[bigryemd]

Hello To All--

I will be attending college ths fall and I REALLY want a PB instead of a IBM ThinkPad. Any of you out there have PB's for a Business Major? I REALLY WANT A PB! LOL! If I have to get a ThinkPad then I will get a Mac Mini. But, again.... I REALLY WANT A PB! Any advice will be great! Thanks in advance!

BigRyeMD

[redheadfred]

Hey there. I am currently a business major and love having a powerbook. It has actually been more useful in some classes to have a Mac! Some things to look out for would be when you're presenting, don't forget a DVI-VGA converter to hook up to the projectors. Anything that you'd have to use a PC for you can either use your roommates or go to the business computer lab. Get the PB!

-rhf

[vprp]

I am a business grad and used a PowerBook throughout college. It has never been a problem for me. Maybe I visited a computer lab here and there (not sure if I HAD to) but I never once said, "I wish I had bought a ThinkPad."

[SassyPants]

i'm going next year to the Stern School of Business at NYU, and i'm basically torn between the 15" powerbook and the T43p. Of course, i'm goign to wait till August to get my computer. At the moment, i say wait for the next revisions...or until teh last moment to get your computer.

[strokemouth]

What is your concentration?

I graduated with a degree in management, concentration in MIS and it was GREAT having a Mac (I had an iBook at the time, received a Powerbook as a graduation gift). While the rest of my classmates were giving powerpoint presentations and creating ER diagrams in Visio, mine were made in Keynote and OmniGraffle. I ALWAYS got complements on my work from both teachers and classmates. I used OmniOutliner to take notes in class. It was nice being able to do all of the above while having an SSH session open to do other work, etc.

I highly recommend a Mac for management, and a Powerbook would be a great choice.

[Orion27]

Originally Posted by bigryemd

Hello To All--

I will be attending college ths fall and I REALLY want a PB instead of a IBM ThinkPad. Any of you out there have PB's for a Business Major? I REALLY WANT A PB! LOL! If I have to get a ThinkPad then I will get a Mac Mini. But, again.... I REALLY WANT A PB! Any advice will be great! Thanks in advance!

BigRyeMD

Do you plan to be a business leader or just another drone? Well then, you have your answer.

[TailsToo]

I've found ways to use my PowerBook at my workplace, which is 99% PC. I can either use similar programs to access the network, or I use remote desktop to access my desk PC from other places in the building (wireless networks are great!)

[redheadfred]

Hey Tails, I've used remote desktop to get back to my PC, but it seems REALLLLY slow. Is this because it's over wireless, or my poor 800MHz powerbook can't keep up? Thanks.

[PMDaly]

Why would the type of computer matter if you're a business major? Just make sure you've got the right video converters for presentations.
-P

[philz]

NO NO NO. Don't do it. I'm graduating in May with a BS and regret getting my 12" for school. A T40 would have made my life much easier. Excel and Word simply suck on the PB. If you're a business major that's all you should need to know.

[Fusion]

I am currently finishing my fourth year of my BBA.

Obviously the main concern is compatibility with everyone else. As philz mentioned, the biggest thing to worry about is Microsoft Office compatibility. It gets annoying at times, but it does work out just fine. I use MS Office for reading everything that gets sent to me in .doc format or excel sheets. I obviously use excel as well for editing spreadsheets and it works great. I've never had a single problem with it. It responds the same way office on windows does to pretty much any command.

I don't use office however for writing documents simply because I'm uncomfortable with MS products, I just don't like the way they are designed. However, my fiance is finishing up her BA and she does everything in office. I usually write reports in TextEdit, then export to Pages for page layout and formatting.

It really is a great combination to have MS Office on hand for when you need it, but have much more flexible and native tools that you are comfortable with when compatibility with other people is not an issue. Also, a key thing to remember is that almost every Apple app has an extreme amount of exporting options. For instance, Pages can export to PDF, Word, HTML, RTF and Plain Text.

Keynote 2 takes Powerpoint to school and back. I usually import any presentations that are sent to me into Keynote because I prefer the interface. Creating presentations in Keynote is amazing though. I constantly get both professors and students asking me, "how did you do that with powerpoint?" etc... Keynote really is an app that should sell you on the platform for business, it has a knack for letting you create really professional presentations in a short amount of time. I can't explain in words how great the app is.

Another huge plus on the business side of things is any apps ability to print to PDF. Professors are always impressed when they receive PDF documents from me instead of the usual .doc email. They look more professional and are easier read and printed from their machines. It's a great file format, and no platform can begin to compare to OS X on PDF compatibility.

Then there's the little things:
* System wide spell checking that keep you from looking like an idiot (I am a business major, not an english major, and I suck at spelling).
* Powerbooks are especially nice in how fast they recover from sleep, you spend more time working on your computer than waiting for it.
* The fact that OS X is still virus free is a huge plus, again spending more time working on your computer than doing maintenance on it.

iCal is compatible with all meeting invitations and events sent over email. I am also on staff at my University doing web design, and the staff uses MS Exchange for all their email and appointments, so I just have to use the web interface with that, but that's a minor compromise. You can always use Entourage if it bothers you.

I couldn't recommend anything [i]but[/] a Mac for a business major. You won't regret it.

Personal recommendations are for the 15". I have used both the 12" and currently the 15" and find the 15" a much more suitable solution. It's still compact enough to use in lectures, but the screen is big enough to not feel crowded with most Mac apps. OS X was just not designed for 1024x768.

Cheers

[itguy05]

No issues here and I'm IN IT. I can take my wife's iBook to work and work fine if I need to and I admin Windows.

Office docs go back and forth perfectly, including our VB/Macro heavy performance reviews.

Go for it - you won't regret it!

[phataccord04]

Hello,
I work for a university in the technology department who helps the business department. Right now there is a laptop program for the business school and they use PC's becuase a good 90% if not more of the software is just for Windows and there is nothing they can do about that. The dean on business uses a 17" PB though that I got for him, but he also has windows on it just in case. Its just that specilized software.

[an0therdumbsn]

Im attending UNLV and just wrapping up my freshman year. I got the 15 inch 1.25 ghz w/ 512 ram and i have loved it.
I am a political science major but any document i've had to run or download has worked fine (i have office and love it). I havent had to do any presentations as of yet but when i time comes i think ill get keynote as it looks nicer.
It's also probably a plus to be using apple as other than office documents all your stuff you do on it will look a little bit different than everyone elses which helps set you apart and above the standard powerpoint presentations.
It's also cool to be doing work in the library with no wires and see a dell next to you which is three times as thick and hooked up to a brick ac adaptor.
The only time ive really heard of anyone having problems is with some computer science and arc. majors.

[phataccord04]

Its not the Office stuff thats the problem its that specilized software as I mentioned. BEst thing to do is call the department your going to study in and ask for what software you will use and vendor. If anything you can look the info up on the web and see if they carry it for OS X. Downsize might be you get a copy with the book but its only for Windows. Either way Virtual PC is a must but it come with Office Pro!!

[philz]

Wasn't there an article somewhere stating that calulations in Excel 2003 emulated through Virtual PC were actually faster than native Excel 2004?

[bigryemd]

Hello Everyone--

Thanks for all of the replies! They were great! I will be ordering a 15" PB with an external keyboard and mouse with Office 2004 and iwork. Also, an extra battery. Any good bags or sleeves?

[wuzup101]

I think you made a good choice, though I'm not a buisness major. In my field of study the Mac has worked out great so far. Just finishing up my sophomore year in Biological Engineering w/ a dual degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I haven't had to touch a PC this year and I'm quite happy about that - didn't bother bringing my home built PC with me. I will admit that the microsoft product on OSX suck (possibly with the exception of Entourage which I've found to have far less problems than it's equivalent (Outlook) on the PC platform. Word and Excel aren't too bad, though I'm not a big fan of Excel in general. Powerpoint downright sucks. Recently we had to do a presentation for a research project which required designing a poster in powerpoint. It's unbelievably slow as soon as you get some pictures in there. However, it is very stable which is very good. However, it got to the point where simply scrolling up and down the page elicted the dreaded beachball. Typing was impossible unless you were a very accurate typist (I personally am but my group had problems with this) as the type had a huge delay from keyboard to screan. I would highly recomend keynote (which I'll be buying over the summer) or another similar program.

Other good programs to have, which can be purchase through your university at a large discount include:
-Adobe CS suite (now CS2)
-Macromedia MX suite
-Mathematica by Wolfram (depending on how in depth your field goes into the math realm... can be really handy once you learn how to use it)

You'll probably find that you'll have to design a few webpages throughout your career as a student, I would definitely have one of the 2 above suites... I personally have/use both depending on what I need to do. They are quite cheep through the university. I think the Adobe suite ran me $179 for CS.

As for bags, I have a small crumpler bag for when I just need to tote my powerbook around (or when my backpack is extremely full and I need to carry 2 bags - rare). I also have a sleeve case that I purchased at www.radtech.us. The sleeve is neoprene (sp?) and protects the powerbook pretty nicely in my backpack. Also, do yourself a favor and get a nice backpack. You'll definitely get your money's worth. I've had a northface pack for the last 2 years (and part of the summer before). It's seen multiple vacations, a trip to europe, and comes with me every day to class. You can barely tell the thing wasn't just purchased. I would recomend something NOT laptop specific, as it's a pretty large sign for theives that you definitely are carrying something expensive. This may varry from place to place, at Penn State the theft rate is very very low, however you're milage may varry. Safeware isn't a bad idea to have either. Insurance w/ no deductable is a pluss when you're carrying around a 2000+ dollar machine every day. Covers theft, spills, drops, etc... any accidental dammage pretty much. Small yearly premium of about $100 is well worth the piece of mind.

Sorry for the long post... but I'm currently working on some ideal reheat-regenerative Rankine cycle problems... and um... yeah I don't want to be... On a side note... all my buisness major friends are sleeping or are too drunk to walk

[Fusion]

Originally Posted by bigryemd

Hello Everyone--

Thanks for all of the replies! They were great! I will be ordering a 15" PB with an external keyboard and mouse with Office 2004 and iwork. Also, an extra battery. Any good bags or sleeves?

Excellent choice! You will love it!

There is a thread stickied at the top of this forum for bags and cases. I have a messenger bag for books and binders, etc.. and I just throw my powerbook in there with everything, but I have a slim sleeve around it to prevent it from scratches and minor bumping around.

[itguy05]

Originally Posted by philz

Wasn't there an article somewhere stating that calulations in Excel 2003 emulated through Virtual PC were actually faster than native Excel 2004?

Uh, no. I use both Excel '03 on the PC and Excel:X on my Mac and they both run about the same speed.

[Rangers4me]

I am currently a student at the Wharton School of Business, and I use a Powerbook. The only thing that I have not been able to use my computer for are Microsoft Access (for an Operations and Management Course) and an Excel testing program. Besides those, it is superior to anything you can get on the PC. I've been completely mac for 4 years and love it. Also, 99.9% of universities will have PC's available in a computer lab that you can use if there is some software the mac won't support.