Second hand Mac

Azrael_1701

andrewjf wrote: »

totally agree with this. If there is no specific need for a Mac, then don't get one. Windows netbook is a much cheaper solution.

Totally agree aswell. Also, if he does need to take it to school or use it for school work, chances are your school will be using PCs, so any software wont be compatible with the mac, if he wants a copy.

andrewjf

Azrael_1701 wrote: »

Totally agree aswell. Also, if he does need to take it to school or use it for school work, chances are your school will be using PCs, so any software wont be compatible with the mac, if he wants a copy.

You can buy Apple's virtual machine environment called Parallels, which allows the Mac to run a Windows O/S.
However it's all extra £££'s.

wba31

andrewjf wrote: »

You can buy Apple's virtual machine environment called Parallels, which allows the Mac to run a Windows O/S.
However it's all extra £££'s.

or export apple docs as windows friendly docs...

andrewjf

wba31 wrote: »

or export apple docs as windows friendly docs...

True, but I think if you're getting a Mac, then Parallels is very useful for those rare times when you need to revert to an inferior O/S.. um, I mean when you really need to use Windows to run your legacy apps.

What I did after buying my Mac Mini was use Parallels to transfer everything off my old laptop on to the Mac. I can now switch between OS X and Windows environments at the click of a button.

wba31

andrewjf wrote: »

True, but I think if you're getting a Mac, then Parallels is very useful for those rare times when you need to revert to an inferior O/S.. um, I mean when you really need to use Windows to run your legacy apps.

What I did after buying my Mac Mini was use Parallels to transfer everything off my old laptop on to the Mac. I can now switch between OS X and Windows environments at the click of a button.

When i bought my first mac (2007) my 18 month old windows PC (that had cost me £800) had completely packed in. so i just started fresh with the mac, and have never needed windows since...

andrewjf

wba31 wrote: »

When i bought my first mac (2007) my 18 month old windows PC (that had cost me £800) had completely packed in. so i just started fresh with the mac, and have never needed windows since...

Well there's only one app I actuallly need Windows for at home, and that's a superb video/photo utility that came with my Sony camcorder.

I think the reliability and extremely good usability of Macs will make them more popular in future. You only have to look at the number of Windows questions raised in this forum to get an idea of the scope of problems it throws up.

Of course posting something like this will probably get me labelled as an Apple fanboy or "defining myself by the O/S I use" lol! The truth is I couldn't care less which O/S I'm using. It's only a tool to get the job done for me. I use a Windows based laptop for work, but I'm sure my life would be easier if the company used Macs.

bikebarbie

ok now that you have teased me enough what pc laptop would you recommend for no more than £250

wba31

bikebarbie wrote: »

ok now that you have teased me enough what pc laptop would you recommend for no more than £250

I have no idea, I'm an apple geek... I would look at a laptop over a netbook, i don't trust them being so small (like i don't trust the macbook air...) plus I'm not sure if they have CD drives on them... get windows 7, as i know vista was a load of rubbish...

zagubov

Wow – some of the advice sound like it's telling you to sell on your car when the ashtrays get full!

If you want a laptop that will print with current printers and surf the web and get email,, use Office software and work with music, videos, photos, images, a G4 should be fine, and would be in their price range.

If you’ve loads of old software make sure the laptop uses Tiger. If not, then Leopard, or even look into intel.

Here's what Tiger/G4 won't do -Spotify, kindle, games. BUt there's loads of software like iPhoto, etc,. that will work fine.

Glance through the specs of printers/scanners in the shops and you should see plenty that work with Tiger/Leopard /G4s .

You need to be aware that Macs are user-friendly and useful for most things ( except maybe games). They reached this stage years ago and haven’t improved much since then. However they do innovate their hardware to keep their commercial users happy with not much benefit for their domestic users (they update speeds etc. without improving their bread-and-butter basic performance).

On ebay you can find these in your price range; remember - if Buy it Now use the Airmiles link to get your airmiles (being devalued soon but don’t let that rush your decision, it’s a minor benefit) or if it’s a bidding auction use auctionsniper –(free at first and v. cheap thereafter unless you’re buying a house or helicopter!).

In a nutshell, try to get a look at a G4 ibook in action, at least 1GHz, wireless, good amount of memory, superdrive etc. see what you think. There’s a heck of a lot of Emperor’s new clothes out there in the new computer range and it’s not your job to keep up sales figures for new top-end items.

23n1th

bikebarbie wrote: »

or what is the cheapest second hand mac option? There must be a middle ground between a £250 and a £600 mac?

Theres no middle ground with apple unfortunately.