Advice please

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:13

Ok I am apple fan and always will be. I love my Macbook pro and soon to get a new one...

My mother today ask what new laptop should she get as she sick and tired of here Windows laptop being sooooo slow.. I told her to get bottom range MBP 13" as it will be quick for many years. My current MBP is 2.5 years old and it running strong.

BUT mum being mum says HOW MUCH...

All she does is check he emails and browse the web with a few letters typing etc. Should she go mac or not. I think she should but what you think

Ghost-Reaper · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:22

If that's all she is using it for I would just say another windows laptop, it might not be the fastest and you obviously prefer Mac but the price is going to be the key point in it.

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:25

But windows so slow and having to gave virus spyware software bog them down

Ghost-Reaper · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:31

Well its your mum, would you rather her spend £749+ on a laptop or £300-400? When the cheaper one can do what she wants.
You said you are getting a new mbp, is it an option for her to have your old one as its still working fine?

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:32

She just said bot bothered on price now want something good and we be trouble free and quick

Ghost-Reaper · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:36

Standard macbook then? Is a pro worth it over the macbook?

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:38

I think pro worth it over the case as more stronger and prob live longer after being carried about but that me

Spyhop · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:50

Windows isn't inherently slow.

What exactly is the problem with the current laptop and why can't you fix it? You sound like you're looking for excuses to spend money.

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:54

It a Packard Bell and it just under 2 years old. In all honestly it is a ***P machine it so slow even when I done a fresh install.

Trouble is i am a Mac Fan I would never go back to windows myself I just hate it now. That why I am finding it hard to choose for me mother

Moeks · 26 Sep 2009 at 20:59

Rookies said:
But windows so slow and having to gave virus spyware software bog them down

Only if you're a moron that can't follow a simple set-up procedure properly or do basic maintanence, as you would with anything, like a car or a cooker or yourself for that matter.

Windows systems need a bit of care to stay in shape for years, it's hardly difficult though, but that's something we all know anyway so what's the problem ?

You can’t just keep filling it full of junk and expect it to tick like it was a fresh install, and in reality Macs don’t either really, they just weather it better, although they tend to have less junk installed and uninstalled by the users for the most part (in my experience at least) and the Windows registry system requires some TLC eventually or it gets a bit clogged up if you make a lot of changes to the software on the system. The NTFS filesystem suffers fragmentation, but again, easy problem to fix, just use a decent defrag app once a month or so.

You do have to maintain a Windows PC, that's the crux of it.

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:01

Moeks said:
Only if you're a moron that can't follow a simple set-up procedure properly or do basic maintanence, as you would with anything, like a car or a cooker or yourself for that matter.

Windows systems need a bit of care to stay in shape for years, it's hardly difficult though, but that's something we all know anyway so what's the problem ?

You can’t just keep filling it full of junk and expect it to tick like it was a fresh install, and in reality Macs don’t either really, they just weather it better, although they tend to have less junk installed and uninstalled by the users for the most part (in my experience at least) and the Windows registry system requires some TLC eventually or it gets a bit clogged up if you make a lot of changes to the software on the system. The NTFS filesystem suffers fragmentation, but again, easy problem to fix, just use a decent defrag app once a month or so.

You do have to maintain a Windows PC, that's the crux of it.

LIKE I SAID>.. Allllll she does is browse the net... Send Emails. And write letters. SOOOOO no software been on and off at all... I Did a fresh install and even from a FRESH INSTALL. it sooo slow compare to my mac

Spyhop · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:02

Shove Ubuntu Linux or something on it and see how that runs. I doubt it'll impact her much if all she does is browse the web and type documents.

"Buy a new computer" as a solution to most problems seems so wasteful to me.

Moeks · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:03

Rookies said:
LIKE I SAID>.. Allllll she does is browse the net... Send Emails. And write letters. SOOOOO no software been on and off at all... I Did a fresh install and even from a FRESH INSTALL. it sooo slow compare to my mac

Well presumably she must have installed 'some' at some point, but that's not a problem, the fact is, with all the temporary files that are cycled through, from internet browsing and such over a period of years, with no real maintenance and regular cleaning out of all the junk that builds up and a god defrag every so often, it will slow down.

I suspect the main factor is there is probably a fair differance in the hardware of the machines, what sort of spec is the Packard Bell and also your Mac ?

Also, if her machine is running Vista, and hasn't had any updates or at least service pack 1, and has 2GB+ of ram then it will be rather slow. If god help her, she is trying to use Vista on an old celeron with 1 GB of ram or something, then it'll be slow as hell.

radderfire · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:11

I would advise the entry level MacBook for her too. Less advanced users are more likely to benefit from the user friendliness and smooth running that Macs are renowned for. Plus she actually might enjoy using a computer.

Rgds

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:13

Moeks said:
Well presumably she must have installed 'some' at some point, but that's not a problem, the fact is, with all the temporary files that are cycled through, from internet browsing and such over a period of years, with no real maintenance and regular cleaning out of all the junk that builds up and a god defrag every so often, it will slow down.

I suspect the main factor is there is probably a fair differance in the hardware of the machines, what sort of spec is the Packard Bell and also your Mac ?

Also, if her machine is running Vista, and hasn't had any updates or at least service pack 1, and has 2GB+ of ram then it will be rather slow. If god help her, she is trying to use Vista on an old celeron with 1 GB of ram or something, then it'll be slow as hell.

She is using the windows XP that came with the machine. and it gets fully updated.

Have decided to put her on mac as it so much easier and friendly to take care of as the above says.

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:14

radderfire said:
I would advise the entry level MacBook for her too. Less advanced users are more likely to benefit from the user friendliness and smooth running that Macs are renowned for. Plus she actually might enjoy using a computer.

Rgds

That what my though are. I really enjoy using my macbook pro I just cant go back to windows at all even when I come to use it at certain places it drives me insane

Moeks · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:16

Rookies said:
She is using the windows XP that came with the machine. and it gets fully updated.

Have decided to put her on mac as it so much easier and friendly to take care of as the above says.

Can you tell us anything about the PC though ... I was/am trying to get to the bottom of the performance difference, there is probably quite a cheap and simple solution to it, like adding a half decent amount of memory and a fast hard drive.

If you 'want' to buy her a Mac, great, but it could very well be a needless waste of money.

Also, why does Windows "drive you insane" ? ...I know there are certain things about Windows that could be improved, and Windows XP is frankly quite old fashioned now compared to Windows 7 and indeed OS 10, but it's hardly a 'bad' system, actually it's a very good one, and will do the job well if given the proper hardware and tlc. I understand you prefer Apple's OS, but "driving you insane" is a pretty strong turn of phrase. XP isn't pretty or very slick these days, but it does the job.

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:18

Moeks said:
Can you tell us anything about the PC though ... I was/am trying to get to the bottom of the performance difference, there is probably quite a cheap and simple solution to it, like adding a half decent amount of memory and a fast hard drive.

If you 'want' to buy her a Mac, great, but it could very well be a needless waste of money.

Ok...

It a Packard Bell

2.0 Ghz
2GB memory
120Gig HD

Not sure what GFX is but that not going to slow the performance for web browsing thou..

The specs of this Packard bell i think it ok for web browsing. To be honest when she first got it, it was miles better. Something must have gone bust on it or something.

Moeks · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:22

2.0GHz what ? ...but yea, whatever the case, it should have no issues at all web browsing.

Tell me, is she using IE 7 or something bit more modern and better, such as Firefox 3.5, Opera 10 or indeed IE 8 ? ...IE 7 is old and pretty slow really, especially with heavy Java.

You said you did a clean install on it, and it was still very slow, was this a 'clean' install or just a restore with all the junk on it that came with it from new? ...as you need to 'de-crapify' machines like that before they are truly fit to use in my opinion, especially if it came with Norton (/shudders) preinstalled, that hateful piece of junk will bring make anything perform like a 386.

Rooky007 · 26 Sep 2009 at 21:25

She is using IE 8 of course and I have got her using Opera as that is the browser I used when I was over at the Windows side years back...

Once the computer booted up and the browser open it ok. But when she want to do other things it so slow it even takes 4 mins to BOOT up that not right surely.

She is a very inpatient women if it not fast for her she hate it