MacBook Air??

Phipsy3333

Heya! I'm starting arts at ucd this year. Can I use a MacBook Air?
I can't see anything about it on the website, although they have macbook offers.
My friend told me the network (i think??) doesn't support MacBook Air's because they only have one USB port...
Not sure if thats true, or even what it means!lol!
Philippa

Alanstrainor

Yes it'll work no problem, just go into the daedelus building to get it set up for the internet.

rainbow kirby

You'll be fine, I don't think I've ever used the USB ports on either Mac (G4 iBook, then a Macbook Pro) that I've used in UCD for anything relating to connecting to the network.

ciaranajl

Apparently you can't use it for Quinn school :mad:

Breezer

No Macs for Quinn. For Arts you'll be fine. Your friend was probably referring to the fact that the MacBook Air has no ethernet port, therefore you can't use it on the wired network because there's nowhere to plug in the cable. Just stick to the wireless network and you'll be fine. You don't even need to go to Daedalus, just put in the proxy settings yourself, they're on the UCD website.

alan4cult

Does UCD have wireless printing facilities or to you have to connect to the wired network in order to print?

ianthefox

Yeah, there's wireless printing.

gerry87

Wireless printing won't work with mac. Sometimes macs work in quinn, i wasn't in there much, but most of the time they do work once they're set up (you've to get them set up for quinn specifically as well as for the rest of the college)

Breezer

Macs do work in Quinn but they are not permitted for use on any business courses run by the Quinn school. Wireless printing does not work on a Mac in UCD, or at least it didn't up till last May. This year is the first time MacBooks are being offered for sale through UCD, and rumour has it the printing system has been revamped. Whether Macs are now properly supported remains to be seen.

There's also no need to set a laptop up specifically for Quinn if you're not a Quinn student and all you want is the wireless network in the Quinn building. The normal WaveLAN Network can be picked up there as well as the Quinn-specific one.

By the way Philippa, if you haven't already bought a MacBook Air I'd seriously suggest taking a look at a MacBook instead, they're much more powerful machines for a lot less money and I can vouch that they're absolutely no weight to carry around UCD all day, just get a backpack with a padded laptop pouch. I'd also suggest holding off buying anything from Apple until September when they are extremely likely to revamp their laptop range.

WellCultured

Where do i go to look at the UCD apple laptop offers? There a link on the apple site that doesn't work.

Stepherunie

Breezer wrote: »

Macs do work in Quinn but they are not permitted for use on any business courses run by the Quinn school. Wireless printing does not work on a Mac in UCD, or at least it didn't up till last May. This year is the first time MacBooks are being offered for sale through UCD, and rumour has it the printing system has been revamped. Whether Macs are now properly supported remains to be seen.

There's also no need to set a laptop up specifically for Quinn if you're not a Quinn student and all you want is the wireless network in the Quinn building. The normal WaveLAN Network can be picked up there as well as the Quinn-specific one.

By the way Philippa, if you haven't already bought a MacBook Air I'd seriously suggest taking a look at a MacBook instead, they're much more powerful machines for a lot less money and I can vouch that they're absolutely no weight to carry around UCD all day, just get a backpack with a padded laptop pouch. I'd also suggest holding off buying anything from Apple until September when they are extremely likely to revamp their laptop range.

The printing system is totally different this year. They were replacing them all around campus.

Copi Print I have been told lost the contract so there's a new group with a new system in.

Breezer

Stepherunie wrote: »

The printing system is totally different this year. They were replacing them all around campus.

Copi Print I have been told lost the contract so there's a new group with a new system in.

Yes, I knew that, sorry. I read it and you also told me. Not sure why I used the word 'rumour.' I need to stop posting things in the small hours.

Red Alert

Copi-print never had the contract for the printers, they have the contract for the photocopiers and printers in the library only. There was a company called Synstar which was taken over by HP which did the student printing. Now it's a new company called NRG. The new printers have been installed and the collection terminals seem to be active. I'd imagine computing services have made sure the new print system works with Macs given the growing number of them around.

The MBA is a great machine, assuming that you're not planning to do any heavy stuff with it. Though personally I'd probably second the Macbook idea. Either way, both are great computers. I use a Macbook Pro with no problems at all in UCD.

c7

Breezer wrote: »

Macs do work in Quinn but they are not permitted for use on any business courses run by the Quinn school.

Even if they can boot into Windows via Boot Camp?

ciaranajl

Breezer wrote: »

Macs do work in Quinn but they are not permitted for use on any business courses run by the Quinn school.

Do you know why exactly that is? I asked them and they just said there might be compatibility problems when linking up with fellow students using Dells - or when linking up to the network... something like that. They also say that they aren't supported by the support team in the Quinn building (ILTG). But as far as I know they're the only two reasons.

Well the first one isn't great. The key word is "might". It's just a little annoying that I was planning on getting a mac but wanted to wait until college. Actually, suppose I had bought one and then find out they're not allowed. That's €1000 wasted, and then I'd have to pay roughly another €1000 for one of their "Quinnbooks" and, as I'm paying my own registration fees, another €1000 = €3000 total.

I could be wrong, but the word "might" implies to me that they haven't actually checked every scenario to see if macs are good to go in the Quinn building. And, frankly, they should if getting a Dell laptop specially has the potential to cost a student a total of 3k. (Btw, Macs can run windows and seem to have all the same hardware...)

the evil lime

Well, they don't have exactly the same hardware and the ILTG actually does handle hardware fixes for the Dell laptops bought through the offer.

Oh, technically, they only cost you €2000 in your example and that's only assuming you're not going to sell or continue to gain at least some use from your mac. You'd be spending the other €1000 either way.

I know I can get away with using my macbook up in Smurfit for my masters now and I know when I was in final year in Quinn there were a few people using them with no real hassle that I could see. A windows machine is a windows machine, it doesn't really matter who makes it. If you're using boot camp there shouldn't be much of a problem.

Mind, they aren't big fans of Vista either and in first year in Quinn you do take a lot of exams over the network... so they may want specific hardware and software configurations so they can track traffic in and out of your laptop or something... I dunno.

//end random theorising

Red Alert

I personally don't see a Mac hardware-booted into Windows via Boot Camp as anything different from a non-dell PC.

I'm not sure Windows is that easy or advisable to install on a Macbook Air, as the way windows handles the C:\ drive could wear out the flash disk in the Macbook Air.

ciaranajl

the evil lime wrote: »

Well, they don't have exactly the same hardware and the ILTG actually does handle hardware fixes for the Dell laptops bought through the offer.

Oh, technically, they only cost you €2000 in your example and that's only assuming you're not going to sell or continue to gain at least some use from your mac. You'd be spending the other €1000 either way.

I know I can get away with using my macbook up in Smurfit for my masters now and I know when I was in final year in Quinn there were a few people using them with no real hassle that I could see. A windows machine is a windows machine, it doesn't really matter who makes it. If you're using boot camp there shouldn't be much of a problem.

Mind, they aren't big fans of Vista either and in first year in Quinn you do take a lot of exams over the network... so they may want specific hardware and software configurations so they can track traffic in and out of your laptop or something... I dunno.

//end random theorising

Hmm... I might try asking them again, if that's the case. Also, I forgot to say that I didn't mind that I wouldn't be getting support from ILTG if I had a mac. And as for my example, the bottom line is that money is being poured down the drain essentially.

Breezer

Notwithstanding what the evil lime said about final years getting away with using Macs in Quinn, my experience (by which I mean that of my friends doing Commerce) is that you won't get anywhere with pro-Mac arguments with Quinn, they simply don't want to know. Yes, Macs can run Windows: they still don't want to know. I assume their main reason is the ILTG support but it's simply not an option to not take the support; I assume they don't want to risk a computer-related problem casuing a hiccup during an exam or something and them not being able to fix it. Then there'd be the subsequent arguments with students over whose fault it was.

Not trying to be rude or anything ciaranajl, I'm a big Mac fan and I'd be annoyed too if it was me, and by all means ask them again, I just think you'll be wasting your time.

ciaranajl

Thanks. I'm ordering a Dell anwyay.

It's still a disgrace.

Also, they listed about eight reasons in the pamphlet they sent me as to why I should buy one of their "QuinnBooks", the cheapest of which was over €800 (the "list price" for that one, they say, was €1500). First of all, some of the reasons are repetitive - "1. setup and customised for the quinn school"; "3. it's your laptop and it's ready to go" (um, as opposed to when I buy a laptop elsewhere it's not mine, and it's not ready to go?). Second of all, I found a replica on Dell.com for €650 that Quinn are charging €800+ for. Trying to make a profit, perhaps?

I know I seem like a complainer and it's not a great foot to get off on - by picking faults - but I can't help but feel... exploited. Rant over.

Donald-Duck

ciaranajl wrote: »

Thanks. I'm ordering a Dell anwyay.

It's still a disgrace.

Also, they listed about eight reasons in the pamphlet they sent me as to why I should buy one of their "QuinnBooks", the cheapest of which was over €800 (the "list price" for that one, they say, was €1500). First of all, some of the reasons are repetitive - "1. setup and customised for the quinn school"; "3. it's your laptop and it's ready to go" (um, as opposed to when I buy a laptop elsewhere it's not mine, and it's not ready to go?). Second of all, I found a replica on Dell.com for €650 that Quinn are charging €800+ for. Trying to make a profit, perhaps?

I know I seem like a complainer and it's not a great foot to get off on - by picking faults - but I can't help but feel... exploited. Rant over.

Their laptop comes with software - yours more than likely doesn't.

Red Alert

Computing service avoid mentioning it, but in fact they can let you install *any* microsoft software for free under their campus license agreement. They continually hide this fact.

MistressPandora

Red Alert wrote: »

Computing service avoid mentioning it, but in fact they can let you install *any* microsoft software for free under their campus license agreement. They continually hide this fact.

Might I ask where you obtain your information from?

You cannot just install *any* Microsoft software for free under campus license agreement! Only staff can do that, and even then it's only certain programs!