For my parents: Macbook or Windows 7 lappy?

[KiraDouji]

Some really good advise in here. Regarding buying a Mac: the one thing I would point out is that unless you really want to be their main tech support, just get them One to One when you buy the computer. I know that, at first, helping your parents/family/etc... with tech questions is easy, but you're not going to be available all the time and I've seen that often times it's not easy for family members to actually teach rather than do for.

Something else I'd take into consideration is the size of the screen you're getting them. Macbooks are great, but for some reason the screen size affects the price and I know a lot of older people need to have the text and icons etc... HUGE. On a 13" screen that can get cumbersome really fast. If they must have a laptop, consider a 15" at least (and if that's the case, Win7 would certainly be a consideration as a 15" PC laptop would be a LOT cheaper). Conversely, I would ask why it is they need the laptop, as, if they're considering a mac, an iMac would probably do them better in terms of ease of use (the trackpad is a learning curve, esp. for older users), display size and price.

 

[Mercer]

Macbook all the way.

I converted my wife from windows to mac with a white plastic Macbook, She hasnt looked back. She loves it. I think once you get used to the OS its all gravvy

 

[jmazzamj]

Windows 7 is a good peace of OS.
Do you guys know what the main issue with Windows machine is? They get slow and luggish as time goes by (even a stripped down XP does become unusable) and you can only wipe off your HD to restore your pc as it was. No software can do that for you.

 

[IntelliUser]

That's write, try out Windows 7 for some time. So you'll realize how waaaaaaay overhyped it is. If you expect it to be anything more than a fixed Vista, you'll be disappointed.

 

[ChrisA]

The only reason in the world NOT to buy a Mac is because you simply don't have the money and need something cheaper. Apple does not make $450 notebooks so you are stuck. Barring that problem get the Mac.

If you can't afford the Mac. Buy the $450 notebook, install Ubuntu Linux and do NOT tell them the admin password. The computer will "just work" for years if they only login via their user accounts.

 

[bjb.butler]

If they're already comfortable with Windows, I think you should go ahead and get them the familiar (and less expensive) Windows machine.

 

[jsol92]

Kudos to you if you can find a way to explain the multitouch trackpad without giving them an anxiety attack.

 

[Skuman]

If you can't afford the Mac. Buy the $450 notebook, install Ubuntu Linux and do NOT tell them the admin password. The computer will "just work" for years if they only login via their user accounts.

Actually, this is very good advice. I'd recommend if anyone got a Windows PC, that if the user is pretty clueless, they make the user account limited and access remotely to do admin stuff.

One major fault with Vista was that any changes to USB drive folders etc would require admin privileges, which would cause UAC to popup. They toned things down for Windows 7, I don't know to what degree though.

Whilst not totally relevant at the current moment, when I reinstall Vista on my laptop it takes about a day and a half to download all the Vista and Office updates. Honestly. That's two service packs, a service pack for Office, a few updates for Windows Update that require user interaction to install, an upgrade to IE8, then literally about 100 bug and security fixes. Then once that has been done, it's an update for video drivers, then Acrobat and Flash. All without accessing anything outside of microsoft.com or adobe.com. Windows Update doesn't always show an update, which is crazy, and I reboot just under a dozen times. It's no wonder Windows PC's get attacked so easily, it's hard work making sure you haven't accessed anything that could compromise the system. I got fed up with that, and bought a copy of Acronis True Image. Win7 hasn't been around long enough for some of those issues, but 3 or 4 years from now, I'm sure it will have them.

 

[simon the diver]

72 year old mother loves her mac mini

While my brother was brother was at college he got sick of dealing with all the window (XP) problems that my parents had - both actual problems and user problems . Being a geek he installed some form of linux on the machine for them and they adjusted to that.

As soon as he graduated, and got a job, he scrapped the pc and got them a mac mini. i upped the stock memory myself - but that was more for myself for the occasions when i used it - my parents were used to a really slow pc so werent bothered by the lack of ram as the machine perfrmed better than they were used to - and they rarely had more than mail or safari running at the same time - definitely not power users

She's in her early 70's and likes to travel and plans her trips on line and has even made slideshows of a couple of her trips using iPhoto and iDvd.

sure, we have to answer the odd question about things but its about doing things . in the 3 years she's had it , i dont recall anytime when there has been a problem with the machine

Anyway about a year ago i was at in the bedroom where the mac was and mum was online doing something and i said to her:

"Mum, i never hear you talk about the mac - do you like it ?

and she replied that she loved it and tells all her friends they should get macs whenever they complain about their computers.

speaks volumes i think

 

[stillill]

I'm liking the sound of remote-desktopping/iChatting in to help them with any issues... I don't live nearby.

Have searched for a simple 'switch to Mac' video to get them to watch to see if it would be suitable (anyone got a suggested link?). Will likely just ask them to pop into the Apple store and have a look (they seem pretty smitten by the whole non-hard-sell experience after getting iPods).

Weirdly, one of the things in the back of my mind is I'd like to get them the computers as a surprise, but then I realise I don't want to force them to accept machines that they'd not appreciate, and I've just pumped £1600 down the pan...

Money isn't a major object if it's something they would use with pleasure every day.

Thanks all

 

[eawmp1]

Have searched for a simple 'switch to Mac' video to get them to watch to see if it would be suitable (anyone got a suggested link?)

http://www.apple.com/getamac/
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

 

[chill.]

itunes is horribly optimized on windows. what you should do is get foobar2000 to manage your music library and ipod. problem solved, $0 spent

 

[oageru]

Being a Mac user yourself, I'm surprised you even had to ask the question

Being an old git who started out with Microsoft from the very beginning but eventually got fed up with the bloatware that is today's Windows, I am now solely Mac. I have had the displeasure of still installing Win7 etc so I'm not out of touch.

I have supported friends and members of my family on windows platforms for many years and I have started to diplomatically shun supporting windows any more and encouraged the same people to move to OSX. A few have taken my advice so far and after setting them up and explaining the differences, from a support point of view, I hardly ever hear from those people any more!.

This is no exaggeration, I wouldn't think twice about this decision, Mac all the way, and as the the limp "Apple tax" excuse that some people still try to bound about, your quality of life and the second hand value of Apple kit will more than make up for any slight difference in the up-front costs!!

I've been reading these forums for some time now, ever since i set my mind on buying a Macbook Pro. Though i haven't bought one yet (this is a different story that you'll find in this thread) i keep reading posts such as the one quoted above that both put me off and piss me off.

Could you please point out to me what is it exactly about Windows 7 (the OS) that you find to be "bloatware"? As a lot of users here point out, there's a big difference between a clean install and pre-installed version of Win 7 (the later is indeed heavily polluted by bloatware).

Ok, i know the site is entitled "MacRumors" but ranting on Microsoft when you apparently have no idea what you are talking about should be somehow criticized / sanctioned.

That being said, i'd take both platforms for a spin and see how they work out . I have heard (unfortunately i haven't had the opportunity to experience this fully) that OS X is a more productive / user friendly environment. Personally this is a good enough reason for me to give it a try

Do take this into consideration: if you say that the system is meant for you parents, think about their previous computer experience. I know my parents: adapting to the UI / functionality provided by a new piece of tech can prove to be quite difficult for them.

Cheers!

 

[alent1234]

This is a good point. But how do you install only the OS if all you get in the box is a standard recovery disk (or nothing at all)? Most of the time the recovery discs give no real control over what it will install.

To the OP, I'm deliberating the same thing with my parents and it's not easy to know whether they'll learn the new environment, but there's a good chance that they will after a few weeks, and a bit of hand holding. One thing I did for one switcher was to make the new Mac look as much as possible like their WinXP machine in terms of software and desktop folders and so. Once they saw the folders and found that Firefox and Excel were on their new Mac they new it was gonna be allright...

With Dell I think if you pay them $30 they will send you a CD/DVD with a slightly custom version of Windows. It's a generic version of WIndows with Dell's drivers already on it as well as some custom wallpaper. i had it for my Dell Inspiron years ago. HP would include it with business laptops. Mine came with plain versions of XP and Vista. Our helpdesk always had a stack as well. no crapware on either one. i've even used a Dell CD to install a HP laptop and vice versa. worked and activated just fine. if you use it on the same brand of PC then it will come activated most of the time since there is a way to do it by reading the BIOS info

these days i just use my MSDN access. and i might get technet from my employer as well.

 

[alent1234]

Some really good advise in here. Regarding buying a Mac: the one thing I would point out is that unless you really want to be their main tech support, just get them One to One when you buy the computer. I know that, at first, helping your parents/family/etc... with tech questions is easy, but you're not going to be available all the time and I've seen that often times it's not easy for family members to actually teach rather than do for.

Something else I'd take into consideration is the size of the screen you're getting them. Macbooks are great, but for some reason the screen size affects the price and I know a lot of older people need to have the text and icons etc... HUGE. On a 13" screen that can get cumbersome really fast. If they must have a laptop, consider a 15" at least (and if that's the case, Win7 would certainly be a consideration as a 15" PC laptop would be a LOT cheaper). Conversely, I would ask why it is they need the laptop, as, if they're considering a mac, an iMac would probably do them better in terms of ease of use (the trackpad is a learning curve, esp. for older users), display size and price.

Teamviewer is free to use

my mom lives 2000 miles away and i can get access to her laptop any time she needs as long as there is internet access

 

[Becordial]

With Dell I think if you pay them $30 they will send you a CD/DVD with a slightly custom version of Windows. It's a generic version of WIndows with Dell's drivers already on it as well as some custom wallpaper. i had it for my Dell Inspiron years ago. HP would include it with business laptops. Mine came with plain versions of XP and Vista. Our helpdesk always had a stack as well. no crapware on either one. i've even used a Dell CD to install a HP laptop and vice versa. worked and activated just fine. if you use it on the same brand of PC then it will come activated most of the time since there is a way to do it by reading the BIOS info

these days i just use my MSDN access. and i might get technet from my employer as well.

Thanks for the feedback. I can't get a disc from the manufacturer (they said I should just use the restore disc), and I'm not in a role where I can get MSDN access. It's a shame because I've paid for a full copy of Windows for my laptop and yet my only entitlement is to a crapware disc so I'm still stuck with it.

 

[stillill]

Quick update on where this went:

I took my mum to the local PC World to have a look at what was available as she had some money, but in looking at both some Dell Windows 7 laptops and the Macbooks, it became apparent that the problem for her wasn't really the computer. It was that she expected her computer to organise all her photos for her - and when she hadn't made any effort to keep things tidy, the whole HDD was filled with duplicate pics, 5000+ plus.

A bit of a chat about what they wanted from their laptops made buying a new Macbook or W7 machine a bit of an expensive proposition.

I ended up blatting their XP laptops and rebuilding them from scratch with a clean XP SP3 install. Their laptops have now been given a new lease of life for no money down. I did invest in Acronis to allow me to take an image of their HDD post-install so the next time it all goes to pot I can quickly refresh this laptops (my Mum's acer aspire took the better part of 2 days to do everything).

Acronis is also handy for backing up their photos onto the WD Passport external drive I had.

Maybe they would have had a lot of fun with the Macbook, but they only use photos, web and some music (which they can do directly on their Touch), but the expense was prohibitive. Windows 7 didn't look like it had much for the dummy user, and they're already familiar with XP so just stuck with that.

I did have to spend a bit of time teaching her how to get the best out of Picasa though, which looks like it'll be enough for her.

Cheers all for the advice.

 

[stillill]

Further to this, I have finally ended up getting my mum a refurb Macbook, which she instantly took to.

Despite my best efforts at rebuilding her XP laptop and setting everything up, I yet again had to spend hours rebuilding it (from backup image thankfully) after she followed a link from a friend's email which had been hacked. Queue p0rn popups, that Anti Virus thingy trojan and a general 'I'm a spaz and can't be trusted' reaction from my mum - in short, she was terrified to use her laptop for banking or anything remotely secure.

Since getting the Macbook, she seems to be able to grasp that all the apps are related in some way, that the OS is cohesive and secure, and she doesn't have to worry so much about virus and firewalls and all that stuff. She even managed to set up Mail.app with her gmail account without any help. This is a massive step forward, as despite using the laptop for years and having a secretarial background, she still had no idea what the return/enter key was! "Just press the big button on the right". Ffs, what chance have you got. Anyway, she is in love with the Macbook and again enjoys internet, itunes, photos and emails. May be overkill for her needs, but in terms of peace of mind and minimal hassle for me, it's a big win. Should've done this months ago...

 

[MonkeyET]

Further to this, I have finally ended up getting my mum a refurb Macbook, which she instantly took to.

Despite my best efforts at rebuilding her XP laptop and setting everything up, I yet again had to spend hours rebuilding it (from backup image thankfully) after she followed a link from a friend's email which had been hacked. Queue p0rn popups, that Anti Virus thingy trojan and a general 'I'm a spaz and can't be trusted' reaction from my mum - in short, she was terrified to use her laptop for banking or anything remotely secure.

I do have to acknowledge how much less time I spend on my Mac compared to my PC. I was always trying to fix something, but never really did anything. Now I jump on and get down to what I was aiming for. I especially do not miss paying for anti-virus software, and waiting for all the increased startup time the various versions would affect.

 

[krustybaguette]

Old folks aren't dummies

This is a good point. But how do you install only the OS if all you get in the box is a standard recovery disk (or nothing at all)? Most of the time the recovery discs give no real control over what it will install.

To the OP, I'm deliberating the same thing with my parents and it's not easy to know whether they'll learn the new environment, but there's a good chance that they will after a few weeks, and a bit of hand holding. One thing I did for one switcher was to make the new Mac look as much as possible like their WinXP machine in terms of software and desktop folders and so. Once they saw the folders and found that Firefox and Excel were on their new Mac they new it was gonna be allright...

1st off I'm not picking on Becordial (nice nickname) but this comment and a lot of others in this thread seem to have the idea that older (past 50???) parents can't get along without their offspring's techie assistance.

On the question of installing a bare OS when all you have is a recovery disk: It can be done if you can burn the i386 folder from the c:\windows directory to a CD then add some other files. I'm typing this from memory but found the instructions myself via Googling when I wanted to do a fresh install of Windows XP on an old Toshiba laptop that my grandson is now using. Google "how to create a bootable WinXP slipstream disk" I don't know if it would work with Vista or Win7 but the files you need are legally yours as long as you have a valid COA on your computer.

I'm on this forum trying to learn some networking tricks so I can share data between Win98/Win7/OSX Tiger. I'm one of those parents (63yoa) whose kids call me when they need geek assistance!