iBook or PowerBook for Son.
My son is 11 and needs a Lap top for school. I can buy a bottom of the range iBook in the knowledge that at some point he is going to want something better. Or I can buy a 12" PB with superdrive and it should be capable of taking him right through University.
Is it realistic to think that the PB will survive that long or should I go with the cheaper option?
Is it realistic to think that the PB will survive that long or should I go with the cheaper option?
Comments
(I doubt any laptop could make it longer than 1.5 years. (2 at most) -_O)
- Xidius
Wow, times really are changing.
Anyhow, I think you should go for an iBook. I honestly cannot imagine a kid that age actually needing the extra power of a PowerBook. What exactly is he going to be using it for? Unless you just have money waiting to burn, the PowerBook would be overkill. Microsoft Office and a handful of games shouldn't warrant you nearly doubling the price.
Planning on him using it all the way through university is a huge mistake. That's seven years away! Most people here would probably consider the maximum life span of computers to be at about three or four years if they want to keep the latest software running on them. Notebook computers physically have a very much shorter life span due to their fragility, tight integration of components, and susceptibility to battery and screen failure. If one thing fails, usually, it's a goner if you don't still have a warranty. Unless your kid is a rare exception to the rule, there's not a chance that a notebook computer will last him that long.
Originally posted by Addison
My son is 11 and needs a Lap top for school. I can buy a bottom of the range iBook in the knowledge that at some point he is going to want something better. Or I can buy a 12" PB with superdrive and it should be capable of taking him right through University.
Is it realistic to think that the PB will survive that long or should I go with the cheaper option?
just go with an iBook if you have to, but dont expect anything to last him through college. you have like 7 years before he even enters college. think about it.
(just a question, not meant to be an attack)
Originally posted by Cosmo
What exactly does an 11 year old need to do at school that requires a laptop?
(just a question, not meant to be an attack)
i'm sure it varies from school to school, but my 8 year old cousin goes to a magnet school that incorporates tech into the classroom, and she uses both mac's and pc's on a regular basis. (i'm so jealous
Originally posted by ipodandimac
...my 8 year old cousin goes to a magnet school...
Oh, a magnet school. I thought you meant a magnet school.
The plastic will handle scratches and scuffing a lot better than the aluminum of the Powerbooks, and has less "flex" when squeezed. It just feels more likely to survive a backpack day-in and day-out.
Also, he likely doesn't need the Superdrive just yet. If the school has a projector system, he can just hook right into that for presentations, which will be more visible than a TV and more interactive.
And honestly, you're fooling yourself if you think an 11-year old will be able to buy the current top-of-the-line laptop now, and still be using it in college.
Get him the iBook now, and be ready to buy a new laptop when he graduates HS, to take to college. At that point, a good Powerbook would make sense, as he'll need the extra features/speed, depending on his chosen major.
Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus
Oh, a magnet school. I thought you meant a magnet school.
ya basically its an accelerated school that pulls in kids from all around the city, and the teachers are actually creative and use technology
Originally posted by Addison
Is it realistic to think that the PB will survive that long or should I go with the cheaper option?
Addison: You answered your own question. It is completely unrealistic to think that the PowerBook will last your son seven more years until university. It will last 4-5 years at best. To clarify, both PB and iBook will last longer physically. But they will be outdated technologically within a few short years.
Therefore, go with the cheaper iBook, which on top of its price advantage is physically stronger than the PowerBook (good for a child).
Escher
for a 11 years old, you dont even need the newest ibook. a 500 or 600 mhz ones should do just fine. powerbook is too much, id be worried to let him or her carry one around. the less worries the better. id say definifelly ibook. and not necessarily the newest model either.
I have set up the printer to work on Peer to peer wireless and it has an ip range 169.xxx etc and I can print to it but the range does seem quite short about 20 feet in my house (Is that normal?). When i plug in our network cable for internet access (DHCP adsl router attached, range 192.168.xxx) I can access the internet and other machines on the network but not the 5850. I assume this is because they are on different subnets. Obviously there are effectivly two different network cards in this iBook, and I assume that traffic intended for the HP is being routed via the network cable. I can't ask my son to add a route each time he restarts the iBook to overcome this problem. What is the soloution to this, I can't work out the logic.