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Don't respond to the Anti-Apple Thread Trolls!
PLEASE IGNORE THEM!!!
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I just bought the MacBook Pro with the 15” screen and high-res screen. It is awesome, I absolutely love it. That said, if all he wants to do is sit and surf and do some typing, word-processing, then the macBook Pro is overkill. I will second what another poster has said; this will be too hot a machine to have setting on your lap for extended periods of time.
Sounds like the perfect person for a Mac. In addition you should get the Apple Care. That way they can call Apple for all their issues instead of you.
Things to consider before buying:
Do you (or your friend) have any Windows-only software that they would miss? It is possible to run Windows software on a Mac, but it requires extra effort.Good luck!Can you live with the keyboard? I held off getting a Macbook for a long time just because of the keyboard. I then discovered that it required a very light touch, and then it turned out to be adequate.
Can you live with the shiny screen? They look great in the store, but IMHO they are harder to use, since they reflect every stray bit of light. One reason I chose the 17" model was that it had an optional non-reflective screen. I believe that the 15" models now have the same option.
While I am writing this comment on a Mac Book Pro, tell your friend to get a PC. Apple’s are great, but the new PC running Windows 7 cost a lot less, have a greater variety of software and would be more than adequate for your friend. I have even used one of the cheap notebook PCs and for just casual surfing the net this might be a perfectly fine alternative.
I started using a Mac when my wife updated hers and I got her hand me down laptop. While I use it every day, I still get frustrated at times that things I could do easily on a PC seem more convoluted on a Mac. For a PC user switching to Mac is like driving a car in a left side drive country like Australia or the UK ...you know how to drive, but nothing seems in the right place.
Its a waste of money. Get him a Netbook so he can surf the net.
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Someone else will have suggested this before me, but something else to consider is finding the least expensive 17" Windows laptop, erasing Windows, and reformatting with Ubuntu Linux.
(Comparatively) Inexpensive, reliable and easy to use.
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Pro
The line has been recently updated, so if you decide to get one, now’s the time.
If he can afford it he will not be disappointed.
I can only think of four reasons to get a Windows computer, instead of a Macbook Pro...
1. You can’t afford anything more than windows. Sorry for you, but what is, is.
2. You are can afford more, but you are d*mned cheap (estimates say >15% of population has price as primary concern)
3. You value your time at ZERO and do not mind working for Microsoft for free, fixing viruses, trojans, fixing windows itself (heck, reinstalling it periodically)
4. You have specific software you MUST use that only comes in the Windows flavor.
Other than those ...
... buy a Mac, be productive, enjoy life, don’t be a MSS- MicroSoft Slave.
I made the leap after 13 years of servitude. I enjoy my Mac. It just works. It just works without viruses. It just works without reinstalling the system. My time and energy goes into productivity and not into fixing windows.
And it is a pleasure.
I’m a Macbook user. It sounds like somebody is going to be spending a lot of money on a Mac and not enjoying the true benefits.
Look at the IMacs and see if one could work into his/her situation. The mouse pad and keyboards are bluetooth and would work well with a recliner. Put the Imac on a sidestand.
There, you just saved over a thousand dollars.
You pay twice as much for a Mac over the other computers; but you get things this friend of yours will never use.
OK, one. I wish I could jack up the ram to more than 3 GB, but I doubt that applies to the new machines.
No.
For someone like that - who just wants to turn the computer on, have it work to surf the net, nice big screen AND can afford it — it’s a great idea.
Tell him to go ahead and get the 3 year warrenty too, just in case.
How about a Macbook withan external monitor? Also, does he need to be mobile? Try a Mac Mini with a monitor. If you do go Macbook (not Pro), don’t do it now. Updates are expected soon.
From Google engineer Ian Hickson's talk on HTML 5 (note title bar):
Google engineer Brad Neuberg gives talk on the future of the Web (note eye candy along screen bottom):
Why is it that those who know computing best do not use Microsoft products?
CAVEAT: If he has vision problems, don't waste money on a maximum-resolution screen. The higher the resolution (pixels/inch), the smaller the fonts appear.
Of course, Mac even has a "Increase/Decrease font size" tool you can drag up into the Safari toolbar. Also, you can control font size with "Pinch in/out" gestures on the multi-touch trackpad, too... My eyes are failing, so I use those features all the time.
FWIW, I haven't used a mouse in years, The Mac trackpads are so good that I even use mine for drawing complex graphics -- including creating super-detailed maps.
The 17" is extra-nice for browsing/FReeping. I keep a pair of windows open side-by-side -- and with FR's "slave window" option, I have the forum in the left window and the current thread in the right Window.
Of course, I have nine "desktops" running simultaneously in Spaces. Right now, I'm toggling between FR. designing a presentation in Canvas, and monitoring a desktop with several weather radar screens running. (NE TX is under Tornado Watch -- and has 90 - 125 MPH straight-line winds predicted for this evening!)
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If it is what he has his heart/head set on, I don't see how you could go wrong with a 17" MacBook Pro... (For one thing, he'll never "outgrow" it... '-)
My time is much too valuable to read each reply so if your relative wants a Mac Book Pro and it’s his/her money then buy for them. My wife uses her 6 month old 15” MBP every night with it on her lap and has never complained of over heat as a matter of fact I just checked it and it is COOL to the touch. Perhaps if she was one of those of juvenile mind still playing games it might be a problem....
Let him buy whatever computer he wants. It is his money, not yours, not yet at least.
He will love the MacBook Pro. If it is more than he needs don’t worry, at least it won’t give him problems.
Don’t bother setting up wireless internet for him. He can do it himself without you and it will work first time out. That is one of the beauties of a Mac.
He should get Applecare and max out the memory. He will call Apple instead of you, he will talk to someone who speaks good idiomatic English in an accent he can understand. Someone based in the US or Canada.
I have a MacBook Pro and a wireless router. I have had a lot of people visit over the past two years. Every single one with a Mac, I tell them the network name and write down the password. No one ever has a connection problem. Every single Windows user, I give them the same info and they can never connect. All the teenage kids claim they must have gotten a virus. Inevitably, I can get their computer connected, but it takes 15-30 minutes to fight through the Windows settings.
We became an all-Mac family several years ago and the time fighting computer problems dropped to less than 10% of what it used to take. Anything I can’t fix at home, even with free phone help, I make an appointment (same day) at the local Apple store, and they fix it for me — free.
I think the real “Windows tax” is the time it takes to do anything.
I have never noticed a lack of software for my Mac, although I do not play games. I see no disadvantage there.
Everything else works just like you think is should, not the way Windows thinks it should.
I run Parallels and Windows stuff works just fine on my Mac, running right alongside my Mac programs, right down to the same crappy mouse response I always get on a Windows box.
MS Word and Excel work on both Mac and Windows, and the files exchange seamlessly. Powerpoint, not so much. Pagination and fonts are different, but that is Microsoft’s problem, not Apple’s.