Posts made by MintLeaf

MintLeaf

skyjuice:
Yes, I've seen this comparison page, thanks. We opted for Pro after all. Went to the store to check out the physical pieces, which incidentally, is selling Pro at $2488. Pro has a longer batt life compared to White so may reduce need to bring charger to school. DS's bag alr weighs a ton as it is. We also ordered the MS Office and insurance. Dun want to be fumbling for Office at a later stage when need arises. Though the White looks great, but I can imagine how it would be next yr-- after seeing so many yellowish Macbooks during the CCA Maze when the older boys presented to us in their Macs! Yes, we feel that $600 is not a lot to pay after all when weighed all these features and conveniences. Thanks, MintLeaf, once again, for your input.

Your DS must be very happy.

$2488 probably only comes with one year warranty. Apple Care is expensive and it's priced higher for Macbook Pro. We have tried a few times to find the best deal for Macs and so far concluded education pricing is still the best.

DS leaves his books in the school locker and uses the e-Books at home. This reduces the weight significantly. But this year we only have e-Books for the Science. Trying to sort this out now.

I noticed some of the boys carry a backpack and a separate notebook bag. Heard one boy forgot to bring his notebook bag along when he alighted from the bus. Even though he realised his mistake immediately, he could not stop the bus on time. He contacted the bus company later, but the notebook was gone by the time the bus reached the depot. A separate notebook bag has a different kind of risk.

MintLeaf

blitz:
yes, according to the lady in the general office I spoke to, parents have their own admin breeze acct, different frm their children. It wasn't emailed to him, and hubby has no idea he has an account. Infact, I don't think we parents were informed of alot of stuff happening! Most of it I find out thru my son (who most times forget most things!) or this PNG forum.

Am I the only one like that?

Just saw this green letter to parents dated on 12 Jan. e-Portal trainings will be conducted on 23 Jan (Saturday) from 9 - 11 am. There are 3 time slots of half hour each with 15 minutes break in between. It says to change password upon first log in. And the reply slip for the training was to be submitted on 15 Jan (Fri) although DS is doing it only today. He didn't know he had to.

It is stated that you can contact Paul Leong or Tan Hui Kuan. Have you already seen this?

At the apple web site, you can click on Compare from this URL

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTAyNTQzMzg

Two important differences I can see that you might want to consider. Option B has[list=1]

MintLeaf

Just heard, S$150 to configure your own Macbook.

skyjuice:
I spoke with Sapura staff and was told that the Pro is the better powered and durable one. But it's made of aluminum so a bit heavier than the White. The school will be using IWork mostly but when need spreadsheet or so, then still need MS Office. The price quoted is also a MS price, supposedly unlikely to get a better price outside. Decisions, decisions...

I just checked the specification. We are stunned that Apple has moved so fast. You will be getting the new generation Unibody, longer battery life Mac whether you go for Option A or B. So, it seems S$600 more only for[list=1]

MintLeaf

blitz:
If we have our own macbook that doesnt have MS software in it, can it still be used for school? I thougth iworks is enough to do school projects and whatnots

Yes, you can use your own Macbook. The school will require admin access and will do some configuration for that Macbook. While it's true iWorks should be a good replacement for Office, I have seen my DS use MS Office all these while. Documents are given in Word format and I have seen ppt slides for Home Economics and Literature.

But if the school is saying MS Office is an option, then they should be standardising on iWorks for your DS batch. Otherwise, it's going to be a quite a challenge.

MintLeaf

blitz:
I dont think the school can wait so long. The form must be passed up by Tuesday tomorrow.

Wow. Seems such a rush now. We had MS Office bundled in 2 years ago. You can always buy MS Office at Epicentre or from the Apple Online store later. Education price should be fixed. But I guess you can also get the upgrade when they release the new version. Having said that, I am still using MS Office 2003 personally since I'm on Windows, so unless the school rushes into the newer version, I won't be in a hurry to upgrade my DS copy of Office 2008.

MintLeaf

If a new version of MS Office for Mac is going to be released sometime this year, you might want to hold the purchase until then.

MintLeaf

skyjuice:
Need some advice on the purchase of Macbook Pro. There are 2 options. Package A is Macbook WHITE $2080 with 2.26GHz and 2Gb SDRam. Package B Macbook PRO is 2.53GHz with 4Gb SDRam. Price difference is $600. Which would be a suitable choice? Is B too high powered? On the other hand, my son chose Infocomm as CCA 1st choice. He wants to do ISpotMotion and Gaming. These would definitely run better on a higher RAM. Would A's RAM be sufficient already?

Does anyone buy the optional items such as such as insurance, MS Office, Eubiq Plug and Anti-Theft?

Get the newer generation of Mac since it has higher RAM and longer lasting battery. May not need to bring charger to school if battery can last him the day. The Unibody design is sleeker and more robust. I think it's lighter too? If the hard disk space is more, then it adds to the justification.

Boys can dirty white notebooks in one month, so another con against option A. You might want to consider MS Office. Anti-theft was bundled in for us but we didn't use it at all. As for the Eubiq Plug, it was required for the first year, but ever since the school did some changes to the classroom, DS could just use the normal 3-pin plug to charge his notebook in class. Ask your DS to check his classroom for nearest power source to his seat and confirm he can plug in with the normal 3-pin plug. We didn't buy insurance.

I am not sure about ISpotMotion, but I checked the web and found IStopMotion. It does not look like a resource hungry software. But Gaming software, iMovie, Adobe CS4 Suite, etc can always do with higher specification.

MintLeaf

blitz:
Thanks Mintleaf for the info. Sorry, so kancheong me. First timer as a parent of a sec 1 child.

Welcome.

You might have to get used to it. 老二will give you the same anxiety.