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A Grannies' Mac

L

LordOfTheMacs

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 22, 2008
75
0
New Jersey
Hey all,
My grandmother announced today(while looking at my clamshell admiringly)
"That little guy is cute.I should get one of those," which means she is intrested in a laptop. (Since my family is helping her shop, an mac is the only option) The question is, what should we get her? Before someone yells "Mac Mini refurb," she said she would only get a laptop. Price doesn't matter. All she would need is an computer to................
a.send e-mail
b.use the internet
c. print & copy recipies
d.maybe if she gets a camera besides the K-mart Kodak disposable, hook up a digital photo and send photos
A few ideas so far are: MacBookWhite, Powerbook G4 12 inch, iBook g4 12 or 14 inch.A 12 incher is fine, she tried the clamshell display and said it was large enough. This would be moved around a three level townhouse by a not-the-strongest person, so small size and portability are cruicial.
 
Well, if price doesn't matter get her a MacBook Air. It has a nice sized screen, is very light so that she can carry it around with her and should be plenty powerful. Either the Rev A or Rev B wouldn't matter as both can handle the jobs you listed without a sweat. You can get a Rev A for under $1000 refurbished if the budget is an issue since I noticed you listed mainly lower priced computers.
 
Is she going to carry it a lot? I mean, is it supposed to be use as a real laptop or, uhm, as a steady computer? In the first case I'd give more emphasis in portability, and thus a 13" would make it (the new unibody at 2.0 Ghz). If she's not supposed to carry it, probably I'd go towards a 15"...
 
My grandma is a genealogist(she is a retired teacher so she does this now) and saw reunion and started to use macs again. She went to PCs because FTM stopped making mac stuff. My uncle had a 800mhz iBook G3 with a broken backlight so I just got an old LCD monitor, put tiger on it, got an original iMac KB, Mouse, Reunion, then finally internet and she loves it. This is fast enough for what she does (Web browsing, email, and managing a family tree with 5000+ entries.) We are probably going to get her a macbook later though.
 
You might be surprised what you can find for cheap at a pc recycling warehouse as far as upgradeable G4's and G5's go these days if you're hunting for a reasonable bargain on laptops going that route you can get lots of the parts from OWC cheap. If it's the Intel mac you're looking into for I don't know what your best bet could be.
 
A 15 inch would be too big and clunky for her. This would be her only computer, and it would travel from her house to relatives', and all over her townhouse at home.
 
Based on the information you've provided, you've limited the purchasing options. Basically, you can get a MacBook, or one of the older models you listed in your first post. I don't know what else you're looking for in terms of suggestions.

Personally, I'd be looking a MB with a C2D processor. As for Tiger or Leopard, for the stated needs either will suffice.
 
Do not ignore the advice of the others about getting the biggest screen she can handle. It is really important for the optically challenged. As she ages, her vision will deteriorate.

I sold my 17 inch MBP to a 84 year old man a little over a year ago. He loves it and his grandsons are amazed how easily he switched from PC to Mac. He carries it to the Apple Store for lessons every week.

A 79 year old woman whom I know has an older (pre-Intel) MacBook and does well, except she covets the MacBook Pro for its looks.

I was helping a 76 year old woman buy a Mac. She went against my suggestions to buy a MBP. I think price was a huge factor. The screen was too small for her to read, even with Command/+. She returned it and got the 15" MBP.

I have never heard the term clunky used to describe a MacBook Pro before.

I vote 15 inch MacBook Pro
 
Get her a MacBook. The old PowerBooks and iBooks had good quality but really dim screens.
 
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