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nhcowboy1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
294
2
NH
My 13-year old just got his report card for his first year in a new school and did really well - so I'm thinking about getting him a new computer. I could use your advice . . .

He now has a 1.33 GHz 14" iBook G4, with an 80 GB HD, 768 MB RAM, and superdrive. Running Tiger. It had extended applecare, which ended a year ago, and it was serviced just before it ended. The battery has 110 cycles.

Available for sale is the following: Intel Core Duo 2 GHz Macbook (mid-late '06?), with 250GB HDD, 2GB RAM, superdrive, and nearly new battery (4 cycles). Running Leopard (includes original restore discs). Still has a few months of extended Applecare left and was recently serviced. The price on Mac2Sell is $570, but I'm assuming that doesn't take into account either the extended warranty or Leopard. Actual asking price is $550.

He's happy with the iBook, could use a bit more memory perhaps, but has at least plenty of HD space left available. But the macbook would give him significantly more memory, built-in iSight - oh yeah, and a smaller screen. I'd have to sell the ibook to do it - the Mac2Sell value is $230, but I'm hoping I could do a bit better.

Any thoughts? Good idea, bad idea? Should we just stick with what we have? The ibook is pretty much "old faithful", so I don't want to go out of my way to buy trouble . . .

And, no, before anyone suggests it, I can't afford to go out and buy him anything much more expensive than around $500. (And, heck, I'm still using an ibook!)

Thanks!!!
 

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,503
"Between the Hedges"
I would recommend just keeping what you have at this point

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 

gillboyswims96

macrumors regular
Jun 19, 2009
147
0
personally i have to say upgrade... im probably the only one who ill say this, but im near his age, and being that age, i think that the things that the MacBooks have make it better. Maybe its just me...
 

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,503
"Between the Hedges"
personally i have to say upgrade... im probably the only one who ill say this, but im near his age, and being that age, i think that the things that the MacBooks have make it better. Maybe its just me...

What things would that be?
I can understand wanting something newer... but I doubt there is anything the he is doing or will do in the near future that the iBook won't handle.

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,503
"Between the Hedges"
As I said, I think for the things he will be doing at this age, the iBook will handle it fine
Get as much out of this machine as you can before you upgrade
For word processing, iTunes, web surfing, chat, etc. the iBook will be fine
I don't think the gains you will get are worth the investment in time or money

If he is doing something the iBook can't do, but the MacBook can, then I would consider it
Otherwise, hold what you have

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 

nhcowboy1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
294
2
NH
I'm guessing that having iSight is an asset . . . for videochatting, etc.

And having the fresher battery and built-in memory doesn't hurt. Figure I'd have to spend something to increase the memory, and we'd eventually have to replace the battery.

The other advantages to the Macbook are the more complete parental controls with Leopard (although he's getting to the point where he'll probably figure out how to bypass them anyway) and . . . okay, I know it's stupid . . . . the ability to stream movies from netflix.

Any thoughts on the prices for the two machines? Is $550 reasonable for the Macbook, and what do you think I'd actually be able to get for the ibook?

I'm guessing that having iSight is an asset . . .

I wouldn't consider giving a teenager a webcam a benefit either...heh

Point taken.
 

nhcowboy1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
294
2
NH
Okay, so if I'm going to throw money away, maybe I should just go for the $300 LEGO chess set . . . .

Or, better yet, just not spend it at all.

Sigh, it's too bad, though. It seemed like a really good deal. (There's nothing like a "good deal" on something we don't need!)
 

NewMacbookPlz

macrumors 68040
Sep 28, 2008
3,266
0
Okay, so if I'm going to throw money away, maybe I should just go for the $300 LEGO chess set . . . .

Or, better yet, just not spend it at all.

Sigh, it's too bad, though. It seemed like a really good deal. (There's nothing like a "good deal" on something we don't need!)

LEGOs are badass.

I was looking though, and they don't seem to have their Technic sets anymore that are like 1200 pieces except for one OffRoader set, which looks pretty cool for $120. http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8297&cn=57&d=70

<3 my NASA Space Shuttle Technics set!! :D
 

dnguyen

macrumors regular
Jun 9, 2008
174
0
I recently sold my ibook g4 1.33ghz/768mb ram/40gb hd/combo drive on craigslists for $375.

I don't know if that helps, but i went from the ibook to the unibody macbook 2008, and that was a big upgrade!
 

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,503
"Between the Hedges"
I recently sold my ibook g4 1.33ghz/768mb ram/40gb hd/combo drive on craigslists for $375.

I don't know if that helps, but i went from the ibook to the unibody macbook 2008, and that was a big upgrade!

Yes, now that would be a significant upgrade over what the OP was looking at
And more money too ;)

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 

The Flashing Fi

macrumors 6502a
Sep 23, 2007
763
0
My 13-year old just got his report card for his first year in a new school and did really well - so I'm thinking about getting him a new computer. I could use your advice . . .

You're a lot nicer than my parents ever were. All I got was a pat on the back and the satisfaction that I was contributing to my future. ;)

He now has a 1.33 GHz 14" iBook G4, with an 80 GB HD, 768 MB RAM, and superdrive. Running Tiger. It had extended applecare, which ended a year ago, and it was serviced just before it ended. The battery has 110 cycles.

That's really not bad if all he's doing it word processing, some instant messaging, e-mail and web browsing, which if he hasn't filled up the 80 Gig HDD, I have a hunch that's all he's doing. At which, anything newer really won't be of much benefit.

If his iBook uses DDR2 memory, you can upgrade at a relatively cheap price, but I'm not to familiar with the old iBooks.

Available for sale is the following: Intel Core Duo 2 GHz Macbook (mid-late '06?), with 250GB HDD, 2GB RAM, superdrive, and nearly new battery (4 cycles). Running Leopard (includes original restore discs). Still has a few months of extended Applecare left and was recently serviced. The price on Mac2Sell is $570, but I'm assuming that doesn't take into account either the extended warranty or Leopard. Actual asking price is $550.

I suppose that's not a bad price. I personally wouldn't buy a 3 year old laptop, even if it is an Apple. The biggest benefit to him would be the new battery. But how often does he really need to be on the move? I see the convenience, but would spending 550 bucks for a 3 year old laptop with a "fresh" battery really be of benefit for him?

He's happy with the iBook

That is what matters. If he's happy with what he has, I wouldn't bother.;)

But the macbook would give him significantly more memory,

For what he's doing, would it really be of much benefit? If not, I wouldn't use that as a reason for buying a new laptop. Having extra memory doesn't do much good if you don't use it.

built-in iSight

This right here would be a reason to not get it. I wouldn't want to risk my child posting pictures of themselves over the internet or using it to chat online. I'm sure you trust your kid, but I personally wouldn't trust the predators on the Internet.

oh yeah, and a smaller screen.

Would that be of much benefit to him? 110 cycles in 3 years isn't really much, so if it's sitting on his desk most of the time, I would view that as more of a downside than an upside.

Should we just stick with what we have?

This. What you have now obviously does what you son needs and wants it to do, and if he hasn't expressed much desire in a new laptop, I don't see the point.

Besides, you don't really know what you're getting into with the Macbook.

(And, heck, I'm still using an ibook!)

I personally wouldn't give my child something better than what I have. In fact, my son would most likely get the hand-me-downs that I used, unless he/she decides to spend the money to get something better than what I have.
 

nhcowboy1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
294
2
NH
I personally wouldn't give my child something better than what I have. In fact, my son would most likely get the hand-me-downs that I used, unless he/she decides to spend the money to get something better than what I have.

Actually, that's not a bad idea . . . to just let him get it when he can afford it himself.

As for me being a nice parent . . . not really. We had the conversation about rewards for grades early in the year, when he told me that his friend "A" was getting something huge and expensive 'cause he'd gotten good grades. I told my kid that if he thought he should get something also, then he should go talk to A's parents about it.

I just thought that upgrading his computer would be kind of a cool thing to do. But I'll go back to Plan A - which was to let him have a Facebook page. That and "Chuck" on DVD are the only things he really wants. Both of which are cheaper than getting the Macbook.
 

suekitch

macrumors regular
Jun 27, 2009
136
0
If old faithful is still going strong, and he's happy with it, I'd stick with that too now in your shoes.

You could consider the RAM upgrade - it looks like it takes a maximum of 1GB in one slot which would cost $57 from crucial.com. I think I picked the right setup anyhoo :) It sounds like it has 256MB on board and that someone's put in the extra 512 along the way - but I'm not sure going to 1GB would really give you that much of a boost.

You could also consider some accessories or anything like that. I'd even suggest an iPod as it would be a smaller gift, but then you have to be wary of him filling his hard drive with music! :)

I had friends at school, and at the end of one of our big sets of exams, some got gifts. Now considering the exams I talk about that we take at around age 16, we did about 10-12 subjects - I had friends who were getting £100 for an A! Crazy! Then there was the A* grade above it...

Good job I didn't get anything like that since I completely aced those ones, I'd feel terrible for my parents! :p
 
Hi there nhcowboy1, let me post my 2 cents, not abput the upgrade in general bit the webcam. Keep in mind this is coming from a 15 year old (ill be 16 next week).

Anyway, I doubt he would use a webcam for the things the above posters say he would. I (and he would most most likely) use the webcam for photo booth, and video chatting with friends. None of my friends video chat with strangers/weird online pedophiles. I'm sure your son is not an idiot, and I'm sure he would use the camera wisely. He would be able to tell when he is talking to online predators. All I do is video chat with friends and use photo booth. Maybe you could buy him an iSight camera for his iBook if you change your mind
 

pboy2k5

macrumors newbie
May 7, 2005
17
0
Dude,

I hope I don't sound like an anal here but I might suggest that you save more money to buy your son a brand new computer (desktop/laptop/etc.) in the future "IF" he could maintain those good grades. There is nothing more rewarding for a parent to buy something new to your son and he must also be so proud that all his hard work pays off.

Imagine that sense of pride when you accompany your son to the nearest computer shop in your town (or Apple Store if it is within driving distance), hand him that unopened card box while saying, "congratulations son. I am so proud of you. You deserve the best."

Let's hope he remember to say, "thank you dad/mom."
 

nhcowboy1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
294
2
NH
One piece of the puzzle I forgot to mention . . . He's learning to program and wants to work on a PC. So the possibility of dual environment on the Macbook might be interesting. But (and sorry I know nothing about programming!), would we have to install Windows? Is there any other OS we could use that might work for him?

I know when I needed a PC for work, I ended up just getting an old desktop. That was WAY easier than using Bootcamp or Parallels. But for programming I don't know .. . .
 

SkyBell

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2006
6,603
219
Texas, unfortunately.
Decent PC's can easily be found for less then $100. I bought one off of eBay a year ago for $75 and it works great for all my needs. (2.4 GHz, 768 MB RAM, 40 GB HDD.)

I think it would be easier then trying to deal with bootcamp, but that's my opinion.
 

4JNA

macrumors 68000
Feb 8, 2006
1,505
1
looking for trash files
get a cheap pc

...it would be easier then trying to deal with bootcamp...

no doubt. and won't take up space on the macbook.

if you stay with the ibook, and want the dual/pc thing to work, you could get the cheap pc and just use remote desktop on the ibook to control the pc. it doesn't need a keyboard/mouse/monitor, just hook it to the network and stuff it in a closet. i use my ibook to control several servers this way every day and it works really well.

and since i still use an ibook, i guess i will also throw in a vote for 'keep the ibook'. quiet, fast enough for general use, and saving money is always a good thing! best of luck.

edit: i should have added that 'remote desktop' is microsoft software, it's free to download/use, and can be found HERE. bottom of the page, older version for 10.2, newer version for 10.4.9 or higher.
 

nhcowboy1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
294
2
NH
i guess i will also throw in a vote for 'keep the ibook'. quiet, fast enough for general use, and saving money is always a good thing!

Okay, then, I guess I have to ask - why does any student need a macbook? If you're doing graphic design, lots of photo work, yeah, then I get it. But for the student who isn't doing that kind of stuff, wouldn't the ibook usually be enough?
 
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