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daughter asked for an air for Xmas...

M

MrMister111

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 28, 2009
3,900
382
UK
The daughter has a windows laptop at mo for senior school, works ok, I bought office for it, she hardly uses it tbh. It's a couple of years old now.

I have an iMac that we all use. She's not that computer savvy really, but she's been using laptop a bit more last few days as it has office on whereas the iMac hasn't.

She's seen an air and obviously loves them, I like them to, light, portable etc etc. Trouble is they are extremely expensive for what she will use for really.

We also have an iPad 2 in the house that we all use to. So I'm wondering what to do. I could buy another iPad and buy a case with a Bluetooth keyboard in, but then there's no "proper" office apps, as I say she's not that computer savvy. Would also probably put windows on boot camp so would need to buy a copy of that to.

Or do I buy an air? There about £850 but I could get an edu discount, so maybe £100 off? It's a little extravagant Xmas pressy tbh, as we also have her brother to buy for!

I've thought about a 2nd hand one, but they are still quote expensive, and I would want it boxed in tip top condition.

I quickly searched ultra books, and Dell came up with their version, checked and it's over £1000!!

Just wondering on comments of everyone, people in similar situation.

Cheers
 
First of all, this being a mac forum, most people will be in favor of the mac over a cheaper windows machine.

I may be able to give a perspective more akin to your daughter's. I'm not sure how old she is, but I'm in high school and bought a mac with my summer job money a few months ago.

For me, I was dead set on a mac, and was pretty set on the macbook air for its combination of features and relatively low price. I had used windows for my whole life but had gradually transferred to the apple ecosystem and was ready to make the final switch.

Since it sounds like you have other apple products at home, it does make it easier for everything to work together with the mac. For example, if you have Pages on a mac and iPad, they will automatically sync and you can finish your essay that you started on the mac from the iPad, etc.

Additionally, there is the undeniable "cool" factor of owning the mac. To me, I enjoy schoolwork more on this computer because of the beauty of the mac and of OSX.

Depending on how old she is, it may be reasonable to give her money towards buying it herself. If you give her a big Christmas present this year, expectations will only escalate, so encouraging her to buy more of her own items as she gets older may be a good idea. Not that I'm a parent or anything haha.

Hope I helped and good luck in your decision.
 
Hi,

I think the question really boils down to i) what your daughter really *needs* a computer for, ii) what she would like to use a computer for (but can't now), and iii) what are the options for i) and ii).

A MacBook Air (11" or 13") is really expensive to have, just as a cool toy. Now if she wants to start a hobby, like photography or something, and wants to take pictures, download them and proof them on the fly, then I could see getting an ultraportable Air.

Since most people really just surf the web and send email, really, an iPad is all they need. The issue of not having Office or Office-like apps on the iPad is semi-legit (could the scaled down versions of Pages, Numbers, Bento, & Keynote suffice?), but really, I would think sitting down at the iMac and using Office would be more productive...

I would love to get in iPad (and am perputually "this close..."). But, at the end of the day, there are a couple of heavy duty programs I need to run that require me to keep my Air...and I'm not sure that having both would make sense. If I didn't have an Air already, I would likely get an iPad and a Mac Mini, and do the heavy-duty stuff on the Mini, and use the iPad for the portable stuff. Plus, I like reading books (the physical kind), which probably shows how old I am...

Good luck! BTW, I was impressed with the post above, by the high school student who used their summer job money to pay for an Air. Great work!
 
If she's a senior in high school, you can combine it and call it a graduation gift as well. Otherwise if she doesn't need it I would wait until college.
 
Kyllle said:
First of all, this being a mac forum, most people will be in favor of the mac over a cheaper windows machine.

I may be able to give a perspective more akin to your daughter's. I'm not sure how old she is, but I'm in high school and bought a mac with my summer job money a few months ago.

For me, I was dead set on a mac, and was pretty set on the macbook air for its combination of features and relatively low price. I had used windows for my whole life but had gradually transferred to the apple ecosystem and was ready to make the final switch.

Since it sounds like you have other apple products at home, it does make it easier for everything to work together with the mac. For example, if you have Pages on a mac and iPad, they will automatically sync and you can finish your essay that you started on the mac from the iPad, etc.

Additionally, there is the undeniable "cool" factor of owning the mac. To me, I enjoy schoolwork more on this computer because of the beauty of the mac and of OSX.

Depending on how old she is, it may be reasonable to give her money towards buying it herself. If you give her a big Christmas present this year, expectations will only escalate, so encouraging her to buy more of her own items as she gets older may be a good idea. Not that I'm a parent or anything haha.

Hope I helped and good luck in your decision.
Click to expand...

What a well-written, thoughtful post by a high school student. Nice. :)
 
Thanks for the replies. I should have said we are in UK so a senior school might be different from what US means. She's 13 in December btw.

She won't be starting a hobby, she's not that into computers really. On the windows laptop she has office just too lazy! maybe frustrated with it. My (our) iMac is from 2007, it's fine really only use it for surfing and iLife 11 really.

Maybe I should buy a new iMac (waiting for the new ones forever though....) and buy office for Mac. I'm presuming starting a project on office for Mac you can then edit it on windows office and vice versa. I told her about dropbox, but unfortunately I'm the house geek.
 
Well if your daughter doesn't use her own laptop much it seems like a waste to get the MBA. Expensive enough as it is without her actually using it.

Why not get the new iMac when (if) it is released and a 3-licence pack of Office? Then both family machines can be used for schoolwork.
 
Kids and ultraportable computers make easy targets for theft or loss...I'd upgrade the home iMac and teach her about using it before getting a MBA or other ultrabook for her so that everyone in your family can benefit from the newer tech in the house!
 
I doubt she needs a MBA at the age of 13 for something besides being more cool.

When I asked my parents for a laptop, I was 13 as well (but already studying IT). They told me to wait or to pay a half of the price. So within next two years I saved enough to meet my parents' requirement and I finally got my first MacBook Pro.

I think that it was a right move from my parents, because it sort of taught me about a value of stuff and motivated me to care about what I have because i know how much effort it takes to make the money...
Also, when now I want something, I don't expect my parents to buy it for me, but rather make money for it myself. It helped me to be financially independent to a certain degree.

And as a wise guy stated before, buy her a present this expensive, and her expectations will only escalate in years to come. Having a teenage kid ain't cheap, you know? :D
 
If she wants a Mac laptop just pick up a 13" MacBook Pro from two or three years back - Core2Duo will be all good for what she'd use it for :) And if you want one in "tip top condition" try Apple's refurb store for some last gen MBP or MBA models that are still new but are going for cheap.
 
I got my first laptop for Christmas when I was 14. I wanted a Mac but at the time I was a heavy gamer so I got a Windows one as Macs weren't great for games back in 2004. I didn't use it much at first but it came in useful on holidays and I used it for my first two years at university until I switched to Mac in 2010. I still have the laptop from 2004 but it looks and feels outdated now. I'm planning to put Linux on it.
 
MrMister111 said:
Or do I buy an air? There about £850 but I could get an edu discount, so maybe £100 off? It's a little extravagant Xmas pressy tbh, as we also have her brother to buy for!

I've thought about a 2nd hand one, but they are still quote expensive, and I would want it boxed in tip top condition.
Click to expand...

Two questions you need to answer: 1. Should she get a Christmas present for £850? 2. If yes, is an MBA the best Christmas present for £850?

Questions to help you deciding: How long do you expect an MBA to last in her hands, and to stay in her possession (Does she tend to break / lose expensive stuff)? What has she done to deserve an £850 present? There's almost three months time, what could she do in these three months to demonstrate that she deserves it?
 
There's nothing like getting parenting advice on a tech site :). That said, the air isn't the most durable of laptops out there.
 
MrMister111 said:
I've thought about a 2nd hand one, but they are still quote expensive, and I would want it boxed in tip top condition.
Click to expand...


Well, I can't make your decision for you.. but in my honest opinion, if you want to get a "2nd hand" Mac per say.. get a refurbished one from Apple's website.

From what I've seen, refurbs are usually only about 5% more expensive than the used equivalent on say eBay. But, you have 30 days to return/exchange it, it comes with the standard 1 year warranty, is eligible for Applecare, and will look EXACTLY like a brand new Mac. I have purchased a 13" MacBook Pro from the refurb store in the past. Not a single thing to complain about.
 
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