I've decided to buy my sister an Apple laptop. I know that there are various discounts you can get for a thinkpad... I bought my own with a significant employee discount. I also know when buying a laptop it is good to buy it with low ram and get extra ram from a reputable dealer later and install it yourself. Anyone have advice and tricks on how to get a good deal with an Apple laptop?
What's a good apple laptop for a student who needs photoshop occasionally, e-mail, printing, scanning, watching dvds, and little else? She's a weak girl so she also wants it to be light.
Thanks 4chan!
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Mr VacBob!JqK7T7zan.2004-12-24 18:51
First question will be answered in SH/SC.
Anything currently sold will do; if you go for an old refurbished one I'd at least get an iBook G4.
Also, you might want to wait a little since the next version of OS X comes out in a few months and every OS X version is faster than the last one.
And get all the RAM you can, OSX sucks it all up.
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Martin Random2004-12-24 18:53
I'm going to get my sister something new. I am completely ignorant about the strange world of Macs... Do they not offer the latest version of OS X as a free upgrade? So if I bought now I'd end up buying a new operating system in two months?
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Anonymous2004-12-24 19:24
You only get the next OS version free if you buy the computer about one month or less before its release, and since no one knows exactly when the OS will be released until it's actually out... Apple are good at letting schedules slip.
When it comes to Macs always get 3rd party RAM. In fact, don't buy a customized computer at all if you can avoid it. It'll ship at least a week later if you do since they can't just pick any box off the shelf and send it to you.
Mac OS X loves RAM. Photoshop also loves RAM. If you want to run both then you'll need it. 768 MB should be more than enough though while 512 MB might be just too little.
Apple gives student discounts, but they aren't that big.
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Anonymous2004-12-24 22:04
I got my powerbook on student discount; I definitely agree on the ram thing, just pick up some extra ram from crucial.
I've always used OWC; they're cheaper than Crucial and I've never gotten bad RAM or shipping problems. They have a slightly worse reputation, but most companies have a worse reputation than Crucial.
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Anonymous2004-12-25 14:48
The student/education discount Apple gives in Australia is imho rather substantial-- almost AU$300 off for an $1800 iBook...
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Anonymous2004-12-25 15:01
steal it off a truck
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72004-12-25 15:25
Oh-- there's one thing I really didn't like about buying a Mac (14" G4 iBook) recently... It gave me the worst carpal after only a few hours use, such that I now have a permanently numb area on my left hand. Crap.
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Fnordulicious2004-12-25 16:30
>>9 Your carpal was probably imminent anyway. Do wrist stretching exercises. For info check any basic aikido book for good exercises, there's a series that will stretch your wrist and fingers in every direction without damaging them.
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Anonymous2004-12-25 16:50
>>10 Why just then, rather than at any time in the previous 20+ years of keyboard use..?
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Anonymous2004-12-26 0:18 (sage)
IBOOK EATS CARPAL
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Nookadum!DIzIjpwuu.2004-12-26 9:44
Wait, if the IBook (which has a very standard laptop interface similar to other IBM/PC laptops) gives you carpal tunnel, so that means other laptops would give you the same. It's probably your relative height-to-keyboard ratio when you use the laptop.
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7,112004-12-26 12:04
>>13 Hmm.. it's a very flat design, and the edges are as right-angled (and uncomfortable to rest your hands on) as you can possibly get. It is the first laptop I've owned with the extended 'wrist-rest' space in front of the keyboard though-- but having an overheating CPU directly underneath adds to the discomfort even more. (Microwave RFI from the 1.3GHz CPU is cooking my carpal'd wrist? Hmm..)
I don't know why people are such fans of crap like emacs and vi. Use proper editors like TextPad or Notepad2 or Visual Studio .NET 2003.
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Anonymous2006-02-08 20:31
Back to the questions: The next version of OS X will not be for quite a few months, I really wouldn't be concerned about it.
Things to know: The latest high-end laptops, the "MacBook pro" uses Intel processors versus PowerPC chips which have power the mac lines for the last 10 years. Since they are a new design, if you are interested in one of those I'd wait until the second iteration of the laptop. On the bright side, G4 Powerbooks and G4 iBooks will be cheaper.
I have a 12" Powerbook and I've enjoyed it. (mine is an 867Mhz G4 with 640 Mb RAM.) A good configuration would be a more recent machine with 1GB RAM. A G4 iBook in the same configuration would be also very good.
The 12" and 14" iBooks have the same screen resolution so I'd recommend the 12" -- it's easier to carry, the screen is sharper and since your sister is young her eyes will be fine :)
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Anonymous2006-02-09 3:23
or Visual Studio .NET 2003
Sure if you don't mind your editor crashing every time the compiler has a cow. Mmm integrated.
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Anonymous2006-02-09 6:24
/bin/ed is enough for me, it's a bit bloated with all the line numbering though.
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Anonymous2006-02-09 9:49
I hex edit the filesystem; if I need to insert I use dd
Students get a massive discount on most apple products.
Also, if you know anyone else who has Mac OS X you can just borrow or burn a copy of their disks (You'll obviously need the serial). There is hardly any copy protection.
Don't get anything for the laptop from apple. You can upgrade ram or HDD size later, for much cheaper.