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View Full Version : Helping my father-in-law buy his first Mac tomorrow


Naderfan
2012-02-13, 22:06
I got home tonight to discover that my husband volunteered me to help my father-in-law buy his first mac tomorrow (apparently, the fact that I use one makes me an expert). My father-in-law is technology-challenged, but also wants the best of everything. He's apparently decided that he wants a Macbook Pro, but I know he's going to be asking a lot of questions and, once we get to the apple store, he'll start wondering if he should get something else.

I realize this is short notice, but is there anything I should be aware of? Here's the basics for what he does:

He's a doctor and travels a lot to do presentations. He normally uses Powerpoint and then transfers the file to a flash drive to use at the presentation site. Should I recommend that he get the Microsoft Office pack? I'm not sure how well he'd deal with change/using keynote. Also, I don't know what the compatibility issues might be.

He says he does video editing - I'm not entirely sure what that means, or how much of it he's doing, but I'm guessing he's putting together demo videos for doing surgery with robotics.

Is Pro the best choice or would Air be ok too? Like I said, he has a tendency to see the newest thing and want that instead.

Anyway, I'm sorry I have so little information and that it's short notice, but I really appreciate any suggestions you may have! Thanks.

billybobsky
2012-02-13, 22:15
Just choose the path of least resistance -- go pro, 15 inch, tell him it will let him edit videos all he wants. As for software, as someone who gives talks I have long preferred Keynote to Powerpoint; however, this preference is no longer meaningful and the compatibility issue is significant. I have both suites and use them for different purposes -- powerpoint with presentations given off of my computer, keynote with ones on.

zippy
2012-02-14, 11:35
Unless he needs an optical drive everywhere he goes, I'd actually think the Air would be better. It is certainly more portable, and from everything I've read, the SSD makes them very responsive.

My Father in Law switched a couple of years ago. He was ready to be done with all things Microsoft! So he has a nice iMac with iWork. However, adjusting to Pages and Numbers turned out to be more of a pain than he was willing to tackle. He kept getting frustrated that they didn't do things exactly the same as Word and Excel, which he had used for the preceding decade+. I tried to explain why some of the differences existed, and point out where the improvements were (for those that I was aware of)* but it ended up being easier to just install Office.


*for instance, I like how Numbers starts off with a set of rows and columns that don't go to infinity. I can't recall how many rows and columns appear by default, but it is something that seems to reflect an actual page of paper. You can easily add more if needed, but then you know that you are going to either span multiple pages, or need to shrink things to fit. It just makes more sense to me.

alcimedes
2012-02-14, 13:35
I'd go with an air, or if a MacBook Pro, get one with a solid state drive in it.

I'd have him get Office just so he has it to feel safer about it, and I'm guessing money isn't as critical as peace of mind in this case.

And if you run into any snags, you're always more than welcome to call and ask.

Naderfan
2012-02-14, 14:42
I'd go with an air, or if a MacBook Pro, get one with a solid state drive in it.

I'd have him get Office just so he has it to feel safer about it, and I'm guessing money isn't as critical as peace of mind in this case.

And if you run into any snags, you're always more than welcome to call and ask.

Awesome, thanks!

psmith2.0
2012-02-14, 16:35
I, too, think an Air might be the approach. It just seems to be a great machine, in terms of performance, portability, etc. It's reached that point where many "regular people" can say "do I need FireWire, Ethernet, etc.?"

I believe, more and more these days, most don't.

If I was buying a laptop for myself, evening doing the kind of stuff I do (Illustrator, Photoshop, iMovie, etc.), I'd opt for a tricked-out 13" Air over any of the Pro models. I have WiFi, I don't have a single FireWire peripheral and I'd love something slim and light if I have to lug it around. The SSD is icing on the cake.

And, yeah...the $149 Home/Student version of Office might be worth it. The comfort/familiarity with PowerPoint and all...

709
2012-02-14, 21:37
I think you should volunteer a close relative that knows his Apple shit to go with you both to the Apple Store.



;)


That said, I vote Air too. This last batch are really powerful machines given their size. wrt video editing - do you know what he uses now? Just wondering if iMovie will suffice or whether he's using a more robust Windows software.

Naderfan
2012-02-14, 22:09
I think you should volunteer a close relative that knows his Apple shit to go with you both to the Apple Store.



;)

.

If only we were in the same state... :D

Thanks everyone for the advice! It looks like he's going to go with the 15inch Pro, but he wanted to think on it for a bit. Phase II will be helping him get set up, which should be an adventure.

alcimedes
2012-02-15, 09:30
If he goes that route, just be sure he opts for the SSD. (solid state drive)

It will make a huge difference. That and lots of RAM. Can't go wrong with SSD's and RAM in a Mac.

Naderfan
2012-02-15, 09:48
If he goes that route, just be sure he opts for the SSD. (solid state drive)

It will make a huge difference. That and lots of RAM. Can't go wrong with SSD's and RAM in a Mac.

Yeah, I told him that and he did write it down...so hopefully, he'll remember.

psmith2.0
2012-02-15, 12:38
I will say one thing on the machine choice. My former mother-in-law got a Mac a while back, but she massively overbought for her needs. She went with the 15" MacBook Pro (and the money that entails), but recently she's mentioned how she wishes she would've gone with something "smaller and lighter" (especially since she connects it to a nice, large 22" display while at home).

So she's got this expensive machine, filled with horsepower and ports she'll never use (she's a Word, Excel, Safari user, 99% of the time...I don't think she's ever launched iTunes or any other built-in Apple stuff, actually), and when it's connected to the large display, you have two large screens (the 15" bulk taking up space on the desk). And then she hates taking it places because "it's big and heavy".

:err:

I tried like crazy to get her to consider the 13" Air, but she just thought its "simplicity" and "lack of ports/holes in the side" was a drawback or whatever. Even when I told her that all the stuff on the side of the 15" Pro is stuff she'd never use (I explained what each was, and where/how it was used and the typical users for those things), she just couldn't get her head around "going with less".

:\

2-3 months later, she finally seems to realize that maybe I was right from the start.

If he's going to be traveling with it, and his usage needs don't require FireWire and all that, the 15" may turn out to be expensive overkill.

This is when I hate that Apple doesn't offer a stripped-down, MacBook-like 15" for older eyes, but without all the ports and capabilities not needed by most people.

The iMac has gotten inexpensive and powerful enough - and the Mac mini has become powerful enough - that I no longer gripe about the "mid-range headless Mac" thing. But I do genuinely think it's a bummer that 55+ consumers/regular users have to fork out big bucks for features/power they don't need just to get a decent-sized screen on an Apple laptop.

That was indeed one of the factors that drove my former mother-in-law's decision...she looked at the Airs and the 13" MacBook Pro in real life, at the store, and just didn't think she could deal. She'd had a big 15" display on her Dell, so she didn't want to step down (she's 64 and recently started wearing glasses, etc.). But even if a 15" Air did exist, the lack of optical drive (which she's never used) and "all those other ports" (which she'll never use) probably wouldn't have mattered in the end anyway...

My Dad is in the same boat. He spends his entire day in PowerPoint, Word, Safari and iPhoto. But he too bought a 15" Pro and only uses one of the USB ports for occasional flash drive usage. He, too, connects it to a larger display while at home, so he's always making room for the larger 15" to sit.

He's asked me before "what are all these other ports on the side? Do I need them?"

:)

billybobsky
2012-02-15, 14:41
This guy is a doctor -- they tend to want to have the possibilities of enhancements etc.

Naderfan
2012-02-15, 15:08
Pscates - thanks for the advice. This is basically going to be their only computer (they have a crappy, very old, Dell laptop too). And yeah, being able to see the screen definitely weighed in on the decision. I'm not entirely sure how much of the "extra" stuff he'll need, but he's definitely on the "I'd rather have it and not need it" side in general.

The big thing is the film editing - he's in charge of these huge, multi-million dollar grants for starting a robotics surgery program and I guess part of that is creating video tutorials, presentations, etc. and being able to watch film from previous surgeries, which is where screen size comes into play again. And hey, who knows - if he decides in a couple years that he wants to upgrade, maybe he'll want to pass this one on to me. :)

I really appreciate all the suggestions everyone!

torifile
2012-02-15, 15:58
If he's doing lots of editing, he's going to want a larger display when he's at a desk. An MBA with a Thunderbolt equipped display is definitely the route to take.

psmith2.0
2012-02-15, 18:25
Pscates - thanks for the advice. This is basically going to be their only computer (they have a crappy, very old, Dell laptop too). And yeah, being able to see the screen definitely weighed in on the decision. I'm not entirely sure how much of the "extra" stuff he'll need, but he's definitely on the "I'd rather have it and not need it" side in general.

The big thing is the film editing - he's in charge of these huge, multi-million dollar grants for starting a robotics surgery program and I guess part of that is creating video tutorials, presentations, etc. and being able to watch film from previous surgeries, which is where screen size comes into play again. And hey, who knows - if he decides in a couple years that he wants to upgrade, maybe he'll want to pass this one on to me. :)

I really appreciate all the suggestions everyone!

Ah, so maybe a powerful Pro model is the way to go here. I somehow didn't grasp the full video thing earlier.

Naderfan
2012-02-15, 22:22
Ah, so maybe a powerful Pro model is the way to go here. I somehow didn't grasp the full video thing earlier.

Probably because I didn't really explain it that well in my initial post. I picked up a lot of that while we were at the store. :)