying for a different colored plastic and a tiny bit of hard drive space. If you really need the disk space, external drives are the way to go for Macs.
  • If you really need the disk space, external drives are the way to go for Macs.
    Yes. Fast half-terrabyte external drives are cheap as crap. Also, note that you can use ANY external USB drive: the "Windows only" ones will work fine if you just reformat them.
  • The only trouble with those is the power. For the most part they will need mains power to run, which is no good for portability.
  • The school is not offering any discount whatsoever, which totally sucks.
  • edited May 2008
    external drives are the way to go for Macs.
    Yes. I love my external drive. If you are going to be working with large illustrator files or video, the extra space is a must. In addition to that, get a little flash drive to carry your homework on and you are good to go. I would recommend macs for animation and film because some of the programs ARE mac only (Framethief, FC) but as far as illustration goes, I'm not sure what the pros and cons are. All I know is this: I've had a couple of macs since college and I love them lots. Macs are great. That is all.
    P.S. Did you draw in Scott's Pirate Sketchbook? I saw one that I think was signed Li_Akahi and it had a dude brandishing a sword.
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • edited May 2008
    I was planning on getting an external hard drive, but not for a few months after getting the notebook. If I do buy from the school, I will most likely need to get one as soon as possible.
    P.S. Did you draw in Scott's Pirate Sketchbook? I saw one that I think was signed Li_Akahi and it had a dude brandishing a sword.
    Yes, that was in fact me who drew that and one of my characters (Akahi "Li" Kaminari) in one of his previous designs dressed as a pirate.
    Post edited by Li_Akahi on
  • The links from your original post are now invalid, but if the laptop you want is a macbook, your best bet is to buy the laptop from apple with no upgrades, and then go to newegg to buy a new harddrive and ram. It is very easy to upgrade the macbook.
  • Upon doing more research (and actually finding the page that allows you to order from the school online) I found out that they do in fact have the Macbook I am looking at. Now I just need to find out if they are an authorized Apple fixing-service.
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