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EMERGENCY, Convince my mom to buy me a Mac

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macrumors 68020
Original poster
Hi All,

I am a 15 year old student who is interested in webdesign,music and light gaming. I am running on a Compaq Pantium 4 1.8ghz 256 MB of RAM on windoze xp home. I am so sick of this machine. Its slow and very unreliable. I have been doing my best to save up for a 12" powerbook but unfortunatly at this rate ill be 19 before i get it.
My mother is very old-fashioned and knows almost nothing about computers. I just cant convince her to spend $ 1,599 on a new machine(she doesnt understand computers age very quickly)
Maybe you guys can convince her better then I can.
Post the reasons why i should get this new powerbook and ill print this thread and show it to my mother and hopefully you guys will be more successfull then I am.

Thx in advanced
Patmian212
 
Unless for your parents money is no object (in which case this wouldn't be an issue anyway), you're gonna have a hard time convincing them to spend a lot of money on a new comp no matter what reasons we were to give you.

Put some more RAM in your current PC, give it a rebuild and look after it for another year or so, then maybe try again. When it really is old and slow.
 
Money isnt much of an issue they just dont get the use of spending the money on a pc in the first place.
 
An iBook would probably be a better choice for a student/teenager -- since the PowerBooks tend to dent/bend a bit too easily.

And it sounds like you'd be keeping it awhile, and the iBook are a bit more rugged and take the occasional bumps that would kill a PowerBook with hardly a scratch.

It would probably be easier to talk her into a refurbed iBook at the lower prices.

iBook G4 1GHz/ 256MB/ 40GB/ Combo/ E/ 56K/ 14-inch TFT - Apple Certified

• Save 31% off the original price
Original price: $1,299.00
Your price: $899.00

The 14-inch has the same resolution as the 12s, just on a slightly larger screen -- so it's a tad easier to see, especially good if you intend to let the parents play with it.

Refurbed 1.25GHz eMacs are running $799 -- and are great machines.

---

There might be some terrific deals soon on new eMacs and iBooks at the refurb store when they get their next speed bumps.
 
thing is you dont need a powerbook, it's a luxury, you can get by on that pc, it just needs a format, once you have formated it defrag often and use mozzila firefox and also make sure you have an anti virus program that is up to date, then it will seem as good as new.

if the pc is limiting your school work show them how it is otherwise you have no case.

a powerbook is cool and all but you dont need one, besides if you did get one wait until new ones are out.

macs are better by far but there is no point in throwing that pc out when it can still be used.
 
Also get Ad-aware from lavasoft.com and clear out all the spyware. That'll help it run a little better. Get rid of stuff out of your startup folder - the icons in the lower right. Windows accretes programs that autostart like a non-rolling stone gathers moss. You may have to use regedit to get rid of some of the junk. With only 256MB, you can't be running too much at once - swapping is death in Windows.

You could consider running Linspire on the computer. It'd probably feel as tho it sprouted a new set of cylinders. However, the UI may feel strange to you until you get used to it.

As a parent, I take a dim view of kids trying to get their parents to buy expensive things for them. Have you considered saving money, or earning it in some way?
 
I am saving up everything I can, lunch money, gifts but it would take longer then a year to get to my goal.
Also i have every single spyware removal tool known to man and I also use mozilla instead of IE but they dont do much.
 
You don't need to buy a mac.

Spend 600 and get a killer PC.

Unless you do a lot of video editing and DVD authoring you don't need a mac. The PC will do just fine, and is infinitely better than a mac for games in particular, which at your age must mean something 😉

Don't buy PCs from manufacturers. They are garbage. Any serious PC enthusiast would never been found dead with a "Dell", "HP" or *cough* "Alienware" ick.

Build your own. It's not hard. I'd say its on par with setting up a home theatre system. You just plug things in, and turn it on.
 
Portability is a must for me.
I dont think these posts will convince her much 😉 😀 🙄
 
ok, PBs and iBooks and nice, and if you must have an laptop... yeah i'd go Apple. Building your own PC laptop is a pain, and most of them are just clunky and ugly.

But seriously, I'd recommend waiting a month for the G5 PB announcement @ macworld, cuz the G5 PBs are coming out, and even if you cant afford those particular systems, the prices for everything else will drop. Never a good idea to buy a system right before macworld or WWDC... I've learned from first hand experience.

In the mean time, here are a few cheap things you could do to GREATLY increase performance on your current laptop.
#1. Reinstall OS (get a standalone version of XP Pro, don't use that pre-packaged compaq version of XP Home 😱.) You can pick up a OEM XP Pro copy at agsolutions.com for around $70.
#2. Install a new hard drive. For around $150, you can double the i/o performance of your laptop. Pick up a 7200RPM Hard Drive. My guess is you have a 4200RPM HD right now.
#3. Get another stick of RAM. 512MB would be fine. You already have 256MB, so adding another 256 stick would be quite inexpensive.

Doing just those 3 things would most likely increase performance by about 10x, and I'm not exaggerating.
 
will you be takeing this powerbook to school?, i do and it helps me allot, i do allot of work in lunchtimes and i can makes notes easier in lesson, say you need it to use in school as you cant lug your pc in.
 
I was in your same situation 8 months ago (I am 16)...

Started saving through web design, odd jobs, etc. Now I am typing on this shiny new iBook! In fact, this is my first post to MR on it 🙂

Taught me hard work and patience, can't beat that!


😎
 
A PowerBook in Five Easy Steps....

So you're 15 eh? Tell your mom the following and you'll have a shiny new PowerBook by Tuesday...

1) Apple's OSX operating system automatically filters all internet porn. If you attempt to access anything adult-oriented, an angry synthesized voice comes on and says "Do your homework. Don't do drugs. Stay in school."

2) Steven Jobs will pop by your house periodically to make sure you haven't started smoking. If you have, he'll have Wozniak email your mother. Really, I'm not kidding, he does this all the time.

3) iTunes continuously monitors your playlists for offensive lyrics. If it finds anything naughty, it will instantly delete the suspect song and replace it with "Go Fly A Kite" from the Mary Poppins soundtrack.

4) Your iChat AV and iSight WebCam closely watches your hair length, style, and colour. If it sees anything it doesn't like -- you're shut down.

5) Should you happen to obtain an iPod as part of this deal, its shiny chrome backing can be used as a very effective mirror. This will help you ensure that you always look presentable at family gatherings and your tie is straight.

So enjoy your new PowerBook, you've earned it!
 
Patmian212 said:
...but it would take longer then a year to get to my goal...
Click to expand...
What's the problem there? Convincing your parents to spring for a laptop at the drop of a hat probably isn't going to work. Deal with the PC you've got, and make the best of it. Wipe everything, and just install what you need. On my PC, all I have is Firefox, F@H, and Warcraft 3. Feels a lot better than loading it every program you own, and installing a bunch of haxies on it to make it look "cooler" or more "macish".

A year really wouldn't be that bad. Being 15, you're probably a freshman or sophomore in high school? A year later would probably be a better time to buy a laptop anyways, since they'll be faster, and you'll have something that'll last you at least into your first year of college. Perhaps if you were real determined, and kept up with the odd jobs around the house, your parents might meet you halfway. A new, shiny iBook 6 months from now? What's so bad about that! 😉

As for the Mac vs. PC argument, I feel your pain. I rarely use our PC, and when I do, it's usually an unpleasant experience. However, getting used to coping and making the best of what you've got builds character, and will only make your heavenly mac experience more enjoyable. 😀

Quoting Vanilla Sky...

"The sweet is never as sweet without the sour." 😎 😛
 
Your expectations are too high. Either get more RAM and a better video card, or get an iBook. Its nice to ask for a 12" PB, but its not necessary in your case. And a 12" iBook is so close in terms of spec to the 12" PB that it's actually a much better deal right now. I know that you'd LIKE to get a PB, but an iBook is more realistic, so deal with it.

And people here are right. Your PC is good enough for what you do. If you had 256MB of RAM on a brand spankin' new 12" PB, it would run slower than your PC. Its not your computer's fault that you don't equip it with what it needs to work well. That's just a tip on computers, and in plenty of other areas as well. 😉
 
Thx for your advice and you are right abstract I compared the powerbook to the ibook and th PB is a very bad value... also $1,599 was pushing it a bit if I say so myself.
I'll probably beg for the ibook instead and i might even get it.
 
I used one of those Compaq machines and with enough good quality memory, they're not that slow. I'm not sure you'd be more satisfied with the performance of a current Powerbook/iBook even with maximum memory.

RAM is cheaper than a new machine, clean up your current machine and keep it clean. After a year, look at your situation again and show that you have some of your own money saved toward it.
 
merry christmas little whipper snapper!

why dont you buy a used powerbook? i have a tibook with a 7200 rpm drive and maxed out ram. it is fine for everthing but hard core production work. you can pick one up on ebay for CHEAP. if you NEED a new one for some reason, get a returned one. apple usually has a few in the back of their store. i would go for a G5 though. honestly, i dont think portability is so important to me anymore...i really need power. also get a PS2 or Xbox. i did and gaming on a mac isnt an issue anymore.
 
This is just me but im a bit scared of ebay for some reasons... I just dont trust people describing there own products without me looking at them first hand especialy if i have to spend my dough on it.
I think I'd have a coronary if i ordered from ebay and it arrived and it didnt work!
 
oh please

i did my first video editing and photography on a pentium II 400 with 128 MB of ram and everything worked just fine for me

now i've been working on a G4 400 for the last 4 years and i can still do just about everything i throw at it ... sure some tasks are painfully slow, but not cribbling.

If i did all that on a pentium II when i started, you certainly can do what you need to do in web-design on a pentium 4 <-- web-graphics aren't as big that it could be REALLY crippling

throw in another 512 MB or ram into the thing and you should be JUST fine
 
Guys thanks for the advice.... I think im gonna save up for a refurb ibook.... I'm only $709 away!!!
Can't wait to own my first mac!
 
Patmian212 said:
This is just me but im a bit scared of ebay for some reasons... I just dont trust people describing there own products without me looking at them first hand especialy if i have to spend my dough on it.
I think I'd have a coronary if i ordered from ebay and it arrived and it didnt work!
Click to expand...


not all sales are final. my girlfriend just bought a printer on ebay and returned it since she wasnt happy with the cost and performance. the seller had a satisfaction garuntee...so not all sales are final. talk to the seller about how your concerened about forking over a load of cash on good faith and in the end the seller taking the money and running.

i dont know, talk to others here about it but you can get a tibook 667 mhz for under $500 im sure...and thats what im typing on now, its great.
 
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