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Buying New Laptop for Mom

V

volntitan

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 4, 2005
374
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So my mom's laptop PC is dead and she wants me to go out and get a new one for her. Now I am full Mac and even talked my folks to get the new iMacs, but alas they use Windows XP about 90% of the time. I still hope they get into the Mac OS because I think they will find it simple. And it has to be simple or I will get a ton of phone calls. Now PC's are cheaper, but that black Macbook looks sooo nice.

Couple of concerns....does the Macbook get hot like the Macbook Pros? Also, has anyone heard if a new Macbook will be coming out with card slots for memory cards?

If you think that I should just go for a PC because they mostly use PC, let me know which one, sold by Best Buy (got a coupon), would be my best bet.

Key word....SIMPLE


Thanks for helping me spend someone else's money!
 
mbs are not hot. i love mine as many others do

as far as card slots......nope that will never see its way on the mb

if they use windows get them a cheaper windows laptop. simple as that
 
volntitan said:
So my mom's laptop PC is dead and she wants me to go out and get a new one for her. Now I am full Mac and even talked my folks to get the new iMacs, but alas they use Windows XP about 90% of the time. I still hope they get into the Mac OS because I think they will find it simple. And it has to be simple or I will get a ton of phone calls. Now PC's are cheaper, but that black Macbook looks sooo nice.

Couple of concerns....does the Macbook get hot like the Macbook Pros? Also, has anyone heard if a new Macbook will be coming out with card slots for memory cards?

If you think that I should just go for a PC because they mostly use PC, let me know which one, sold by Best Buy (got a coupon), would be my best bet.

Key word....SIMPLE


Thanks for helping me spend someone else's money!
Click to expand...

Why not go with apple and set up boot camp. Best of both worlds and very easy to use. I bet after awhile they will love OSX! ;)
 
DaBrain said:
Why not go with apple and set up boot camp. Best of both worlds and very easy to use. I bet after awhile they will love OSX! ;)
Click to expand...

if they only use windows and have no desire to switch why pay for a laptop thats a coulple hundred more than a windows laptop that has card readers and such:confused:

dont be biased towards apple if thats not what they want
 
They are using boot camp right now. I know it makes no sense, but she does all her bookkeeping (excel) in Mac on the iMac and AOL and everything in Windows. It makes zero sense and I have tried to tell them it would be better if they did everything in Mac, but anyone who has a late 60's parent knows how resistent to change they are.

My biggest concern with the MB was heat. My daughter has a MBP that gets very hot and just wanted to know if the MB get as hot as the MBP.
 
Tell them they need to use OSX or you'll put them in a home...lol...just kidding really...

I have a new MB, and have had NO heat issues at all. Runs cool, is very portable, and runs OSX and XP via VMWare Fusion. Use it at home and work without any of the issues I've heard on here...

But if they really want a Windows laptop, check out the HP's...the business class systems are clean and very durable.
 
Not forcing them into Mac OS at all. My dad saw the new imacs and thought they looked "cool", so bought 2 of them.

If Macbooks get hot like the Macbook Pro, then will have to rethink it.
 
Don't waste money on a MacBook if they are not going to take advantage of OS X. Save the money and buy them a $500 dell.
 
If they know how to use XP, then buy them an XP machine and save them and yourself a lot of headaches.
 
Like I mentioned, she does use Mac OS for bookkeeping.

But don't all the windows laptops come with Vista now? Isn't it a pig?
 
volntitan said:
Like I mentioned, she does use Mac OS for bookkeeping.

But don't all the windows laptops come with Vista now? Isn't it a pig?
Click to expand...

You have five days until May 20th, the day they stop selling computers with XP.
 
I bought my Mom an iBook 4 years ago for Christmas and she's been a Mac user ever since. I just upgraded her to a new Macbook and she couldn't be happier.

It took her a couple months to switch over and learn OSX but now it's all second nature and she can do everything she did in the PC world.

I also find the Mac much easier to support and with iChat, a simple click of the mouse lets me take control of her computer remotely to do whatever I need to do.
 
volntitan said:
Like I mentioned, she does use Mac OS for bookkeeping.

But don't all the windows laptops come with Vista now? Isn't it a pig?
Click to expand...
The interface, UAC nagging, and location changes are the biggest problems. I'd compare Leopard with it when it comes to feature bloat on old machines. You wouldn't run Leopard on a 867 MHz G4 and expect it to be lightning fast would you?

Dell offers XP laptops as well but I'm going to suggest Vista if it's brand new hardware and you don't carry legacy software baggage around.

I use it for Windows Media Center since I got my digital HDTV/FM tuner card and the DVR files are Mac compatible.
 
dukebound85 said:
if they only use windows and have no desire to switch why pay for a laptop thats a coulple hundred more than a windows laptop that has card readers and such:confused:

dont be biased towards apple if thats not what they want
Click to expand...

Well how would they know until they gave it a shot?

Could maybe be just worth their time and money.

I know myself and many other switchers over the years found out how easy OSX is.

So yeah I guess you could say after 25 plus years of using windoze IM biased thinking apple!--)))) :)
 
Halon X said:
I bought my Mom an iBook 4 years ago for Christmas and she's been a Mac user ever since. I just upgraded her to a new Macbook and she couldn't be happier.

It took her a couple months to switch over and learn OSX but now it's all second nature and she can do everything she did in the PC world.

I also find the Mac much easier to support and with iChat, a simple click of the mouse lets me take control of her computer remotely to do whatever I need to do.
Click to expand...

That is a fantastic point. With iChat you can show they how to do everything and if something needs fixing you can make changes simply from your Mac. It's one of the best ideas I've seen in Leopard. For parents you can use this feature to tech them from home how to use it... But if it's easier and worth it for you to got with then do what you think is best, in the end it's what you will have to do anyway...
 
I am done with the windows stuff, my current laptop is suffering from a hardware problem, and have tried buying a Dell with XP and not VISTA...they said it can't be done:(

So i decided to go Mac...and since i use a ps3 for gaming i dnt really need a pc anymore... hopefully pickin up my black MacBook tomorrow :) The best way to win anyone over is to show them the cool features of your Mac... let them see it's better rather than forcing them :)
 
I'd agree that windows would be the better approach, like you said, people in their late 60s might be resistant to change and it might be hard to fully adjust without a lot of work on your part.

Side note...Vista is NOT that bad...for an OS it does the job fine, all the initial complaints and bugs that made the launch of it a complete wash have pretty much been fixed or dealt with. There's really no reason to fear or hate Vista irrationally, especially at this point in time.
 
Phillyzero said:
I'd agree that windows would be the better approach, like you said, people in their late 60s might be resistant to change and it might be hard to fully adjust without a lot of work on your part.

Side note...Vista is NOT that bad...for an OS it does the job fine, all the initial complaints and bugs that made the launch of it a complete wash have pretty much been fixed or dealt with. There's really no reason to fear or hate Vista irrationally, especially at this point in time.
Click to expand...
Having used both, he is correct Vista is not that bad, I am waiting for the new Macbooks, and using Vista for now, she will be fine.
 
so my mom was also just in the market for a new laptop, and my dad and i bought her a new white macbook for mothers day. she absolutely LOVES it. I got a call from her right after she booted it up and the first thing she said was "It's so easy!!!!" She's never used a mac before and is somewhat of a beginner computer user so I think this speaks volumes. My dad on the other hand is an ultra-beginner and still gets to webpages by searching their full address in google :rolleyes: so he might take a bit longer for the switch. But if you figure your mom can find her way around the new os go for it!!!! and if she can't you always have bootcamp!
 
You should get a MacBook, and install Windows on Boot Camp. Then show them that when they turn it on they can choose Windows or Mac OS X.
 
Auzburner said:
That is a fantastic point. With iChat you can show they how to do everything and if something needs fixing you can make changes simply from your Mac. It's one of the best ideas I've seen in Leopard. For parents you can use this feature to tech them from home how to use it... But if it's easier and worth it for you to got with then do what you think is best, in the end it's what you will have to do anyway...
Click to expand...

Whoa! I haven't heard of this. So I can troubleshoot the computer from my iMac at home?
 
If they like PC, then go for the PC. You will have a nice selection of PC laptops and at a much cheaper price.

As for PC laptops, Best Buy currently has a really nice Gateway for $599. I wish I could get it, but Vista pisses me off. It's "Pacific Blue" but I don't remember the model number. Just go to bestbuy.com and look for it.
 
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