I havent done any tri races yet as my running isnt any good for any distance above 3 miles, but I do swim alot. I have done an 80 mile ride in speedo under some jammers and was prefectily fine and Im not using a heavily padded saddle either.
I was wondering if the tri shorts really made that much of difference for the extra cash to be spent on them as Im going to college and every bit of cash I can save the better. Does the padding make that big of difference as my saddle has some padding but isnt too excessive.

Did my first tri last month and did it in a pair of tri shorts - 2XU Comp Tris - to be exact. Jumped in, did the swim, jumped out and threw on a Nike Dri Fit for a shirt and finished the bike and run. Entirely comfortable, kept cool - wearing the exact same thing for my next race in 5 weeks.

For my first couple sprint tri's, I just wore jammers and was fine. When/If you decide to do longer distance races, the minimal padding in the tri shorts will be helpful. I've found my tri shorts to be better suited than jammers b/c the material is a more robust and seems to support my leg muscles better. Also, many tri shorts have small pockets you can stash gels in which is very handy.

I think it depends on how much riding you do. For my first IM, I was riding a lot and I did the race in tri-shorts that had *no* padding. I've also raced long course (~80 mile bike leg) in the Speedo Fastskin tri-suit which has no padding. I had no comfort problems in either race.

It's all a matter of personal comfort. I did a half ironman distance in a tri suit, and I found it uncomfortable. This may have been my seat, but my experience has been that both tri shorts and suits are not particularly comfortable. I gave my tri shorts to another guy because they hurt my male parts. The other guy thought they were great. Back in the day many of us raced in speedo-like suits. I was most comfortable then. They are designed with a man's body in mind.

get the tri-shorts. its 1000000x worth it. You can find them cheap on Ebay. Or...see if there are any races in your area. Usually, at the races they have vendors set up selling gear cheap. Heck I got a pair of desoto's for $30 at an expo at a race.

Enh, it's really about personal comfort. If you can get through sprints and olympics without any chamois padding, then there's no reason to get tri shorts. If you are planning on doing halfs or fulls in the future, however, I believe that a pair of cheap tri shorts may be a good investment, even on a college budget.

You may want to get some chamois cream, as well--this will help out on your longer rides if you are running minimal to no padding.

Tri Shorts... hands down. I just did my first Tri and I wore the louis garneau Shark Power shorts. I was just going to wear swim trunks, but thankfully my bike guy talked me into the Tri shorts when I took my bike in for a pre-race once over. They were infinately more comfy than swim trunks on the bike or vice versa. Also, they were completely dry by mile one of the bike. They were very comfy in the water, and I had no chafing on the bike or during the run. Worth every penny!

My buddy did his first two tris in some TYR Jammers from REI. I have Pearl Izumi triathlon shorts and love them to death. I did my 1st duathlon in my bicycle onsie and ran just fine in that (plus I had many layers of clothes on becuase it was cold.

It can be preference. For my buddy I think it's just ignorance, or "ignorance is bliss". He hasn't used triathlon shorts and doesn't know any better. He may try on some tri shorts and love them to death.

I will say that triathlon shorts are no where close to good for mountain biking.