I’m Ordering A New Mac: Any Advice?

[BFritz21]

I need to order a new Mac because mine’s over ten years old.

Is there anything specific I need to order or any any type of Mac?

My brother usually handles it but, along with his own family, job, and life, he’s doing a hundred other things for me right now so I’d like to take one thing off his to-do list.

Thanks for any help!

[Goalpost]

I went into Best Buy and purchased a MacBook Air about a couple of years ago. It's basically a laptop. I charge it overnight and it is good for a full day. I have been hacked a few times in my life and what I like about Apple is that the security is included and I've been free of that. I mean, Apple is their own self. They do their own chip...not Intel or AMD anymore... best of my knowledge. Mine can open with a password or just Touch ID. It's not the biggest...about 13 inches....but I bought a carrying case for it and it's easy to travel with. Cost of the laptop was about a grand.

[treee]

Assuming you just need it for web browsing and content consumption, the new Mac Book Air with the M1 chip would work perfectly for you. Great battery life from the chip's efficiency and it should do everything you need it to with ease.

[BFritz21]

(08-12-2022, 05:40 PM)Goalpost Wrote: I went into Best Buy and purchased a MacBook Air about a couple of years ago.  It's basically a laptop.  I charge it overnight and it is good for a full day.  I have been hacked a few times in my life and what I like about Apple is that the security is included and I've been free of that.   I mean, Apple is their own self.  They do their own chip...not Intel or AMD anymore... best of my knowledge.  Mine can open with a password or just Touch ID.  It's not the biggest...about 13 inches....but I bought a carrying case for it and it's easy to travel with.  Cost of the laptop was about a grand.

How's the keyboard? I'm thinking that might be a problem if it's the flat on the table type because those are difficult for me to use. I bought a normal keyboard and hooked it up to the Mac monitor so I guess I could do that.

I don't really have a need to take it anywhere because I just take my iPad to the bar/restaurant if I want to follow fantasy football and I have the big version of my presentation (not the one I email to schools to see if they're interested) on a separate laptop. 

(08-12-2022, 06:09 PM)treee Wrote: Assuming you just need it for web browsing and content consumption, the new Mac Book Air with the M1 chip would work perfectly for you. Great battery life from the chip's efficiency and it should do everything you need it to with ease.

I email a lot and does it come with PowerPoint? I sometimes send out a smaller version of my presentation to schools and wherever just so they can get an idea.

[XenoMorph]

(08-12-2022, 08:09 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: How's the keyboard? I'm thinking that might be a problem if it's the flat on the table type because those are difficult for me to use. I bought a normal keyboard and hooked it up to the Mac monitor so I guess I could do that.

I don't really have a need to take it anywhere because I just take my iPad to the bar/restaurant if I want to follow fantasy football and I have the big version of my presentation (not the one I email to schools to see if they're interested) on a separate laptop. 

I email a lot and does it come with PowerPoint? I sometimes send out a smaller version of my presentation to schools and wherever just so they can get an idea.

Power Point is part of Microsoft office i believe so probably wont be included on a MAC  they might something similar though (Keynote if google is to be believed)

[BFritz21]

(08-15-2022, 03:45 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: Power Point is part of Microsoft office i believe so probably wont be included on a MAC  they might something similar though (Keynote if google is to be believed)

I didn't even think about that because they installed my Microsoft Office and all that before it was even delivered.

Good looking out!

[WeezyBengal]

Yeah...don't get a MAC.

[BFritz21]

(08-15-2022, 05:21 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Yeah...don't get a MAC.

Why not? I have an iPhone so I can do a lot through them both.

[treee]

(08-15-2022, 05:40 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Why not? I have an iPhone so I can do a lot through them both.

Mac is worse with some productivity software and gaming (and of course price for most products). For your use case though it doesn't really matter. If you're more comfortable with navigating iOS than Windows then it is probably worth it for you to stick with it. If you're up for learning windows then you can get better value from a PC. 

[BFritz21]

(08-16-2022, 06:41 AM)treee Wrote: Mac is worse with some productivity software and gaming (and of course price for most products). For your use case though it doesn't really matter. If you're more comfortable with navigating iOS than Windows then it is probably worth it for you to stick with it. If you're up for learning windows then you can get better value from a PC. 

I was a Windows guy all my life until I moved into the addition off my brother’s house a little over ten years ago and he convinced me to switch to Mac.

I agree that Windows does seem more organized, easier to keep track of files, and things like that, but since I can install Microsoft Office on Mac, there’s really no reason to switch, especially when I have an iPhone and iPad because I can just keep everything linked.

[KillerGoose]

(08-16-2022, 07:44 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: I was a Windows guy all my life until I moved into the addition off my brother’s house a little over ten years ago and he convinced me to switch to Mac.

I agree that Windows does seem more organized, easier to keep track of files, and things like that, but since I can install Microsoft Office on Mac, there’s really no reason to switch, especially when I have an iPhone and iPad because I can just keep everything linked.

I would say that if you are used to the Mac ecosystem, then just stick with it. The main thing for me is that Mac's can be cost prohibitive in comparison to normal PCs as their cheapest unit is $700 going up to $1200 after that. It all depends on what you do, though. Mac is a safer OS than Windows, for sure. 

[CKwi88]

(08-15-2022, 05:40 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: Why not? I have an iPhone so I can do a lot through them both.

As a Windows person (love my Surface tablet/laptop hybrid) I was going to make a snarky "cancel the order" comment but like Tree and Goose said, if it's what you're comfortable with, and the money isn't a huge issue, no significant reason to not stick with it. Will you be paying more for the machine than you really have to pay/should be paying considering what you'll use it for? Probably. But if you're alright with that who cares.

[BFritz21]

(08-16-2022, 10:43 AM)KillerGoose Wrote: I would say that if you are used to the Mac ecosystem, then just stick with it. The main thing for me is that Mac's can be cost prohibitive in comparison to normal PCs as their cheapest unit is $700 going up to $1200 after that. It all depends on what you do, though. Mac is a safer OS than Windows, for sure. 

Safety is a big thing for me because I'm not a huge porn fiend or anything but I do tend to open stupid things people email me or stupid things on websites that I probably shouldn't.

(08-16-2022, 11:48 AM)CKwi88 Wrote: As a Windows person (love my Surface tablet/laptop hybrid) I was going to make a snarky "cancel the order" comment but like Tree and Goose said, if it's what you're comfortable with, and the money isn't a huge issue, no significant reason to not stick with it. Will you be paying more for the machine than you really have to pay/should be paying considering what you'll use it for? Probably. But if you're alright with that who cares.

If I were still in college, I'd 100% go with a PC just because of the easier way to keep files and whatever organized, as well as easier to get to programs and things, but I generally just use it to respond to emails, surf the web, follow fantasy football, and minor things in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint (generally opening mail attachments that I'll never view again).

Probably be paying more but I don't have a whole lot of expenses and it would keep things running smoothly with all my other devices.

Thanks for the advice.

[*bfine32*]

Chromebook

[BFritz21]

(08-12-2022, 05:40 PM)Goalpost Wrote: I went into Best Buy and purchased a MacBook Air about a couple of years ago.  It's basically a laptop.  I charge it overnight and it is good for a full day.  I have been hacked a few times in my life and what I like about Apple is that the security is included and I've been free of that.   I mean, Apple is their own self.  They do their own chip...not Intel or AMD anymore... best of my knowledge.  Mine can open with a password or just Touch ID.  It's not the biggest...about 13 inches....but I bought a carrying case for it and it's easy to travel with.  Cost of the laptop was about a grand.

How's the screen size? I have a pretty big screen on my current Mac which is good because the tree messed up my eyesight.

I'm pretty sure they messed up my prescription because now I'm having troubles seeing.

I'm sure (hoping) that they can fix it with a new prescription (or if they just messed up making these) but a bigger screen is still never a bad thing.

[Goalpost]

(08-16-2022, 02:00 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: How's the screen size? I have a pretty big screen on my current Mac which is good because the tree messed up my eyesight.

I'm pretty sure they messed up my prescription because now I'm having troubles seeing.

I'm sure (hoping) that they can fix it with a new prescription (or if they just messed up making these) but a bigger screen is still never a bad thing.

The screen is 12 inches across.  It is 8 inches tall.  Corner to corner it is 14 inches.  I bought the MacBook Air for reasons of mobility.  I can watch tv and have it in the family room.  I used to have a desk top in another room before it was replaced with this.  I spend 90 percent of my time in the family room so now I don't have to move to another room to get on the computer.  It is of course wireless and works with the printer, etc.  You may want to check the ports though, because there's not much on these.   

[grampahol]

Other than my phone I use Linux OS for everything.. 
I don't do business with Chinese apologists the likes of Apple..   

[fredtoast]

I like my mac with cheese.