Question for NickFitz et al

[Sysman]

Jesus, you've got a chip on your shoulder old boy!

Sometimes you need a Mac - it's better at some things. It's not a generic PC.

If she's a designer or artist, or in media or music, then Mac is where it's at.

If she's studying accounting then yes, a £399 Dell will do.

That sums it up well, although if she's an accountancy student and in a band, a Mac is also a sensible choice. In other words, if she has "arty" interests outside her studies, that should be taken into account.

The other thing is longevity. My iBook is still going strong, but the folks I know who bought a Wintel equivalent at the same time are on their second or third replacement.

On the question of a Macbook or Macbook Pro, it is worth comparing the I/O capabilities. For example I chose an iBook and only when it came to exploring its music capabilities (much later) did I realise it doesn't have an audio in.

On the cost thing, which always crops up in these Wintel vs Mac discussions, I don't drive the cheapest car available, and I don't shop in Ikea or Aldi either. Why I should suddenly change my buying habits when it comes to a computer beats me.

[NickFitz]

It's worth her while waiting until she's actually registered at Uni, as Apple offers some worthwhile educational discounts. (Here's the registration page.)

If planning a RAM upgrade, definitely go for third-party memory - it's easy enough to fit (you need a Philips size 0 screwdriver). I got my memory from Crucial.com - ordered it about half four in the afternoon, it arrived in the post the next morning

There's no point paying the extra for the black MacBook unless she's willing to do so just for looks. You can fit a larger hard drive yourself - takes a few minutes, assuming you do it straight away and therefore don't have to back up and restore the old drive. You need a Torx size 8 screwdriver, in addition to the Philips 0 mentioned above - both RAM and disk upgrades are done via the battery comnpartment, so do both at the same time.

It's well worth getting Parallels Desktop so she can run Windows on the Mac desktop. This means she can use the Windows version of MS Office, which can also be obtained with a hefty educational discount.

Oh, and she'll want a decent-sized external drive (USB or Firewire 400) so Time Machine can take care of backing up all her stuff automatically.

[bogeyman]

It's worth her while waiting until she's actually registered at Uni, as Apple offers some worthwhile educational discounts. (Here's the registration page.)

If planning a RAM upgrade, definitely go for third-party memory - it's easy enough to fit (you need a Philips size 0 screwdriver). I got my memory from Crucial.com - ordered it about half four in the afternoon, it arrived in the post the next morning

There's no point paying the extra for the black MacBook unless she's willing to do so just for looks. You can fit a larger hard drive yourself - takes a few minutes, assuming you do it straight away and therefore don't have to back up and restore the old drive. You need a Torx size 8 screwdriver, in addition to the Philips 0 mentioned above - both RAM and disk upgrades are done via the battery comnpartment, so do both at the same time.

It's well worth getting Parallels Desktop so she can run Windows on the Mac desktop. This means she can use the Windows version of MS Office, which can also be obtained with a hefty educational discount.

Sound advice NickFitz.

I favour VMWare Fusion over Parallels but that's probably because I had loads of grief with early versions of Parallels. I expect it's even-stevens now between the two products.

I would go with a native Mac version of Office however, rather than a VM-hosted one. Office is such a hog (albeit an indispensable hog). If you only have a basic MacBook, performance of Win32 Office in a VM could be quite annoying.

Office 2008 for Mac (home & student edition) is fairly cheap-ish.

NeoOffice (Open Office port) isn't bad, but doesn't exactly sparkle.

[tay]

Folks, many thanks indeed for the helpful replies.

She is reading Medicine and clearly wants a Mac 'cause they are 'pretty'.

Tay - many thanks for your insite. How did you know I am a thief?

You told us all how you are a thief in one of your silly stories about your past.

Wants a mac because it is pretty...

She knows as much about computers as the mac fanboys on this thread....

[Moscow Mule]

You told us all how you are a thief in one of your silly stories about your past.

Wants a mac because it is pretty...

She knows as much about computers as the mac fanboys on this thread....

Tay, I recently spent some time in your homeland. You'd be hard pressed to find a nicer bunch of folk, friendly, welcoming and just generally pleasant to be around.

So I guess my question is, why are you such a dickhead?

[NickFitz]

You told us all how you are a thief in one of your silly stories about your past.

I think you'll find that was EternalOptimist

Going to apologise, tay?

[tay]

I think you'll find that was EternalOptimist

Going to apologise, tay?

Of course I am, I was wrong.

Apologies EqualOpportunities.

[tay]

Tay, I recently spent some time in your homeland. You'd be hard pressed to find a nicer bunch of folk, friendly, welcoming and just generally pleasant to be around.

Quite right. We are great.

[Fred Bloggs]

Slightly off topic, but my daughter uses Photoshop CS3, Quark Express etc.. and other media related software a lot. I think a Mac is the natural home for this kind of software, but the Wintel box she uses does everything perfectly well. What would a Mac bring to the party that the Wintel box doesn't?

[tay]

Slightly off topic, but my daughter uses Photoshop CS3, Quark Express etc.. and other media related software a lot. I think a Mac is the natural home for this kind of software, but the Wintel box she uses does everything perfectly well. What would a Mac bring to the party that the Wintel box doesn't?

At university level? Nothing... except it looks pwetty....