[jimcpherson]

He's been wrestling with the decision for a week on whether to replace his home computer (Dell Desktop) with a Dell notebook or a Powerbook (or an iBook). He wants to do typical web surfing, iPod/iTunes, Microsoft Office, etc. and needs the portability of a notebook as he frequently travels. I can tell he's drooling over the Powerbook but he's struggling with justifying the cost, and also the comfort zone of being used to Windows vs getting familiar with OSX. What's it gonna take to convince him to take the plunge?

[ae86_16v]

Let him borrow your PowerBook for a week.

[typoon]

Originally posted by ae86_16v:
Let him borrow your PowerBook for a week.

A good idea but he might not give it back. His co-worker might like it so much he won't want to give it back. Since that tends to happen with Macs.

Which DELL is he looking at?

1. Tell him Apple was Rated #1 in customer service by consumer reports.

2. Tell him he won't have to deal with viruses anymore. That cost alone should be worth the price. IMO

3. Tell him it will work better with his iPod.

4. He can run all his office apps with Office v.X and he can even read PC disks and open PC MS office files.

5. If he's familiar with Windows it shouldn't take him too long to get used to OS X. You can help him with any questions he has.

6. Let him borrow your Powerbook. The best way to get somone on the fence about switching is letting them use yours. Once they do they will "see the light."

7. If he runs Photoshop or other Apps like that he can still do so.

8. There is NOTHING on the PC side that compares to iLife. NOTHING.

9. Tell him he can use regular PC Laptop RAM on the Mac Laptop. He won't need to go out and get special RAM or anything.

10. Let him know about the Macnn forums.

[templetalker]

Originally posted by typoon:
A good idea but he might not give it back. His co-worker might like it so much he won't want to give it back. Since that tends to happen with Macs.

Which DELL is he looking at?

1. Tell him Apple was Rated #1 in customer service by consumer reports.

2. Tell him he won't have to deal with viruses anymore. That cost alone should be worth the price. IMO

3. Tell him it will work better with his iPod.

4. He can run all his office apps with Office v.X and he can even read PC disks and open PC MS office files.

5. If he's familiar with Windows it shouldn't take him too long to get used to OS X. You can help him with any questions he has.

6. Let him borrow your Powerbook. The best way to get somone on the fence about switching is letting them use yours. Once they do they will "see the light."

7. If he runs Photoshop or other Apps like that he can still do so.

8. There is NOTHING on the PC side that compares to iLife. NOTHING.

9. Tell him he can use regular PC Laptop RAM on the Mac Laptop. He won't need to go out and get special RAM or anything.

10. Let him know about the Macnn forums.

I think I want to buy a second mac after reading that.

[nate_02]

My friend is an IT guy for one of the cities here, and they use all dell. He says they have some of the worst customer service he's ever seen.

by the way: he's a PC IT guy and he prefers macs.

[Drakino]

No amount of talk will really convince him. Show him proof, show him how you use your Powerbook, and if at all possible, let him borrow it as others have suggested.

My G4 Cube was seeing less and less use as I migrated to the Powerbook, so I loaned it to a coworker. He kept it at work for a time and tinkered with it for a bit, then finally decided to take it home and set it up as a work from home machine. So far, he is liking the experience, and is more and more tempted to get an Apple laptop over a Windows compatible laptop.

Honestly, hands on is how I switched too. I attended a resellers launch of OS X, got to get my hands on it on a demo machine for a bit, and began pondering how to get more into it. A few months later I bought a used iMac from them, quickly liked what I saw, and sold the iMac to get the G4 Cube. Finally, last August I had to return my PC laptop to my work, so I bought my Powerbook.

[typoon]

Originally posted by nate_02:
My friend is an IT guy for one of the cities here, and they use all dell. He says they have some of the worst customer service he's ever seen.

by the way: he's a PC IT guy and he prefers macs.

DELL having some of the worst Customer service doesn't surprise me. I've had the same experiences.

[jimcpherson]

Update: he pulled the trigger on a 15" PowerBook. Thanks for the help/suggestions.

[typoon]

Originally posted by jimcpherson:
Update: he pulled the trigger on a 15" PowerBook. Thanks for the help/suggestions.

So what convinced him?

[jimcpherson]

I used a lot of the suggestions above: ease of use, lack of viruses, etc. He went to CompUSA and played around with one for a bit... and that was it, really.

[typoon]

Originally posted by jimcpherson:
I used a lot of the suggestions above: ease of use, lack of viruses, etc. He went to CompUSA and played around with one for a bit... and that was it, really.

Great!!! I'm sure he will enjoy his switch to the right side of computing.