Laptop replacement

[Neutron]

Our Sony Vaio of 3 years decided to crap out on us. It originally came with Vista but I long ago decided to upgrade it to Windows 7. Saturday after we came home I tried to boot it up and it would BSOD either immediately upon bootup or right after we would log in. Same thing with Safe Mode. I tried my usual rescue CD stuff but no go. It has been running slow and running hot as well. The battery I'm lucky if it gets 30 min on a charge (to be expected for a 3 year old battery).

I actually tried to load Mac OS X on it as there are ways to do so (I legally purchased the OS to do this) but our Vaio is so unique is is darn right impossible. If I had a Dell it would probably work better for that.

This is mainly for my wife as she needs it for her school work. She has a Mac Mini but she likes to sit on the couch and do her school work there, and it makes it easier for her to keep an eye on our little ones.

I mentioned putting Linux on our current laptop and she immediately nixed that idea.

I would look at getting a Windows based laptop but I loathe Windows which is why we both use Macs for our desktops. She has gotten used to it and likes it's reliability.

I am looking at both the MacBook Air and Pro but I keep hearing rumors that they will both be refreshed very soon. Any truth to those?

An iPad would be great except she needs to be able to type up her papers in a .doc type format for school.

 

[DodgerKing]

Have your tried just replacing the harddrive and reinstalling Windows on the new harddrive of your Vaio? Doing this will also get you the added benefit of removing all of the Vaio's software and running everything through Windows instead of the lame Vaio care.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Our Sony Vaio of 3 years decided to crap out on us. It originally came with Vista but I long ago decided to upgrade it to Windows 7. Saturday after we came home I tried to boot it up and it would BSOD either immediately upon bootup or right after we would log in. Same thing with Safe Mode. I tried my usual rescue CD stuff but no go. It has been running slow and running hot as well. The battery I'm lucky if it gets 30 min on a charge (to be expected for a 3 year old battery).

I actually tried to load Mac OS X on it as there are ways to do so (I legally purchased the OS to do this) but our Vaio is so unique is is darn right impossible. If I had a Dell it would probably work better for that.

This is mainly for my wife as she needs it for her school work. She has a Mac Mini but she likes to sit on the couch and do her school work there, and it makes it easier for her to keep an eye on our little ones.

I mentioned putting Linux on our current laptop and she immediately nixed that idea.

I would look at getting a Windows based laptop but I loathe Windows which is why we both use Macs for our desktops. She has gotten used to it and likes it's reliability.

I am looking at both the MacBook Air and Pro but I keep hearing rumors that they will both be refreshed very soon. Any truth to those?

An iPad would be great except she needs to be able to type up her papers in a .doc type format for school.

The pro should get refreshed very soon. Very soon. Not so sure about the air.

Or Get her an iPad and a keyboard, you can save files in word format easily enough.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[Neutron]

Can you save files on an iPad?

 

[DodgerKing]

Can you save files on an iPad?

Depends. Through iTunes with certain APPs

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Can you save files on an iPad?

Easily. Setup Dropbox and you can save directly to your account. I have never used iTunes to save a file. Never need to.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[DodgerKing]

Easily. Setup Dropbox and you can save directly to your account. I have never used iTunes to save a file. Never need to.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

But it is actually not saved on the iPad. It is either saved on Dropbox's server or on the Dropbox APP.

 

[Ilya]

Can you save files on an iPad?

I use Pro versions of DocsToGo and QuickOffice. Both apps allow you to create and edit Office documents, including DOC and DOCX and save them directly to a cloud storage of your choice, e.g. DropBox. That makes sharing files very fast and easy.
Each of these apps has its limitations, so you may want to try free versions first to see if you like them.

 

[rglore]

I setup a friend's iPad with a blutooth keyboard and Pages. She does all her college work with it. It autosaves and can print or send as .doc files to email.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

But it is actually not saved on the iPad. It is either saved on Dropbox's server or on the Dropbox APP.

Many apps willl also save in the iPad. I was not talking about the Dropbox app.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[DodgerKing]

Many apps willl also save in the iPad. I was not talking about the Dropbox app.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

That is more or less what I said in my first post. I should have clarified that iTunes isn't needed in most cases though.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

.

 

[DodgerKing]

I use QuickOffice Pro and transfer files between my PC and iPad through iTunes and DropBox. Not all APPs are Dropbox compatible so iTunes is necessary for many APPs, such as many of my workout APPs that I use for transferring GPX files.

Sent from my iPad using SatelliteGuys

 

[rockymtnhigh]

If an app is not dropbox compatible, it usually has some ability to open the file in another program which will be. I simply have not had an issue with any office productivity products in terms of struggling to get the data out. Oh, there are different methods, and certainly some apps are better, but I'd argue that a college student could survive with the iPad and a keyboard -- not saying it is ideal - as it isn't - but it could work fine. Assuming they had a iPad-compatible wireless printer, of course.

But personally I reserve all substantive writing - outside of the context of notes at a meeting - for my Mac. I do view power points and occasionally excel files, but I do the actual work on the Air. And even then, I rarely if ever write anything in Word anymore, preferring the simplicity of Nisus Writer Pro, the RTF tools in DevonThink, or occasionally, Scrivener.

BUT Neutron -- if she can wait a few weeks - I would try to hold off and see what the new MBPs are going to offer. All evidence points to Air-like machines, but with more power. And who knows, maybe even a retina display (time will tell on that one, but I am not counting on it quite yet). Hold off and see.

 

[Neutron]

Yeah, I'm hoping I can get her to hold off a few weeks. Our laptop crapping out really didn't come at a good time. She's still in school and while her desktop will suffice for now, she would rather have, and be more comfortable with a laptop or tablet. One thing that may be a big show stopper for the iPad is a lot of her online courses have video that is either Silverlight or Flash which I know the iPad won't do Flash. Not sure about Silverlight.

I sure wish I knew what the specs were for the new MacBooks....

 

[DodgerKing]

Yeah, I'm hoping I can get her to hold off a few weeks. Our laptop crapping out really didn't come at a good time. She's still in school and while her desktop will suffice for now, she would rather have, and be more comfortable with a laptop or tablet. One thing that may be a big show stopper for the iPad is a lot of her online courses have video that is either Silverlight or Flash which I know the iPad won't do Flash. Not sure about Silverlight.

I sure wish I knew what the specs were for the new MacBooks....

Some of the textbooks or courses have APPs that can play the videos. If it is web based you can install iSwifter and watch any flash based webpage through that web APP.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iswifter/id388857173?mt=8