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Old ibook or new vista laptop

E

ETID

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 6, 2008
148
0
Recently my parents have embraced the internet for business and they are wanting a laptop for BASIC needs such as email, banking etc.

They have been using my mac temporarily until I leave and love how easy mail etc is but only want to spend around £250-£300. This leaves the choice of either a low end laptop or an old mac, for example ibook. I'm personally leaning towards the mac as its just easier to use for them and I'm

What do you guys think about it? any hidden pitfalls lurking in old macs?

cheers
 
PC laptop is enough for them but I still recommend to get a Mac. Investing a little more now, pays well in future. Tell them that if they buy a good one now, it'll last years, PC won't.
 
Thing is though guys all they need is mail and safari, NOTHING else so really spending more won't really benefit as even a pc thats 3 yrs old will still service their needs entirely. I'm just trying to decide whether a new pc will be better than a (most-likely ppc at that price) mac.

To be fair there are still loads of people using ppc's so for such little use I'm tempted as I feel OSX is far superior. Just wondering if there is anything specific I should look out for or avoid? I don't want them really to spend more as money is tight.

thanks for the ultra quick replies
 
Well, avoid Vista for one thing, even on PCs, XP is better; having worked with both, I'd recommend a Mac, and suggest - as cost is an issue - that you get a refurb MB, or an old MB.

Cheers and good luck
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Well, avoid Vista for one thing, even on PCs, XP is better; having worked with both, I'd recommend a Mac, and suggest - as cost is an issue - that you get a refurb MB, or an old MB.

Cheers and good luck
Click to expand...
Why so anti Vista? Seriously, in most cases Vista only has issues due to low spec computers or bad software installed with it. XP is actually fine.

Seriously, save the cash. They'd be better off with a new Windows laptop than a 5 year old Mac.
 
I missed that it was for your folks.
Just get whatever is cheapest. Using a Mac doesn't turn anyone into a genius. So if they just need to click "Internet" and "e-mail", then get whatever's cheap and reliable. They will never care about the difference of OS X and Windows.
 
$300 will buy you a nice Apple laptop. Get a G4 thats 1.33GHz or better and that should be fine. I don't see why running 10.5 for a couple years would be a bad thing since Apple will no doubt continue supporting it. For email and web browsing, I think a solid Powerbook or iBook is plenty.
 
7031 said:
Why so anti Vista? Seriously, in most cases Vista only has issues due to low spec computers or bad software installed with it. XP is actually fine.

Seriously, save the cash. They'd be better off with a new Windows laptop than a 5 year old Mac.
Click to expand...

Vista doesn't work well on my friends gaming rig (E8600 @ 4.2GHz, ATI 4870 1Gb, 8Gb RAM etc). Vista just sucks, no matter what you do.

PCs will always have "unknown problems". That's why your parents should get a Mac. You know how to deal with 'em and you can always ask from MacRumors. G4 iBook is enough for them
 
This is really a no brainer - do you really want to invest in a 5 year old computer?

As for Vista, it's on a par with OS X Leopard IMO, especially with the latest updates. I've found it to be rock solid and I get way, way less program crashes using Vista than I do on Leopard.
 
...

There isnt a choice to make here,

Newer Vista laptop is a obvious choice, as much as i love using leopard, i use Vista just as much and have very few problems with it. Plus the Vista laptop will last longer than the already acient iBook.
 
neiltc13 said:
This is really a no brainer - do you really want to invest in a 5 year old computer?

As for Vista, it's on a par with OS X Leopard IMO, especially with the latest updates. I've found it to be rock solid and I get way, way less program crashes using Vista than I do on Leopard.
Click to expand...

Do you really want to invest in a computer at all?

And I agree, Vista is just fine, if a bit confusing, on the right hardware. I got tired of waiting for the RC to download, so I can't wait to see what W7 like. It seems they've ripped ever more features out of OS X this time. (Cough, Jump Lists. Cough, new Taskbar)
 
Hellhammer said:
PCs will always have "unknown problems". That's why your parents should get a Mac. You know how to deal with 'em and you can always ask from MacRumors. G4 iBook is enough for them
Click to expand...
Just like my Mac's "unknown problems".

I'd go for the Vista machine. SP2 is a noticeable boost over SP1. The dual core mobile Celerons should be trickling out into the market. I wouldn't spend any money on a PowerPC notebook.
 
yeah try to avoid PPC, if i were you i would convince them into investing into a new(er) macbook
 
I have had 3 PC Laptops in the last 4 years!!! I got fed up and bought a new macbook pro. I hope this one lasts longer than the 12-14 months I got out of each of my PC's. Overall I spent $3500 on those PC's (just buying price) and they failed me. Don't fall into the WINDOWS TRAP. Go for newish Intel mac and you won't regret it.
 
First off: a consumer machine is not an investment. A pro machine, maybe. Not consumer.

Secondly, an iBook will work just great for the OP's parents needs. Sure, a MacBook would be better, and if he can find one in that price range, by all means he should go for it. But the iBook is still quite a capable machine, especially for just web surfing and email.
 
...I've spent most of the night playing with an eeePC1000HE that I ordered on line for a friend... its actually pretty remarkable compared to my prev model the eeePC1000H...

This one has a ~10+ hour battery life, chiclet keyboard, B/G/N wifi and BT, still just 3 lbs, 3 USB ports and a multi-touch track pad... best of all its only ~$375 USD... hook it up to a monitor and pop 2 GB RAM into it and they'll be good (it uses winXP also)...
 
7031 said:
Why so anti Vista? Seriously, in most cases Vista only has issues due to low spec computers or bad software installed with it. XP is actually fine.

Seriously, save the cash. They'd be better off with a new Windows laptop than a 5 year old Mac.
Click to expand...

In general, I preferred XP and found it very solid, and quite a lot of PC users felt the same. Vista got a very bad press when it first came out, and while I take your point about low-spec computers, it is a memory hog & is overly complicated. Even with adequately equipped computers, when I have to use it, - such as now- my current work environment, alas, specifically stressed that it is a "Windows-only" environment and I can't even access my work email from my MBP (though I can from other PCs) - there are occasional problems. I'd be surprised if X7 wasn't a considerable improvement.

For the record, I prefer OS, but my trusty MBP is sitting at home in western Europe waiting for me.

To the OP, there are good Windows computers available. I have had Toshiba, and Sony in the past and they were fine computers,, and at work, we have HPs, which are perfectly adequate. The OS of the Mac means that it tends to be a bit more "age-proofed" and thus should last you longer, than comparable Windows machines, but my Toshiba lasted me four years without a problem.

My original recommendation stands. If you can get a MB refurb, (the white one) it is probably the best combination of value and quality that you will be able to find and should last several years.

Cheers and good luck
 
Go with the cheap vista laptop and throw a user-friendly Linux distro on it (like ubuntu).

Save yourself the cost of a decent anti-malware package and keeps you (for the most part) from having to worry about them getting infected.

Web and email should be just as easy for them as it would be on vista or OS X.
 
What imav said, get a cheap laptop, use Ubuntu, or if you're adventerous debian ;).

But never, ever put vista on it :eek:, it's major crap, it has like a timer that makes it crash on totally random moments.
 
All very good reasons for and against. thanks guys. I think I'm going to do the sensible thing and take them to a shop and show em a pc and see if they get on with it. If not then its the ibook because really you can't seem to get any macbooks under £350.

cheers
 
For the tasks at hand even an old G3 iMac would last for years to come. If your parents like Mac OS by all means go for a cheap ppc Mac. They won't need anything that even 10.4 can't offer. For people not familiar with computers who just need mail & a browser a Mac is certainly a better choice - usually far less that can go wrong. And for mail & browsing you won't notice a difference between a 1 ghz+ G4 and a brand new C2D machine.
 
@ chaosbunny

Yeah that is my main thought, the only thing holding me back is the whole bother is getting one off places like ebay (had a few bad experiences).

Sometimes its just too easy to get swept away in the ever growing specs of machines, even when they are going to be used for such small mundane tasks.

Thansk for the perspective
 
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