Visit to University

Today was by far the best day of summer! The clear blue skies and warm temperatures made my trip to the university very pleasant. I've never seen the campus look this way before when the trees and shrubs are fully leafed and the walkways are clear of any debris. Perhaps during that school I am too busy to notice it, but today I had the chance to take it in. I felt like just sitting on the park bench and reading a book.
So I went to the bookstore today...and asked the sales associate about the various Intel processors...he was the forth person to tell me that the difference between the 2.4, 2.5, and 2.6 processors is minimal, so I'm not concerned about that anymore...As for the graphics card, a friend told me that it may be worth it to get the 512 card in the Mac for 2399, but that is bringing the cost way to high. The bookstore associate also said that spending several grand for a laptop is senseless, so I'm sticking with the base model. Ram is not a concern for me as Futureshop is(was) selling 2GB modules for $35 online. I did a very detailed comparison between the Dell and the Mac, both have the exact same graphics card. However, there are several places where the Mac exceeds the Dell. The display on the Mac is a high def (1440x900) LED LCD, which is a $200 upgrade on the Dell. The battery life is estimated to be 5 hours. The battery life of the six cell battery will be 3 hours, the extended battery (9 cell) is a $100 upgrade. With those upgrades the price of the Dell exceeds $2000 before taxes, so there is value in getting a Mac (rebate and ipod touch). There are places where the Dell does exceed the Mac; the Hard drive is larger 320 GB vs 200 GB, but I have a 500 GB external so that isn't a concern. Of course there are the Mac related expenses but it is XP and I've heard that I can get the license on one of my old computers transferred over I wouldn't have to buy it.


I think the only way I will get the Dell (Windows) is if they decide to upgrade their processors to the ones found on the new sony's. They support up to 8GB of RAM which is guaranteed to last a while. There is a new HP model at Future shop with this new processor but it is only a 2.0 GHz, but I suspect that many companies will follow. However, for the time being I'm really leaning towards the Mac now. Still I'll give myself another week or so to make up my mind.