Post #61,610
11/7/02 10:38:56 AM
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Need shopping suggestion
I've got a friend who's about to start a new job as a medical research nurse. Part of her job will be writing up test results and reports. She wants to get a computer so she can both learn to use it before she starts, and have something she can take work home on.
She thinks the work will be done in MSOffice -- yes, I'll confirm this before we go shopping. Assuming it is, would I be better off recommending she go for a low-end Mac running OSX than a white-box with some version of Windows?
I will be the one she calls with problems, so I'm leaning more toward avoiding problems than putting her on something I know how to work on. I'm a step above "user" on *nix systems, so I'll be able to do a bit with OSX. And most of my Windows lore is dated to Win95, so I don't know that I'd be much help if she had XP problems anyway.
(And, on a purely mercenary note, I'd like to have someone else's Mac to play with for myself.)
The alternative is to go low-end white box from a local assembler and put on W2K -- assuming we can still get it. It's what I'm using at work and I have to (grudgingly) admit I haven't had a crash since I've been here. But I have network guys here actively administering a firewall and updates when needed.
So, Mac or Win? (Don't say Linux. The document interchange has to be seamless.)
===
Microsoft offers them the one thing most business people will pay any price for - the ability to say "we had no choice - everyone's doing it that way." -- [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=38978|Andrew Grygus]
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Post #61,612
11/7/02 10:42:09 AM
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Mac
-----
Steve
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Post #61,613
11/7/02 10:44:31 AM
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mac mac mac
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
"Money for jobs? No first you get the job, then you get the money" Raimondo
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Post #61,645
11/7/02 12:16:14 PM
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old style iMac is still for sale
600MHz PowerPC G3
40GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-ROM Drive
10/100BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
$799 for 128MB
$849 for 256MB(there's a $10 off instantly, so $839)
$949 for 512MB(there's a $10 off instantly, so $939)
My Mac buddy recommended 512MB for when I get my iMac, though I do plan to make DVDs with it. I suspect 256MB would be more than enough for your friend.
One odd thing - there's a "double your ram for $40" - probably explains the 256 price of $839, but not the 512 price.
If you buy Office at the same time it's only $199 instead of $499.
Darrell Spice, Jr.
[link|http://home.houston.rr.com/spiceware/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
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Post #61,652
11/7/02 12:39:22 PM
8/21/07 5:43:20 AM
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Mac, baby
I am out of the country for the duration of the Bush administration.
Please leave a message and I'll get back to you when democracy returns.
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Post #61,654
11/7/02 12:48:02 PM
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Ummm...
How much does she want to spend?
That's the question I always start with. If she's got a hard-and-fast budget, then you'll have to start with that and see if a Mac can do the job for that money. If not, then a Mac might be less of a pain.
But I find I have more trouble figuring out things on a Mac than with a PC. It's purely a function of experience with each (lots with PCs, little with Macs).
E.g. our home Mac (running 8.6) would throw up an error and refuse to print for months. I thought it was a conflict between a serial interface for my Handspring and the serial Epson printer, but I never could get it figured out. The error message was less than helpful.
I eventually discovered that the Printer wasn't selected properly in the Chooser, or something. A trivial error, but if you're not familiar with Macs it's something that takes forever to figure out.
Best of luck.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #61,674
11/7/02 1:59:08 PM
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New ibooks start at $999
Price/performance-wise, these seem to be a pretty good deal. In addition, she can take it easily between work and home.
My experience with OS X (particularly 10.2) has been excellent. It, as they say, 'just works'.
Tom Sinclair
"Everybody is someone else's weirdo."
- E. Dijkstra
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Post #61,697
11/7/02 4:19:17 PM
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Let the software decide it...
Just Word, Excel, Powerpoint?
Does she need access to some medical computers at the office?
Does she need medical transcription software?
Will she have to load any "special" software, med billing, cancer catalog, bone marrow matching?
Will she need to access a database or use some special front-end for a work system?
VPN requirements to keep data exchanges between her/office private?
Some questions to ask...
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Post #61,720
11/7/02 5:56:05 PM
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Agreed. You gave the best advice here. :)
Alex
"I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain. -- Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665)
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Post #61,731
11/7/02 6:56:59 PM
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Re: Ilean toward the Mac - my wife got an iBook and ....
she uses word on that - she also uses a WinMe notebook so she has the opportunity to do direct comparisson as a non-techie.
I notice that she mostly uses the Mac & says it is so much easier to use & that the word is so much better with many more features than the one on windows.
I have tested out how easy the Mac is by giving my wife software to install on it - stuf that would be straight forward on windows (to someone who is used to the Win peculiarities) - she has always managed & seems quite pleased she could handle the tasks (wheras I have seen her in tears with her Win notebook/PC).
My difficulty with the Mac is over minor things (del / backspace functioning) & trying to configure ISPs for the Internet. But I don't touch it much.
She is running 9.x rather than 10x (I didn't want to run the risk of messing up a working PC by upgrading) she has had it for about 18months.
Cheers
Doug
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Post #61,777
11/7/02 11:23:59 PM
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Disagreeing with many
You still get more bang for a buck with a Wintel thingee than a Mac thingee.
Me, I'd go for a Windows XP system with Office 97, if you can get it. I'm none too confident in Office whatever-later. (As an aside, I've found Open Office seems to work with all the documents and spreadsheets I've tried it with. Maybe saving $400 on Office would help? - on the other hand, I'm a compugeek and try to spend my money on the *important* things, like Heroes of Might and Magic and Morrowind.)
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Post #61,802
11/8/02 3:06:56 AM
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Depends how you count your bucks
You still get more bang for a buck with a Wintel thingee than a Mac thingee That ain't necessarily so, especially when you factor in things like downtime, security problems, and the generally frustrating experience using `doze. And, the cost differential isn't as bad as CW suggests. For a quick comparison, I just jumped to Gateway's sight (first name that popped into my head) and looked at a 'home' computer. The cheap stuff, including a monitor, and similar memory/hdd size is $499, whereas the cheapest iMac is $799, and comes with TONS more software out of the box. To get the 'all-in-one' Gateway that's similar in form to an iMac starts at $999. [link|http://gateway.com/home/products/hm_dtp_300.shtml|http://gateway.com/h.../hm_dtp_300.shtml] [link|http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/232/wo/xXmSO00AGMzDLom7hh2/0.3.0.3.27.39.3.3.1.1.0?216,33|http://store.apple.c....3.3.1.1.0?216,33] [link|http://gateway.com/home/products/hm_dtp_prf4.shtml|http://gateway.com/h...hm_dtp_prf4.shtml] Add to the Gateway the cost of Software to get it up to what the iMac comes with: iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, and Appleworks, and you're looking at cost probably EXCEEDING that of the iMac. Plus you get Apple's far superior working environment and the stability of the underlying UNIX OS. I don't think the bang-for-the buck argument holds water until you start talking Linux or even *BSD on the intel hardware, all things considered. And I don't even own a Mac...yet. -----
Steve
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Post #61,821
11/8/02 8:44:35 AM
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Also, re: software
I also suspect once we get past Office and anyn other work-mandated must-haves, I'll have much better luck finding OSS versions of anything else I want to put on her system for a *nix than for a Windows box.
===
Microsoft offers them the one thing most business people will pay any price for - the ability to say "we had no choice - everyone's doing it that way." -- [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=38978|Andrew Grygus]
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Post #61,843
11/8/02 10:12:26 AM
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Agreed
And peripherals will be cheaper and more readily available.
But, I'd try to get it sans XP and with 2000. You can get a ThinkPad with a 2000 preload still.
-drl
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Post #61,920
11/8/02 6:33:24 PM
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What $-val are you placing upon
freedom from the spyware (never mind the back-doors) you Must accept with >=XP -- and even with W2K if you allow SP-3?
How much is it worth to be free of that massive negative and the legions of ongoing other negatives - and that list is never complete! as 'improvements' are inescapable from this supplier.
Apple is still easier for the masses, less prone to bite them on ass for the inevitable stupid errors and -thus far- not intent upon world domination via any means possible - like spyware, for merely one.
I know what I tell newbies (starting from scratch) when they ask my advice. I ask next, What is your sanity worth? Then I mention the BIG cost down the line: maintenance.
(Only later on do I get near to mentioning how the name, The Beast - came about. In some cases I mention this, if it doesn't seem redundant.)
Ashton
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