Sister wants an iBook. how should I persuade her?

My sister wants an iBook. She's been using a Thinkpad 600X for 6 years? already and thinks it's time for a change. I agree, even though that thing runs XP well. yes, XP.

She likes the iBook mainly becuase of:

1. appearance.
2. iPhoto and iMovie

She has loads of digital pictures and wants to organize them using the mac way. She used a G4 desktop once at a friend's place and an iBook consequently. Claims she fell in love.

And I can't really blame her. I understand the iBook is a pretty good package and iPhoto and all that is really pretty and intuitive.

I checked the Apple subforum in this site and saw that there will be intelMac notebooks soon, which makes me think perhaps she should wait for a while, or

she could get a Thinkpad.

A Thinkpad T series with what kind of software will fulfill her iPhoto needs? Adobe Photo Elements? I'd like her to consider Thinkpads a little more since they are very good, they probably have a better screen, are lighter and perhaps more powerful? better battery life perhaps? Please help me persuade my sister.

 

Hello!

If she fell in love with the apple platform let her taste it. After all, there´s plenty of space for everybody on the digital world1

 

I also considered a Mac but I found the Ibook to be a bit to be a bit under built compared to an IBM. I did not like the feel and the plastic used. Now a powerbook is a different story, especially the 15" and 17". The powerbook construction is great and the lighted keyboard and firewire 800 in the 15" and 17" make them very appealing. Only problem is the 15" Powerbook costs way too much for me. This is what lead me to purchase an IMB along with Macs inability to play the few games I enjoy.

 

This would be logical if it weren't for the fact that Apple may be introducing Intel-based laptops, very, very soon. Right now is one of the worst times to buy a Mac.

 

I like Thinkpads, but if someone feels more comfortable with the Apple OS, well, I figure they will always hate the Thinkpad for something beyond its control--Windows.

But waiting a month or so is a good idea regardless of whether she goes the Apple or PC route.

 

you might try picasa from google for image organization. seems pretty good to me.

 

if she likes apple gui, let her have it anyway apple was made for girls

 

I have a 2001 iBook, 12" version and recently switched back to a PC laptop. In many ways the iBook is a great choice. But I can't see buying one just for iPhoto. Like most bundled apps, iPhoto has pretty limited functionality and is easy to outgrow. It's fine for the novice or occasional user, but it's too limited for anybody who is semi-serious about photography or has a really large collection of pictures. I think there are a lot of compelling reasons to buy an iBook, but iPhoto isn't one of them.

Regarding Intel Macs:

I would hesitate to buy one of the first new Macintels because it's almost inevitable there will be teething problems. And I doubt the new machines will run as quiet and cool as the current iBooks. Also, there may not be a lot of available Mac software that runs natively on the new platform, at least not initially. But... there may be price drops on the current models when the new models are announced. So even if I wouldn't buy a new model, I might wait just to see if there are any good deals.

 

While I agree that it would definitely be worth it to wait for Macworld this month to see if Apple unveils the new Intel iBooks, I would say that it is most likely a good choice for her.

If your sister a security expert? That is, is she going to run a firewall and an antivirus and multiple spyware programs and keep them up to date and keep windows up to date and practice safe internet practices? Security is a pain in the butt on windows platforms (I am a Windows person myself, but then again, I'm a computer enthusiast), and a Mac does not really have to worry about any of these problems.

In my opinion, MOST home users should be using Macs for that reason alone...

 

And I doubt the new machines will run as quiet and cool as the current iBooks.

I have to disagree with this. The new Intel machines will be running Pentium M chips. These are faster, cheaper, cooler and use less power than the current chips in the iBooks.

 

Of course, if Macs were dominant, I suspect that most viruses would be aimed at them. (Admittedly, I don't know the mind of virus authors). But in general, when it comes to infectious diseases, it is often safer to be different from the general population.

 

Yep, very true. Also, the operating system itself is fundamentally safer.

 

Well, not really. But it depends on whether you're talking about a standard Pentium M or an Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M.

A standard Pentium M will be faster and cheaper, yes. But will it run cooler and use less power, no way, not even close. A 12" iBook gets 6 hours out of a 50 W-h battery. And it runs so cool, it's fanless. When I recently went searching for a PC notebook to replace my 12" iBook, I couldn't find any thin & light Pentium M notebooks which could provide good battery life with a standard sized battery and I definitely couldn't find any that were fanless.

But if you're talking about an Ultra Low Voltage Pentium M, well then it's a different story. The 1.2 GHz version, which is in a number of ultra portables, seems to be very efficient and runs cool. But it doesn't offer any better performance than the 1.33 GHz G4 in a 12" iBook, so I doubt that Apple would adopt it.

 

BTW, I have to agree that most home users probably ought to be using Macs. Not just because of the security issues with Windows, but because most of the time, Apple hardware and software "just works". Naturally, there are occasional problems. But Mac users suffer through fairly little of the futzing around, troubleshooting, hunting for drivers, etc. that Windows users accept as normal maintenance. And Mac software doesn't come packed with the plethora of system tray applets, background services, self updaters, and other bloatware that even the smallest Windows utilities seems to include.