UVA Class of 2012 Forum

[geoffree]

uh... not simmilar specs, identical specs. You can set up the Lenovo with the exact same RAM, the exact same hard drive, the exact same processor, the exact same screen. You can also choose better/faster components. And yes, under those circumstances, I would wager quite a bit that performance would be all but identical.

But for how long would performance be identical under identical pressure loads?

[thesealocust]

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[iamjikem]

How about the Office bundle that the Dell package comes with? I don't even know what half of those programs are! (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint are about all I've ever used, I think.) I'm wondering... are we going to need them? Because everytime I find a decent deal outside of UVA bundles, I find I'm adding ~$650 to it for the mega Office offered, and it brings it close or equal to the $1700 for the Dell bundle.

[geoffree]

uh... not simmilar specs, identical specs. You can set up the Lenovo with the exact same RAM, the exact same hard drive, the exact same processor, the exact same screen. You can also choose better/faster components. And yes, under those circumstances, I would wager quite a bit that performance would be all but identical.

But for how long would performance be identical under identical pressure loads?

uh... forever? My Vista machine has been running for... 2 weeks? now without so much as a hiccup. I'm really not sure what potential difference between the Lenovo and the Macbook you're getting at - could you be more specific?

Apple computers are supposed to be less vulnerable to system crashes, hiccups, and software hogs because their software is made specifically for macs' hardware.

[geoffree]

Oh, and the Class of 2011 forum was up to page 160 by May 26. It's not a competition though. I'm just letting you guys know.

[thesealocust]

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[geoffree]

How about the Office bundle that the Dell package comes with? I don't even know what half of those programs are! (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint are about all I've ever used, I think.) I'm wondering... are we going to need them? Because everytime I find a decent deal outside of UVA bundles, I find I'm adding ~$650 to it for the mega Office offered, and it brings it close or equal to the $1700 for the Dell bundle.

Do NOT spend any money on office programs or on operating system upgrades. You can buy a good version of Vista and Microsoft Office for $10 each from the campus store, and the licenses are permenant!

The only program you are likely to need from the office suite is Word. Excel is handy for a lot of things, as is powerpoint. OneNote is great for LS from what I've heard.

Apple computers are supposed to be less vulnerable to system crashes, hiccups, and software hogs because their software is made specifically for macs' hardware.

'supposed to be' is an important operator there. Vista is a remarkably stable operating system - in many respects more stable than Mac OS X. It had a number of issues when it came out, but most have been sorted out now.

You're correct that apple hand-picking hardware is an advantage, but it is not a great one. Especially when you buy a pre-built machine it is very likely that your OS and hardware will get along just fine in Vista. Apple gets a lot of traction in their commercials talking about PCs that are always slow/crashing/bug-laden, but modern (and that's an important distinction) PCs are very crash resistant and not nearly as buggy as apple would have you believe.

(I reply in the interest of page count ;D)

I really dislike those "i'm a mac" commercials. They almost make me not want to buy one. However, I have had too many problems with Windows and yes, Vista, to not give macs a try. I'm not sure if we got Vista in the early stages or not, but it likes to freeze up quite often. It may be stable, but will freeze up at times. And I don't have that many programs installed on it.

[limegreen]

I am really good with PCs, I learned several programming languages when I was in middle school and I worked building computers through high school (I was a nerd), but they are so clunky and unnecessarily complicated it is ridiculous.

I switched to a Mac a year or so ago and I've never looked back. I can't imagine giving up the two finger scroll or any of the other amazingly intuitive features that make my life easier.

[thesealocust]

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[green]

I really dislike those "i'm a mac" commercials. They almost make me not want to buy one. However, I have had too many problems with Windows and yes, Vista, to not give macs a try. I'm not sure if we got Vista in the early stages or not, but it likes to freeze up quite often. It may be stable, but will freeze up at times. And I don't have that many programs installed on it.

This is a legitimate concern - if Vista treated you bad, of course you'll look for another option. There's no doubt Microsoft largely shot themself in the foot with Vista. And there are plenty of unstable PCs to be found out there - though I doubt the Lenovo would become one of them.

I've never really had much of a problem with Vista. I couldn't install the program to print stuff at my school, but that was pretty much it.

[iceberger]

I've never actually owned a mac, but am really looking forward to getting one this august (full disclosure: i'm going with the mac bundle). Vista has given me some serious problems lately.

[limegreen]

I've never actually owned a mac, but am really looking forward to getting one this august (full disclosure: i'm going with the mac bundle). Vista has given me some serious problems lately.

You won't regret it. It takes a week or two (depending on how often you use it) to get used to all the new features, and then it's smooth sailing. The great part is when something comes up I don't know how to do I always start trying to do it some complex ridiculously roundabout way like I would on a PC and then I find out all I had to do was click one thing.

[jasofbase2001]

I've never actually owned a mac, but am really looking forward to getting one this august (full disclosure: i'm going with the mac bundle). Vista has given me some serious problems lately.

You won't regret it. It takes a week or two (depending on how often you use it) to get used to all the new features, and then it's smooth sailing. The great part is when something comes up I don't know how to do I always start trying to do it some complex ridiculously roundabout way like I would on a PC and then I find out all I had to do was click one thing.

I just can't get used to not having a right click on the mouse. I love the way Macs look and feel and operate, but I won't buy one until they put a right click.

[limegreen]

I've never actually owned a mac, but am really looking forward to getting one this august (full disclosure: i'm going with the mac bundle). Vista has given me some serious problems lately.

You won't regret it. It takes a week or two (depending on how often you use it) to get used to all the new features, and then it's smooth sailing. The great part is when something comes up I don't know how to do I always start trying to do it some complex ridiculously roundabout way like I would on a PC and then I find out all I had to do was click one thing.

I just can't get used to not having a right click on the mouse. I love the way Macs look and feel and operate, but I won't buy one until they put a right click.

They have a function identical to the right click, all you do is tap the trackpad with two fingers instead of one and the "right click" menu will open up. It is much quicker than having to right click, it's amazing. After you do it a few times it becomes second nature.

ETA: I am not sure if the ones at the store have the two finger right click, I think it may have been a standard setting I changed, but regardless, the feature is there and is completely equivalent to the right click.

[YCrevolution]

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[limegreen]

Yea, that doesn't sound like a good mouse.

Currently Apple offers a mouse that uses right click, it is one big button but the mouse can tell which side you are clicking on. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB111LL/A

The track pad is so great though I've never though about getting a mouse.

[iceberger]

i'll be keeping a PC at home as my main computer. i can anticipate a little mental confusion with right-click functionality switching back and forth, but the dual touch trackpad sounds like a nice advantage.

[YCrevolution]

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[CE2JD]

Random question: Has anyone else here built their own desktop computer? I don't mean welding the case together or putting transistors on your motherboard, but buying/obtaining all of the separate components (motherboard, processor, PSU, etc.) and assembling a computer out of it.

[If you haven't, you're missing out on the fun. Plus, for higher-end machines, it's generally a bit cheaper to build it yourself.]

I've never built my own desktop computer, but I've designed an image-processing pipeline which runs on any Quad-core Pentium/Xeon series processor + (n) number of Arm9 embedded CPUs.

Impressed?

[vanwinkle]

I just discovered that AT&T has no 3G service in the entire Charlottesville area. The closest 3G service on their map is in Richmond. That kind of defeats the purpose of having a 3G iPhone and its $30/mo data plan, to me...

[YCrevolution]

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[CE2JD]

Random question: Has anyone else here built their own desktop computer? I don't mean welding the case together or putting transistors on your motherboard, but buying/obtaining all of the separate components (motherboard, processor, PSU, etc.) and assembling a computer out of it.

[If you haven't, you're missing out on the fun. Plus, for higher-end machines, it's generally a bit cheaper to build it yourself.]

I've never built my own desktop computer, but I've designed an image-processing pipeline which runs on any Quad-core Pentium/Xeon series processor + (n) number of Arm9 embedded CPUs.

Impressed?

Considering that takes more expertise... yes?

It's apples and oranges. I get paid 70k to do firmware / circuit DESIGN. The technician that solders all the pieces together on the boards (and I have very little experience with this) gets paid about 40k.

I think it's cute when people who know a lot about IT stuff think they're doing "engineering" work.

[kguilf99]

Hey All! I have a few questions...so much to figure out in the next few months!
1. Are most people going with Discover as their lender? How come? Does anyone know if USAA does student loans and how they compare?
2. Have many people looked into UVA's student health insurance versus student health insurance independent from UVA? I remember someone (AllAmericanGirl?) saying the latter seems to be a better deal.
3. For people that are moving from other parts of the country, are you planning on shipping/moving furntiture or just buying stuff when you get to Charlottesville? I have about half of the furniture I would need to fill my one bedroom apartment (all bought for cheap on Craig's List) and I haven't figured out yet if it would be worth moving this stuff and buying the few other things when I get there versus just buying everything when I get there. I'm coming from Chicago.

Thanks for any insight!

[YCrevolution]

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[a.williams]

How do you get the loan counseling link to work? I think YC had posted something but I can't find it in the previous posts.

Thanks

EDIT: Nevermind. I found it. Here it is if anyone is interested:

Log into UVA SIS. Click on "View Financial Aid" and select this year. Click the "loan counseling link" and select your loan(s). The link won't work, but will take you to the right website.

To complete your entrance interview: http://mappingyourfuture.org/oslc/
Select the appropriate loans and institution (UVA), and then read and answer questions.

I don't guarantee that this is the right way, but it seems to work.