My mother-in-laws PC just crapped out. A year ago her Dell did the same (It was a very old Dell and served her well). She has been getting very sick of Windows over the last couple years and wanted something more user friendly. I tried talking her into getting a Mac at that time but she wasn't into the little extra cost of the Mac. Even though she loved OSX and I explained to her that in the long run she would be saving. She got a cheap HP that she had nothing but problems with within a month of purchase (albeit the problems were with Windows). She is not too particularly computer savvy and I do well but I'm not nearly at the level that most on MacRumors are. Every time she had problems I had to try to help her fix them. When she used my iMac she never needed help and enjoyed the way that doing tasks made sense in OSX. Last week her power supply on her HP kicked the bucket and she says that she doesn't want to mess with it anymore no matter what it would cost to fix. She's sick of Windows. So...... she wants a Mac now but doesn't really want to spend the money on an iMac and I don't think that she really needs all that the iMac offers anyway. The Mini would suit her just fine. The only problem is that the Mini is at the end of it's lifespan in its current form but she wants the computer right now. I've tried to talk her into waiting a month but she cannot/will not wait that long. She will only be doing internet, email, iTunes, iPhoto, Pages, and possibly be using Bootcamp and XP to use two small Windows based programs she cannot get away from at this time. I was planning on getting her the base model 1.66 with wireless keyboard and mouse. I planned on seeing how well it handled the above tasks for her and if it seemed a little slow I would purchase and install or have installed more RAM. I'm wondering how well this Mini would handle Leopard. If it won't do well I'm not overly concerned. For what she will be doing I don't think she'll be missing out on all that much. We just need something that will last her 2 or maybe 3 years and she can then update again. I've explained this to her and this seems to be what she wants to do. Any thoughts?
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Mother-In-Law About to Switch
- Thread starter Sauerkraut
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It sounds like the Mini would be a perfect fit right now. What screen will she be using it with? If its an old CRT then an iMac could be a more suitable model even if it takes some convincing and you get more for your money.
512MB doesn't really cut it anymore I'm afraid, especially not if you're planning on it lasting a few years. 1GB is the minimum I'd recommend for an Intel Mac although 2GB is much more comfortable. Does she use Office? If yes then more RAM's a must since it still runs under Rosetta and eats RAM for breakfast.
512MB doesn't really cut it anymore I'm afraid, especially not if you're planning on it lasting a few years. 1GB is the minimum I'd recommend for an Intel Mac although 2GB is much more comfortable. Does she use Office? If yes then more RAM's a must since it still runs under Rosetta and eats RAM for breakfast.
Well.... I advise you wait till The WWDC Keynote on June 11. The Mini should have some better specs by then. Stay tuned....
She has a CRT right now but will replace it with a 20" LCD eventually. She has a hard time dropping a lot of cash down on a computer at one time. I have a feeling that she will want a new monitor within the next 3-6 months. It's her decision. I've explained everything to her as thorough as I can. If she spends $250-350 on a monitor it will last her a good number of years and probably a couple Minis. The problem is that she has no problem buying a $1500 or even a $2000 computer outright. She just doesn't want to feel the bite all at one time. She didn't seem to think that a computer was a necessity for her but I think that she is finding out that she is missing it very much. I wish she would bite the bullet and just put up the cash for the 20" iMac right now, it sure would be easier on me. Well at least this is an improvement from last year, mothers-in-law can be so difficult! As far as the RAM goes I will probably just buy her as a gift 2GB from crucial and have the local Apple Specialist install it. She will not be using MS Office. I don't think she'll have to use Rosetta for anything. At least she has that going for her. I was contemplating buying a new iMac and giving her my old one but she needs to run XP for those two programs and I love my G5 and I didn't plan on getting a new one until after my Applecare runs out this December, I'm already saving my pennies
. I will eventually give my iMac to my six year old niece. Never can start them out too young!
. I will eventually give my iMac to my six year old niece. Never can start them out too young!
True, but once you start modifying a mini it quickly becomes a better deal to buy an iMac. If you plan to get a mini, get the bottom model and only bring it up to 1 GB RAM. Applecare is worth considering so that your mother-in-law does not have to worry about the machine and you do not have to worry about becoming her tech support. Best wishes.
Sauerkraut, I love the idea of giving it to a six year old, I think I might have gotten my first computer at not much older than that and it worked well for me!
Its not too hard to open up the mini if you have a putty knife, you could save a fair bit on the RAM that way. BTW which applications is it that she still needs to run in Windows? They might work in Crossover Mac.
Its not too hard to open up the mini if you have a putty knife, you could save a fair bit on the RAM that way. BTW which applications is it that she still needs to run in Windows? They might work in Crossover Mac.
I've pleaded with her to wait until after WWDC. She wants it NOW! I told her she is like a child! If it's that important and she needs it right now that she shouldn't have any trouble spending the money up front for a 20" iMac. Sorry guys, just venting! I'm just a little frustrated. She is going to talk to my father-in-law tomorrow to see what he thinks. He doesn't care about computers at all and may be to the point that he is sick of hearing about it and will tell her to just get the iMac. He doesn't care if she spends the money so I don't know why she is making such a big deal of this. We definately plan on getting her Applecare no matter what she buys. I know that whatever she gets that she will know she did the right thing in buying a Mac. I wish she could just wait till after WWDC to get a Mini or if she had to have one now to just get the iMac.
She needs to run a light publishing program and an accounting program. I'm thinking that Pages might just cover her light publishing/word processing needs but she will probably need to continue using her accounting program for the time being. She really doesn't want to switch accounting programs at this time and I have a unused copy of XP that I will give to her. At this point even if she could use my iMac, I think I'm past giving her my computer. I am not ready to give it up at this point and my in-laws are much more well off than we are financially. There is no reason for me to buy a computer now when I'm not ready to just to help them when they are able to help themselves. I don't mind spending a little money on them because they are really good to me but I'm not going to rush to get a computer when I haven't saved all the money I need for it. I'll just end up with something that I'm not totally satisfied with just so I can make them happy. If they were poor I would have no trouble doing that but in this case I'm going to pass. I was thinking that I would probably attempt installing the RAM myself. I'm generally confident and good at doing such things. Spanky, I know what you mean. In 1985 I recall my grandfather putting me in his old Lincoln and us driving a very long distance, well it was long for an eight year old. We got to this store that had a bunch of typewriters with televisions above them. They loaded up some boxes that had a multi-colored apple on them and we then drove home. When I got home he took my first computer out of the box, an Apple IIc. I learned everything I needed to know about business playing "Lemonade Stand".
Hahaha! That just made me laugh out loud!
If those Windows programs are quite simple then they might run ok under Crossover Mac. When she does finally get a machine, download the trial and give it a try. Good luck with her in the mean time and let us know what happens!! 
512MB is perfectly fine for websurfing, listening to music or viewing your photos. Unless you keep leaving a lot of apps open at the same time, you won't see much of a difference. It might speed up the the starting time by a second or two if it is a particularly big app, but so what? Even in iMovie, I don't really feel much of a difference between 0.5GB and 1.5GB.
You can check the Activity Monitor to see how much Inactive and Free Memory during your typical usage you have to see if additional RAM would help you much.
Just got the call from her. She is going to go wih th 20" iMac. I'm going to order it now before she changes her mind
Just got the call from her. She is going to go wih th 20" iMac. I'm going to order it now before she changes her mind
Great! I'm soooo jealous!