Chromebook or Windows?

Spiritual_Chaos · March 2020

Gonna buy a new laptop to my mom for her birthday. All she does on her present one (an old one with Windows Vista still on it), is checking her bank, reading the local paper and watches movie trailers on youtube.

The store has two cheap laptops at the same price ($280), one with chromebook and one with windows 10. The seller said that with the low specs the chromebook works a lot better and will held up better over time.

So I bought that one. But now I'm starting to think if I should have gotten the Windows 10 one, having an OS my mom is familiar with and that has windows on it just in case it needs to be used for something more than reading the local newspaper...

Did I do the right choice?

deadendp · March 2020

My daughter bought a Chromebook since that is what they have in all of the schools around here. Seems intuitive. Durability seems good. Uses it all the time. The cord took a crap about 15 months after she bought it. Easily replaceable. Probably got crimped in her 45+ pound backpack. Speaking of, she hauls the Chromebook with her everyday. She has dropped her backpack a few times. The thing still lives.

She is hard on electronics (we won't discuss the two phones she killed) so since the Chromebook is still humming along, I think it was a good choice for her.

Thoughts_Arrive · March 2020

MacBook Pro

deadendp · March 2020

Thoughts_Arrive said:

MacBook Pro

We run on an 8 year old iMac. But...I thought he was looking at two affordable options for mom. A MacbookPro is definitely not a few hundred dollars. She's not looking to design. She just wants to do some banking and watch some videos. That would probably be overkill for S_C Mama. Great computer though!

Spiritual_Chaos · March 2020

Thoughts_Arrive said:

MacBook Pro

Find a new Macbook Pro for 280 dollars, and sure - I'll get it for my mom.

F Me In The Brain · March 2020

Mac = hugely overpriced....but, if you listen to folks here then we will mostly be wiped out soon enough from The 'Rona so what the hell, might as well get the pricey one.

Spiritual_Chaos · March 2020

I HAVE A MACBOOK PRO MYSELF --

--- BUT

THIS IS FOR MY

MOM.

Read

the

OP.

markymark550 · March 2020

If that's all she needs a laptop for, either one would suffice. Personally, I would go with the Windows 10 one, but that's just because I would want something capable of running Visual Studio Express and/or SQL Server express in a pinch for my work. I don't think chromebook will support those apps. I know a couple of people with the chromebook and they really like them, so once your mom gets over the initial issue of learning a new OS, she'll probably like it.

benjs · March 2020

This may help, SC. It's not a full VM, but at least you could review the basics to decide whether it's an experience you think she can get the hang of. Good luck!

https://partnerdash.google.com/apps/simulator/chromebook

HesCalledDyer · March 2020

I would've gone with Windows but that's because I fucking loathe Google as a company.

lastexitlondon · March 2020

Cant your mum just use an abacus like other boomers.

*joke. On this forum best to always sign post a joke.

Thoughts_Arrive · March 2020

F Me In The Brain said:

Mac = hugely overpriced....but, if you listen to folks here then we will mostly be wiped out soon enough from The 'Rona so what the hell, might as well get the pricey one.

Quality comes at a price.
They cost so much more because they are built to last and be problem-free. Unlike Windows laptops.

Spiritual_Chaos · March 2020

Thoughts_Arrive said:

F Me In The Brain said:

Mac = hugely overpriced....but, if you listen to folks here then we will mostly be wiped out soon enough from The 'Rona so what the hell, might as well get the pricey one.

Quality comes at a price.
They cost so much more because they are built to last and be problem-free. Unlike Windows laptops.

Lol. That statement ages worse and worse for every product Apple launched.

THE DAYS OF MACBOOK PRO 2015 ARE OVER.

Thoughts_Arrive · March 2020

I accidentally dropped my 2015 Pro today and it survived.

Spiritual_Chaos · March 2020

Thoughts_Arrive said:

I accidentally dropped my 2015 Pro today and it survived.

I thought I bought a friends old 2015 macbook. Turned out it was a 2014. Am to afraid of conflict to bring it up.

To slow for my workflow. But whatever. Got my work laptop (DELL) that works well with the Adobe apps.

F Me In The Brain · March 2020

Thoughts_Arrive said:

F Me In The Brain said:

Mac = hugely overpriced....but, if you listen to folks here then we will mostly be wiped out soon enough from The 'Rona so what the hell, might as well get the pricey one.

Quality comes at a price.
They cost so much more because they are built to last and be problem-free. Unlike Windows laptops.

I hear this from Apple Lovers all of the time.

My wife's MacBook Pro -- $3500, about 5 years ago.

My last two HP laptops - combined, just under $1000, over the same 5 years.

I have no problems with the HPs, up until I do, at which point I just go and buy a brand new one.

I can do this around 5 more times.

She still will need to use the same laptop during that time frame to make the investment balance out -- not gonna happen.

The best part about people who want to put their cocks up into the Apple products? Many of them do not have the money to be overpaying for this cult product. (Kids especially. Fuck off with your 'premium products' when you don't have lots of extra money? What foolishness.)

I still say SC should go the Apple route. They are fancy and have the cache, so since The Rona is gonna leave half of us dead you might as well spend it!

Thoughts_Arrive · March 2020

I love the Mac OS but.
Plus Apple have great customer telephone tech support.
Windows meh...

F Me In The Brain · March 2020

Thoughts_Arrive said:

I love the Mac OS but.
Plus Apple have great customer telephone tech support.
Windows meh...

I do not argue that some of the Apple tech and products have been far superior.

I only argue that the price tag and the way that Apple seems to push customer spending is not something I can support.

(Also, in my experience, the doucheplugs that work at the Apple Stores are the worst. The absolute fucking worst.)

Spiritual_Chaos · March 2020

Thoughts_Arrive said:

I love the Mac OS but.
Plus Apple have great customer telephone tech support.
Windows meh...

I hate Mac OS.

How do you ctrl+x and ctrl+p a e.g. folder in Mac OS?

Spiritual_Chaos · March 2020

F Me In The Brain said:

Thoughts_Arrive said:

I love the Mac OS but.
Plus Apple have great customer telephone tech support.
Windows meh...

I do not argue that some of the Apple tech and products have been far superior.
I only argue that the price tag and the way that Apple seems to push customer spending is not something I can support.
(Also, in my experience, the doucheplugs that work at the Apple Stores are the worst. The absolute fucking worst.)

Fireside singer Kristofer works at my local "Apple store".

Image: https://editorial01.shutterstock.com/wm-preview-1500/5882063e/147c996d/high-fidelity-2000-shutterstock-editorial-5882063e.jpg

https://youtu.be/wJPoSaAoZ9w

HesCalledDyer · March 2020

Big fan of Apple products here, well, sorta. We'll get to that. Bought an iMac in 2006 for $1500 and it's still running. I don't use it but it still works and provides me with an iTunes backup of my current iMac (a late 2013 model I bought new in 2015). From 1998-2004 I bought three Dell computers at an average cost of $1200 each. They lasted about 2 years each before they were just flat-out unusable. This was including upgrading items in the process, thus spending more money. The only money I spent on my iMac was adding RAM (bc fuck Apple's RAM prices!) and a SuperDrive replacement ($100). Boot times of my previous two computers:

'06 iMac in 2006 - 30 sec

'06 iMac in 2020 - 30 sec

'04 Dell in 2004 - 1 minute

'04 Dell in 2006 - 8 minutes

Maybe I'm a rare case, but I've gotten a much better investment in one Apple computer that outlasted 3 Dells combined more than twofold. Mind you, I'm no computer dummy. I know how to properly take care of & monitor my computers' performances. With a Mac, this is painless. Don't install anything you don't want to install. With Windows, always had to have virus scanner software, firewall software, uninstaller software in case something accidentally or unknowingly got through, etc. I want to turn the computer on and use it, not perform 20 minutes worth of maintenance checks every day before I do anything.

I switched to Apple from Windows in 2006 because Apple made products that "just worked" (I know all the Apple haters love that one!) and they lasted. And you'd buy one again in 10-12 years because of that experience. More bang for the buck.

Then, Steve Jobs died. This is that part I said I'd get to.

Apple has since been less about making long-lasting, just-working products and is now just another garbage tech company pushing out less than stellar products that not only bug out and operate counter-intuitively, but Apple also forces obsolescence upon when the machine is still more than fully capable of handling current software. A recent example of this is the phasing out of iOS support for the iPhone 5c. The 5c has the exact same inner workings as a 6s, which is still supported by the current iOS version. No reason the 5c can't have iOS 13 except that Apple just won't allow it.

This is what really pisses me off with the current Apple model. They've gone from retaining customers with quality products to simply training the masses they need the newest, shiniest iThing every time the newest, shiniest iThing comes out. Good for Apple, they spit out a new, uncreative model and everyone buys it. Terrible for consumers, because, yes, we get shiny new things often, but there's a lack of innovation, quality, & resilience that existed when Jobs was alive. Bottom line is, Tim Cook is just another greedy billionaire who only cares about the bottom line, not providing quality products and care.

Chromebook or Windows?

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