Resolved The not that great giveaway: which would you give?

[LizKat]

I need to give one of my spare machines to a nextgen relative. Need some help figuring which one.

2010 white macbook, (with motherboard and batt replaced 2016), 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM. I think this one might be pretty behind the times, running.. Mavericks? but I could upgrade it I guess. Will it run Sierra?

or

mid-2012 MacBook Pro bot as apple refurb in 2014 with 256GB hard drive, 8GB RAM. This is running El Capitan for sure.

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So, if you had the above laptops and only needed one of them as a spare, and at that only to watch entertainment or use temporarily while other machine out for repair, which one would you give to a deserving nextgen to be used for spreadsheets, email, browsing, etc? She's not a gamer.

Both machines are in good operating condition, light use. The nextgen’s current machine is some much much older MacBook Pro running... gasp... Leopard.

My concern is wanting to give her the machine more likely to last longer w/ regular use since it would become her primary machine, whereas whichever one I keep would still only get light use.


My own primary machine is another mid-2012 MBP w/ 1TB drive, 8GB RAM and yeah running El Capitan.

 

[Mousse]

How deserving is the kid? The MPB is clearly superior, so if they're very deserving, give 'em that one.

The latest OS isn't always the greatest. Many times, an older OS works much better on an older machine. I've got a MacBook still running 10.4 (Tiger). Since none of the programs I use on it requires a newer OS, I kept it at 10.4 for because it's snappier than the newer versions on the old machine.

My rule of thumb for upgrading is only if it is necessary (program requirement) or it has a must have feature lacking in the older OS.

 

[LizKat]

How deserving is the kid? The MPB is clearly superior, so if they're very deserving, give 'em that one.

Very deserving, intrinsically! And she's giving me half her potato crop, 2 pounds garlic, 10 lbs onions, 5 lbs each leeks and carrots,,,, and a bunch of Kirby cukes, already pickled) plus some organic chocolate w ginger or orange, and, anytime on demand, her excellent guacamole or from-scratch pad Thai. So if all that ain't worth some pile of electron spinners, what could be?!

The latest OS isn't always the greatest. Many times, an older OS works much better on an older machine. I've got a MacBook still running 10.4 (Tiger). Since none of the programs I use on it requires a newer OS, I kept it at 10.4 for because it's snappier than the newer versions on the old machine.

My rule of thumb for upgrading is only if it is necessary (program requirement) or it has a must have feature lacking in the older OS.

Good point on the OS. Maybe I should keep the white macBook since really all I use it for is movies, podcasts, music. At least I wouldn't have to break my brain upgrading it before next weekend which is when I want to give one of the machines to her. Plus I'd have only minimal experience of how the machine I was giving her behaved with a newer OS if she ran into related issues.

I did put some miles on the MBP before I got its refurb sibling that I use now, but nothing extraordinary. I don't have much experience on that model after it's out of warranty however. I keep reading about some models of MBP that had GPU or display issues after some period of time... don't think it was the mid-2012 machines. I don't tend to look for problems I don't have so of course with a trouble-free experience on that MBP, I realize I could just be lucky, and the question then is will that luck hold out for the longer term with a new user?

The Apple care warranty on the one I'd give her just ran out in March this year. I've barely used it since April 2016 when I bought this one refurb from Apple, only to maintain its OS and any other software upgrades since then. So it had a couple years daily use, that's it.

The white macbook I bought used but did replace the batt and motherboard. the SSD was in it, have no idea of the usage there.

 

[chown33]

I concur with giving away the 2012 MBP, for all the reasons given, both technical and familial.

I have a 13" 2012 MBP, acquired new in Nov 2012, and I just looked up the model ID; it's a "mid 2012". I've had no issues with it ever, and it continues to work just fine (using it right now).

To get the model ID, enter this command in a Terminal window:

sysctl hw.model

The output will be similar to this:

hw.model: MacBookPro9,2

Then look up the model ID here:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201300

 

[0388631]

2012 MBP. And, ooh, pad thai on demand. Lucky. Making pad thai at home is... a disaster. I manage to make a mess each time.

 

[LizKat]

I concur with giving away the 2012 MBP, for all the reasons given, both technical and familial. ~snip~

Yes, the MacBookPro9,2 --that's the mid-2012 that I have two of. It's great that yours is still problem-free after five years. otoh that's been my experience with mac laptops anyway, they might go bad immediately or once in awhile show up DOA and need exchange, but otherwise they run great even way past official EOL if you have some use for them and related same-period peripherals etc.

OK so let's call this a done thread, the white book stays chez moi and the mid-2012 goes... thanks to everyone, my nextgen sez thanks too!

@Zenithal yeah she actually likes making pad Thai. Lucky moi. I'll have some next week!

 

[0388631]

I ate a handful of Thai peppers this evening with dinner. Painful experience but so satisfying.

 

[chown33]

OK so let's call this a done thread, the white book stays chez moi and the mid-2012 goes... thanks to everyone, my nextgen sez thanks too!

@Zenithal yeah she actually likes making pad Thai. Lucky moi. I'll have some next week!

So do those of us who concurred with your decision before the "Resolved" prefix went into effect get samples of pad thai?

I'm not sure how to transfer pad thai over TCP/IP, but I'll start on an RFC for PT/IP (Pad Thai over Internet Protocol) soon. I think one of the streaming protocols can be modified for noodle transfer fairly easily.

 

[LizKat]

So do those of us who concurred with your decision before the "Resolved" prefix went into effect get samples of pad thai?

I'm not sure how to transfer pad thai over TCP/IP, but I'll start on an RFC for PT/IP (Pad Thai over Internet Protocol) soon. I think one of the streaming protocols can be modified for noodle transfer fairly easily.

I knew there was gonna be a price tag on whatever I got outta this thread. Virtual pad thai?

Maybe a photo? Think @Zenithal is entirely opposed to stuff like that iirc. A prior one on its way to the table and appreciatively silent demolition lol

 

[chown33]

I knew there was gonna be a price tag on whatever I got outta this thread. Virtual pad thai?

Maybe a photo? Think @Zenithal is entirely opposed to stuff like that iirc. A prior one on its way to the table and appreciatively silent demolition lol

View attachment 714556​

plz send moar pad tye. k thx bai.

 

[LizKat]

roger wilco over and out

 

[0388631]

Definitely like the real stuff. I still can't taste anything. I was chewing some gum earlier but it may have been plain parafin wax.

 

[LizKat]

Definitely like the real stuff. I still can't taste anything. I was chewing some gum earlier but it may have been plain parafin wax.

You definitely overdid it with the peppers. Were they all the way red? Here the growing season is short so the best I ever grew Thai hot peppers myself, i started them inside way early in milk jugs I could bury later, and kept them on the deck until mid-june to avoid late frosts, they were still green when picked which meant they were just ordinary hot, not like a hundred thousand scoville units lol. Poor you!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

@LizKat, @Zenithal & @chown33, I love Pad Thai - actually, I don't think that there is an Asian dish I dislike, but, while I would account myself a rather good cook (sometimes, even, an excellent chef), I do know my limitations.

And Pad Thai falls into that category. If you know someone who can prepare from scratch - homemade - a really good one, you are blessed.

Such a person is well deserving of an old computer.

I am familiar with this dilemma, as, over the years, both of my brothers have inherited my Mac cast-offs.