Sad day for me

[Books]

I am forced to purchase a PC Notebook rather than the MacBook I was planning on getting for College. The school won't let me get the MacBook and run Boot Camp or something...so ya. $1100 on a machine I don't want.

 

[mynameis]

The school won't let me get the MacBook and run Boot Camp

What? Did they require you to get some specific configuration for some company or did they just say no Apple laptops?

 

[geekboy2000]

I am forced to purchase a PC Notebook rather than the MacBook I was planning on getting for College. The school won't let me get the MacBook and run Boot Camp or something...so ya. $1100 on a machine I don't want.

I don't get it. Whose money is being spent? If yours, how can they dictate what you buy or use?

Mark

 

[BiT]

Just put bootcamp on it, and say "It's Windows" and have it set to boot into Windows by default.

 

[zeta101]

I wonder if this is just ignorance (or hatred of macs) on some IT worker's part at the college. I realise that bootcamp is just beta but the macbook hardware isn't any different to the thousands (if not millions) of different PC configurations you could buy.

I think you should really emphasis that the hardware does conform to windows standards (i mean it *does*? doesn't it?) and in a way it is no different than any other notebook and get them to give you a legitimate reason.

 

[Graphite]

ha, macs at my campus are praised. Their network is so flooded by viruses, worms, spyware and other network cloggers that any machine on their networks except macs have to be checked by their network techs.

 

[coltssaturday]

ha, macs at my campus are praised. Their network is so flooded by viruses, worms, spyware and other network cloggers that any machine on their networks except macs have to be checked by their network techs.

thats sounds funny

they should just get all macs and no pc's

 

[Aptmunich]

I am forced to purchase a PC Notebook rather than the MacBook I was planning on getting for College. The school won't let me get the MacBook and run Boot Camp or something...so ya. $1100 on a machine I don't want.

Make sure they realize that boot camp isn't emulation or virtualisation.. it is EXACTLY the same as having a "real" windows laptop...

 

[zap2]

You tech people at college are to bright.. i know i read way to much about Apple but something like boot camp is part of there job, to not know its Windows PC shows that they really don't care, or suck

 

[TBoblp]

Why would they not let you have a mac computer? It just doesn't make sense. I remember when I went to college and all my friends had trouble running some virus checker thing for windows before they could connect to the network, and everyone needed a tech guy to come to their dorm to figure it out. Macs didnt have to run it and i was up and running about a week before everyone else.

 

[Books]

Well, for the program I am in...they give us 2 options for laptops. And since the program is a Windows bases program, theyre PC Notebooks. The school does offer MB's and MBP's...but not for my program. I sent a couple of emails off and told them that using Boot Camp is identical to having a PC Notebook, but to no avail. The thing is that, I probably don't need Tech Support. I am the type of guy who is always helping people (be it Mac or PC) with their problems. Not to sound cocky or anything but ya, I'm really bummed.

 

[PunkRockTuba]

I say as long as you can run the programs needed, then who cares what kind of computer you have? If you want a macbook, get a macbook, as long as you can do the work then it doesnt matter.

 

[xstep]

Unless your course requires the laptop to communicate with some very low level hardware such as eprom programmers, or requires some built in encryption hardware, I don't see a problem using a MacBook. In the first case, I would only see a problem if the laptop would require a serial or parallel port. Although the MacBook probably hasn't be 'proven' with such devices yet running MS Windows.

I suppose they could be picky about MacBooks only having beta support for MS Windows. Again, they may consider this 'unproven'.

Lastly, will you be writing or running code that talks to the hardware in some manner. This could be an issue if the machine they suggest have it and the MB does not.

If all your going to do is run or write software that does not require any of the above, you should not have any issues. The school should provide solid reasons for their requirements or shut up.

If you end up having to buy one of their two options, buy from another source other than them. Educational discounts are often available from other sources. I wouldn't want to give them a profit.

 

[tenbellys]

Well, for the program I am in...they give us 2 options for laptops. And since the program is a Windows bases program, theyre PC Notebooks. The school does offer MB's and MBP's...but not for my program. I sent a couple of emails off and told them that using Boot Camp is identical to having a PC Notebook, but to no avail. The thing is that, I probably don't need Tech Support. I am the type of guy who is always helping people (be it Mac or PC) with their problems. Not to sound cocky or anything but ya, I'm really bummed.

what are your options?

sounds to me like your cools it manager got into bed with a vendor and in return needs to off load some stock to mee quotas.

 

[caribiner23]

I'm certain the school's IT department policy has to do with supporting their students. This is where corporate policies come from as well.

You may be a savvy user who doesn't require support, but all it takes is one user who claims to know what they're doing and the next thing you know they're calling the IT support team over and over again. Believe me, I've been there more times than I care to remember.

The other thing to remember is that Boot Camp is beta software. If I were in a position to determine whether I was going to support a particular platform, I'd want to make sure the vendor would support the product as well.

Sorry to hear about this-- a Macbook would have rocked.

 

[Books]

I'm certain the school's IT department policy has to do with supporting their students. This is where corporate policies come from as well.

You may be a savvy user who doesn't require support, but all it takes is one user who claims to know what they're doing and the next thing you know they're calling the IT support team over and over again. Believe me, I've been there more times than I care to remember.

The other thing to remember is that Boot Camp is beta software. If I were in a position to determine whether I was going to support a particular platform, I'd want to make sure the vendor would support the product as well.

Sorry to hear about this-- a Macbook would have rocked.

I hear what you are saying about people saying they know what they are doing...but I am still confident enough to say I wouldn't need help from their IT. I figure things out on my own. Anyway, I'm sending more emails trying to get the most definitive answer. The options I have right now are the Dell D620 and ThinkPad R60.