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goMac · Jun 9, 2009, 07:10 PM

My sister just graduated high school, and she doesn't know it yet, but she's getting a new 13" Macbook Pro. I'd like to get her something to go with it, but I'm not sure what yet, so I thought I'd get ideas from the peanut gallery... It's her first laptop she's actually going to own.

(She already has a hard drive for time machine, so that's a no-go...)

(Also, I realize I could have put this in the Macbook forum, but I felt like putting it here, because it didn't necessarily have to be a Macbook specific gift, even though that would be nice.)

(But if you're a mod and you're offended by me putting this thread here, I humbly apologize and beg for your mercy.)

residentEvil · Jun 9, 2009, 07:17 PM

(i think i would go with suite of utilities or itunes gift card)

(maybe a nano)

Paco500 · Jun 9, 2009, 07:56 PM

Nice bluetooth mouse? A sleeve?

mdc · Jun 9, 2009, 08:14 PM

You could give her the free iPod touch and pretend you bought it for her.

finboy · Jun 9, 2009, 08:30 PM

Originally Posted by Paco500

Nice bluetooth mouse? A sleeve?

Either a copy of DiskWarrior (or similar recovery tool) or a hard case. She'll probably need both at some point.

If she doesn't have an iPhone, the iTouch is a wonderful accessory. It's probably the best PDA I've every had. AND you can get Stanza for it.

SSharon · Jun 9, 2009, 09:55 PM

What is your budget? Does she want something tangible or would she appreciate something like safeware insurance in case she loses or drops her new MBP?

A nice Logitech (or Microsoft or whoever) wireless keyboard and mouse combo would also be nice if you want something more in that price range.

turtle777 · Jun 9, 2009, 10:18 PM

voucher for 2 years free tech support (provided by you)

-t

cjrivera · Jun 10, 2009, 12:38 AM

Not as fun as some of the other suggestions, but Applecare for a MBP might be a lifesaver (budget saver) for her in the future.

mattyb · Jun 10, 2009, 03:25 AM

Originally Posted by cjrivera

Not as fun as some of the other suggestions, but Applecare for a MBP might be a lifesaver (budget saver) for her in the future.

+1 on the Apple Care idea.

Throw in a sleeve for it or a skin of some sort.

ctt1wbw · Jun 10, 2009, 06:31 AM

Microsoft Office Student Edition would be beneficial, imho.

ghporter · Jun 10, 2009, 07:54 AM

AppleCare is a GREAT gift for a notebook. And if she's going to be taking the MBP to college, a good-quality padded bag or pack would be a very practical (and inexpensive) gift. And if that's where she's going, don't buy her software until you find out what her school's bookstore offers-my school had a "campus-level" agreement with Microsoft, so the FULL version of Office 2008 cost me $30. Plus tax.

ctt1wbw · Jun 10, 2009, 08:24 AM

I can get Office for FREE from ITT Tech.

SSharon · Jun 10, 2009, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

AppleCare is a GREAT gift for a notebook. And if she's going to be taking the MBP to college, a good-quality padded bag or pack would be a very practical (and inexpensive) gift. And if that's where she's going, don't buy her software until you find out what her school's bookstore offers-my school had a "campus-level" agreement with Microsoft, so the FULL version of Office 2008 cost me $30. Plus tax.

I remember that my school had the inexplicable policy of charging $10 per disk so Panther cost me $30 because it was 3 CDs and Tiger cost me $10 because it was only one DVD.

ghporter · Jun 10, 2009, 09:51 AM

It would have been cool if my school had an agreement with Apple...I got all my OS upgrades through the school's Apple Store (a VERY tiny affair), but they were at the regular student price, not anything better.

goMac · Jun 10, 2009, 10:56 AM

Oooooo AppleCare is a good idea. My parents aren't getting that for her...

She already has an iPod Touch (my parents want me to get another free one with it for my grandparents...)

The other thing I was thinking was an Airport Express for her dorm room.

She got Office through the local community college she'd been taking some classes at.

Keyboard and mouse isn't a bad idea either.

ghporter · Jun 10, 2009, 11:15 AM

Check with the college before you get her the Express. A lot, maybe even most, colleges that provide a connection in the dorm absolutely forbid installing a wireless access point in a dorm room. It's a major security hole unless the whole dorm network is separate from the rest of the school's network and/or they have other rather involved security techniques in place. Don't give your sister something that will get her in trouble at school.

SSharon · Jun 10, 2009, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Check with the college before you get her the Express. A lot, maybe even most, colleges that provide a connection in the dorm absolutely forbid installing a wireless access point in a dorm room. It's a major security hole unless the whole dorm network is separate from the rest of the school's network and/or they have other rather involved security techniques in place. Don't give your sister something that will get her in trouble at school.

20,000 18 year olds with new computers is a risk to security, not a wireless router. But, yea my school had a no personal router policy that was occasionally enforced so it is worth looking into.

ghporter · Jun 10, 2009, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by SSharon

20,000 18 year olds with new computers is a risk to security, not a wireless router. But, yea my school had a no personal router policy that was occasionally enforced so it is worth looking into.

A wireless router allows OUTSIDERS INTO THE NETWORK. Your 18 year old students can be stopped cold by a number of non-technical methods (like "we called your parents" and suchlike), but an outsider with wireless access is a real threat.

Of course a lot of schools are going to providing the wireless themselves-with the appropriate security applied to it. At my school, I had to initially register my MBP's AirPort address with them so that I could use the wireless, but they eventually went to a redirecting logon. In any case, before you give such a gift, it's a good idea to check with the school to see if she'd be able to use it.

goMac · Jun 10, 2009, 06:40 PM

I checked and they don't have wireless in the dorms. It's a gigantic school (University of Washington), so I wonder about the practicality of them enforcing no access points. Plus, they're on a gigapop anyway...

(And I haven't seen anything about them not allowing access points.)

shifuimam · Jun 10, 2009, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

I checked and they don't have wireless in the dorms. It's a gigantic school (University of Washington), so I wonder about the practicality of them enforcing no access points. Plus, they're on a gigapop anyway...

(And I haven't seen anything about them not allowing access points.)

Easiest thing to do is send off an email to their IT department asking about it.

I did tech support for two years at IUPUI, and wireless or wired routers of any kind were strictly forbidden - if you needed additional datajacks in your dorm room, you were allowed to use a switch or a hub. Students who violated the policy after multiple warnings would get the data connection in their room temporarily or permanently suspended.

Incidentally, the one guy who actually brought down one of the vlans in the campus apartments was a Mac noob who had bought a used iBook and a dual ethernet Airport Extreme base station - the original owner just told him to "plug it in and you'll have wireless". Since the two RJ-45 ports weren't clearly labeled, he didn't know which one to use - so he plugged his datajack into the router's LAN port. For two weeks we had students sporadically getting 10.0.0.x IPs and no Internet access, until we were finally able to track down the culprit.

Who then connected the stupid thing to the network a second time about three weeks later. At that point I told him I was going to have his connection terminated for the rest of the year if he didn't cut it out.

goMac · Jun 11, 2009, 10:33 AM

Here is their policy page:
Rules For Computing and Networking in UW Housing

Their FAQ page says:
"Q: How about wireless ethernet access in my residence hall room?

A: Wireless Networking in the Residence Halls is not currently supported by UW Technology at this time. The Residence Halls are wired for either 10MBits/sec or 100Mbits/sec. These speeds are faster than consumer level wireless connections, more reliable, with greater immunity to radio traffic (wireless) interference. However, wireless networking is supported in a few pilot locations around campus. Documentation on wireless networking devices can be found at: http://www.washington.edu/networking/wireless/wireless_faq.html"

With the wireless FAQ link broken of course...

It doesn't sound like wifi access points are banned, they are just unsupported...

64stang06 · Jun 11, 2009, 01:47 PM

Put the computer on your renters/home owner's insurance policy. Why? Because Apple doesn't cover ~~beer spills~~ liquid damage.

SSharon · Jun 11, 2009, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by 64stang06

Put the computer on your renters/home owner's insurance policy. Why? Because Apple doesn't cover ~~beer spills~~ liquid damage.

That is why I recommended Safeware insurance in my first post rather than Applecare.

64stang06 · Jun 12, 2009, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by SSharon

That is why I recommended Safeware insurance in my first post rather than Applecare.

My mistake, I misread that.

Angelo78 · Jun 13, 2009, 01:19 PM

A nice well padded carry case always pairs well with a laptop. Especially being her first one you wouldn't want to see it in the same bag as her books. Well, unless it's made for that.

angelmb · Jun 13, 2009, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by goMac

It's a gigantic school (University of Washington)

Just in case… Undercover

I would let her choose any sleeve, bag… her taste may differ from yours, but built's are rather nice.