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Need help convincing my sister in law.

J

jc0481

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2005
228
0
My sister in law and her husband are going to buy a computer early next year. They have a 6 year old Dell which they me is running very slow. They want to get a laptop specifically it is the Dell Inspiron 1520.

http://www.dell.com/content/product...?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~tab=bundlestab&~ck=mn

She told me they can get it for $699.00. I have told her to get a mac but with no success. I don't want to be pushy just give her a comparison of both pc and mac and let her decide. By the way the husband is happy with either or. He just wants a new computer.

I have sent her email after email about how the mac is better. Either from articles or videos I found online. Is there a website out there that I can see and show her comparing the dell laptop with a mac?? I am not sure how to convince her otherwise or at least do a really good comparison on what she is getting with dell versus the mac.

Thank you

Juan
 
If you've already tried the basic reasons like easier to set up, greater productivity, nice design, etc, then just drag her to an Apple store. :p ;)

Seriously though, there is some magical force exerted by Apple Stores which makes people want to buy a Mac (and probably a lot of other stuff while they're at it :p).

After that, if she's not convinced, just drop it. It isn't worth it.
 
You could try to convince her by saying that Mac lappys run Vista better than PC ones.
PC World Article

Then, once she's hooked to the Mac itself, say "Hey, you think Vista runs pretty smoothly? Wait till you start playing with OS X."
 
I agree- an Apple store should do it.

Either way, perhaps she should talk to people who have actually owned a dell laptop for longer then a year. Everyone I know who had a dell, had TONS of problems. Dell laptops don't seem to be good investments, the customer service is horrible, and their systems crap out fast it seems. If anything convince her against the dell.

That one specifically has a SLOW processor for the cost even... A refurb macbook is just a little more expensive and would rip that to shreds it seems.

If the above doesn't work, it's not worth the trouble. In a year when her laptop is useless and she can't get in touch with anyone from customer service that speaks english, or gets a replacement part that is even worse then the piece it replaced, she will realize her mistake in not listening to you :)
 
tell her the mac is a better machine in a smaller package, and that she can install windows on it.
 
you could just let her buy the dell. the macbook is substantially more than the $699 dell, and it seems like her mind's made up. let it go.
 
well, after she buys Norton Anti-virus, the difference isnt quite as broad, and she should note that if something goes wrong with the dell, it is going to be gone for weeks on end getting fixed, this is only after she gets in touch with someone who doesnt tell her to call microsoft who in turn sends her to dell and back and forth.

The apple store honestly is the best, its going to cost her a couple of hundred dollars, to have a computer that works, as opposed to a computer that she struggles with for two or three years and then begins the cycle over again.
 
siurpeeman said:
you could just let her buy the dell. the macbook is substantially more than the $699 dell, and it seems like her mind's made up. let it go.
Click to expand...

Yeah sounds that way to me to, I'll give people advice to buy Apple is they seem interested but if it's a closed book then it's not worth it. Plus if she turns out not not like OS X or anything about it you'll get the grief!
 
jarenado said:
well, after she buys Norton Anti-virus, the difference isnt quite as broad, and she should note that if something goes wrong with the dell, it is going to be gone for weeks on end getting fixed, this is only after she gets in touch with someone who doesnt tell her to call microsoft who in turn sends her to dell and back and forth.

The apple store honestly is the best, its going to cost her a couple of hundred dollars, to have a computer that works, as opposed to a computer that she struggles with for two or three years and then begins the cycle over again.
Click to expand...

You don't have to buy Norton (or McAfee, or whatever else that costs money). Some of the best antivirus software available for Windows is free. Also, Dell laptops in general are pretty reliable. If they can only spend $700, they should get the Dell. If they can spend more though, the MacBook is worth a look.
 
AVG is a free anti-virus program for Windows that works better than 99% of the paid programs out there. You shouldn't pay for an anti-v prog when that's around. If I were them, I'd get the Dell. The monetary difference just isn't worth it.
 
siurpeeman said:
you could just let her buy the dell. the macbook is substantially more than the $699 dell, and it seems like her mind's made up. let it go.
Click to expand...
Agreed. But with one additional comment before he lets her go buy the Dell. Tell her she's on her own for Windows tech support if she won't listen. I used to have to support about 10 friends and family with their various Windows issues. One by one I switched them all to Mac's. Now I have a peaceful life with very few tech support phone calls :p
 
If she does get a Dell, get a Business Model, you get good backup software with Vista Business and it will be more reliable than a Mac. It is more expensive than the Inspiration, but if she can afford to consider a Mac it is a good alternative if she decides to stay with Windows. This means an XPS, Vostro or Latitude model.

jc0481 said:
I have sent her email after email about how the mac is better. Either from articles or videos I found online. Is there a website out there that I can see and show her comparing the dell laptop with a mac?? I am not sure how to convince her otherwise or at least do a really good comparison on what she is getting with dell versus the mac.
Click to expand...

You look like you may be taking it a little far. Windows really isn't that bad.
 
jc0481 said:
I am not sure how to convince her otherwise or at least do a really good comparison on what she is getting with dell versus the mac.

Thank you

Juan
Click to expand...

I am not into trying to convince anyone of anything. If they have no problems with PCs then let them choose. I do enjoy saying I told you so later though.
 
jc0481 said:
My sister in law and her husband are going to buy a computer early next year. They have a 6 year old Dell which they me is running very slow. They want to get a laptop specifically it is the Dell Inspiron 1520.

http://www.dell.com/content/product...?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~tab=bundlestab&~ck=mn

She told me they can get it for $699.00. I have told her to get a mac but with no success. I don't want to be pushy just give her a comparison of both pc and mac and let her decide. By the way the husband is happy with either or. He just wants a new computer.
Click to expand...

I don't know anyone who bought a notebook that only ran windows for $699 who was happy with it one year later. I do know several people who bought referb ibooks when :apple: started selling macbooks. They still use and enjoy their 'entry level' portable.
 
in-law...

I know many won't condone this, but at this point, if she's being really stubborn... try violence. One solid whack with a macbook to the side of the head, should smart just enough convince her...:eek:
 
sportsnut said:
I don't know anyone who bought a notebook that only ran windows for $699 who was happy with it one year later.
Click to expand...

I do. If not for my desire to try an iBook to play around with OS X, I'd still be using my Gateways. They've served me well. I bought a pair for my parents, and they work well for them too. Believe it or not, there are a lot of good computers out there that have nothing to do with Apple, and there are a lot of people happy to use them!
 
LOL -- 6 year old computer running slow. I couldn't imagine why.

Yeah, 699 is a good deal. There are free antivirus programs (AVG) that work well and there are way better ones to pay for that cost less (Kaspersky) and work way better than Norton.
It seems to me you're quite the obsessed person and just need to learn to drop the issue. I'm sure all you're doing now is pissing her off even more and making her more adamant about their decision to get a dell - seeing as how they are adults and I'm sure they can make their own decisions.

@sportsnut - I'm still using my first Dell Inspiron Laptop now going on 5 years. It works great and runs fine. I can't do any high-intensity graphics work on it anymore, but I'm still plenty happy with it and XP. We'll see if my MBP lasts that long -knock on wood.
 
Do you have an Apple laptop? That's usually the best sales device. Just let them play with it (Make an account).

Run it on battery. Say you can actually run x hours straight on battery.

Ask them to tie up the MacBook power supply for you. (Dell's power supply is really clunky).
 
killerrobot said:
Yeah, 699 is a good deal.
Click to expand...

No it isn't its a consumer machine, so it'll break after a short time with using it. My Macbook isn't exactly totally reliable and its made by the #1 rated consumer manufacturer for reliability.

The reason I suggest a business laptop is that they don't break as often, if a laptop breaks on a work trip it costs the company thousands of dollars, even if they are in the office they still are worth $100's of dollars a day that is wasted while they don't have their machine working.

Also given that any laptop with a 100GB+ Hard drive, 2GB RAM and any Intel Core Processor will be perfectly quick enough for the majority of users, so there is little incentive to buy a higher spec'd machine than is required which makes the additional money spent on a business machine worth it, especially as it will likely still be working another 5-6 years down the line when they want to get another new PC.

Consultant said:
Well make sure they get the Dell with Vista. That will change their mind. ;)
Click to expand...

UAC can actually be switched off ;). Also Vista really isn't that bad, its just not an improvement over XP.
 
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Eraserhead said:
No it isn't its a consumer machine,
Click to expand...

Oh, so a consumer - his sister in law -shouldn't buy it?

Eraserhead said:
Also given that any laptop with a 100GB+ Hard drive, 2GB RAM and any Intel Core Processor will be perfectly quick enough for the majority of users, so there is little incentive to buy a higher spec'd machine than is required which makes the additional money spent on a business machine worth it, especially as it will likely still be working another 5-6 years down the line when they want to get another new PC.
Click to expand...

The $699 Dell Inspiron 1520 comes with 80g, 1g RAM, Intel C2D. So another few hundred bucks and they get everything you say they need - still under the 2000 pro machine prices. What was your argument again?

EDIT: Anytime you want to show some evidence that consumer machines break more than pro machines I would be interested in reading it.
@OP
If they are really going to take so long to upgrade their machines, perhaps you should talk them into a desktop instead of a laptop.
 
Its difficult to convince people to switch when you look at the pricing. But you gotta tell her how beneficial it is to have a Mac. Tell her how you don't need to maintain the machine with any anti-virus stuff. There's hundreds of reasons to get a Mac, convince her to get one, make their lives easier with a Mac.
 
killerrobot said:
Oh, so a consumer - his sister in law -shouldn't buy it?
Click to expand...

Yeah, pretty much. That is if you care about build quality rather than an arbitrary machine category.

Dell do this as they can sell poor quality computers to consumers and make some money, as they aren't generally savvy enough to buy the better machines. This is why Apple charges so much for RAM, and why an ethernet cable that costs £1 online is £15 in PC World, where people who know little about computers generally shop.
 
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