[QUOTE=Buckler of Swashing]
The only thing I’d recommend checking is what computers most other people are using at the university. If she has to receive Microsoft Office files (word, excel etc) from other staff members and she decides on the Mac - she’ll need to make sure she either uses BootCamp (for which you’ll need a licensed copy of XP or Vista anyway, as well as the Mac OS) or probably MS Office for Mac.
[/QUOTE]
Well, the Mac will come with Office for Mac on it, and i was under the impression that Word for Mac and Word for PC documents could be exchanged pretty seamlessly between the two operating systems. Is that not the case?
[QUOTE=Digital Stimulus]
[ul]
[li]The D630 is lighter. Not much, but every pound counts when you’re carrying it through an airport.[/li][li]The Mac has a slightly bigger screen.[/li][li]The Mac has an additional 130GB of hard disk space.[/ul]Some other thoughts:[ul][/li][li]Both have 4GB RAM. No advantage either way, unless there are extra slots and one of them will have a 64-bit OS.[/li][li]MS Office is the standard. While I’d recommend OpenOffice, it may not quite fit the bill (for varying reasons). I note that the 3.0 beta has just been released, which has an aqua build for Mac – no more NeoOffice necessary.[/li][li]Mac is *NIX (stability, less malware).[/li][li]The D630 is Windows (larger base, more general familiarity, even within the school’s Office of IT).[/ul]Now, I can’t believe I’m actually saying that a Windows machine might work out as well as a Mac – I think Windows is a crap OS. However, pragmatically, it works for most people (as long as you can get XP on it, I guess). So, it comes down to bigger screen vs. less weight.[/li][/quote]
The weight isn’t a big issue, at least not initially. Most of the “portability” she requires is the ability to take it to school with her in the morning, and to bring it home again at the end of the day. Her commute will be by car, so she’s not going to have to lug it around. We would, in the long run, like to get a smaller laptop for travel to archives, etc., but that’s not an immediate priority. I’ve even been thinking about getting an ultra-portable, like the Asus Eee.
The bigger screen is a selling point for her. Because it will be her only computer, she doesn’t want a really small screen. The 15.4" on the Mac is big enough without making the computer itself too large. The bigger 17" Macbook isn’t an option, but she wouldn’t want one that big anyway.
For anything she’s likely to do, 4Gb of RAM is likely to be more than enough. The heaviest load her computer will endure is probably some fairly light Photoshop work, and some Dreamweaver.
The larger on-board hard-drive is good, although not a deal-breaker. Hard drive space is so cheap now that it’s really easy to expand. We have a couple of Seagate SATA drives in enclosures at home, and the next purchase might be a proper NAS of some sort.
As for Office, i’m pretty sure the university will put Office for Mac on the computer. They’ve already told her that they have licenses for most mainstream software, and that if she has any special software requirements they would be happy to get them for her.
I think she will be quite happy with the fact that she doesn’t have to spend as much time monitoring anti-virus, firewall, and other anti-malware programs on the Mac. She’s a Windows user right now, and has had no malware problems for ages, but it will be one less hassle.
[QUOTE=Digital Stimulus]
And don’t believe the hype that Mac zealots will try to feed you…I personally prefer them to Windows, but really, that’s only because I’m familiar with Unix and can go low-level if it’s needed to fix things. Macs have plenty of their own issues. For the most part, my experience is that whatever a user is used to is what will work best for them.
[/QUOTE]
I completely agree with this. I think Macs are great computers, but i’m happy with a PC. My own computer (a few years old now) is a dual-boot XP/Ubuntu machine, and i love playing around with both of them.
My only concern about her getting a Mac is the issue of file swapping between us. As i said above, i was under the impression that Word docs created on Windows and Mac can easily be swapped back and forth, but if this isn’t true then we’ll need some sort of solution.
Also, i assume that Photoshop (.psd) files can be transferred between platforms, and can be opened and edited by Photoshop on either one. Is that true?
Finally, i’ve read a few cases where people with Macs and PCs have run into trouble setting up a home network. Is this still a problem, or will the two play together nicely?
