Hi Everyone! Hopefully (still waiting the application results
) I will begin my PhD in economics in fall this year and, like many of you, I've recently been having the urge to buy a notebook. I have always been intrigued by the loyalty Mac users, so now I was considering seriously buying a Macbook. I'm sick and tired of viruses (though I also understand mac are not virus free), defragging my HD, spyware, constant updates, upgrade and restarting nightmares, slow boot up times and so on.
But I have never used a Mac and although I'm confident that getting used to using it won't take me long, I'm worried about compatibility issues. These are the statistical and math software packages I (like most of you) frequently use: Matlab, Gauss, Mathematica, STATA, SPSS, SAS, Eviews and Excel. I understand that most of these packages also run under Mac and that if not there are similar versions for Mac (e.g. Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac). I was wondering if anyone has any experience with Mac concerning this. Will the compatibility issue be a problem in economics? What I mean is, am I so far into windows right now that I am better off sticking with a PC because of the potential compatibility problems? Can anyone give me some advantages and disadvantages to buying a MAC or a PC in this sense?
I have also read that using software called Paralells Desktop it is possible to run both Mac OS X and Windows (XP or Vista) on a Mac. Of course, I don't want to buy a Mac just to run windows but this can be useful if, for example, Mac's Excel is not fully compatible with PC's Excel. But I have also read comments like this "This product is dangerous because it seems to work fine and gain your trust, then bam... complete shutdown. I don't know whether Microsoft or Parallels is to blame but I was running Outlook which crashed the XP I was running in Parallels and then when I restarted, an XP prompt said a system 32 file was missing. So now any data that was in there is trapped and gone forever." Has anyone used this software? Can anyone give me some advice on this?
I suppose I should tell you what I'm looking for in a notebook so you can give me a better opinion. These are Mac's Technical Specifications (I built a similar notebook in DELL and, though this Macbook was a bit more expensive, I think that "controlling" for the extra mac-accessories the prices are not statistically different):
Processor: 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
L2 cache: 4MB shared
System bus: 667MHz
Memory: 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
Hard drive: 200GB Serial ATA drive @ 4200 rpm
Slot-loading
optical drive:6x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Graphics: Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM
shared with main memory
Video: Built-in iSight camera; mini-DVI output port with support for
DVI, VGA, S-video, and composite video
Display: 13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy TFT widescreen display, 1280 by
800 resolution
FireWire: One FireWire 400 port (8 watts)
USB: Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
Audio: Built-in stereo speakers, built-in omnidirectional microphone,
combined optical digital audio input/audio line in,
combined optical digital audio output/headphone out
Networking: Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Wireless: Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (802.11g)(4); built-in
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module
Accessories:Apple Remote, 60W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-polymer battery
Ok I think that covers everything. Any advice is greatly appreciated, sorry this is SO SO long but I need to know soon so I know what to buy! Honest opinions welcome
("PCs SUCK MAC’s RULE!" or vice versa not so welcome
)