Mac users! Thinking of getting an iBook for the mom

[cw42]

I'm a devout PC user, and i'm not really familiar with OSX. However, I was thinking of convincing my mom to get a iBook. She wanted to get a laptop for work. The only apps she would be really using are MS Office, Photoshop, and Firefox. She's not that familiar with Windows anyway, so I think it'd be ok for her (and myself) to start learning OSX. I've heard that for a computer beginner, Macs are easier to learn than Windows.

What i'm asking here is... is this the right choice for her?

Also, does OSX support something like a Chinese language pack? Or MS Office maybe. She needs to be able to type Chinese characters sometimes for work.

And, how is the build quality of Apples in general compared to Dell (and we all kno Dell dosn't exactly excell here)?

If I think that the iBook isn't the right choice for her, i'll prob tell her to get a Dell 600M. She wants something with a big enough screen, and not too heavy. I have an 8600, so something like that would be too big for her, while a 700M's screen is too small. What i'm looking for is something with a screen like 14", fairly light, and <$1000.

 

[thirdlegstump]

I think build quality of the iBook series are absolute crap. Keys pop off, plastic cracks here n there..forget about it. I like the Powerbooks better but they are a bit more expensive. I haven't seen the Dell 600M but I used to have an Inspiron 4000 that was pretty much bulletproof but it wasn't MacOS X.....

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: deathkoba
I think build quality of the iBook series are absolute crap. Keys pop off, plastic cracks here n there..forget about it.

Oh boy, should be fun watching the responses to that

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: deathkoba
I think build quality of the iBook series are absolute crap. Keys pop off, plastic cracks here n there..forget about it.

Oh boy, should be fun watching the responses to that

Powerbooks > ibooks

Powerbooks > Dwell 600m

[/thread]

 

[Jassi]

Nobody is gonna say "Wrong Forum"?

 

[suse920]

nah get ibm

 

[Platypus]

Originally posted by: deathkoba
I think build quality of the iBook series are absolute crap. Keys pop off, plastic cracks here n there..forget about it. I like the Powerbooks better but they are a bit more expensive. I haven't seen the Dell 600M but I used to have an Inspiron 4000 that was pretty much bulletproof but it wasn't MacOS X.....

That's interesting, I've found just the opposite. Powerbooks are made like crap and the iBook isn't. I've had my 600mhz iBook for years with no problem whatsoever. At my uni job we see every product mac makes and the ones we always have to send back are powerbooks.

 

[aplefka]

My friend got a Powerbook G4 recently and he loves it. He's using it for hardcore video editing and even though he just got his 2GB stick today, it was running fine on 512 megs and he was doing much more than your mom probably will.

They do have a Chinese character pack that comes installed with the OS and also Office comes with one as well I believe. I'm a PC junkie but I admit to liking some Macs.

 

[Ornery]

I was thinking of convincing my mom to get a iBook.

Well, just exactly what did she want? Did she even want a notebook? This thing has to be portable for what reason?

Check with Ross on the latest notebook deals. He used to keep up with that stuff.

 

[dartworth]

Look for refresh on the iBook line on June 6...

Amazon currently is offering a $100 rebate on some iBooks...

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

 

[DaveSimmons]

We just got the 12" ibook for work to be able to test some development work we'll be contracting out.

Build quality did not impress me. The keyboard is worse than the couple of Dell Latitude D600s we got recently, and much worse than my old Thinkpad.

The Latitude 14" 1024x768 display is nice, but I have no idea about the cheaper Inspirons.

Also, be careful if you buy the ibook from somewhere besides the Apple store (like Amazon) since you might get an older version of OSX and Apple charges for even minor upgrades.

If you go with Dell, check GottaDeal.com for coupons, RossMAN & Brad saved me about $100 on my 2001fp monitor.

 

[Kadarin]

My mom is currently using my iMac (800mhz 17" LCD), and it works because she doesn't have to worry too much about viruses/spyware/etc. It's not perfect, but it does the job.

 

[Eug]

For that stuff, the iBook would be fine, unless she's a hardcore Photoshop jockey. 1024x768 isn't the greatest for Photoshop, but for light usage it's fine.

The current iBook is an excellent value, although I'd agree to wait until June 6 just to see if anything new is released.

For Chinese, it's built into the OS (as are lots of other languages). I don't use it myself, but a Chinese employee of a friend of mine is very happy with it. He had never used a Mac before but was given an old Power Mac with OS X Panther at his workplace, and immediately fell in love with the Chinese support. All I know is that Chinese websites work fine automatically on the Mac (both with old characters and the new ones), but with Windows I have to install those stupid fonts or else I get a bazillion "?" all over the page. BTW, this works fine both with Apple's Safari browser and with Firefox. (I keep Firefox around because my bank site doesn't work consistently with the latest version of Safari.)

eg. http://www.china.cn

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Ornery
Check with Ross on the latest notebook deals. He used to keep up with that stuff.

If you're ready to buy soon (tomorrow morning) Dell Home Office will have the following coupon:

• Avail. 6/1 8:00am Save $600 on any Inspiron Notebook purchase of $1499 or more.
  Coupon expires 6/2/05 at 5:59 am CT or after 3000 uses, whichever comes first.
• Avail. 6/1 8:00am Save $750 on any Inspiron Notebook purchase of $1899 or more.
  Coupon expires 6/2/05 at 5:59 am CT or after 3000 uses, whichever comes first.
• Avail. 6/1 8:00am Save $750 on any Inspiron Notebook using DPA purchase of $1799 or more.
  Coupon expires 6/2/05 at 5:59 am CT or after 3000 uses, whichever comes first.

 

[Ornery]

Holy crap, $1,800 is a deal lately? :Q

I'd STILL like to know why this just has to be a laptop?

 

[RichieZ]

ibook keyboard is terrible, i had one for about 2 months before I got the 12" powerbook. And still the one on my thinkpad is better.

But OSX>WinXP

 

[RossMAN]

Dell coupons are now active and live

 

[Ornery]

She wanted to get a laptop for work...

Why a laptop? She could buy a more powerful desktop system for use at home, and a second one for work, with a combined cost of half that laptop's price!

 

[chcarnage]

Firefox, MS Office and Photoshop should be no problem because their OS X ports are good. I have no experiences with Dell for a comparision, but the keys on my iBook did not pop away for three years.

Back in the Windows 98 days, Apple was proud of its implementation of Japanese characters. Yes I know that Chinese!=Japanese and I'm not fully informed about the current situation either... But OS X comes with Chinese fonts preinstalled, at least it displays Asian characters when I visit a .cn website

If you go for the 14" Models and ad some RAM (like everybody recomends), you have to spend more than $1000. However the model lineup is about to change (see MacRumor's Buyersguide), so you may get a sweet deal on an old model or better specs on a new one if you wait.