depends on your major
I am a mechanical engineering major and i bought a mac. I hate it to death. its just boring and my dog can use my computer but i dont let her because i don't want it to get burned or scratch the case.
they are not durable dropped TWICE and have a scratch that kills it and cost $900 to replace because i need a whole new screen.
Cannot upgrade hard drive and a ram upgrade cost $200 or i get a VOID WARRANTY.
the only software you can get is what they sell in the store. everything else online is well junk.
Apple is a fad and hopefully more people will wake up and see that. if not more viruses will come (NEVER had ONE with my PC, got a mac and caught one in LESS THAN A YEAR)
Dell is nice (i guess, rather go Alienware (http://alienware.com/) which is owned by dell) but isnt the best for games
Asus is very nice and inexpensive so you can buy more for it. I hear its one of the better and well priced gaming computers
if your a simple minded, technophobe then Apple is for you.
but if you grew up with Windows get it and get the upgrade on October 22, 2009: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/home?os=nonwin7
Mac does not come with a word processor and pages is ok but office is what you need for college because of essays and presentations
oh and just because mac has MS Office doesnt mean its good, read the reviews on apples page: http://store.apple.com/us/product/TQ744LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0OA&mco=MjE1MjQxOA