To think that a 12 year old should NOT have a MacBook

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It's her birthday soon and she will be 13 all she wants is a MacBook I've said she can have a Windows laptop... It's only for farting around on, what's the point?

Sorry, forgot to answer. DD hasn't used Excel, so can't offer a comparison.

They are very expensive and I think they are adult indulgences, I think the same about iPads

Songbird If you are a Mac user, yet believe the equipment is very expensive and still purchased despite thinking they are adult indulgences, may I suggest you take a course to fully understand the capability of the equipment you have purchased.

If you want her to have useable skills don't get a MacBook, very few companies use them outside the marketing department.

HCTP. Thanks again.

What I meant was that previously I'd bought a small external hard drive. I thought I'd backed up to it, it said I had. But when tested it was empty & was generally just a PITA to try to use. So I bought a 1Tb external hard drive and took it to a local bloke, with my laptop, to get everything that was on my laptop HD moved over to it, to free up space on my Laptop HD. What he did was a back up, so I'm unable to use it as a secondary hard drive in the way I wanted to. I'm sure there's probably room to do what I want as well, but unfortunately I'm a) too worried about screwing it up & b) have screwed up my laptop trying to do a friend a favour so now I can only open it in 'safe mode'. [I stupidly tried to see if we could see the photos on his camera on my laptop because he couldn't see them on his & didn't know if it was his laptop or his camera not working properly. Unfortunately my laptop tried to download drivers and went into melt down. I've uninstalled the partly installed drivers, but it's still not working]. There's too much in the back up that I'm not sure whether it's ok to delete or not, that I'm not keen to do it.

I'll have a look at the ones you suggested. Out of the 'main guys' I have preferred the look & feel of HP in the past, but have yet to get that far thus time! What do you think of HP & can you recommend a model?

Interesting re the Lenovo as I've always associated them with a lower quality, more 'unknown' end of things.

My new printer & last laptop were from PC World. I'm not keen on buying 'technology' from the internet & they seemed to have the best deal when I bought them.

Why do you say not to buy the extended warranty?

I'm trying to decide whether to buy the Apple Care for my phone or not. £700 of new phone (Fecking Re-dic-ulous), Apple Care £109 for 2 years. Covers most things but excess £75. House insurance would cover it but I'd lose my no claims (can't protect it until September) and £200 excess with that too.

What anti virus would you use? I've always bought Nortons with the laptop before.

If you don't want to buy one or can't afford one then that's fine to say so.

However I don't think there's anything wrong with a child of why she having a MacBook if that's what their parents have chosen. There may be various, valid to them, reasons why they have chosen a Mac over a windows based laptop.

dementema. Have some 🍰 and enjoy the bliss of being happy with your Hudl. If it does everything you need, don't question it 😁

CallerMorven thanks again, I'll bear all of that in mind. I'll have a look at the Surface Pro 😁 It might be more expensive than it's worth to do what I need, but on the other hand, I use the iPad wayyyy more, & for more, than I thought I would so who knows.

I wouldn't, because of the risk of her not looking after it. It's wearing to have to nag teenagers to look after their stuff - even careful ones.

I'm about to get DD (14) a Macbook pro but it's for a specific purpose (sound recording) and it's old/cheap.

Re. Lenovo. Me too, but after reading lots of good reviews, changed my mind, it fitted the bill and the budget.
Re. HP, one of DD's old schools used them, they were shockingly dire.
Our previous Windows machines were Dell, Acer, Packard Bell. The Dell and Acer both needed new hard drives within 2yrs. The Packard developed a problem with the charging connection, which was too expensive to fix. The Acer is still running fine on W7(!), but is missing keys, case plastic has perished on one edge.
I use a Linx Windows tablet, with a keyboard most now, it is v. cheap, runs the full Windows desktop, I have full Office installed and I can connect external hardware. But the memory is too limited for your photo storage, unless it was on an external drive.

PS...Surface Pro, different to Surface Book.

I'd buy her an iPad if she just wants it for surfing.

Well I know there's nothing wrong with her having one, but I get 12 fucking grand a year!!!! I can NOT afford a thousand pounds on a laptop for her when I can get her a Windows laptop for £150! And I told her this and apparently I'm "The worst mother in the world and all her friends have one" Now I couldn't give a flying fuck what her friends have, I'm not thier mum.

Re Lenovo, our IT director advised me to get one for DD when she got her first laptop at 11. It was very good, but objectively not as robust as a higher end laptop let alone a Mac. My work Dell has survived 5 years of rough treatment and travel, DD's Lenovo has spent the last nearly 4 years in her bedroom and it's pretty much dead (problem with the power socket).

There's a world of difference between 'should not have one' & 'can't afford one'.

With an attitude like hers she'd be getting a mini blackboard & chalk for her birthday. If that.

Tell her when she has saved up the balance you'll give her £150 towards it. Job done.

Found this laptop I said she could have for her birthday. Said she didn't want that piece of crap.
www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk/HP-Pavilion-Notebook-14-ac108na-Laptop-Intel-Celeron-N3050-2GB-500GB/id-HEW-LAP-14_AC108NA-S?gclid=CO21pZbDg8wCFcG6Gwodkn0A8A&gclsrc=aw.ds

OP, you are definitely not being unreasonable on that salary. Even a second hand Macbook would set you back more than £150. I think it is unreasonable to say a child can't have something expensive just because they are a child. But if it's unaffordable, then it's unaffordable, full stop.

I wouldn't. I've got a mac book air and I honestly don't think it's worth the extra money. Before that I had a toshiba windows laptop for 8 years with no problems. I just can't feel any difference between the two - apple is actually harder to use if you're used to windows.

OP, I think at 12yo I'd give her the choice to save for it or have one you can afford. Same goes for if she wants a higher spec Windows machine. It's a great life lesson and I think they look after things better when it's their money that's bought it (and will have to replace it if it gets broken!!).

We have both Macs and a Windows laptop, but I don't think this is about operating system. I expect the OP would feel the same if her DD wanted an expensive Windows machine.

Let her look at the prices, and let her decide what she wants to do, save for a few years or have the cheap one now.

Use Avast Free. Norton is a huge resource hog and, of course, it isn't free.

Lenovo make excellent laptops and have done for a long time. Not always the prettiest but some of their new models are actually stunning.

The HP Envy 15 is fairly well thought of. Again, pretty standard specs. Has a good AMD CPU. Ignore people telling you to go for Intel. Makes no difference here.

www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-envy-15-ah150sa-15-6-laptop-silver-10139156-pdt.html

HP's Pavilion x360 is a great example of how the specs drop because it's a 2-in-1.

You main consideration is a large HDD.

As for the extended warranty; they're significantly more expensive than if you insure it separately eg. through home insurance. I bet you'll have a pleasant surprise if you called them and added it as a named item. There is a massive spike in failures during the first 90 days when, of course, you're covered by statutory rights (SOAG) and regular guarantees and warranties. After that, the chance of a failure is significantly lower. Besides that, 3rd party repairs aren't undertaken enough as they're cheaper and easier than people think.

People will give up on a laptop instead of basic and cheap repairs (and then make comments like they need to replace their Windows machine every year ).

Even a new screen for many (non-touch) computers will cost about the same as 1 year's extended warranty. Are you planning on (or expecting to) breaking a screen a year? Of course it's a gamble but not one most people should take.

Surface Pros are stunning both in terms of what they can do and their versatility; I'd love to be able to justify one and I'm excellent at justifying computer purchases. I'd suggest though, it overlaps too much with an iPad for you to splash the cash on one. I don't think it can do things like update your satnav. Also, the largest model is 128Gb (I think) and that's quickly eaten up if it's your only 'computer' used for storing photos etc.

Have to say I wouldn't want that computer either. Think there's a massive different in the screens, keyboards and touchpads of cheap and expensive computers. Is there a tablet you can both agree upon?

@OP. Tell her to eff off then!

We did buy our eldest a Mac Air recently but 1) we're lucky enough for it to have not affected household budgeting 2) he didn't speak to us like that.

If you relent and buy her anything (that's a new AIBU thread ) then look at Chromebooks.

They are an indulgence. Nothing wrong with indulgences and treats but not when it's such a significant percent of your income.

I would also say, look at refurbished models to get more laptop for your money.

People will give up on a laptop instead of basic and cheap repairs (and then make comments like they need to replace their Windows machine every year )

Wow, still having a dig at me?

I have no reason to lie about my experience with Windows laptops. I also have no need to justify my IT credentials to you either. I had seven Windows laptops over seven years. Each became unusable.

No need for all the faces!

Tell her to get a p/t job and save for the Mac. I love my Macbook and wouldn't go back to shitty Win-doze anytime soon but she must have a good idea of what you earn so she's being very unreasonable.

Herecomethepotatoes Surface Book is more like a Macbook, than an Ipad, think you are confusing it with a Surface Pro, largest has 512gb. It is lovely but spendy.
www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/devices/surface-book

"Wow, still having a dig at me?"

Not at all.

Look at how many posters have said similar. Its a common theme in this thread and any other "shall I buy a Mac or Win machine?" It's rarely, if ever, a response from an IT professional; not that it makes your reply any less valid but they are people who keep computers for more than a year.