Hey there. First post here, so lets get things rolling. I'm 18 and I'm starting a computer science degree in the fall, and I'm looking to buy a notebook. I'm leaning towards the Apple MacBook Pro (15inch) w/ Xcode. But I'm looking for second opinions on what would help me out. I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks -Tony.

I was in exactly your position about 6 months ago, and I settled on an Acer Aspire, 2GHz, 2GB RAM, 15 inch screen, NVIDIA 8600, 220GB hard drive.
I'm probably not a good person to ask because i HATE anything mac with a passion, BUT in all honesty I would be cautious of getting a mac for uni because of compatibility. It might not be a problem for a CS degree, but I'm doing engineering and a mate at uni has had terrible problems with not being able to do a lot of the homework because the CAD software we use doesn't work on his mac. That said, you can always just use wine or dual boot, as long as that's something you're prepared to do.
The number one piece of advice I can give you is to shop around like crazy. You can save yourself hundreds just by being patient and not buying the first thing that looks shiny- sounds stupid but a lot of people do it. Check websites for prices as well as local stores. I ended up buying from a local Hi-Fi store, and got mine for AU$1500, plus $100 for the 3-year extended warranty. I got lucky because it was the last one in the store so she took $200 off the price. If you're diligent enough you might find something just as good.
Oh and don't be afraid to ask "Is that the best price you can offer me?" Don't be a prick about it, but don't be intimidated either.
Hope that helps a little.

cheers,
metal

Woo. I do lots of programming on a black 13-inch MacBook and I'm extremely happy with it. The selling point for me was all the UNIX-compatible tools. I don't use Xcode very often, but it is definitely a fine program.

My last laptop had a 15-inch screen and I choose to get the smaller one this time around, because it was easier to carry. The small screen is OK because with Spaces and Expose, you can get a lot of mileage out of a small amount of screen space.

Why a notebook specifically? Is there something with respect to programming that a notebook provides any advantage in? (No.)

For programming all you need is a text editor and a command-line compiler. Your program may have a few additional requirements depending on the specifics of the curriculum; speak to the office of the department chair and ask for recommendations and guidelines, also asking specific questions like "What about a Macbook?", then pick the best value among options that match.

It just occurred to me that I got tons of information about this here at gd.net when I was looking at getting my laptop.
Check out this thread for all the info you should need.

cheers,
metal

You can install Windows on your Intel base Macbook. But just like Oluseyi said. For programming, you only need editor and the compiler unless you want do programming on specific thing ie. directx programming etc.

Also, can run Windows on Vmware or Parallels so you can run almost any Windows software on it.

Quote: Original post by metalmidget
I was in exactly your position about 6 months ago, and I settled on an Acer Aspire, 2GHz, 2GB RAM, 15 inch screen, NVIDIA 8600, 220GB hard drive.
I'm probably not a good person to ask because i HATE anything mac with a passion, BUT in all honesty I would be cautious of getting a mac for uni because of compatibility. It might not be a problem for a CS degree, but I'm doing engineering and a mate at uni has had terrible problems with not being able to do a lot of the homework because the CAD software we use doesn't work on his mac. That said, you can always just use wine or dual boot, as long as that's something you're prepared to do.
The number one piece of advice I can give you is to shop around like crazy. You can save yourself hundreds just by being patient and not buying the first thing that looks shiny- sounds stupid but a lot of people do it. Check websites for prices as well as local stores. I ended up buying from a local Hi-Fi store, and got mine for AU$1500, plus $100 for the 3-year extended warranty. I got lucky because it was the last one in the store so she took $200 off the price. If you're diligent enough you might find something just as good.
Oh and don't be afraid to ask "Is that the best price you can offer me?" Don't be a prick about it, but don't be intimidated either.
Hope that helps a little.

cheers,
metal

Uh there is no longer any problems with compatiblity getting a mac these days since they come with Intel chips now and bootcamp!
You actually get the best of both worlds getting a mac and that's what I'd recommend if you can afford it. The graphics chipset is probably crap for games but the majority of notebooks suck if your main purpose is gaming. My friend just got one of the new macbook pro laptops and he can run HalfLife and Vista on it so it can't be as bad as the Inte graphics.
I'm stuck with my powerpc mac -LOL!
Has compatibililty problems due to older macs using different cpu but it's still running after like 7 years!

[Edited by - daviangel on June 10, 2008 3:43:52 PM]

I posted a thread on this topic a week ago or so and got a wealth of good information. I went with a MacBook Pro in the end. Instead of repeating what was said there, I'll let you read that thread yourself and form your own conclusion.

Quote: Original post by daviangel
The graphics chipset is probably crap for games but the majority of notebooks suck if your main purpose is gaming.

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Quote: Original post by nilkn

Quote: Original post by daviangel
The graphics chipset is probably crap for games but the majority of notebooks suck if your main purpose is gaming.

">It

">seems

">to

">do

">well.

I just mean to say that laptop mobile chipsets never keep up with their desktop equivalents so it's not like you are gonna find a laptop with an Nvidia 9800 or whatever they are up to now videocard power.
Oh and if you do get a Mac make sure you upgrade to the 7200rpm hardrive option you won't regret it since it will improve the performance more than anything else!