Ipad or Macbook Air???

[iBrody]

Umm...by that logic, before your children grow up and start earning their own money, does this mean they deserve only the cheapest crap the market can offer?

Why buy them a Nike t-shirt when you can get 3 cheap cotton shirts for $5 at the flea market? Why eat out at a fancy restaurant when there are cheaper meals available elsewhere? An ipod? Get him an old gameboy console instead.

I am teaching in an elementary school which gets its pupils to purchase their own laptops (well, okay, it's the parents buying for their kids) in grade 4. Some parents opted to get their kids cheap netbooks, and I can tell you, they suck to the point of uselessness. Takes forever to boot up, can't run any of the custom software the school uses, even opening office is an exercise in frustration.

Any decent laptop these days isn't really that much cheaper than a base MBA (once you add in all the extras), and you get access to cheap apps on the app store (or, if the parents are already avid mac users, they can install their existing apps on their son's laptop for free).

Warranty service is pretty good as well (unlike some brands I know such as Acer). The air is small and light, and your kid's back will thank you for it (assuming he has to lug it to school in addition to his allotment of textbooks). There are some funky tricks he can do as well (such as using his iphone to remotely control his mac presentation).

Bottom line, you get what you pay for, and there are just some things you cannot or should not stinge on. Comparing just the base price of 2 computers can paint a fairly distorted picture, since Apple is known to offer cheap software to boost its hardware sales (meaning you tend to spend more upfront, but typically save in the long run).

Yeah, as if every parent can afford a laptop for their child, let alone an Apple laptop. The kid has already said he wants a MBA mainly for Powerpoint presentations. He has already said his iPhone is used to play Angry Birds.

Go to Africa, no tell you what, just go to the under privileged areas in your own neighbourhood and see how the kids there have to get by without computers, let alone an Apple product.

Tell you what though, kudos to Apple as their marketing/advertisementseems to work like a charm!

 

[TraceyS/FL]

My daughter does all online classes for high school - she obviously uses her computer a lot (late 2006 MBP currently). My best friends son has used his computer for all his assignments nightly during high school - multiple hours each night.

The OP could have a significant need for the computer depending on how his school is set up - none of us know that unless we are there with him right?

As for my daughter - if I were to buy her a computer right now, sure this $399 HP i'm looking at in the staples ad will work for her. Except, all my software is Mac.... So unless I want to buy a new version of Photoshop and Illustrator for the PC, it makes more sense to buy a Mac right? Cheaper in the long run?

He asked for computer advice - not for input on his parents parenting choices.

OP, i'd go with a laptop of some sort - especially if you might have to do any type of online classes. I'm currently attending college with online classes and I'm stuck because my iPad won't work for them. My Mini works great - it just isn't very easy to take to the library or to a friends house.

 

[idencustom]

Doesn't matter to me what you buy.... but I have to say this has been one of the most entertaining threads on this forum.

 

[SenorVvangIstMoi]

both are great and useful machines. iPad is the best tool for reading newspaper or books. macbook mac os X is definitely the best operating system to do work or photo/video editings. it totally depends.. since you're just starting high school i guess you don't need neither of them.. just focus on your studies...

 

[oneMadRssn]

I like how this turned into a thread about parenting and socioeconomics.

I've decided I want to live vicariously through this kid. What car should he get? My vote is rusty 1996 Jeep Wrangler.

 

[Alameda]

I think someone needs to look up the defintion 'spoiled child', there's a Wikipedia page on the matter, here let me link you to it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoiled_child

Precisely my point. The Etiology of a spoiled child consists of four factors, and one of them is "Provision of excessive material gifts, even when the child has not behaved properly."

Nowhere else in the article are material goods mentioned. The rest of the syndrome attends to behavioral characteristics of the child and the behaviors of parents which may contribute to it.

Now, you do not know this child who started this thread, nor what his parents' motivations are. But with regards to material welfare, compared to the third world, we are all over-indulged. Maybe you work hard, but so does the factory worker who builds your computer. Maybe the child who started this thread is a very hard-working and intelligent student, who is well-deserving of a good computer to begin high school with. Maybe he spends his weekends making sandwiches for homeless people in his community. Maybe he taught himself calculus already... the fact is, you know nothing about this person to decide what he is or is not entitled to have. You feel entitled to have a MacBook because you work hard, and you have decided that this person does not work as hard has you and therefore does not deserve one.

You may be right and you may be wrong, but you have no idea, because you do not know this person. What's more, the decision is his parents' to make, not yours. When I was in high school, there were a lot of 16, 17, and 18 year-olds with cars that cost much more than this person's computer will cost. It seemed pretty common for parents to buy cars for their kids, judging by the number of cars I saw. Maybe no high schooler deserves a car, but lots of parents disagree with you, and no doubt Apple most certainly believes that middle and high school students can improve their learning with MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers.

 

[riveting]

I find computer really a distraction for most kids in school. I remember before I own my first computer, I was a lot more efficient study wise back then. I know it is sort of self discipline, but I believe most people are more productive without an internet available to them.