Writing for The New York Times , columnist (and former Macworld contributor) David Pogue offers parents some back-to-school computer purchasing advice. In his latest “State of the Art” column, entitled When Packing for College, Which Computer?, Pogue dishes out some helpful suggestions, including an analysis of the never-ending debate — Mac or PC?
Acknowledging that the “Macintosh bug,” as he calls it, bites some and misses other, Pogue notes that unless there are specific vertical applications or games you want, the Mac is as good (if not better) a choice than the PC.
Macs also often come better equipped out of the box than PCs, said Pogue. Speakers are built in, for example, reducing dorm desk clutter, and include FireWire and Ethernet jacks. “Macs are also much cooler-looking; you couldn’t buy one in beige if you wanted to,” commented Pogue.
Pogue also mentioned that desktop Macs are universally more expensive than PCs, but noted that the iBook is far less expensive than its Windows counterparts. “Without a doubt, this is the off-to-college computer I’d buy for my daughter. If she weren’t 2, I mean,” Pogue wrote.