Best Mac for my aunt?

[MacMini2009]

Hello all. My aunt is in the market for a new computer and I told her she should get a Mac. Yes, I already know about the Macbook Pros possibly getting an update on Wednesday. What do you think would be better for her, a desktop or laptop? She wont be traveling with it a lot, she just wants to be able to take her laptop to her relatives/friends houses and use it there sometimes. Although, she wants a computer with a big screen because her eyes aren't so good. All she really does is go on the internet and upload pictures from her digital camera. If you can, can you please suggest which Mac she should get? Thanks.

 

[SilentPanda]

What does she want to do with the laptop at your relatives house? Just show pictures? If so you might just get a large screen iMac and an iPod Touch. Otherwise a laptop and a large external screen.

 

[Surely]

^^^Yes, I'd recommend a MacBook for portability and an external monitor (keyboard and mouse as well) that she could connect to when at home.

If all she's planning on doing is internet browsing, email, iPhoto, and other simple things, a more powerful computer would be complete overkill.

The MacBook is a great machine.....

 

[pukifloyd]

Go for macbook...refurb one will be good...or a 15inch powerbook from craigslist or ebay...

Or if she wants a bigger screen then a mac mini with a large display...imac will be too much for her!

 

[nick1516]

Either refurb macbook or check for some older used ones(last couple years) on ebay and craigslist. Then add in an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

 

[Habitus]

Hello all. My aunt is in the market for a new computer and I told her she should get a Mac. Yes, I already know about the Macbook Pros possibly getting an update on Wednesday. What do you think would be better for her, a desktop or laptop? She wont be traveling with it a lot, she just wants to be able to take her laptop to her relatives/friends houses and use it there sometimes. Although, she wants a computer with a big screen because her eyes aren't so good. All she really does is go on the internet and upload pictures from her digital camera. If you can, can you please suggest which Mac she should get? Thanks.

Given the screen size preference, I suggest the 15" MBP entry level MBP.

Habitus

 

[Surely]

Given the screen size preference, I suggest the 15" MBP entry level MBP.

Habitus

Kind of overpowered and pricey for someone who is a basic computer user (All she really does is go on the internet and upload pictures from her digital camera), don't you think?

 

[quadG5guy]

^^^Yes, I'd recommend a MacBook for portability and an external monitor (keyboard and mouse as well) that she could connect to when at home.

If all she's planning on doing is internet browsing, email, iPhoto, and other simple things, a more powerful computer would be complete overkill.

The MacBook is a great machine.....

x2, MBP is way overkill. Standard Macbook plus a large external monitor for at home.

 

[EndlessMac]

If she really does need to take her computer outside of her house then she will need a notebook. If not then a Mac Mini would be the less expensive way to go. For her needs the basic MacBook should be more than enough and along with an affordable large screen external monitor she should be good. You can always get the external monitor later because if she is okay with the MacBook screen then why waste the money.

The 15" MacBook Pro screens are larger but their resolution is also larger so everything appears tiny. I don't think she will like it much and the performance on the 15" would be overkill for her.

A MacBook with or without an external monitor or a Mac Mini with the same large external monitor would be the way to go IMO. It then comes down to if she really needs the portability or not and how much she wants to spend.