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Post by t-bob on Sept 25, 2009 10:27:19 GMT -5
My wife just got a replacement fro her horrible Sony Vaio, a Macbook Air, we had to get it from Best Buy cuz that's where we bought the Sony. She needs to install/run XP for a few programs. Anyone here have any words of wisdom/help to assist us? The Best Buy people are clueless, and the Apple Store folks know nothing about any PC type apllications.
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Post by Fingerplucked on Sept 25, 2009 10:40:16 GMT -5
The Best Buy people are clueless, and the Apple Store folks know nothing about any PC type apllications. My local Apple Store must be better than your Apple Store. (I'm assuming you stopped in to talk to them rather than just calling on the phone.) Anyhow, try this link. I can't run the video on this computer, but it may help answer your question: www.apple.com/macosx/compatibility/ |
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Post by Supertramp78 on Sept 25, 2009 10:40:55 GMT -5
It is hard to think of a laptop with no drives at all, only externals. There is a program that comes with the Mac called Boot Camp. Start off by downloading and printing the Boot Camp instructions. Read them first. manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Boot_Camp_Install-Setup.pdfFor the Air, you have to have the USB optical drive. The Remote Disc sharing software included with your MacBook Air cannot be used to install Microsoft Windows. The program will first ask you to partition your hard drive. You have either a 120gb or 128gb hard drive so you will have to decide how much to carve off for Widows. 40 should be plenty if you don't plan on doing too much. Have your Windows XP discs handy along with the serial number for Windows. Once you partition the drive it will ask for your windows discs. After windows is installed you will need to install all the Apple drivers that are located on the Apple CDs that come with the Air. The manual walks you through that. When you are done you can boot to either OSX or Windows. |
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Post by timfarney on Sept 25, 2009 10:53:26 GMT -5
No offense, but is it too late to swap it for a MacBook Pro? Every once in awhile, Apple comes up with an idea so cool, so stylish, so far in front of the curve that it just ain't ready for prime time. The Air is one of those. It will be a killer idea when solid state hard drives are big and cheap, and when you can buy software on USB thumb drives, making optical discs unnecessary.
Tim
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Post by Supertramp78 on Sept 25, 2009 11:06:29 GMT -5
What Tim said. The Air is a good second laptop but it is kind of like a really large palm pilot that you have to sync up to something else in order to get any data into or out of it.
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Post by t-bob on Sept 25, 2009 11:30:02 GMT -5
It's not too late to switch to a Macbook Pro, and I'd do it in a second if it were my decision. Unfortunately, my wife requires a very light piece of equipment (the Air is just 3lbs with battery) due to severe back injuries, plus we had to buy what was available at Best Buy, because that's where we had the $1400 credit from the crappy Sony Vaio.
I am beginning to think that this laptop will be more trouble for her in a different way. We need to buy a copy of XP, the Macbook Air Superdrive, and have someone good configure this whole package for us. Probably be spending $400-500 or more. And it feels like we'll be putting "Chevy parts into a Ford".
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Post by Supertramp78 on Sept 25, 2009 11:34:37 GMT -5
Then get a regular MacBook. 5 pounds with battery and it comes with the drive. $999.
The 13 inch macbook pro is only $200 more and weighs in at 4.5 pounds.
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Post by Marshall on Sept 25, 2009 11:40:42 GMT -5
I don't think XP is available unless you go to some business shop that sells hardware and software and PC SERVICE that has a copy lying around.
Gee, what was so bad about the Vaio? I had one of them a PC or two ago and it was neato. Just too expensive to replace-in-kind when it came time to do so.
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Post by t-bob on Sept 25, 2009 12:23:52 GMT -5
Think we had a lemon, too many problems to list. XP still available from many sources. My wife is looking at other notebook options right now.
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Post by Supertramp78 on Sept 25, 2009 12:29:17 GMT -5
For the record, Cameron runs XP Pro on a MacBook Pro using Boot Camp. He switches back and forth all the time. Works really well EXCEPT you will need to track down a list of keyboard conversions since the mac keyboard doesn't have all the same keys that the PC keyboard does so you will waste some time looking for the alt or delete for example.
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Post by Fingerplucked on Sept 25, 2009 12:45:40 GMT -5
T-Bob, are you sure 5 lbs is too much? I don't know your wife, but I'd suggest you take a close look at her purse. She might be lugging around more than 5 lbs already.
My wife's purse would weigh 5 lbs only after she jettisons the other 28 lbs.
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Post by t-bob on Sept 25, 2009 12:56:26 GMT -5
T-Bob, are you sure 5 lbs is too much? I don't know your wife, but I'd suggest you take a close look at her purse. She might be lugging around more than 5 lbs already. My wife's purse would weigh 5 lbs only after she jettisons the other 28 lbs. Her purse is really light, and that's part of the issue. The combo of the purse and laptop and other stuff is too much for her. We are investigating other options now, one being the Toshiba Portege A600-S2201 Notebook PC, just 3.22 lbs, and no Mac shit to learn. Available at tigerdirect. Still have to deal with the $1400 credit at Best Buy - I suppose I could get a quality Denon amp with that money.  In my dreams... |
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Post by timfarney on Sept 25, 2009 13:05:52 GMT -5
T-Bob, are you sure 5 lbs is too much? I don't know your wife, but I'd suggest you take a close look at her purse. She might be lugging around more than 5 lbs already. My wife's purse would weigh 5 lbs only after she jettisons the other 28 lbs. Her purse is really light, and that's part of the issue. The combo of the purse and laptop and other stuff is too much for her. We are investigating other options now, one being the Toshiba Portege A600-S2201 Notebook PC, just 3.22 lbs, and no Mac shit to learn. Available at tigerdirect. Still have to deal with the $1400 credit at Best Buy - I suppose I could get a quality Denon amp with that money. In my dreams... $1400 will get you a 13" MacBook pro and a couple of hundred bucks to get the Geeks at Best Buy to install Windoze, configure BootCamp and move all the critical files from the old Sony to the Mac. She'll get a lot more than a pound and a half in additional functionality. If she's going to carry this around much, the MacBook Pro is a really good idea. Solid aluminum shell, motion sensor that parks the hard drive the moment it feels movement, 9-hour battery, etc, etc, ad infinitum and so on. There isn't a "netbook" that even comes close. ...or you could buy the netbook...and the Denon. Does your Best Buy have a Magnolia Home Theatre room? The high-end Onkyos rock. And the little Vienna Acoustics bookshelves are ridiculously good at about $1200 pr.  Tim |
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Post by timfarney on Sept 25, 2009 13:11:43 GMT -5
For the record, Cameron runs XP Pro on a MacBook Pro using Boot Camp. He switches back and forth all the time. Works really well EXCEPT you will need to track down a list of keyboard conversions since the mac keyboard doesn't have all the same keys that the PC keyboard does so you will waste some time looking for the alt or delete for example. Or, at home anyway, you could plug in a USB keyboard. Tim |
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Post by Fingerplucked on Sept 25, 2009 13:12:16 GMT -5
Or spend $12 on a nice, light thumb drive and let her just carry the files back and forth between a home desktop and work.
That'll leave you with $1388 for a nice 56" HD plasma TV.
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Post by timfarney on Sept 25, 2009 13:17:15 GMT -5
Or spend $12 on a nice, light thumb drive and let her just carry the files back and forth between a home desktop and work. That'll leave you with $1388 for a nice 56" HD plasma TV. ...or really close. Plasma panels are made in 54" and 58". Sorry, anal retention response. Tim |
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Post by Fingerplucked on Sept 25, 2009 13:19:08 GMT -5
Caught me. I guessed at the size.
I must've guessed better on the price of a thumbdrive since you had no beef with that.
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Post by Supertramp78 on Sept 25, 2009 13:30:50 GMT -5
For the record, Cameron runs XP Pro on a MacBook Pro using Boot Camp. He switches back and forth all the time. Works really well EXCEPT you will need to track down a list of keyboard conversions since the mac keyboard doesn't have all the same keys that the PC keyboard does so you will waste some time looking for the alt or delete for example. Or, at home anyway, you could plug in a USB keyboard. Tim That's what Cameron did in his dorm room. |
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Post by timfarney on Sept 25, 2009 13:47:20 GMT -5
Caught me. I guessed at the size. I must've guessed better on the price of a thumbdrive since you had no beef with that. I don't work in the computer department, so your guess is as good as mine. Tim |
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Post by t-bob on Sept 25, 2009 14:11:22 GMT -5
Problem solved. Ordered a Toshiba Portege A600-S2201 from tigerdirect. 3 year warranty. Free upgrade to Windows 7. All for just under $1200.
We'll still have that $1400 credit at Worst Buy. But we'll need a couple of printers soon. And maybe a 40something 1080p TV not too far down the road.
Thanks for all the feedback, folks.
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