Date: 08/25/05 (Computer Geeks)    Keywords: software, database, virus, spyware, microsoft

Hello, and bare with me. Computerwise I'm a semi-illiterate seeking an answer to a pre-researched, fairly thought-out question (as advised by the mods in userinfo). The problem is I'm getting conflicting answers depending on where I look, and if you computergeeks can't resolve it, I give up. Hopefully you all are not too disappointed that my question won't involve highly technical jargon or tons of acronyms...

By way of background: I'm a graduate student in the social science, and for the first time ever I have the opportunity of purchasing a new laptop. I will be storing important research on my computer, as well as doing a great deal of internet research. At some point I will need to install some sort of academic research software (a database that can cross reference scads of quotes, sources, etc.)

I'm leaning toward a basic mac because I'm hearing that the mac infrastructure is more stable than PCs, and that it is less prone to viruses and spyware. This is important, as viruses ate my last hard drive. On the downside, mac laptops seem to be a bit pricier than comparable PCs. I have never owned a mac before anyway, and have concers about learning a new interface. Additionally, I've been warned by many PC-using faculty and students that e-mailing Word docs (and other Microsoft program stuff) from Mac to PC can be sketchy and that a lot of software is only useable on PC. This can't be true in this day and age, can it?

If I don't go with a mac, I'll need a good reccommendation for a reliable PC. I've used Dell and Gateway, and had problems with both. I've heard fujitsu is good, but more expensive. I didn't feel I could take this inquiry to the Mac communities, because of their obvious bias. ;)

Any advice offered will be met with my profound gratitude. Thanks for the patience.

Source: http://www.livejournal.com/community/computergeeks/756744.html