To get a Macbook for dd?

[Dancergirl]

Tricky one. Both my older dds have a largish sum of money saved up given from various relatives over the years.

About 18 months ago, dd1 wanted to use some of her money to buy a laptop. We did some research, shopped around etc and we advised her not to spend too much on it as there were some good models around for less money. So she bought one for about £350 (can't remember the make, it begins with A). She's generally happy with it, can be a bit slow to start up.

Now dd2 would like to do the same and she has her heart set on an Apple macbook. People we've talked to say they really are worth the money, they last longer and have resale value. Took dd2 to John Lewis yesterday, we looked at all makes but she's really keen on the macbook. She has a (second hand) iPhone 5 which she loves so I suppose she's a bit of an Apple convert.

It is her money so it's really her choice (but she has a birthday coming up so may give her some extra towards it) but dd1 might be put out that we advised her to get a cheaper one and now we are going back on our word!

DH got me a reconditioned MacBook for Christmas. I think it was £250 and that he got it on a Groupon offer or similar. Haven't used it for much more than internet browsing so far (too busy looking after baby DS!) but from my experience of it so far it's brilliant and I haven't noticed any performance issues due to it being reconditioned.

After a few months it'd be slow to start up and slowing down generally.

I've never had this problem with any version of Windows. However if it's an issue, Windows has a refresh procedure that will restore it to a new state.

I think the answer to the OPs problem is to explain to both children that it is younger daughters choice what she does with her savings, that Macbooks are hugely more expensive for the same level of hardware, that for what she will use it for they are no better than anything else, and that if she chooses to go ahead she will have spent x hundred pounds extra of savings she could have saved to spend on something else. (Obviously she should not be given more money than her sister to enable her to afford it.)

i just looked on the apple website and their cheapest macbook is 1049 quid for less spec than my £500, 4 years ago windows laptop that has never crashed.

this is the time to advise your daughter about fools and their money being easily parted.

£1049 to chat to friends on facebook? can't even play any decent games on it. total waste

An iPad would do everything she needs it to do. Would this be an option?

araiba I think you're looking in the wrong section, the cheapest MacBook you can buy is £799 and is called the MacBook Air. Infact, it might even be £749.

Still stick with what I said before - her money, her decision.

I think it was £749 two, we looked yesterday, but that's a very small screen - 11". Dd prefers a 13" screen so that's another £100 on top already. It's the best part of £1,000 anyway.

I suppose we were trying to rush the decision as it's her birthday coming up soon and we were going to either go halves on it (depending on cost) or give her some money towards it. But I think now I'll get her a few small gifts instead and some extra money and she can make the decision at leisure.

Slightly OT but we have had 2 sony laptops with windows (forget which version but it's the one where they started putting 'apps' on the home screen). One just crashes, literally constantly - you can't go on any site at all (and all ds wants to do is play mine craft) so he got it 2 years ago and it has only worked for about 4 days. It has been taken back three times but makes no difference and noone seems to know what is wrong with it.

The other one, I ended up selling because it was so slow and clunky that dh got fed up with me swearing at it.

Has anyone else had this problem? I can't understand, having had that experience, why in the world anyone would ever use windows.

I spent years going from Windows to Windows because they were cheaper. They all died within 3 years, with the exception of a very old 2005 Toshiba, which eventually became too slow to upgrade/use properly.

I got a MacBook Air with my tax return last Spring and I would never go back to Windows now. It's fast, intuitive, easy to use and has never crashed or even frozen. I only use it for internet browsing, netflix, youtube and Spotify, but it's as fast as the day I got it.

Macs are well worth the extra money.

Good solution, Op.

I don't know your dd, but I do know teenagers who make full use of the creative stuff on Macs - making videos, art and music projects etc. I think she's old enough to make up her own mind. It's not as if she's proposing to spend huge amounts on a designer handbag. It may be trendy, but it's also a product that many people choose because it works better and lasts longer.

If you're thinking of going for a reconditioned one I can thoroughly recommend Hoxton Macs Ltd (Google search will give you the address and phone number). I bought mine from them very reasonably 2 years ago.

I am pretty sure she won't use it for anything fancy or creative. Schoolwork - word mainly and watching YouTube. She has her phone for instgram.

Thanks for the tip cashpoint Do they give a guarantee?

Yes, mine came with a 6 month guarantee. I think it varies according age etc.

It is her money you can advise her, just as you did her older sister. Whether she takes your advice is her decision. Tell her that you recommended the older one to buy the cheaper option, but if she really feels it is worth the extra that is her choice. I am a huge fan of Apple over PCs but I am an adult who can earn more money if I need to, but DD2s savings are finite - what if wants to buy something else a few months and can't afford it? Is she mature enough to cope with that?

Is the real problem here you thinking might have steered the older DD in the wrong direction and are now feeling bad about it?

Apple stores run tutorials to show you how to get the best out of your Apple product. Would open her eyes to the possibilities/expand her horizons.

When I bought my first Mac, a l-o-n-g time ago, I thought it was a glorified typewriter until someone showed me how to personalise it, arrange files, shortcuts etc. Saved me a lot of time and made me much more organised.

Is the real problem here you thinking might have steered the older DD in the wrong direction and are now feeling bad about it?

Interesting question. Dh helped out more really, he was looking for a laptop for himself so did the research and looked about with dd1. I don't think dd1 had very strong opinions if I remember rightly.

I honestly think if you buy apple you're paying for the name. I spent £130 on my refurbished laptop, it boots in 27 seconds which is around average for a macbook, I've never had a single issue with it and free upgrade to windows 10, it runs most games and has never failed to do a single thing I want it to do. For a 12 year old who would mostly be using it for social media it seems a complete waste to buy a macbook.

I've always used windows and never suffered the problems people on here are complaining of. Husband's PC is a refurbished one too and we've owned it for 3 years with not a single problem and it is on nearly all day every day.

I think Apple do a good job in brainwashing. I also wouldn't touch them due to concerns with child labour.

I can't understand, having had that experience, why in the world anyone would ever use windows.

Because not everyone has your experience.

I would guess some problematic software has been installed, either knowingly or otherwise. It sounds like it came with Windows 8, so it should be possible to upgrade to Windows 10 for free provided you don't leave it to long. After the upgrade test it immediately with web sites like here that you know are trustworthy, and if it is working OK, then the problem isn't the laptop, and nor is it Windows. Thereafter, if it slows down (because someone has knowing or unknowingly installed dodgy software, for example by clicking on a dodgy pop-up on some site) you can reset it to new state again by running the refresh procedure.

I disagree Lady.

I was of the same mind as you until DH bought me one against my better judgement. I hear a lot of people who have never owned one saying that it is all about the label and used to say the same thing. Since owning one, as I say I would never go back. In fact GoodnightDarthVader is the only person I have ever heard who owns one and doesn't say the same thing.

You could maybe get a second hand one, my six year old basic white Macbook is still going strong, it was about £800 when it was new, its now on the latest operating system, El Capitan and I just upgraded the RAM from 2GB to 8GB, cost me £40 from Amazon and it's got a new leash of life, hope to get a couple or so more years out of it or even more hopefully .

I bought a new macbook. The charger broke 3 times and then the whole thing died after 3 years. Huge waste of money.

I have 2 DDs who are good at the jealousy game.
As a family we all have Apple products, phones and iPads, but DH & I both use Windows as our preferred option for our PC needs.

DD1 is now on her 2nd macbook, the first was a hand me down from my DBro, and after 5 years she replaced it to start Uni. She never really liked PCs and wanted a mac to run her music software, they are also supposed to be 'better' for 'sn children' but I'm not sure whether this is true but she has dyspraxia and says it helps.
DD2 had (her choice) an upmarket touchscreen windows laptop, she doesn't get macs. No jealousy on this occasion but she had full choice to choose what she wanted and if she had said mac we would have sourced a good reconditioned one for her.

I think it is about choice and being clear, as it is your older DD who already has the windows laptop I would explain to her.

I work in a school where approximately 350 student s have macbioks. I can tell you this. They do crash. They do get viruses. They do slow down.

They are great. Sure. Any powerful laptop is great. But macs are no better than a PC laptop of equivalent spec. The components could be the same and essentially you can have two identical machines. One in a Mac case another in a ... XPS case.
its the OS that makes the difference really.
Mac OS is specifically designed for the very limited range if Mac components. Windows and Linux are a kind of "one size fits all" and will run on pretty much anything.

I would never say that a child that age needs something as expensive as a MacBook.

My DC's have a chromebook. They are absolutely brilliant starter laptops, relatively great value for money and get your DC's accustomed to software other than Microsoft. They're also lightweight and hardy and not a target for thieves if they decide to use them when out and about.

There's a fine line IMO between teaching children the value of money / responsibility and teaching them what they should/ shouldn't buy because it's a brand. It's like my 20 something cousins rocking handbags worth 000's. I can afford them and I don't buy them. They go into debt so they can have the 'in stuff'.