Christmas present-Macbook

daffydaffy
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
well I have been following all the chatter about the pros and cons on the new Macbooks.

I was wondering if it is the time to buy my 15 year old daughter a Macbook for Christmas ..... or wait untill most of the issues ( Hinges, sleep issues waking up etc) have been addressed and-/- or corrected.. I tend to postpone purchasing many items when they are introduced due to bugs--

thanks for any and all input--she will not be a power user or gamer--just typical teen girl



daffy

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,686member
    I'd hold off.



    If the new MacBooks had had firewire I might have bitten and put a couple on Christmas lists. As it turns out they don't have firewire so Apple lost the sale. That said though, even if they had had firewire I would be holding off anyway due to the many niggling factors that have popped up over the last two months. Then there is the not so niggling factor of the graphics chips. We just don't know what the hell has happened yet.



    Until Apple has had time to thoroughly investigate the situation we won't know if this could turn out to be serious. Even if Apple says everything is OK, the question would be, can we believe them?



    They investigated possible iBook problems a while back, said there were no issues and then a Danish consumers' association had the model evaluated. The verdict was that there was a design fault on those machines. Apple quietly compensated users in Denmark with free repairs.



    It's a difficult position to be in with Christmas upon us. In my case a potential MacBook morphed into a nice digital camera so Apple does not have access to those dollars - they're gone. In your case you have basically three options: buy one and see if things turn out well, not buy one and wait until after Christmas, or, instead of buying your daughter an 'expensive' present, get her something smaller and hold the money back til March (or thereabouts) and give her a 'late' present depending on what Apple does with the line.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    foodmetaphorsfoodmetaphors Posts: 67member
    have you considered the macbook white? they put out a build for $1000 and you can also buy the older builds refurbed off the apple website. i've got a white macbook and the casing on it kind of sucks, but that isn't really an issue now that it's set up as a desktop.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    bbwibbwi Posts: 812member
    Never buy Macs before xmas, always wait till MacWorld is over... IMO
  • Reply 4 of 11
    bclapperbclapper Posts: 237member
    A Black MacBook from the refurb store would be what I'd go for if I were buying now
  • Reply 5 of 11
    daffydaffy Posts: 2member
    Thanks folks---I am also thinking about a Macbook Pro for her---she is into photography but only as a newbie...I would not want to under purchase---so i am looking to get her one that will last quite awhile....



    I guess one of my main concerns was all the little stuff (like the hinges) that might be a nuisance...



    daffy
  • Reply 6 of 11
    brentsgbrentsg Posts: 17member
    Keep in mind that these forums are more likely to be populated with Apple fans that are examining their machines with calipers, rather than normal end users (or 15 year olds).
  • Reply 7 of 11
    billp1billp1 Posts: 22member
    I just purchased a 2.4 Mac book for my wife and will give it to her for Christmas. You can over analyze these things. Apple makes an expensive but well made product with a great OS. it is still just a computer.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    pctomacpctomac Posts: 7member
    I got the new MacBook Pro a couple of weeks after it came out, and I've not really noticed any major problems that I read about on the internet. I'd say you are safe to get it and if anything did show up you can just have it fixed under AppleCare. (Firewire won't be an issue for you)
  • Reply 9 of 11
    nano2gfteonano2gfteo Posts: 99member
    I got my 3 year old daughter a Gen1 MBA!. She loved it doing PonyVille and Disney sites all day. At least now she does YouTube on it and leaves my iPhone alone ...



    Its light to carry around and tough as nails so it will last. Of course, she know how to look after it by now, so happy camper here.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    duzledwarfduzledwarf Posts: 72member
    Well I guess this response is a little late, but I ordered a unibody macbook from the online store about a week after they were released and I've been very pleased with it. I've had none of the problems that have been reported online and to me it feels like the most solidly built laptop I've ever handled. Whenever I handle any of my friends laptops they seem so flimsy and cheap. Even the first gen macbooks feel cheap compared to the new aluminum ones. Just to reiterate, I've had no hinge problems, no graphics problems and no track pad problems.



    Let us know what you decided to do daffy!
  • Reply 11 of 11
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    I too got one pretty much immediately after they were released and other than that touchpad issues (which were fixed by Apple), I've had absolutely no issues with it. Its a VERY well built laptop.



    MacBooks today are no slouch and are used for photography by many. You also don't want to over purchase and get an expensive notebook that will be dropped, have things spilled on it, etc. All things that are NOT covered under warranty. So perhaps the low end Aluminum MacBook or the plastic $999 MacBook would be the best choice unless you can find a last gen MacBook Pro for like $1499.
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