The college iPhone & Macbook

[Nords]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

The Mac version would be NeoOffice, which I have, and it opens "docx" fine. Maybe you have to download some fixes? It should work, so keep trying.

Just download OpenOffice.org for Mac. The latest version is still free and will open and create .docx formats. I got it loaded on my iBook G4 that I got for $5 at the Salvation Army...what a score!

Excellent, thanks guys, our kid might have pulled down the wrong version.

I pointed her to the OpenOffice.org website and got out of her way. I was more than willing to believe that Mac versions were laggng Microsoft's bleeding-edge beta-testing.

We'll go take another look at it. Beats the heck out of using Bootcamp or Parallels to turn a Mac into a gold-plated PC.

[Honoruru]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

I was a bit confused here. I thought NeoOffice was the Mac version of OpenOffice, but now I see that OpenOffice does have a Mac version and NeoOffice is another competing free suite. When I downloaded NeoOffice, I don't think OpenOffice had a Mac version. Now they do.

There's a lot of discussion on the internet as to which one is better, but the verdict seem to be that they are very similar. It's just a matter of which interface you prefer. They both work very well, and, best of all, they are both free!

[craigwatanabe]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

The Mac version would be NeoOffice, which I have, and it opens "docx" fine. Maybe you have to download some fixes? It should work, so keep trying.

Just download OpenOffice.org for Mac. The latest version is still free and will open and create .docx formats. I got it loaded on my iBook G4 that I got for $5 at the Salvation Army...what a score!

[Honoruru]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

OpenOffice runs fine but the Mac version doesn't yet handle the MS Office 2007 "docx" file format.

The Mac version would be NeoOffice, which I have, and it opens "docx" fine. Maybe you have to download some fixes? It should work, so keep trying.

[Nords]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

Just to update the thread, she went with the 13" and 4 GB RAM. Loves it.

Some software, as usual, has proved to be frustrating. OpenOffice runs fine but the Mac version doesn't yet handle the MS Office 2007 "docx" file format. Quicken has 2009 & 2010 versions out for PCs but the Mac version is still 2007, with a teaser for "Quicken Essentials" coming in Feb 2010.

She has yet to download/test drive Google Sketchup and compare speeds among our household's various PCs & Macs. (She's planning to study civil engineering.) But the Macbook does video very well, wireless networking went flawlessly, and she was able to set up the wireless printing service without having to manually tweak the router or the printer-- and without having to use me, either.

All the kinks will work out eventually but in the meantime she's bouncing around like a pingpong ball debating whether to buy Windows emulators/add-ons, external hard drives, and other software/hardware. She seems to lack a basic understanding of how file systems and backups work, and how to search for converters or other plug-ins.

I need to set her up with a good Mac/PC hardware/software book or two so that she thinks of solutions in terms of what she can do on her own for free instead of waving her credit card at the Apple Store.

But, hey, that's her problem and not mine. In another 217 days or so she'll be surrounded by college geek hackers, too, so I'm sure she'll get all the tutorials she could possibly want...

[sophielynette]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

I have a 15" MBP and I love it, but I agree, it does get heavy to carry around, especially if you're going to be lugging it across campus. Add in a couple of heavy textbooks and you're talking about aching shoulders. My MBP is my baby, but I eventually got an MSI Wind notebook for taking out and about with me.

Another thing to take into consideration is if the 15" MBP is going to be taken along to classes, it doesn't always fit on those tiny writing desks that some schools provide.

One of my classmates had a 13" macbook and she never complained about the monitor size.

All in all, it depends on what she's going to be using it for. If she's going to be taking it along to class, a 13" with external monitor might be the better choice, as already mentioned. But if it's going to be mostly used in the dorm and occasionally taken on trips, then the 15" might be better.

[MyopicJoe]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

All i have heard about the 13" is that the display is too small. They were sorry they went for the 13" and not the 15".

I guess it depends on your needs. The 13" with a external display at home is a great setup.

It all depends on who's using it and why. Photographers have to walk around with so much gear as it is, they prize the size and weight of the 13" MacBooks. They're usually only looking at one photo at a time, so a 13" screen is enough (and it's vastly better than the itty bitty screen on the back of their camera).

A lot of other people prize the extra real estate you get with a 15" screen. You can see more data when you open a spread sheet. You can read more of a document before having to page down. You can have more windows open without things getting too cluttered.

This info has only come from the girls. The guys wouldn't be caught dead with a 13" - at least in my school . Maybe I'm getting their response after they thought the 13" was cuter and girlier?

Well, we all know about teenage boys and their fixation on size ;_)

[Nords]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

Well, this has been a birthday to remember.

Her AT&T GoPhone has been creeping up her budget for the last couple months (teen texting, the last profit center on a cell network), so she decided to do the iPhone first. Unsurprisingly she chose the 3GS model with 32GB of RAM.

The AT&T store was the easiest place to do it all in one trip and it's closer to home-- it turned out to be a very good thing that she didn't drive an hour downtown to the Apple Store. Apparently you have to be at least 18 years old to sign a cell-phone contract. So she took me in tow and we went back to close the deal.

Our timing was good, too. The 25th ID has started returning to Schofield Barracks, and when we walked in the store we overheard a clerk talking about the military discount-- 15% off the $299 iPhone. She was also credited for her remaining GoPhone minutes and they waived the iPhone's activation fee.

Programming wasn't too bad, but I'm glad that we didn't try to go with an unlocked/hacked iPhone. She backed up her iPod Touch to her iTunes account. The iPhone just plugged into the laptop and schlurped up all the data. But then the phone decided that it needed the latest version of iTunes, and a bit later it discovered that it also needed a new iPhone software update. After that she spent another hour tweaking, and she has big plans for buying more college and civil-engineering apps. ("The birthday gift that keeps on taking from your wallet.") But that's the whole idea-- to have a classroom/lab/study tool that will help her get through all her college assignments & projects. It'll be interesting to see what Navy does with it, too.

She's using Google Earth and driving directions, but she's trying to figure out if it'll read them to her through the car's speakers. (She already has a hardware gizmo that plays the iPhone's iTunes through the car speakers via a low-power FM signal.) The phone seems to know its coordinates, although I don't think it has a GPS receiver in it. It probably knows its location from local cell towers but I could be wrong.

I don't think she's going back to her iPod Touch. She'll probably sell or barter it to a friend.

She's been most pleasant to be around these last few days. Her new attitude might even last another week!

[LocalMotion]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

I have to respectfully disagree here. All i have heard about the 13" is that the display is too small. They were sorry they went for the 13" and not the 15". This info has only come from the girls. The guys wouldn't be caught dead with a 13" - at least in my school . Maybe I'm getting their response after they thought the 13" was cuter and girlier?

I guess it depends on your needs. The 13" with a external display at home is a great setup.

I have a 15" and honestly would love to have a MB Air and a 24" iMac at home. The 15" can get heavy while traveling, but YMMV

[LocalMotion]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

Thanks, everyone, this is good stuff.

We're going to give her the "parent's gift certificate" next month and take her through the process of figuring out what she really needs versus what she wants. Same process with the iPhone.

I'm hoping she can handle the immediate-gratification temptation of test-driving at the Apple Store but ordering from a discounter...

you're not going to get a better deal than directly from Apple with the student discount.

Apple doesn't allow discounting of their products when sold thru 3rd parties. Someone might have a rebate, but it's off MSRP.

[Nords]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

Thanks, everyone, this is good stuff.

We're going to give her the "parent's gift certificate" next month and take her through the process of figuring out what she really needs versus what she wants. Same process with the iPhone.

I'm hoping she can handle the immediate-gratification temptation of test-driving at the Apple Store but ordering from a discounter...

[acousticlady]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

Honestly the base model 13" MacBook Pro would totally suffice.

With student discount it can be had for $1099

Includes:
2.26Ghz Intel proc
2GB RAM (easily upgradable on your own to 4GB for $45)
160GB Hard Drive
Firewire 800

I know girls tend to like the 13" over the 15." but if you want to spring $500 more you get the 15" with 4GB RAM and 250GB HD

Applecare runs $239

I have to respectfully disagree here. All i have heard about the 13" is that the display is too small. They were sorry they went for the 13" and not the 15". This info has only come from the girls. The guys wouldn't be caught dead with a 13" - at least in my school . Maybe I'm getting their response after they thought the 13" was cuter and girlier?

[LocalMotion]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

Honestly the base model 13" MacBook Pro would totally suffice.

With student discount it can be had for $1099

Includes:
2.26Ghz Intel proc
2GB RAM (easily upgradable on your own to 4GB for $45)
160GB Hard Drive
Firewire 800

I know girls tend to like the 13" over the 15." but if you want to spring $500 more you get the 15" with 4GB RAM and 250GB HD

Applecare runs $239

[acousticlady]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

i'd stay away from the macbook air. If she has to have a laptop, go for the 15 in. macbook pro. The 17 in is a little bulky to carry around. But my first choice would be the 20 in desktop. The 24 in is overkill IMHO (first time I ever used that .) And don't forget, students get an educational discount too. I'm not sure, but I think they are offering a free 8G iPod with the purchase of any mac.

This info is based on both my own experiences and my students' experiences.

[helen]

Re: The college iPhone & Macbook

Drive spin speed minimum 5400 rpm if you plan to edit video or audio files

I was about to comment that I never seen a modern disk drive go below 5400 rpm but after looking at the MacBook comparsion chart, Apple is offering a 120Gbyte 4200 rpm disk drive on the MacBook Air as an option.