MacBook Air

Posted by: Don Atkinson on 08 December 2011

Mrs D would like a small laptop to replace her ThinkPad (which I think is heading in my direction!). She has got her eye on either a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro at about £1k.

Required features (from what I can deduce) include:-

must be small and light
must have video link-up with middle daughter who lives in Canada and runs Skype on a Dell
must store all her photos so as to be recoverable in a flash without fiddley cables/external drives
must work with Facebook
must be wirelessly connected to the internet (her ThinkPad is)
no doubt must be able to run Word (but she doesn't use Excel/Access/Power-point etc)
might be handy if it could run Photoshop Elements or other picture manipulation software
might be handy if it could run Photoshop Premiere or other home video software
must not be able to connect to the Naim Forum

Daughter No 3 has a c.5 year old 17" MacBook Pro and this is seen as too big/heavy.

Any advice would be most gratefully received.

Cheers

Don

Posted on: 10 December 2011 by count.d

Hahaha.

Posted on: 10 December 2011 by bhaagensen

Whats the problem: 1. Don stated that Naim-forum access was not required 2. You can access the forum with the iPad/iPhone app (surely its a bit amputed, but so is the entire Hoopla-forum experience)

Posted on: 10 December 2011 by Willy

Originally Posted by dzambolaja:

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Originally Posted by Purity of Essence:

For quite a bit of the wish list I'm finding that an iPad does well - better in many cases than a desktop, laptop, netbook.

As an addition to a 'proper' computer it works very well - not so with Word, advanced photo and video editing.

For Facebook, Skype, PDF reading, viewing photos and much more it makes sense.

In addition, as you can see, it will not connect to the Naim Forum.

Use Samsung Galaxy 10.1 instead - Naim forum works like a charm on it

I too had an iPad before and got rid of it after 2 months.

Bobby

What, and miss out on the delight that is iTunes......

Willy.

iSarcasm

Posted on: 10 December 2011 by winkyincanada

Originally Posted by Derek Wright:

The growth potential of the iPad is much lower than any variant of a Macbook.

It might be initially convenient to show off pictures of the rug rats and their offspring but beyond that you are hitting limitations.

I think that's a bit harsh. We use our iPads quite a bit for a range of things.

An iPad and a Desktop is a pretty good combo that does pretty much anything you need. A single Macbook can arguably achieve much the same but is less portable at one end, and less powerful at the other. One thing that the iPad offers in relation to portability is huge battery life. Great when travelling.

Posted on: 10 December 2011 by Derek Wright

My comments are to do with the amount of data storage, ability to process RAW image files, ease of backup, need for a separate keyboard if you have a lot of data to enter.

Posted on: 10 December 2011 by Purity of Essence

I won't push against a locked door and I'm no Apple eulogist.

I found my computer needs divide, roughly, into creation and consumption.

The ipad solved the problem of reading draft film scripts without having to print out 100+ pages that would be subject to immediate revision. At present it is easier to jot down notes on paper but Final Draft for ipad is promised.

Landscape monitors, especially the newer wide screen, make reading documents tedious and the page-a-screen possible in portrait makes page turning easier.

Skype used to be a dream on my desktop but I've migrated to the ipad because the Plantronics wireless headset keeps crashing - and the ipad works perfectly. Even the cameras can be useful for the odd access to images of objects under discussion.

Itunes isn't as bad as some have found. It just takes 6 weeks intensive self-training and a wig to replace the torn out hair.

I have mine thoroughly dominated - by giving into its silly ways. It is much like marriage.

Admittedly, I bought one after my (Vista!) laptop and HP NetBook had died. I run a self-built XP dog of a desktop PC from, could it be, 12 years ago.

Apart from video editing, computers have been pretty much capable enough since way back when.

The ipad cannot take the place of a fully featured computer but the opposite has proved equally true for me.

Posted on: 11 December 2011 by Michael_B.

The iPad is surprisingly capable (and what I am using to post this incidentally).

I think Winky's post pretty much has it in a nutshell.

Posted on: 14 December 2011 by Don Atkinson

She visited the Apple Store in Regent Street last weekend whislt spending a few days with our youngest who lives in Wimbledon. Tried a few samples and spoke to a couple of salespeople.

Decided on a 13" MacBook Pro.

Mentioned she is a teacher at a girl's school in Newbury and finds she can get a useful educational discount.

Thanks for all the guidance and advice. It was really, really helpful.

Cheers

Don

Posted on: 14 December 2011 by Michael_B.

Great! There's nothing like a happy ending. And the ability to compare everything "in the flesh" - it's almost a home demo

Posted on: 15 December 2011 by bhaagensen

All good - its a fine choice