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new mb advice for my 10 yr old daughter:

danielpicasso

danielpicasso

macrumors member
Original poster
all:

I am buying my 10 yr old daughter a new macbook for her birthday ( i am next for an imaci! ) need advice on the following:
-comes with a 250 gig hd, should i upgrade to 320? i hope it will last her for a long time?
-is the hd upgradeable
-ms office vs iwork?
-Apple care: do you believe in the extended care $249 for 3 years. ( i am in a wheelchair and she will need support I assume being I can not get her to a retail store too easy.

all- thank you inadvance
 
AppleCare for the 13" MB is probably a little cheaper than that. I paid (with the educational discount, that is.. it was $379 w/o i think..?) $239 for my 15" MBP.

You are looking at the new MB that just got redesigned on Tuesday? I think ifixit did a tear down and they said that the HD was a tad harder to get to then the previous whitebooks..http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Polycarbonate-Unibody/1239/1

I would probably just upgrade the HD via Apple if it isn't too expensive..
The HD would NOT be user replaceable, per Apple. Ofcourse you can, but you see how much trouble it is..

Oh and the AppleCare is for TWO years PAST the initial ONE year you get from Apple.

I wish i got a MB for my birthday🙂 Does she know it yet? that is super exciting!! Sadly, my MBP is my second EVER computer. I was born in 1979. Sad, I know...
 
why does a 10 year old need a macbook, so the kid could trash it. or are we teaching children about all the things they shouldnt do but will do as soon as you turn your back..

dude by a refurb if it must be a macbook, you can use the extra bills you save to dry your eyes after it gets broken after a month or so
 
ucfgrad93 said:
For a 10 year old, I would go refurb and definitely get Apple Care.
Click to expand...

I second that one. Really. it's kinda like buying your kid his/her first car. You don't want to get her a `Benz when what she needs is a Corolla. If you can afford it that's one thing.. but you have to teach kids to respect stuff.

Get her a refurb and Applecare. She's 10, so she doesn't even need a NEW one, like a new model. Get her one to learn the quarks of using a Mac and then promise her that if the thing is in one piece that you'll get her something nice when she's 14 and can really start putting it through its paces.

You don't need 4 gigs of ram for Hello Kitty Island Adventure. LOL
 
Ericatomars said:
why does a 10 year old need a macbook, so the kid could trash it. or are we teaching children about all the things they shouldnt do but will do as soon as you turn your back..

dude by a refurb if it must be a macbook, you can use the extra bills you save to dry your eyes after it gets broken after a month or so
Click to expand...

Not all kids are destructive and have no sense of value. Also, I think being exposed to technology at an early age is beneficial. Think of all the knowledge she could have heading into college..
 
dukebound85 said:
yup

id do used/refurb

he would never know the difference and you wont have to pay a premium for a new computer
Click to expand...

He is a she! But refurb all the way. My 'Nearly 13' year old daughter is given first dibs on the MacBookPro 13" but it is not allowed to leave the house. Seems a good compromise. Fast user switching turned on. Would a shared laptop work in your family?
 
get her an old ibook. unless the 10 YEAR OLD!!! is some computer genius, she does not need it. Or how about but the rest of the money towards college or something.
 
jsupetran said:
get her an old ibook. unless the 10 YEAR OLD!!! is some computer genius, she does not need it. Or how about but the rest of the money towards college or something.
Click to expand...

I agree. Get her the ibook and take the money you save and let her donate it to a homeless kids shelter or something like that....much more educational and lasting 😀
 
Wow, I think some of the people here are a little jealous. I would have to agree with the refurb and AppleCare idea. Come on though... An iBook? Really? Most of the iBooks had logic board issues and to find one now that is working is no guarantee it would be in another 6 months. Get her the refurb and she could probably use it most of the way through high school.
 
The MacBook is ideal.

In answer to your questions:

250GB is fine; 320 is not a big jump but for a lot of cash.
The HD is upgradable. With the new MacBooks, the back cover needs to be removed for access but that's no obstacle. This is the reason 320GB isn't a good deal; once 250 becomes too small, you'll be able to get cheap 1000GB laptop drives.
iWork for a 10 year old. MS Office is overkill and has less of the features important for a school age user (i.e. ease of use and high quality output without the need for extensive training). MS Office is nearly mandatory for business users, though only because of compatibility.
As for Apple Care I can't really comment. UK law provides most of the rights Apple Care provides for. If you don't think you'll be covered then certainly go for it. It's much cheaper than a replacement laptop after all.
 
I'd recommend extended coverage for any portable mac, period. Unless it's for a dead hard drive, none of them are either cheap nor easy to repair.

That said, applecare does NOT cover accidental damage, which would probably be a more likely cause of damage for a computer being used by a 10 year old than manufacturing defect or component failure. Consider getting a macbook at bestbuy and buying their coverage which can include accidents.

Good luck.

My sixth grader said she needed a laptop for homework, so I bought her a netbook. That decision may end up saving her life if she breaks it. 😀
 
For a kid, the refurbished is the way to go. Save some moneys ans buy Apple care. For the software, I save moneys too: give a try to NeoOffice or OpenOffice, they are free and more than complete. They also come with simple drawing program.
My 10 year old daughter has a second hand laptop PC, a 2005 Gateway that I updated to 2 Gb ram. Plenty of fastness. I wouldn't buy her a new mac, no way. At least for a couple more years she can do with that.
What about a previos generation 20" iMac? Now that the new one came out there should be plenty of offers on the old one...it should be cheaper and less droppable than a MB.
 
I think the new white MacBook would look so well with your daughter. It's round, and cute and.. such.. anyways.

I think the AppleCare is a MUST. Since 10 year olds might not be able to use technology as carefully as we adults do.

white MB + AppleCare!
And don't get refurb, get the new one and get the best suitable computer for your daughter. If it's her first ever computer, she deserves a new one and learn how to use it responsibly.

Good luck!
 
I think your daughter will be happy with any laptop at that age. I would go for either a refurb or a previous generation white MacBook. I would also skip on the apple care. People on this forum are suggesting she is "Destructive" without even knowing her - if she is destructive, Apple care doesn't cover that anyways. Lastly, I think the stock hard drive will be enough for her. If in the future it runs out you can get an external hard drive.
 
Get her a Netbook. Cheap, yet can probably do what ever she wants. Paint FTW.

If she already wants a Mac, buy her a Dell mini 10v, put Snow leopard on it, and put an Apple sticker over the Dell logo.

Plus she can carry it around more since its small and light weight.
 
My kids (three of them) have had their own computers since they were 2 years old. All got, what I consider, age-appropriate valued systems. All have been desktop systems (mini's, old PC's, iMac's). My daughter (who, BTW turns 10 next month as well) got an Acer Aspire One netbook (hand down from me) about a year ago. Although she does her best to take care of it, I'd be pulling my hair out if it was a new Macbook.

My advise is to get a stationary desktop system until your child needs the portability of a laptop. But, you know your child better then the rest of us...so if you believe she is mature and responsible enough, then go for it.

BTW, I never buy AppleCare. Buy on a major credit card (like AmEx), and they will automatically double the manufacturer's warranty.
 
as much as I am an advocate for applecare be careful because it doesn't cover any accidental damage. a friend of mine accidentally dropped his mbp in a case from about 1.5 feet in the air and the case bent a little bit. anyway i went to the apple store with him and basically he was told he was SOL because it was accidental damage. apple could fix it but it was gonna cost like $1300 because the top and bottom cases needed to be replaced and the logic board needed to be fixed. On a positive note they did offer to and end up bending the case to fix it aesthetically but basically the logic board could die anyday according to the :apple: genius that was helping him out. Moral of the story apple care is great but if your worried about a 10 yr. old damaging the computer i would really suggest a hard shell case (the speck ones are nice) to provide more protection. The other nice thing about apple care is the phone support since you are in a wheelchair that may really be helpful...personally i have always found apple care to be great on the phone with any problem no matter how big or small. As to iWord vs. office...its a toss up personally i dislike the new versions of office + iWork is cheaper 😀 so i went with iWork and haven't regretted it but it can be a little difficult if a lot of what your daughter does will be emailed to be opened on a pc because with iWork you have to export as a word doc you cant just save it and send it. hope i was able to help!
 
250gb is fine for most but if you need a larger HD I would replace it myself. First it's cheaper than the huge markup apple charges. Second it does NOT void your warranty (provided you don't break anything). There are tutorials at ifixtit.com and it's pretty simple overall to do.
 
Go with the 250 HD. Unless she has a million videos, I don't see a reason why a 10-year-old would need a big hard drive.

As for the debate over new vs. refurbished, I'd actually go new. Your daughter will appreciate the expanded battery life.

And as much as I hate Microsoft Office, for a young student, it's the way to go. She'll have an easier time bringing things into school if needed, and sending documents to friends. You can export as Office in iWork, but for a 10-year-old, you want to make things as simple as possible. Plus, she'll likely be using Office at school, so it'll be a little easier adjustment.

And yes, definitely get AppleCare. Remember you have one year after the purchase date to get it though. It's saved me big-time on two computers now.
 
I think a new Macbook for a 10-year-old is a bit much (and though I don't have my own, I teach 10-year-olds every day). Get her a netbook or (if you want OS X) a used PowerBook on eBay. I just paid $275 for my 15" 6 weeks ago and it has been a dandy machine.
 
While Many of the Posters raise Valid Points about getting an Expensive New machine for a Young Child, I'll Like to remind people that many of us, when we were at that age Got or had access to equally expensive Equipment.

15 -20 Years ago, Most computers cost a fortune, yet our parents gave us access to them, so that we are able to learn, and be able to use the correct tools in the future. I remeber My parents getting a 386 in when I was the same age, and which cost a lot more then cost a great deal more then the price of a macpro, and trusting us to use it and treat it with care.


Also, It very much depends upon the child, as I know a few 6-8 year olds who not only can use Computers very well, but can be trusted to use them with responsibility. on the other hand I also know quiet a few Adults, who I would never trust with expensive equipment as they have no sense of responsibility or respect for property.

As Such if the OP feels that his daughter can be trusted with a expensive device like a Laptop, its his prerogative to get one.

While a Netbook may be more portable and cost effective, it may make more sense to get a macbook, if the family and the school all use Mac's.

Stepping off the Soapbox, I'll strongly agree with the suggestion to get the Applecare, as Experience has shown that Laptops , due to their very nature come under a lot of stress and usually require a few repairs over the lifetime of the device. Geting the Applecare is probably going to be cheaper over the long term then having to pay for repairs out of pocket.
 
Bbusyb said:
15 -20 Years ago, Most computers cost a fortune, yet our parents gave us access to them, so that we are able to learn, and be able to use the correct tools in the future. I remeber My parents getting a 386 in when I was the same age, and which cost a lot more then cost a great deal more then the price of a macpro, and trusting us to use it and treat it with care.
Click to expand...

That's a very good point... but when my parents got that almost $3k machine when I was that age (I was 11, and it was a 486SX2@50MHz), it was on a desk in the living room. I begged them for 2 years to let me put it in my room before I finally gave up (I was pretty much the only one who used it). Finally, after 5 years and having learned my way around inside, I bought a few parts and used some spares I'd collected and built my first computer of my own. I was 15, almost 16.
 
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