Laptop dilemma

Ashen-Shugar · 19th January 2005, 11:24 AM

Here's my situation. My sister is starting a TAFE course fairly soon, and she after a lappie to do her assignments/work on. She's asked me to look into the different models available and find the one that's most right for her.
This is a win/lose situation from my point of view because although it means she won't be using my computer, I will have to teach her how to use it and troubleshoot anything that goes wrong.

Now with this in mind I'm after a laptop that easy to use and won't break the bank. She's nearly completely computer illiterate (she only learned how to use email a few months ago and netbank is still beyong her limits). It doesn't need a DVD burner or anything and it would be good to keep it close to under $2000

I was originally thinking a dell because of the cash-off offers that they have and the fact that they're not too expensive. However my mate has a powerbook and he's been telling me how nice it is to use and how simple it makes everything. I can get an education discount on an ibook making the basic model $1440 but the problem is if anything breaks I wouldn't know how to fix it.

Which direction do laptop owners think I should go with?

Diskomatt · 19th January 2005, 12:05 PM

Go an iBook, there's nothing you'll need to help her with. No malware, no spyware, no viruses. I can provide lists of compatible or alternative software for anything she'd need. MacOS X shits on windows from all directions, and as you can see from other threads in this forum, the iBook is very well received by many traditional PC users.

yoink · 19th January 2005, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disko_matt

<snip>MacOS X shits on windows from all directions<snip>

Sounds messy.

An iBook would be a good idea if your sister is a non-experienced computer user, as OS X is really easy to get the hang of. The only thing I would check is if she needs to run any MS specific software, as part of her TAFE course...
Personally, at the moment, I'd probably like to get the Dell 700m, as it seems good value at $2k with a DVD burner, and 12.1" wide-screen monitor

Diskomatt · 19th January 2005, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yoink

The only thing I would check is if she needs to run any MS specific software, as part of her TAFE course...

Office is available for mac, along with almost every pro-app available.

Hope this helps.

Ashen-Shugar · 19th January 2005, 2:10 PM

Well that narrows it down to either the:

12 inch, 1.2ghz, 256mb, 30gb ibook for $1,438.80
or
14 inch, 1.33ghz, 256mb, 60gb ibook for $1,843.60

Is the extra 2 inchs and .11ghz worth the extra $400?
Or would it be better to get the 12 incher and up the ram to 512 as i've heard OSX loves a bit of extra memory. The 60gb is moot as I don't think she utilise 30gb anyway.

zeltra · 19th January 2005, 2:42 PM

I think the 12" one would be better as it will not only allow you to upgrade to more RAM, but it'll also be a little bit lighter to carry around which can make a big difference if you need to carry it all day.

19th January 2005, 11:24 AM	#1
Ashen-Shugar Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 104	Laptop dilemma Here's my situation. My sister is starting a TAFE course fairly soon, and she after a lappie to do her assignments/work on. She's asked me to look into the different models available and find the one that's most right for her. This is a win/lose situation from my point of view because although it means she won't be using my computer, I will have to teach her how to use it and troubleshoot anything that goes wrong. Now with this in mind I'm after a laptop that easy to use and won't break the bank. She's nearly completely computer illiterate (she only learned how to use email a few months ago and netbank is still beyong her limits). It doesn't need a DVD burner or anything and it would be good to keep it close to under $2000 I was originally thinking a dell because of the cash-off offers that they have and the fact that they're not too expensive. However my mate has a powerbook and he's been telling me how nice it is to use and how simple it makes everything. I can get an education discount on an ibook making the basic model $1440 but the problem is if anything breaks I wouldn't know how to fix it. Which direction do laptop owners think I should go with?

19th January 2005, 12:05 PM	#2
Diskomatt Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Radelaide Posts: 2,237	Go an iBook, there's nothing you'll need to help her with. No malware, no spyware, no viruses. I can provide lists of compatible or alternative software for anything she'd need. MacOS X shits on windows from all directions, and as you can see from other threads in this forum, the iBook is very well received by many traditional PC users. __________________ mattro.org

19th January 2005, 2:42 PM	#6
zeltra Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sydney Posts: 1,288	I think the 12" one would be better as it will not only allow you to upgrade to more RAM, but it'll also be a little bit lighter to carry around which can make a big difference if you need to carry it all day. __________________ I'm not normally a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman !

19th January 2005, 2:10 PM	#5
Ashen-Shugar Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 104	Well that narrows it down to either the: 12 inch, 1.2ghz, 256mb, 30gb ibook for $1,438.80 or 14 inch, 1.33ghz, 256mb, 60gb ibook for $1,843.60 Is the extra 2 inchs and .11ghz worth the extra $400? Or would it be better to get the 12 incher and up the ram to 512 as i've heard OSX loves a bit of extra memory. The 60gb is moot as I don't think she utilise 30gb anyway.